Sometime last June, I heard about the Ateneo Blue Diamond Race. I didn’t bother registering though ‘coz it was still dated at the end of August and I was still waiting to see what other races would be held on the same date. However, sometime last July, a friend of mine insisted BADLY that we register for this run. She is not from Ateneo but is a HUGE fan of the school. She begged us to register and run with her on that date. So regardless of my bad experience with Ateneo from their PRONATION run, I decided to give it another go. I figured, the Pronation run held last February may not have been perfect, but I still had some fun.

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4 of us registered to run 10km. My friend was really excited and her expectations were really high. Ateneo was her dream school.

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Early registrants had the opportunity of getting a personalized bib with their nicknames printed in front. We were lucky to have made it to this. Come pick up day, I was thrilled to see my singlet neatly folded inside an envelope together with my personalized race bib, timing chip, and route maps that were printed from Google earth. I appreciated how organized everything was and I started feeling excited of how things would turn out on race day.  Thing is though, I was a little disappointed after the run.

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I hate complaining about a run, but when you register for a run worth P600, you at least have minimum expectations. After all, if there wasn’t anything to look forward to, then you could’ve just ran on your own. I think there were 3 beneficiaries to this race. This was part of the reason that I joined. But organizers have to consider that people joined not only to help but also to have fun.

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The race for the 10km runners started at exactly 5:45am. There was a quick exercise prior to the run. It was actually more like a short dance aerobic workout rather than a warm up though. Anyway, a few more seconds to gun start. Without any countdown or warning though, someone just shouted “GO!” and off went the runners. I’m not sure if there was a gun start ‘coz I didn’t hear any, but my friends said there was, I guess it was just too soft. It didn’t matter though. I’m not complaining about this part.

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Time to run! I ran with my friend Ivica for the first lap. Oh, did I mention the route was REALLY short? I do not mean that it was lacking in km, I just mean it was repetitive. You had to go around the same 3km route twice to total 6km, and the remaining 4km on a new route. I personally don’t like loops ‘coz I feel bored but then again, a bunch of people might like it better this way ‘coz it serves as your marker. To each his own I guess. Again, I’m not complaining about this part.

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So I was running with Ivica and after the first 2km, she started looking for a hydration station. I could usually wait till the 5km mark so I was good, but she was really getting thirsty. I told her to just wait a bit, I’m sure there will be a hydration booth at the 3km mark. I encouraged her to keep going and explaining that it isn’t good after all to drink too much, so maybe there would be some water soon.

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We finished the first lap and had already gone around the Mall of Asia, we were back at the starting line and on our way to the 2nd lap. Oh, there was water alright…but definitely NOT what I expected. This is what I’m complaining about.

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I often expect the least from races, but I at least expect some hydration. Today’s hydration came in the form of 1 or 2 water dispensers and a few plastic cups. There were 3 marshals who assisted in giving the water, but there were none set up prior to the race. Hence, we had to line up for a couple of minutes before we could get a drink. Hence, I decided to skip the water station for the first lap ‘coz I didn’t want to stand in line. However, by the 2nd lap, I was already beginning to feel thirsty. I was determined to grab a cup. Unfortunately, when I reach the water station.. there were no more cups! Runners were literally drinking from the PALM OF THEIR HANDS or from the cover of the water dispenser. I didn’t want to risk it so I passed. By the 3rd lap, I was lucky enough to finally have had a gulp of water. The cups were refilled, though I’m not sure where they got it from. My mouth was really dry by now and I felt so dehydrated. There were cups this time, but water ran out! I was able to at least grab a gulp but the runners behind me weren’t! I cherished that cup of water and enjoyed it. A few seconds after though, I began tasting something in my mouth. I thought it was just my dry mouth but then my friend told me that she also experienced the same. Turned out, the water was just TAP WATER. I’m not sure how clean it was since it was NOT odorless nor tasteless.

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Special thanks by the way to Daisy and Kyx Castaneda for offering me their extra bottle of water! Didn’t take it though ‘coz I was shy to do so (haha) I thought I could still drink on the next lap. Little did I know there wouldn’t be any more water.

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I wasn’t able to take a picture of the runners drinking to show respect, but to give you an idea, I took a picture of our water dispenser at home and removed the cap so you know what I mean.

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Finally, I reached the finish line. The medals were given but the people giving it away were not concentrated on the race or runners but more on talking with each other. Not complaining though, just sharing. I have to admit though, that I loved the design! It was really cool and unique.

