kaibigan, tunay ka bang isa sa amin? sama na.

Dahil ikaw ay isang tunay na mananakbo, ikaw ay malugod na inaanyayahan ng frontRUNNER magazine, ang Pambansang Babasahin ng mga Mananakbo, sa unang yugto ng ” i am a frontRUNNER” running clinic na gaganapin sa ROX, Bonifacio High Street, June 24, 2010 mula 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm. LIbre ang registration at pangungunahan ng inyong kapwa-mananakbong sina Jovie Narcise (aka Baldrunner), Enrico Tocol at Francis Sta. Maria na pawang magbibigay ng mga opinyon upang kayo, bilang isang mananakbo, ay magkaroon ng mas magandang pananaw sa ating minamahal na gawain.

Ito pa ay hatid sa inyo ng ROX, Phiten, KT Tape Pro, Beach Hut, Growers-the Health Nut, Pocari Sweat, The Radio Partners, Inc., Vibram Five Fingers at Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar.

Magkita-kita po tayo.

makibaka, huwag matakot.

no, this is not your regular red independence day sentiment from your hammer and sickle-carrying friends.

there are a few things running (what else) in my mind right now and i would like it to reach the finish line if only to put them into rest. truth is medyo gasgas na ito. pero tulad ng aking mga kaibigang militante na walang sawang tumutuligsa laban sa gobyerno, oil price hike, mataas na matrikula, human rights at kung anu-ano pa, muli ko itong uusisain tulad ng pang-uusisa ng aking mga kaibigan sa kongreso at senado.

CHEAP REGISTRATION FEES

“that’s cheap, 550 pesos lang for a 10k race.” so said a running mother to her kid last friday evening while i was at a store looking around. deep inside, i was like, “you should have seen it when running a 10k was just 200 bucks a bang.”

200 bucks for a 10k bang, that’s about 20 bucks for a kilometer.

today, at current running rates, a 3k will cost you 450, a 5k, 500, a 10k for 550 and a 21k for 750. there’s some sanity somewhere in the marathon (42) and ultra-marathon (50 and up) where fees are kept down to “acceptable” levels.

here we go again. at 450 for a 3k, that’s 150 pesos per k and so on. at 500 for the milo 42,that’s 11.91 ppk. an 850-peso 65k ultra is 13.08 ppk.

madami-dami na rin akong nababasang sentimiyento tungkol sa usaping ito. sa nakaraang balitaktakan, aking hinimay ang usaping ito. may mga opinyon na ako ay sumang-ayon pero meron din namang hindi, subali’t aking nirerespeto ang anumang opinyon meron ang isang tao.

simple lamang ang aking gustong iparating sa mga nagsasabing porke’t mababa ang registration fees ay pangit na ang karera. hindi po. marami patakbo dito sa metro manila at mga karatig-pook na nagbibigay-aliw sa mga mananakbo sa murang halaga at maayos naman ang nagiging kahinatnan. maaaring ang mga patakbong ito ay walang mga bonggang emcees o lv’s (loot vags) subali’t sa kabuuan ay maayos ang resulta ng isang karera. di man siguro masaya ang lahat,  ang karamihan naman ay umuuwing nakangiti.

sa katunayan, may mga mataas ang mga fees na palpak pa din ang resulta. ganoon pa man, di din maitatatwa na may mga patakbong matataas ang fees pero sulit ang pagbabayad nito.pero sa bawa’t juan at maria na noon ay nakikita kong tumatakbo sa mga karera, ngayon ay” please excuse me na lang” ang masasabi at tatakbo na lamang ng lsd mag-isa.

early last year, i started on my own quest to become more cost-conscious and selective in choosing my races when fees started rising.

then again, i am aware that this has become business, a very good business as a matter of fact. and as the timeless business adage goes, strike while the iron is hot. and while the runners are so hotter into running the races.

kung sana ang mga fees ay gaya ng men’s shorts na kung noon ay sobrang ikli ay ngayon naman ay mababang-mababa na at di na tunay matatawag na short pants. parang mga palda na ginawang shorts lang, di ba?

like the skirt that has gone from mini to micro-mini and perhaps mini-micro-mini , racing fees has been rising faster before one could say, apir!

feel ko ang piso ko. ikaw, feel mo piso mo?

