Sun after the Rain (RU3 and NB Power Run Recap)

NB Power Run - Photo courtesy of Jun and Anna (The Meekrunner)

The New Balance Power Run last Nov. 6, 2011 was a wet and wild experience of running under the rain. Swthrt and I had second thought of running when we woke up that early rainy morning, but the urge to race prevailed. We prepared ourselves for a cold and wet run as we trooped to Bonifacio Global City for the 25K category we were registered in. It’s been long since we ran under heavy rains. It was a great race for Team JRunning except for the few blisters on our feet and the challenging run on flooded area near the office of the Department of Energy. It was like running on an adventure trail run for most of the participants. We finished:

Rank Bib #   Name                     Gun Time      Chip Time

962   1604    Josephine Estrella    03:22:54        03:22:20

963   1605    Joseph Estrella        03:22:54         03:22:19



RU3 - Photo courtesy of Jun and Anna (The Meekrunner)



The Run United 3 Race at Mall of Asia was a different story. The weather was exactly the opposite. It was hot from start to finish. Having registered for the Afroman distance (a dub named for the 32K category), we woke up as early as 2am to make sure we arrive at the venue early enough to have a warm up run. We started slow and steadily keeping pace with a group of 4 runners from MOA all the way to Buendia. They certainly helped us hold our pace and reserved our energy for the latter part of the course. As we took a U turn at Buendia, we started to increase our pace. The heat of the sun was almost unbearable as we reached Roxas Blvd. but we still managed to move on. My initial calculation at this point was we could break our last year’s record of 4:26:00 but an incident prevented it. It was a red letter day for Swthrt and any lady runner could attest how hard and uncomfortable it is to run having the monthly period. The long distance and the scorching heat of the sun added up to the uncomfortable feeling. We had to make a pit stop at the Petron Station at the corner of EDSA and Macapagal Avenue. The final 2K was the longest as we continued on and had to walk the most part of it. The finish line arch was a sight to behold as we ran the last 500m to the finish. It was still a great run despite Swthrt’s predicament. Our time was 4:36:+.

RU3 Race result:

Rank    Bib #     Name                        Gun Time           Chip Time

1631     39824    Josephine Estrella      04:37:01              04:36:13


1632    39825     Joseph Estrella          04:37:02              04:36:12