Philippine International Marathon 10k

Calories Burned: 799 cal
Finish Time: 1:13:00

The Philippine International Marathon aimed to gather funds for the revival of the Pasig river, the main river that courses through the heart of Manila and exits at Manila Bay. I live in one of the barangays (villages) alongside the river that got affected by flooding in the recent Ondoy storm.
Registration was easy enough and cheap, only P250. The problem was with the claiming of the kits. My kit was totally not released on the scheduled date. I went back to where I was supposed to get it 3 times. In the end, I had to go to ABSCBN to claim the kit on the night before the race. This was the major boo boo this race had.

The 10k race pretty much started on time at 6am, but the sun quickly bore down on the runners. The route along Roxas Blvd was exactly the same as the Milo marathons - flat except for the flyover in Pasay and 200 meters or so longer than 10km.

The start of the 10k run at 6am. The sun was already way up.

The fly over at Pasay at the 4k mark made some people walk, and me stop to take a photo :) The heat though was not enough to stop the top two 10k runners who were already on their 7th km while we were just on our 3rd km.

The organizers said there were about 11,000 participants most of whom were in the 5k category. The 5k runners were so plenty that they started in three batches. We saw many of them just walking. This was fine, except that the trailing 10k runners (me included) were effectively stumped by the blocks of 5k walkers. It was quite a challenge maneuvering around them. In the end, I just enjoyed the crowd and walked with them cheering on the Rexona girls, UST alumni, and other colorful groups.

All in all, the PIM was quite a success and I just hope that this translates into good news for the Pasig river. Here's a quick math. The registration was P250 and there were 11,000 runners so that would have totaled P2.75 million pesos. I know the organizers have expenses and all, but there should still be ample funds left for the Pasig river.

Race Vitals

Start Time: on time, but maybe they could have made it start earlier
Participation: local runners, students, daming tao
Rate: P250
Route: Roxas Blvd, longer than 10k
Race Freebies: certificate of participation, singlet
Personal Experience: 7/10