Kilometer 836: Philippine Independence Day Half Marathon

Posted June 12th, 2010 by wilson

Obviously, this is not me being a happy camper. But I assure you that this is way less caustic than the one I originally composed while running the race(yes, I do compose race reports while running).

Dear Mr. Organizer-of-Philippine-Independence-Day-Half-Marathon,

First, I would like to congratulate you for coming up with the idea of a race on Independence Day. Great thinking on your part there! I would also like to commend you for the reasonable registration fee. As someone who does not wear suits to work or rake in a 6-digit salary monthly, I really appreciated that.

Okay, now that the congratulatory stuff were said, let’s move on to the other things that I want to say.

Have you heard of the “staggered gunstarts”? Basically it means sending off your runners at different times, depending on the category. Local organizers send off the longest distance first and the shortest, last. But it need not be that way. In Hong Kong for instance, they do it the other way. Anyway, the order is not as important as the fact that the starts are staggered. You should try it sometime, it would be less of a headache - not only on your part but on the runners too!

(Oh yeah, we(at least most of us) also appreciate it when you start the race on time. Ask Rudy Biscocho for pointers on how to do this.)

When I first saw the map of the 21K, I was first appalled by the “partial looping” - in essence, having two loops but the second is just a largely clipped version of the first. I remember thinking, “Magulo to”. But then I placed my doubts aside, believing that you could pull it off somewhat.

Boy, did you prove me wrong.

When I was in my de-facto second loop, as I was about to go down Lawton Avenue again, I was told by one of your marshals that the route was changed and no one is supposed to go down Lawton Avenue again. According to him, we just have to do the rectangular loop again, and then head to the finish. We even had an argument there - I knew that the rectangular loop is just roughly 3K. So, if that is all I’m going to do for my second loop - that’d be just 15K(1st loop) + 3K = 18K! Simple math, right? Anyway, sensing that arguing is useless, I grudgingly complied.

It was such pandemonium out there this morning, it was almost as if different 21K runners ran in different races.

A friend of mine ignored the marshal and went down Lawton again - problem was, she couldn’t find the turn-around point! After kilometers of running, she realized that there was NO turn-around point there, and headed home.

My brother, who was a few kilometers behind me, was told by a marshal near the finish line(not the one I argued with), that he has to do three rectangular loops. Now that made sense(15 + 3 + 3 = 21). But no one counted the loops - there were no more ballers given. Honesty system, baby! Also, it was a bit too late, before your people had the sense to tell the runners THAT, hordes already finished.

Maybe you are now thinking “Yes, we changed the route, but we announced it in the PA system before our massive-slash- we’re-all-in-this-together-slash-sama-sama-tayo gunstart!”

Sir, I hate to break it to you, but almost nobody listens to the stage announcements - pre-race or post-race.(And by the way, the audio system sucked).

That is why Coach Rio makes sure that there is always a huge map in the start/finish area.

And since not even everybody checks THAT, he(and most other race organizers) place direction signages. They don’t have to be beautiful or eye-candy-ish. I know you operated on a tight budget. A cartolina or even manila paper would’ve sufficed. Even that would’ve been way way better than making your marshalls shout directions.

Also, knowledgeable marshals are always appreciated and always necessary. Very crucial(and largely lacking) this morning, since you depended on them so much.

And no, it being your first event, or the race being for a good cause, or the registration fee being cheap - none of those excuses you from these deficiencies. Regardless of your experience, the cause of the race, or the registration fee, your responsibilities towards the runners remain the same.

Your race packet and promotion posters proudly proclaimed “This is no ordinary marathon. IT IS A GATHERING OF PATRIOTS!”.

I don’t think that patriots deserve to be treated that way.

Happy Independence Day.

Love,
Wilson

Race bib

***RACE SUMMARY***
Event: Philippine Independence Day Half Marathon
Date/Time: June 12, 2010, 5:30am
Venue: The Fort
Length: 21 kilometers
Time: 1:38:00(unofficial)
Racer/Bib Number: 568

Tags: 21K, half marathon, Philippine Independence Day Half Marathon