Months before the race started, I was already feeling very eager and excited. Last year, I joined all 3 legs of the RunRio trilogy, and this year, I hope to achieve the same. I convinced my friends Jessica and Mon to join me and my fiance Philippe in the run. They were hesitant at first because of the price, but I convinced them Rio organized races were well worth it! They finally gave in and registered. I’m sure they did not regret it. :)

The day of the race was quickly approaching, Coach Rio had already announced that he was planning several surprises on race day, one of which was revealed the night before.

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SURPRISE #1: RUN FOR LOVE

A theme song entitled “RUN FOR LOVE” was created especially for the RunRio trilogy. The song was sung by 6 cycle mind and I must say I really loved the beat and it really gets your muscles pumping for a run! I was actually singing the entire song while doing my 5 km run! The only downside though of the song was that it sounded a lot like the song Closer to the Edge by 30 Seconds to Mars. Coincidence? Well, that’s for them to say.

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I arrived at the starting line 15 minutes before gun start. I had left the house early because as I learned the hard way from past experiences… if there are race categories 15km and above, then we have to expect a lot of road to be closed or temporarily blocked while runners pass. Hence, traffic could get a little congested and you might have a difficult time getting to the starting line. The main lesson? Come early… ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE BRINGING YOUR OWN TRANSPORTATION!

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10…9….8… (everyone starts jogging)….7…6…5…. (everyone is starting to scream)….4…3…2…1…. (music starts playing)…. BANG! (balloons rise in the air)

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I start jogging… whoo.. this is it! I was praying really hard that my CRAMPS don’t act up. A few days before the run, I started getting cramps on my right leg. It lasted for 3 days and was still a little painful the day before the run. Some people would probably decide to just skip the run, but not me! If my cramps start acting up, then I’ll stop running… but what if it doesn’t? I had to try.

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SURPRISE #2 perhaps?

I run continuously and did not stop for my first kilometer. This is usually the longest I can do without stopping, but I decided to push a little harder today… so I continued running. I really tried my best not to stop. But then I noticed a bunch of big guys in black. On the back of their shirts it says “SECURITY”. The first thought that came to mind was that Rio had all around security for his races now. Wow! Big time! But then as I run passed them, I turned around to see Venus Raj walking in the middle. Surprise number 2 from Rio perhaps? I Really wanted to take a picture but I didn’t want to stop running! This was a big thing for me… Venus would just have to wait!… though I sadly did not see her again after. Photo opportunity lost! So anyways, the 2km marker slowly came into view… BIG ACHIEVEMENT. This is the first time I run 2km without stopping for a walk or jog. I pushed a little bit harder… I made it until around 2.5km until my legs started aching and my heart started pounding. Time to slow down a bit. I took a short walk, around a minute or two and continued running.  Run…run…run! Pace.. pace… pace! Soon enough, I was nearing the finish line and I decided to give my remaining energy to get a good time. Loved it.

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SURPRISE #3

I walked around on my way to get my free race kits when I noticed a bunch of people in red asking runners if they wanted to check their time. Looking closely, I realized they were all holding iPads and checking online to instantly see the runner’s time thanks to the D-tag! Wow! I didn’t think to ask them yet ‘coz I was excited to get my loot bag. The loot bag was a backpack similar to what was given in last year’s 3rd leg. Though it was the same, I must say I really loved the bag! I actually find it more useful than the string bags given away in other races. After finally securing my loot bag, I get in line for the photobooth. There were a LOT of photobooths so the lines weren’t long. While in line, I call one of those iPad guys to check my time. It didn’t hit me at once that these guys needed internet access to do what they were doing. I would have imagined the entire place had wi-fi or they were using GPS. To my surprise, the guys were moving around in a small group wherein one of them was actually wearing a backpack with a router. haha It was really funny! But I loved the idea! Guess that’s surprise #3 then! Thanks Rio!

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After waiting in line for quite some time, the photo booth unfortunately broke! So my friends and I decided to just skip it and enjoy the activities. We watched the kids in the 500m race! Cute! There we saw some marshals carrying a big box of helmets. (supposedly for the kids) We borrowed one but then they informed us that they were trying to dispose of it already, hence, we don’t need to return it. My friends, Jess and Mon, who also happen to be preschool teachers immediately grabbed a bunch! We could really use this for our students! But of course, we also wore one ourselves and frantically took pictures! Philippe stared at us feeling embarrassed. (haha)

ADULT FUN

That just doesn’t sound right. Sorry couldn’t resist.

Most of the activities here were similar to the activities done in last year’s 3rd leg of RunRio. Nonetheless, it was still a lot of fun. And since Jess was really excited, we got in line to do the trampoline jumping thing. I’m one who is very afraid of heights so I really didn’t want to try, but then again, it was free… so why not just experience it. And so I did. Up in the air I went…. whoooo!!! I was screaming like hell! And then I turned… and that’s where I started getting crazy! haha The turn in the air was really fun but it also scared my like crazy! I honestly thought I was gonna fall on my head and break my neck! My friends screamed for me to do it again… but I just couldn’t! I didn’t want to anymore! haha

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There were also several booths in the Adult Fun village. You could play basketball, archery, etc. I wasn’t able to try them though coz the lines were getting longer by the minute! It was like we were in a carnival! Really so much fun! Oh, and did I mention MANNY PACQUIAO was there? True story! Here’s some evidence!

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haha, so anyways, we then checked out the KIDS’ FUN village! There were several inflatables for the kids to play! It really made me want to go back to being a kid ‘coz I so wanted to jump on that inflatable slide! haha

We roamed around a little bit more until we finally decided to have breakfast at Mercato Centrale, and soon headed home.

Congrats Rio on another well organized race! Can’t wait for leg 2!