The Urbanite Run Race Results can be found here. It’s a good thing the race results came out earlier than expected. Was told this came out as early as last night. I just hope next Finishline race will have individual race photos as well courtesy of PhotoVendo.ph

I joined this race simply because it’s a night run. With no previous experience running a road race at night, I don’t mind spending Php600. Plus added bonus is I got the chance to bring my wife and son with me. I really intend to get them “expose” to running community with my intention of running with them soon. Hopefully there will be more “family-friendly” races to come such as this. We reached The Fort area around 6:30pm with elite runner Ellen Tolentino and ultraman Pat in tow. Lucky us, there was no “Parking for VIP” rule that day to piss less-privileged runners like us unlike the previous race I joined. As it was too early before the 8:45pm race for 10k runners, I spent a couple of minutes with wife and son around Bonifacio High Street to cool off. Wife decided to go to Market Market! to have their dinner but I hesitate to join for some unknown reason. Off they went to MarketMarket while I walk around to “feel” the atmosphere. As I was walking around, I saw a couple of fellow takbo.ph guys already having their usual chit-chats near ROX area, Runnr store already filled up with runners window-shopping/buying stuffs and some diners (most likely not runners) looking weirdly at the lower section of my body while eating their foods. I know, I should have not worn my bad ass looking CWX tights for that short 10km

I bought a pair of Adidas Response Stability weeks ago to take advantage of the 30% discount that Runnr store gave to some runner-bloggers. When I had another gait analysis, Julius of Runnr noticed that my right foot overpronates from time to time. So he suggested a couple of stability-cushion shoes but with more emphasis on the cushioning part. My eyes were fixed on New Balance 1225 then, however he mentioned that the shoes I should purchase must weight more on the cushion side to straighten my right foot. Additionally with my “heavier” built, I was hoping a cushion shoes will help soften the impact on my knees plus hopefully avoid any incidents of a painful butt. To help me with my choices, he had me ran on my barefoot, Nike Vomero and then Adidas Response Stability and compared video captures of my foot strike on each. Adidas Response Stability seems to improve pronation on my right foot, so I purchased one on the spot. Julius wants me to try other shoes but with tight budget, I knew that what he recommended is the cheapest but reliable shoes within the cushion-stability range. I tried this at the oval track and in a fun run I joined weeks ago. Here are my observations: Witha very thick cushion, I’m surprised it feels very light and its cushion softer than any shoes I have so far. Very durable, I will use this on

While doing our grocery last Saturday, I spotted a blind massage center in Waltermart Dasma which is interestingly located in the same section where DVDs, mobilephones and PSPs are being sold. As I haven’t got myself a massage that week, I hurriedly scheduled a massage for myself on that day. There were four massage therapists available and all of them NOT wearing dark sunglasses. This scene made me remember the time I had my massage from another blind massage center in another mall here in Dasma. As I paid my fee to the supervisor and gave a tip to the “blind” therapist wearing sunglasses, on my way out, I actually saw the guy removed his sunglasses and overheard the guy blurted out “10 pesos lang kuripot!” (translation: 10 pesos only, stingy!). So I thought having “real” blind masseur this time will probably make the experience more positive While inside their small booth, the person in charge asked me to choose one from the available therapists and I chose the guy because I thought a women therapist might be too “soft” for me. And so the session begins. He did a few sample pressures on my back while asking me if it’s too soft or too hard. I told him he could massage me the “hard” way. He first started at my back, using his fingers to apply pressure by pressing it along what he said was my body’s “energy pathways”.

I only got to know this particular race last week Wednesday and when I realized it’s a “family-run”, I immediately signed up with the intention of helping my wife familiarize about the racing community. She has not seen nor experienced any actual race and so I thought this would be a great opportunity for her to do so and together with our son, a family bonding moment would be a good idea. Right after I parked my car at Ospital ng Manila (500 meters from the Start Line), I noticed from a distance that most of the participants were students still in their P.E dress, families and only a few were runners. The atmosphere was very festive with various known individuals doing their share of talk in the stage (wasn’t really interested to know who they were or what they were talking about) and ends with a group of women senior citizens dancing their way which I only realized later was suppose to be our stretching exercise before the actual race begins. Here’s my observation of the race in typical bull runner style: Organizer: Kenneth John Montegrande Venue/ Route: Rajah Sulayman Park, Baywalk, Roxas Boulevard in Malate, Manila Nice: A chance to run with family. Although my wife didn’t register, this race gave her the opportunity to see me in action and enjoy the atmosphere. Water every kilometer. As this race is mostly geared towards “non-runners”, a water station every