Bohol International Marathon 2018 Race Recap

I considered the Bohol International Marathon as one of the must-run marathons in the country. It serves as an escape from the noisy and polluted route in Manila. However, this year’s Bohol International Marathon wasn’t the run in paradise as I expected it to be. Still, it’s a promising race that will continue to lure runners here and abroad.

Registration and Claiming

After confirming that I would be free on the 26th of August, I registered online for the Bohol International Marathon. I visited Bohol while I was still in high school and the marathon was a good excuse to be back. I missed the old and historic churches of Bohol although many of them were destroyed during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 2013.

The claiming was at Kew Hotel which was conveniently located near the Tagbilaran City Hall. The place was easy to find but they seemed to have a hard time finding my race kit when it was my turn in the line for claiming. I waited for about 15 minutes before I got my race kit. But others were lucky to get theirs in less than 2 minutes.

The 21KM

The starting line was in a parking lot at Alona Beach in Panglao. Close to 500 runners lined up for the 21K. The race started on time as announced. It was a bit dark in some areas but once we were on the main highway, the street lamps were bright enough to light up the roads. The roads were all well paved. No potholes. Nothing to trip upon.

Since it was still dark, you won’t notice the uphills. It looks like the entire course is flat. I was able to maintain my pace of 10:30 min/mile all through out the first 10KMs.

After the turn around point, I increased my speed to 9:00 min/mile. I aim to finish under 2:15 and so far I am just within that range. Ultimately, my goal is to finally break the sub-2 hour half marathon this year. Thus, the Bohol International Marathon serves as a good benchmark if I can finally breach this milestone in the next races that I have signed up for.

Food Station Distraction

With 5KMs left, I finally met the climax of the route — the food station! The Bohol International Marathon has the grandest food station. I was greeted by fruits, chicken wings and lechon. Instead of keeping up my pace, I decided to stopover for a few minutes to grab a bite. I only took a chicken wing since I am not used to eat while running. If I had more time, this could have been my breakfast already.

The Extra Mile

My GPS watch shows that I am just 1 mile away from the finish line. At the same time, a KM marker says that the finish line was still 3KMs away. I thought that the marker was just misplaced since I did not see that many KM markers along the route.

However, the marshal told me to take detour. I asked again if it was part of the 21K route and they said yes. I followed the instructions and made the detour. I was hoping that the detour would just be a short one. But it was right inside the Bluewater Resort.

On my way out, I can hear fellow runners murmuring about the excess distance. “Sobra kaayo…”

The Finish Line

I finished the 21K race at 2:26:29 and ranked at #47!!! My GPS watch has registered 14.3 miles though. That’s about 2KM of extra mileage. The 42KM runners had their extra mile as well.

Anyway, the race served a testing ground on how prepared I am for a sub-2 attempt. The first 10KM was at 10:30 for a training pace while the next 10KM was a race pace at 9:30 min/mile. I am not yet close to a sub-2 but at least I know I can manage a faster speed on the last stretch.

Now, I need to focus again to maintain my speed from start to finish. Hopefully, I can nail that sub-2 before the year ends.

Bohol International Marathon Race Review

I liked the route. It was pretty simple with some uphills but it was manageable. The 21K route was mostly on the main highway. There was ample street lights for most part of the route but some parts were not lighted. I did not have a headlamp but it can be useful for the 42KM runners.

Hydration station were well stocked and the food station was really superb! I have never seen anything like it along the route.

The finisher entitlements were good too. The finisher shirt design is just simple and yet comfortable to wear. The medal design was intricate and well crafted.

Police and Traffic support was great. They were placed in many locations along the route including roving vehicles to look over the safety of the runners. I see many of them to be very busy as they really get in the middle of the road to tell vehicles to slow down.

Overall, the event was well-organized. Except for the excess distance, the organizers have the basics well covered. But the Bohol International Marathon will hopefully step up for a grander finish.

The road towards the finish fine was crowded with vehicles parked on both sides of the road. It was not a pretty sight for those who want to sprint towards the finish line. A designated parking space away from the finish area would be nice.

There were very few kilometer markers which could have been helpful in keeping an accurate distance. There are also very few signs on the event area. There was no label on which tent to claim the finisher entitlements. It’s easy to ask anyway since there are just a few runners. But if the Bohol International Marathon plans to grow exponentially bigger, the organizers need step up and look into the smaller details.

The Bohol International Marathon is usually held towards the end of August and it is a wonderful time to visit Bohol as well. What will always be unique with the Bohol International Marathon is the chance to explore the scenic sights of Bohol and the beaches of Panglao before and after the race.

While the race was not perfect, the event has a lot of potential to create an even better running experience for the participants. See you again, Bohol.