Sometimes, all you have to do is to laugh at it…
It was undeniably a comical day for me today if not for some. Today, I was registered for a half marathon. Upon arriving at the site, what you can only do is to scratch your head at the very petite opening the race had in going to the coral just to check in; not to mention that there were busloads of runners trying to enter… It was like there was a famous artist that needs to be seen.
One, two three! Was that how the emcee said it? I didn’t even take notice of. All of us were surprised but we have no choice but to start. The sardines-like coral started to be emptied when the 5K, 10K, 15K and 21K started all at once!
Another funny thing! I don’t know what the organizers were actually thinking, but I was flabbergasted by how they fancy to begin the race. “Walang basagan ng trip… Gusto ko sabay-sabay kayong magsimula”
The throng of runners dispersed at 5k, at least… and it was a nice route until Km 14… I really thought that the race is going to end in a tasteful manner but it was astonishment! The marshals are unaware of the route making all the people confused and don’t know what to do until they either ran one loop or two short or over…
Marshal: Ikaw isang ikot ka… Ikaw 2… Ikaw wag ka na umikot, ok na yan…
I chose to do the longer route 3 turns in BHS because I know at what instant I’ll end up the race, probably 20 minutes or less after 2 hours. Too bad I didn’t get a medal; Rumors that the medals were offered to the other runners who ran shorter distances or that they are really short of one of a kind medal. Never mind… There’s no way my day will be busted… Oh did I say that they have lots of hydration station? One point for the effort!
The race might be a total disappointment and worst for some but it still an experience learned and training accomplished.
Thank you Carlo Serrano for the photos…
The Argonaut 
hey man! sorry for that! i just did 2 loops. pinakanan na ko after 2 loops eh. i can give you my medal man! hehe! kelan next race mo?
Hehehe, ok lang bry, Sabi ng organizer we can still get the medal and they will drop it off at home…
Thanks though…
okidoks! buti naman! mag full ka sa milo?
Yep bro, I’m doing MILO Full. Hehehe! Sub 5 lang ang goal…
wahhaaa… same sentiments here… tinanong pa namin un Marshall kung ilang ikot, sinagot kami ng tanong din na: “naka-ilang ikot ka na ba?” then pagsagot namin ng dalawang ikot, pinaliko na kami. And what we thought was yun ung correct route. Wala man lang kasi silang loop cords on that route!
Pero, nakakuha pa rin ako ng medal, un medal mo Argow, andun sa isang nag 10k, hahaha!
Hehehe! Di bale, next time na lang ulit…
Hi Rodel. I’ve had to learn in situations like what you and others went through last Sunday to do the same thing. Yet, it isn’t acceptible what happened. There were a number of runners who were outraged at what happened. It’s fortunate that no one was seriously hurt or died from lack of hydration. I’m sure if Bald Runner was there, he surely took notes on what happened.
I’ve been doing the same thing on races that I’ve done this year. The last one was one of the better organized ones but there have been a couple of races this year that had similarities to this. I’ve taken note of these and won’t run them again.
Anyway, hope things are going well and hope to see you amd everyone there in November. In the meantime, please keep running and stay safe!
Hi Wayne, at least no one gets hurt… Organizers like that are totally a big disappointment.
Are you joing Baldrunner’s Ultramarathon in November? Hope we can meet you there…
after reading also the comments from other “victim” runners, it’s really comical. 🙂 the best thing to do is just laugh it off & charge to experience. i guess newbie runners have to know the best organizers (finishline/runrio, biscocho, extribe, baldrunner, tbr, etc.) so they can lower their expectations when joining races like this one. we join races like this just for the training run & fun; we train for & join the more organized races for the PR, etc.
Hehehe, I agree!