Fit and Run.Info

A runner near the finish line during the Takbo.ph Runfest

1 hour and ten minutes.

That was my answer to Patrick, aka Running Shield, when he asked me what was my target time in the recently concluded Takbo.ph Runfest, the biggest online running community’s anniversary run. This is also my third race that I’ve joined and my first 10K in a race.

Actually, I was not so sure about the target time if I can make it but I opted to challenge myself and have something that I can work out during the race. Most of my 10K and above runs hovered between 1 hour and 14 minutes to even a dismal 1 hour and 20 minutes on blah days including lots of stops and the occasional walks.

After the race? Though it’s not official time but I clocked myself, I stood at

1 hour and 7 minutes.

That’s it. Not bad. A close call to my target but still happy that I was able to exceed my expectations. But just imagine, if I limited my walks and didn’t suffer some muscular pain on my feet near the joint with the leg during the first two kilometers, I might have clocked better.

With James Betia, aka Journeying James: runner, blogger and traveler

The Takbo.ph Runfest was also an opportunity to meet with friends. Of course, Blas, aka Titanium Runner, who registered me was there but we only met after the race. Former Smart colleagues were also present like Eric, Ellen and Maffin. I didn’t get to see Carl who was one of the race marshals. These guys were the ones I covered during the Epic Relay Run.

And, of course, I was excited and happy to finally meet great runners: the Running Shield and James Betia, aka Journeying James. These two I only knew online in their blogs and in dailymile.com and have exchanged comments in status updates. The latter is also a traveler like me.

Lastly, it was a good race with a good singlet that I like but wished it had a good fit.

It's personalized baby!

My bib number

After following up my race pack for the Takbo.ph Runfest this week with the courier and a series of email exchanges with Jinoe of Takbo.ph, I finally got it at ROX, Bonifacio High Street branch, this evening. But I was almost exasperated that they still didn’t have my name on their list. If the two attendants didn’t check their stock, I would’ve asked for a refund!

Anyway, the past few days were quite hectic and got me worried that the courier told me that my name and race bib number was not on their list. Strange as Blas Tiangco registered us and he got his race pack several weeks ago. One of Jinoe’s updates even included mine as for delivery. However, in his last update released a few days ago, my number wasn’t even included and was cause for alarm!

Time to move on though. I was quite happy when I actually got mine but can’t suppliers really come up with standard sizes? Mine was already XXL and it was still smaller. The same with the Fairtrade Run singlet. The NatGeo Earth Day run technical shirt was way, way better and was a good fit for me.

Now, time to rest for the early morning race.