RACE ORGANIZERS

organizers, organize!

some organizers never learn. just last weekend’s race which was supposed to celebrate our independence day turned into nothing else like it. nothing to celebrate.

friends wrote about the short distance,very short distance. 3k is unforgivable! if i were you, i’d ask for a refund. why, someone i know had to cut short her run out of frustration.

lack of marshals and directional signs and water.holy crap.

late start.mass start.bad idea.

boy,it just keeps going. i wonder if this race will go into the guinness book.

and we are not yet talking about those ill-fitting singlets, marshals who ripped off the bar codes off your singlet and organizers who change the race course hours just before race start.

is there still any interested party out there looking after the organizers? anyone, anyone at all?

of course, i am aware that my superior,sir jovie narcise, has called their attention and in fact gathered them in a meeting sometime ago. but then again out of exasperation perhaps, last time i heard, sir jovie is or has resigned from his patafa post. sir?

to my friend jinoe, may i make a suggestion? if any organizer wants his race listed up sa race skeds page ng takbo.ph, please REQUIRE them to have their names listed as organizers if only to properly guide our fellow runners into making good decisions before parting away with their hard-earned money. thank you.

you see, we, runners, have to make kayod for each peso we make to have the pesos to run a legit race.

the proud ilocano that i am, i choose to run free whenever the heat of the rising fees becomes unbearable. my pesos are better spent stopping for goodies that i really need at sari-sari stores that are just about in every road corner. rather than spend my weekly take on costly fees that gives away lv’s whose contents i really don’t have any use for.

organizers, please do not wait for the time when for lack of better things to do, congress and senate will call for a hearing on road races and you will hear manong teddy go ballistic on you sons of…running.

MARATHON, the word

“It is common for IAAF-certified courses to be intentionally lengthened by one metre per km to ensure that they are not short. In the case of a marathon, this extra distance amounts to about 46 yards.” -Wikipedia

like what i have said in my facebook account, i heard and watched with amusement when a young singer was interviewed on televesion that she just did a marathon and when asked what the distance was,she said, “5k”.

she was mighty proud saying it. i guess all runners are after running a good race. i understand the enthusiasm.

but then again, webster, wikipedia and all the dictionaries out there can’t be wrong with the definition of the word. IT is a 42.195-kilometer long-distance foot race.period.nothing else.

some friends told me to go easy on the misuse. well guys, i am with you there. i have nothing against our fellow runners being proud of their feet’s feats but my point is to do justice to what the original marathoner,Pheidippides, did centuries ago. i guess i can’t be wrong if i’d say he’d be happy if we use the word properly. kawawa naman ang mama.

guys, be proud not because you did a marathon. be prouder because of all the efforts you put into making your dream a reality. do not forget the early morning runs, the carbo-loading, the missed dates, late reports in office and all those little white lies you had to make to your bosses because you were out there training hard.

even my friend  jaymie, the bullrunner, made it a ritual of sorts to have an aspiring runner become a marathoner in the true sense of the word. the guys and girls who made it past the finish line over at nuvali surely deserved to be called marathoners no less. ask them what they had to go through in reaching for their dreams and perhaps you will have a grasp of what i am yakking about.

and take this not as an affront, my fellow runners, but instead may this be an inspiration for you to train harder and run farther to be truly and deservedly called a marathoner.

my friends, it takes more than just a slip of the tongue to be called a marathoner.

understand that it takes a lot of sacrifice to be truly called one.

BANDIT

drop me one compelling reason why you should run as a bandit.

if and if at all, go tell that to the marines.

i heart you all out there running. gusto ko happy lahat tayo.

t’yo paeng asks: can you STILL afford an LV?

sa mabilis na pagdaan ng mga araw, eto at halos nangangalahati na tayo sa taong ito.

noong 2008 na ako ay unang nalulong sa pagtakbo,linggo-linggo ako kung sumali sa mga karera.tuwing linggo.pati sabado kung meron.

tanda ko pa noon ang unang 10k ko.

marso 2008 sa the fort ng sumubok uli akong kumarera sa pinay in action 10k.200 pesos lang at may loot bag na. on site  registration pa.walang pakialaman kung late ang gunstart.ang mga laman ng LV(Loot Vag) ay di ko maaring gamitin maliban sa sabong panlaba. walang gaanong fiesta-like atmosphere noon. napansin kong masasaya ang mga tumatakbo at wala pang gaanong mga istraktura sa the fort liban na lamang sa bagong tayong bhs at ang dating adidas basketball camp.

mula noon, pinanay-panay ko na ang pagtakbo.napadpad sa u.p., cavite, baguio, luneta,moa nguni’t ang bulto ng karera ko ay sa the fort pa rin.

masaya ang kapaligiran. nakilala ko ang mga bagong kaibigan. nabuo ang team hardcore.mura pa din ang registration fees.

hanggang dumating ang 2009.

sa aking pagkakatanda, sumalubong ang taong 2009  na may patakbong 750 pesos para sa 21k.sumali pa din ako at sa mga sumunod pang patakbo subali’t unti-unti kong napansin na mula 200 pesos kada karera ay tumaas na sa 250,300,350,400,450,500,600,750 pesos ang registration fees.

