It’s OUR city and we just RAN IT!! Woot woot! Congratulations to all finishers of Nike We Run Manila 2011!!!

My friends and I were really excited for this race, we did however already expect the overcrowding runners at the starting line. It was “bumper to bumper” from beginning till the second kilometer! The runners slowly dispersed after that but it was still very crowded! You had to literally dodge slow runners or refrain from getting hit by fast ones!

So how did the race go anyway?

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Registration:

Personally, I found registration to be easy. On-site registration was available at Bonifacio High Street, Shangri-la Plaza Mall and selected universities. I often go to R.O.X. to register so it wasn’t a problem for me. On the other hand, runners living in farther places could register online and pay via credit card. However, there were 2 steps to the registration process. Paying and filling up the form was just the first step. We all had to go back after 1 week to claim our race kits. This was because the Nike team had planned on printing each runner’s bib number unto the dri-fit Nike shirt itself -something a lot of us were really excited about.

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After around 2 weeks, the Nike/RunRio team texted us, informing us that our race kits were now available for pick up in front of the Nike Store at Bonifacio High Street. This wasn’t a problem for me, but I know several others who complained because the Fort was just too far for them. Several runners were requesting to claim race kits at other Nike outlets but it just wasn’t possible. It probably was a hassle to go to the Fort for others, but I do agree that this was done to make claiming of race kits more organized and easy flowing. It’s a give and take relationship guys! We have to do a little extra effort as well and not just blame the organizers for every small disadvantage we get.

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Claiming of Race Kits

So anyway, my friends and I were really excited to claim it but waited until the 2nd day before we did. After all, we each had personalized kits so there was no way we were going to run out of sizes right? -WRONG. I disliked the color orange but I still loved the dri-fit top… only thing was… they ran out of sizes. I’m not complaining, but I was sort of disappointed. They gave me a medium shirt because they ran out of small sizes, not a problem… after walking away and inspecting it, I then realized they gave me a MALE size. So I went back and had it exchanged for a female size. In my head I was thinking, “How are they going to replace my shirt if the bib numbers are printed on it?” The lady however just immediately took a new shirt and replaced mine. I asked them what will happen to the bib number and she told me that the number on the shirt was unimportant. The runner’s race number is the one found on the D-tag. Hmm…okay? I was sort of disappointed upon learning this but I had to give the organizers the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they ran out of time? Maybe there were other problems in the production of the shirt? I don’t really know why but I’m not making a big deal out of it. I was just a bit sad that my shirt was not exactly personalized as I had hoped.

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Running Clinics:

Race day was slowly approaching. There were a few free running clinics that the Nike team gave but I was unfortunately unable to attend any of them. Thumbs up to the team/organizers though for doing this and helping runners finish the 10km run with grace and confidence.

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Race Day

Runners were asked to be at the venue by 3:00pm. My friends and I went there at around 4. By this time, The Fort area was already filled with people in their orange Nike shirts! Everyone was crowding in front of the starting line and eager to begin the run, and as soon as the gun start was heard, the runners were off! ….or so we hoped. (haha) It was really difficult to dash off because of the number of participants, but this was well expected.

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There was a SEA OF ORANGE in Fort that day! It was beautiful! :) Though as it got dark, there were not enough lights in some areas. I almost tripped on the blue rope… luckily, the guy in front of me saw it and jumped. As if reflex, I also jumped without even knowing why! (haha) I turned around to see the rope was there and almost tripped us!

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After the race, there was a route going into Nike village. There were several claiming areas though a lot of runners crammed themselves into the first few claiming areas. Since I am a frequent runner of RunRio organized races… I knew to just continue walking until I found a booth with no lines and quickly got my finisher’s kit. Every one however was just looking for ONE thing… the FREE usb! I heard a lot of angry people and I myself got upset. Luckily, my friend took the time to check out the freebies and noticed an envelope attached to the poster. A letter of apology from the RunRio team for the delay in production of the usb, they did however promise that these will be delivered to our doorsteps as soon as possible. <–excited much?

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There was also a concert afterwards by famous bands Sandwich, Chicosci and Parokya ni Edgar. I wanted to watch the concert but had already grown very tired and just wanted to go home!

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Overall, I’d have to say the race was well organized! Despite the number of runners that day, it wasn’t as chaotic as some of us expected. I saw several bandits/cheaters who took quick u-turns, but…oh well, that’s their lost.

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It’s our city and we RAN it!!!