My first 21K run (aka Half Mary or Half Marathon). NatGeo Earth Day Run 2018 (22 April 2018 Mall of Asia)
We arrived at 315am. No available parking space. We waited for MOA to open its multilevel parking at 330am. 330am is the gun time for 21K. We’re late. Nothing we could do.
We reached the Start Line at 350am. About half of the 6,000+ 21K racers we’re already at their 3K distance.
I took my time. No need to race with them. Gonna race with myself. Asthma, knee and plantar issues would not stop me. Even if I had to crawl and drag myself, I would finish this.
After 2hrs and 50mins of walking and running, I reached the Finish Line, 100% whole. No cramps. No aching knees. No leg pains.
The NatGeo Earth Day Run 2018
Pros:
– Organized by RunRio
– Nice race singlet design
– Drifit quality fabric
– Good race routes
– Race lanes are fairly safe, well lit and even. No potholes.
– Finisher Medal and Shirt for 21K
– Lots of hydration stations
– Lots of muscle relaxant spray stations
– Banana station
– More than enough support team
– Lots of sponsors
– No disposable cups at hydration stations. NatGeo were criticized in the past races for disposable cups trash littering the race lanes.
– Race inclusions Towel and Water Bottle were part of the race kit upon registration.
Cons:
– No 16K, 32K, 42K distances
– 21K Finisher shirt does not have the “21K Finisher” print. It becomes just a NatGeo promotional shirt. (I exchanged my generic Finisher Shirt for the blue race singlet. I now have both black and blue singlets. I prefer singlets as I could use them in other sports).
– 21K Finisher Medal is simple (though big) and has incorrect spelling engraving “21KM FINISHE”.
– Wrong race singlets given to a number of registrants.
– Bottleneck at the Finish Line (For medal queue) making the registered run time not reflective of one’s race.
– Confusion at the 10K distance as some were given medals, others were not.
– Very few photographers
– No sighting of big time celebs or celeb athletes. (No Miss Earth Philippines candidates/runners. Hehe.)
– Limited parking space.
– Seems like the Advisory that no disposable/plastic cups at hydration stations was not properly disseminated as about 2/3 of 21K runners did not bring their water bottles.
– Too many runners. Expensive registration fees.
– Business Run not Fun Run.
Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of Active Pinas.
