A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Run United Philippine Marathon under the 21k category. I did not run the full-mary because I know that I am not quite ready for that yet. I was sure that I can finish it well within the cut-off of 7 hours (correct me if I'm wrong) but I was also sure that my time won't be decent. So it was a no-go for me.

The event was held on October 5th, with a start and finish at the SM Mall of Asia grounds. The gun start for the 21k race was at 4:00am. 

Prior to race day, I joined our first Bull Session for TBRDM 2015 where I learned all about the Galloway method. So on race day, I decided to apply it and did 4:1 method wherein I would run for four minutes and then walk for a minute. It was effective as I finished the race with lots of energy left AND I was close to breaking my personal best. SO CLOSE.

Upon crossing the finish line, I saw Benjie Paras *insert fan girl squeal here*, waiting to award the medals to the finishers. So there's that. As for the hydration, I can say that there was more than enough for everyone which was never really an issue for Runrio. There were also sponges and bananas, you know, the usual stuff. I really loved the 21k finisher's shirt because of its color and design. The venue caused some fiasco as the finishers kit claiming area was situated on grassy and muddy grounds. And it rained the night before so we ended up with murky and dirty shoes. Also, there were lots of problems before the race as a lot of participants did not get their race kits delivered on time. A few did not even have theirs delivered at home and they had to claim it on race day. In my case, the race kit was delivered to my old address when I specifically indicated my current one as the new shipping address. I have been contacting Runrio for weeks about it, and no one informed me of what happened until the day before the event date itself. So there. But other than that, it was still, overall, a well-organised event. They do know how to take care of their runners on race day; I just hope that they show the same concern on pre-race days.

Still, kudos to Runrio and congratulations to all the finishers! :)
 with my team, Team aRUNkada, after the race