if you do the numbers, say for a 400-peso 3k race, that’s about 133.33 pesos per kilometer. for 600-peso 5k races ,that’s 120 ppk. for 600-700- peso 10ks ,that’s 60-70 ppk. things are quite saner in 21ks,42ks and for that matter ultramarathons(50k and up) where the rates of 750-950 per race  is more acceptable at 17.85 ppk for a 750-peso 42k.but , i joined  four milo 42s at 200 pesos a bang and that was just  last year. and for a 750-peso 50k ultra, that’s just 15 ppk!

sa pangyayaring ito,unti-unti din akong namili ng sasalihang karera.kumonti ang sinalihan ko.kung noong marso hanggang december 2008 ay nasa mga 30 ang karera ko,sa BUONG 2009 naman ay nasa 30 na lang siguro.basta ang alam ko,nagbawas ako ng sinalihan.

ang dahilan? ang patuloy na pagtaas ng registration fees.

i have nothing against those in the business of  running a race.they work hard so they have to earn their keep.

considering the high prices, i am pretty impressed with the huge attendance rates a run has.someone’s raking it all in and laughing his way all to the bank,deservedly no doubt.

but let me go back again to the not-so-long past.i remember when i knew practically everyone who was running.today,i’d be lucky to bump into them before,during and after a race if at  all.not that i don’t want making new friends but i miss the friends i made from running races.

now let me go back to today.

it’s good that more and more people are into running these days.as i can see, bulk of race attendees are in the 3 and 5k distances although the 10 and 21ks have their numbers growing too.i won’t be surprised to have the coming milo 42 elims swelling in numbers.and i won’t be surprised any further if the philippines will have the highest number of runners vis-a-vis our population or something like that.

so what’s my problem?

mataas na registration fees.it has taken the fun out of running races.not even the most beautiful of emcees and the sleekest of gadgets on and off stage and loads of freebies can make up for the fun.you what i mean, i hope.

but then again, it works well for the running community,this exploding running population.come one, come all.i am also happy that local races(not all) have standards at par with international races(at least those that are talked about anyway).

i guess that we have to blame the law of supply and demand, don’t we? or who or what must be the reason behind all these escalations?

so someone tells me, “don’t join if you don’t want to and have the others who have the means, join.” well and good.

sa palagay niyo kaya, ano ang ipinupunta na mga tumatakbo sa mga karera?

ang kaligayahan ng pagsali o ang post-race activities at mga freebies? pag iniisip ko naman, parang hindi freebie o loot bag ang tawag kasi nga naman pag nagbayad ako ng mataas,parang binayaran ko din ang laman ng loot bags ko na ang mga laman naman,karamihan ay di ko kailangan.

hindi din masasabi ng mga organizer na binabayaran natin ang mga inumin at pagkain sa mga aid station sapagka’t ang pagkakaintindi ko ay mga sponsors at ultimo banderitas na nakasabit kung saan-saan ay may sponsors.kung may sponsors,may bayad. kung mas madaming sponsors…do the math.

organizers can always point to charitable beneficiaries.they have a point there.maraming marshals na dapat bayaran.good point din.mas malaking karera,mas maraming gastusin.mismo.

in the end,organizers have their own legitimate reasons for raising registration fees.new innovations have a price and that we have to pay for.and more importantly, i am happy with the way races are being conducted nowadays.the cost seems  to be justifiable enough.

then again, natataasan pa din ako.i can always look back to 300-peso races all-in. fun and run with loot bags to boot.personally ,i don’t join races for loot bags.they are just icing on the cake,thank you pag meron.thank you pag wala.

in the end, i hope that those organizing the races will give more acceptable fees that the everyday juan can afford.

on the other hand,acceptable fees ay debatable pa din in terms of what is acceptable.

sa ating mga makunat at have-nots naman, we can always have the roads free to run on.

don’t ask me about bandit-running a race because of the cost.been there,done that.but only because i did not qualify for the finals.still paid for a 10k race but did the full.oh well, the end does not justify the means.guilty as hell never the less.

there will always be two sides to a coin.there will be always a happy and a sad one.there will always be a plus where there is a minus.the possibilities are endless.

as for me, i will stick to running but not necessarily to paying my way to a race.bandit again? that i can say,never again.

last na hirit.kung kaya ng iba magpatakbo sa 300-350 sa mga 10k,bakit di puwedeng kayanin ng iba? may LV pa din namang kasama.

see you july 4 where,for better or for worse, the registration fees have gone up too. team hardcore, it’s our annual reunion run.

as a runner, i can feel you t’yo paeng.and fellow runners. and dear organizers.

sabi nga ni t’yo paeng, iisa na lang ang bumababa.