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I looked around for some freebies afterward, but there were none. Not a problem though since freebies are usually just an added bonus, but I was at least hoping for some free water or Gatorade (since they are one of the sponsors). There wasn’t any. I did find the Mogu Mogu booth! 1 small cup per person! I don’t usually hoard on hydration and freebies, but I was REALLY REALLY thirsty! I ended up drinking 3 small cups of Mogu-mogu. (Sorry!) …but I’m sure I was not the only one. I wanted to drink more so I looked around, but all the stations were simply SELLING stuff. Nothing was free!…not even hydration. I then saw a water station, but I wasn’t sure if they were giving away water. A lady in front of me approached them and they asked her to sign up before she was given a small cup of water. What?!

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I then met up with my friends and we headed to the registration booth to claim our certificate. I don’t really bother with the certificate but I went anyway to get it. Another disappointment. Somehow, they RAN OUT OF CERTIFICATES and had runners write their names and contact numbers on a piece of paper in order to be notified later. This should have been prepared beforehand since they have an estimate of the runners attenting based on registration. On the bright side though, at least they tried to keep track of those who hadn’t received the certificate rather than just telling everyone they ran out.

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I was  disappointed not because of the many small flaws..hey no one’s perfect right? I was mostly disappointed because of one single flaw – lack of hydration booths! That itself was what made it disappointing.

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Friends’ Experiences:

• A friend of mine is new to running so she had difficulty keeping up with other runners. While most runners were already on their second lap, she was still doing her first. Not a problem, but she did get confused as the marshals seem to have disappeared after the majority of runners had already passed through. Hence, when she was on her second lap, the marshal giving away the string for those who’ve made it here was no where to be found. She eventually felt discouraged and just headed to the finish line even if she had one more lap to go.

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• Another friend already had 3 complete markers with her but was told off by one of the marshals accusing her of not having completed all laps because she did not have all 3 string colors. She was pissed and showed them her 3 markers and remarked with a sarcastic tone.

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• Another friend ended up doing 4 laps instead of 3 because the marshals told him to go one more round even if he was already done!

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Benefit of the doubt

I was disappointed, but after having some time to think… I’d also like to give them the benefit of the doubt. There was some bad weather after all. It could have been possible that things did not go as planned.

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A friend shared this post with me.. a message from the organizers:

Dear Runners,

First of all I would like to thank our dear runners for joining the Blue Race.

As we promised this is a charitable event and we will fulfill all our promises to feed poor children for better learning, help during national disasters and save the poor at risk through medical and legal missions. This is the best way that we can repay you.

Your safety is very important to us. Nobody collapsed during the race and we have no injury reported. We really made sure of this aspect.

There was also no report of any missing item. We added marshals to make sure that the signages do not get blown away by the strong winds.
At the start of the race registration, the ADBR group has always been very generous in giving what our sponsors could share.

We had enough doctors who were with you during the race. They joined as runners and health sweepers. We also had adequate amount of ambulance to make sure that everybody will be safe.

The organizers would like to apologize for the following:
First,Hydration preparations. We really had logistical problems as the weather was really bad prior to the race. The additional water stocks that we requested were not delivered due to bad weather.
Second, Restrooms were supposed to be open but people who were assigned to open were not able to report on time due to bad weather.
Third, Other hydration partners, suppliers and sponsors had to pull out at the last minute due to bad weather. This explains why some sponsors suppliers like portalets were not present during the event. The ADBR was situated at a wide open area fronting the bay and we were informed to make sure that we avoid objects or set up that can be blown off easily like steel signages, portalets and hanging streamers. In lieu of the portalets some restrooms were to be opened but the people tasked to open them were not able to report due to the weather. We appeal that we understand some of our sponsors as they also have to protect their employees.
Fourth, We had enough water for the runners. Onsite registrants increased even if the weather was not good. This somehow affected our allocations.
Sixth, For the certificates, we shall give it to you in Rockwell for pick up. We can schedule a day for pick up and we shall announce it soon. Some certificates got wet due to the heavy rains while we were setting up. We deem it is not wise to give wet certificates. We were able to give only those that were saved.
Seventh, For the raffle, we have announced repeatedly that everybody should drop them already at the drop box. The prizes were also announced repeatedly. Our apologies if some runners were not able to hear the repeated announcements.

For those who have concerns about the water system. The run is over and we can only improve for the next run. Giving you a glass of water now will not remedy the situation. We hope that every time we feed poor kids, provide legal, medical and dental care to those who are at risk through the fund you shared by joining the race, sana mapawi na ang uhaw niyo…in our race to help people, the ADBR Group will move on kahit wala na water…no amount of thirst can stop us…

I hope the runners would also appreciate the good side of our event. There is always room to make things even better. We hope that the other side of our coin would also be appreciated.

Thank you Very Much,
ADBR Group

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Congrats to the winners and finishers and congrats to the organizers. To err is human, the organizers were right in saying that the run is over and the best thing to do is learn from these mistakes in hopes of improving for the next runs. This blog is not meant to ruin the reputation of Ateneo, but rather to simply share my experience.