NatGeo Earth Day Run 2014 Race Recap and Review
After seeing the route a month before the NatGeo Earth Day Run 2014, I dropped my dream of running sub-2 hours. It’s full of hills including the Kalayaan Flyover and Bayani Road. I decided try my marathon pace instead.
I promised my self this year to break as many PRs as possible. I was able to establish a new PR for my 21K last month and now I am training for a new PR for a marathon. I don’t have a definite marathon race yet but training as early won’t hurt. Oh actually, it sometimes hurt. 😛
The NatGeo Earth Day Run 2014 has been held annually and is one of the largest running events today. A new 42K event was added. It’s tempting to run the marathon by I decided to run a 21K instead. The gun start for the 21K was 3AM.
42KM and 21K Medals
A hot summer race
I arrived 30 minutes before the gun start. A lot of runners already assembled and ready to run. I still feel sleepy since I only had less than three hours of sleep. But when you are with fellow runners, your energy just goes up and you feel ready for anything.
It was a very hot day to run. It was good that the gun start is at 3AM so we avoided the sun which could make the temperature worst. However, there was an absense of light in several areas of the route. It’s the usual unlighted areas like the 8th Ave, Kalayaan Flyover and Lawton Road. It was pitch black at Lawton Road. Good thing some runners brought their headlights with them.
Who turned off the lights?
Water was abundant during the race. It was ice cold. It was perfect to douse over my head and arms to lessen the heat from the weather.
My marathon pace
My previous marathon pace has been at the 7:00/km pace. It’s just the right pace for a sub-5 hour marathon. But it has no buffer for stopping for water or slowing down at uphills. So this year, I am training for my pace to be at 6:30/km. I think this is doable since I was able to maintain a 5:45/km for the 21K last month.
I was hitting the right pace for the first 8KM. But when we started to climb back to BGC via the Kalayaan Flyover, my pace was dropping already. I tried keeping a 6:00/km pace during the ascend at Kalayaan but I slowed down afterwards to recover.
Bayani Road was even worst at around 17KM. After going out of that road, I think I was gasping for air already. The last 3 kilometers was my slowest where I was running above 7:00/km already.
Last 3K to go and I want this to be over!
I finished at around 2:20. I have 10 minutes to spare. At this pace, I can finish a marathon in less than 5 hours. I still need to train more to be comfortable at this new pace. I still can’t sustain it yet especially on a hilly course.
Another 21K medal for this year. Ran with the Saucony Guide 7.
The Aftermath
It was just around 5 AM when I finished. I looked around the event area but didn’t stayed long. I wanted to sleep. 😀
I was able to catch up with fellow running blogger, Patrick and Jonel. I saw Ruby ran the 42K, and Roselle and Franc at 21K. Congrats to everyone. 😀
We’re still good looking after the 21K and 42K. 😀
I had a great breakfast at Recovery Food. But I almost ran out of money. Good thing I kept another stash in my other pocket. At least I still got enough for the taxi fare.
One of my favorite post race meal at Recovery Food
I have been uploading my race data from my watch and HRM. Check them out below. I’m using the Wahoo Fitness App with the BlueHR chest strap.
My average pace is at 6:35/km
Close to 1 hour at Burst Mode. No wonder I was feeling tired.
My last 3K were above the 7:00/km. Tsk tsk…
See you at NatGeo Earth Day Run 2015! 😀
About The Author
ManokanRunner
Jinoe Gavan is the founder of this award-winning blog Takbo.ph, The Filipino Running Community. Known as ManokanRunner, he is a computer addict on weekdays, a church leader on weekends and a runner in all days of the week. He wants to run and cover as many miles in many places as he could. Read more about his life in the urban jungle with all the distractions and the fun of raising his son in DaddyandtheCity(dot)com.
Nice seeing you in the course Jinoe!
I agree sir. 42k is a different beast to conquer. It was my first marathon and I was aiming for a sub 5 also. I was confident that I can make it since my PR in 21k is 2:05 and I did my longs runs from tatay market up to antipolo every week leading to the race except for the week prior to taper off.
On the first loop, those uphills are nothing to me because of my training. However, I cautioned myself not to push it as this is uncharted waters for me. So I did what i read online to not skip any water/sports drink stations on the first kms as our mind is the last to know that we are already dehydrated. This means lot of stops even if I planned to walk for a few minutes every 10k.
I thought I can do 2:15 on the first half and then 2:30 on the last. Eventually, I end up doing 5:19. Even sprinting on the last meters to make it sub 5:20. A little victory dampered only by a finisher shirt that reads 21l/42k finisher at the back :(.
I was using strava by the way.
Same here. I chose to ran 10K instead of 21K because of the bad feedback from last year’s. The route wasnt lit enough but it was ok since the hydration points were excellent (Pocari sweat did well up to finish line). Route was challenging because of uphill slopes from Kalayaan flyover to Bayani road. I wanted to finish under 1.10 but I ended up finishing at 1.16. I thought i was just too tired and had no enough rest. =)
hi! looking for kaswap sa M finisher shirt ko..anlaki kasi sa akin!