Surviving the MH Urbanathlon 2015
Around 1,800 running and fitness aficionados survived (not just finished) the grueling 10-kilometer course of the Men’s Health Urbanathlon 2015 last November 22 at Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. The annual race has a very challenging course that combines road, trail and 15 obstacles that is sure to test your fitness and mental fortitude.
Grueling race course
Dubbed as the “Survival of the Fittest” race, this year’s Urbanathlon has three categories- solo, buddy and team (in which the group must have at least one female). Standing between the runners and the finish line was about 7-kilometer of road, nearly 3-kilometers of trail and obstacles that include:
Net Crawl
Hurdles
Tire Field
Arm Bar
(GIFs are from Men’s Health PH website)
The race were made difficult because of the carefully placed obstacle course: the hurdles and the traffic jam was at the first quarter of the course. More than half of the race the mini-obstacle course punishes your legs more as they were tested for high intensity movements, this is followed by the arm bar (for upper body and arm strength), network, hill slide and pool dip which were placed in the middle of the trail course. The last part of the race was composed of the net crawl, tire field, 8-foot wall and a stuntman jump before a short stint (with shower) towards the finish line.
Inspiring characters
Among the thousand runners in the event, one man that stands out was Arnold Balais who ran the whole course on one leg. Balais was an international para-triathlete who has won medals for the country. He was also the first amputee to climb Mount Apo, the highest peak in the country last September 2015.
(Balais with a fellow MH Urbanathlon survivor; Photo Credit: Kaye Chastine)
It was also his first time to run 10-kilometers (and with obstacles, nonetheless). He also easily breezed to the obstacles including the arm bar. Most of the time he was with his crutches albeit in the network climb and descent.
For Balais his condition was not an excuse for him to be boxed in a limited life. “No excuses. No excuse na di mo pwedeng gawin. Kasi pag inisip mo pa lang na di mo pwedeng gawin, hindi mo talaga gagawin. Pero pag positiveka, tapos may goal ka, yun, ma-a-achieve mo,” he said.
You can check out how he tackled the obstacles and race in our separate article: Inspiring videos of parathlete Ramon Balais.
Top MH Urbanathlon survivors
Below are the top finishers for the SOLO category:
Male
- Patrick Evangelista- 42:44
- Angelo Gonazalo- 43:58
- Leandro de la Cruz- 48:05
Female
- Jessica Espiritu- 1:01:24
- Ma. Christina Ticson- 1:01:54
- Patricia Anne Castilo- 1:03:26
Here are the winners for the BUDDY category:
- Matthias Buckhart & Thomas Wittwer- 43:30
- Jijie Famador & Edison Ticzon- 54:01
- Raymond Javierto & ANthony Balenia- 59:33
The following are the top TEAM survivors:
- 1. Allan Jose Latoza, Romel Aguirre, Mark Anthony Bon, Daniel La Fuente & Grace Enovejas- 1:07:41
2. Rizalaide Angulunan, Marc Ian Animas, Nikko Alava, Ed Kevin Rabano & Erico dela Cruz- 1:09:11
3. Cris John Garcia, Kristine Tingzon, Ryan Joseph Banbilla, Anthony Larrazabal & Antonio Lim- 1:10:02
Takbo.ph together with Lead Pack were the organizers of the event.
Featured/ Cover Photo credits: Crossfit Manila
About The Author
Adrian John Ladaga
Adrian started running in 2012 and instantly fell in love with the sport. He now frequents local road and trailrunning events. For him running is simple: "you take one foot in front of another and repeat the process over and over again." You can catch him running in Roxas Boulevard and SM MOA area. When not on his running kicks, he steps in the shoes of a content writer and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert.