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My Milo Story - Bacolod Leg |
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I have never run a Milo race in Manila. I missed it several times. Many times I am not able to wake up early or the rain was so hard I thought it will be cancelled. But this year, I decided to join the Milo Marathon Eliminations in Bacolod. Not that I want to qualify. I just wanted to run in my hometown.
Finisher's Area at the Bacolod Provincial Lagoon
Months before the race, I invited Jerry aka High Altitude if he was interested to join the Milo-Bacolod race. He agreed and we took the same plane going to Bacolod. Jerry is an Indonesian but knows how to speak Tagalog and even Ilonggo. Getting back to Bacolod was special to him since he was once a missionary in the town of Bago. Bago is a town about 21K south of Bacolod.
Bacolod is in Negros Occidental. I was told that about 70% of the National Atheletes in Athletics comes from this province. Tinikal naman kami ay... :D
I asked my friend in Bacolod to register for us. So when we arrived, I
just picked up the race packet. Jerry and I excitedly opened the
envelope containing the race bib and the singlet. But something was
missing. The race packet did not contain information on where and what
time the race will start. There was no race map as well.
I texted Lester of Milo who was also in Bacolod to assist the race and
he provided us with the info for the start time and starting area. Jerry tried to trace the route by
following the Milo banners. We learned that the route was to start
from the Bacolod Provincial Lagoon, then going north to Robinson's Bacolod and
turning right to Bata. From Bata, we would follow the Circumferential
Road until Lopue's East for the turnaround point.
My first Bacolod Race
I set my alarm clock at 4:30am. I didn't woke up. Good thing, mama
and papa woke me up by 4:45. They came all the way from Pontevedra to
watch the race and to serve as my support crew. I hurriedly dress up
and prepared my things for the race.
When we arrived at the Provincial Lagoon, the race was about to start.
The 21K runners are already in front waiting for the gun start. Jerry
was already there. I was approached by Nonoy from Iloilo. He is one
of the member of the forum and I was glad to meet him at last. He also
run the Milo Manila last July. Doc Gigi of Happy Feet was also there.
We use to join races in Manila and now she is back in her hometown in
Victorias.
A few more minutes until gun start. I checked my things. Shoelaces
intact, check. Race bib checked-in, check. Running cap, check, Eye
wear, check. Timer watch, check. GPS... Searching Satellites... Searching Satellites... Searching Satellites... BANG!!! The race just
started. Please Check GPS sensor... Oh no.
Weather is just as strange in Bacolod as it is in Manila. It was hot
when we arrived last Friday. Then it rained on Saturday. We were
unsure what the weather will be on Sunday morning so we prepared for
both sun and rain. But it was cloudy for the duration of the race.
Maybe that's the reason why my GPS had a hard time looking for a
signal. The rain the previous night made some parts of the route muddy.
I expected very few 21K runners. But I think there were about 100
runners who joined the 21K. Very few women. Later I learned that
about 4,000 runners joined the event and mostly coming from schools.
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Last update: 01-09-2009 12:13
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