Congratulations to Team Powerpuff Boys for bagging 2nd place in this race where the team was an EPIC SUCCESS in this seemingly EPIC FAIL race contributed by its organizers, Extribe & Chris Sports.
I witnessed everyone in the team do their best in this race and I'm just so very proud to have been part of this team in the race. Thank you so much to my teammates, our star-studded support crew, Takbo.ph supporters (esp. Tere, Jinoe, & Que for their donations)!
-----
I was also the driver of Van 1 and I've been out of serious training for quite some time, so I assigned myself the team's easiest legs.
Leg #5: Near Anvaya Cove entrance to Pawikan Center (~10K)
My leg started early afternoon with the full heat of the sun over my head. There weren't so many trees around and I wanted to stay on the side of the road going with the flow of traffic. My first 2.5K was at 4:20/km with the downhill portion as I wanted to catch up with the Timex runner who went ahead by about 5 minutes before me. Eventually, I had to slow down and walk at some portions after passing by Morong town proper. The heat was unbearable at that point. My support team (Roy, Eire, Beep, Mulder, & Brando) waited for me at the 6K point and were a bit worried. Upon seeing Pawikan center, I began to run at a faster pace again and sprinted in the last 100m. Happy that my hardest leg it was over. My Garmin pace was 6:04/km, finished in 1:01.
Leg #5: Near Anvaya Cove entrance to Pawikan Center (~10K)
My leg started early afternoon with the full heat of the sun over my head. There weren't so many trees around and I wanted to stay on the side of the road going with the flow of traffic. My first 2.5K was at 4:20/km with the downhill portion as I wanted to catch up with the Timex runner who went ahead by about 5 minutes before me. Eventually, I had to slow down and walk at some portions after passing by Morong town proper. The heat was unbearable at that point. My support team (Roy, Eire, Beep, Mulder, & Brando) waited for me at the 6K point and were a bit worried. Upon seeing Pawikan center, I began to run at a faster pace again and sprinted in the last 100m. Happy that my hardest leg it was over. My Garmin pace was 6:04/km, finished in 1:01.
After that freakin' hot run with bro, Eire & Totoy (photo c/o Brando)
Leg #15: Bataan Nuclear Power Plant entrance to Pawikan Center (~4K)
This was between 10-11pm, if I'm not mistaken. After Brando's super finish going up to the entrance of the power plant, my job was to go downhill to Pawikan Center. As soon as I was given the go signal, I didn't waste any time to run...in the pitch black road with a small LED light on my head. I didn't wait for the van to illuminate my path. Within my 1st km, I was running fast in the dark and it reminded me of Blairwitch Project as most of the scenes were in total darkness with only a camera spotlight showing the way. I admit, it WAS scary, but I didn't care since I wanted to focus on running. This was probably the easiest leg in the race because it was 90% downhill and I think I did it with a constant 4:30/km pace. I also decided not to wear my Garmin this time so that I could focus more. My sprint to the finish was a mixture of relief and anger (at another team). I won't elaborate.
Leg #25: San Felipe, Zambales to Mayo Farm (~3K)
This was already between 7-8am, with the sun up and the whole team facing sleep deprivation. The leg was just a flat 3km so I said to myself I should also run fast non-stop. Before my leg started, I was really very sleepy already since I was awake all the time to light the path of my teammates during their legs. As with my 1st 2 legs, I sprinted the last 200m with anger, but was more happy since the whole team was there to cheer me on at the last vehicle exchange point. No Garmin also. I think my pace there was 4:30/km or a bit faster.
After going through this race, I said to myself that I won't go into an ultramarathon. :P hahaha Main lesson: need for heat training.
