Ayala Malls Eco Dash

The Ayala Malls Eco Dash took the Bonifacio Global City by storm — literally! It has been raining several days before the race so I expected (and even wished for) a downpour on race day. But when I woke up at 4AM to prepare for the race and it was raining so hard, I suddenly felt guilty. Ang lakas ko pala magdasal.

We rushed to the venue only to find out that the race was delayed by 30 minutes, apparently to give allowance to runners arriving late due to the heavy rains. It was drizzling so we took cover under one of the booths while waiting for our respective gun starts. As I took my position towards the starting line, the drizzle turned into a downpour as if the clouds were cheering for us! The 3K racers squealed in excitement at the rains and “BANG!” we ran off.

Having been unable to warm up, I went easy with my run. All throughout the race, I walked when I got tired and ran when I got bored. This was my first time to run without my music. I didn’t bring my iPod Touch because I was sure it was going to get wet (and broken). I don’t know if not having music was good for my run but I sure didn’t have my Spice Girls cheering on me. Hehehe.

The air was cool. The route was easy. The route markers were displaced by the strong winds. There were sufficient race marshalls. There were even ladies taking note of our race bib numbers for reasons I do not know.

I was informed that the bar code attached to the race bib was for time monitoring but all the organizers did was collect the bar code as we crossed the finish line. Until now, race results are not yet out. It was hard to estimate the race time too because they only had one timer and it started with the 21K race.

Anyway, this was my second 3K race and my goal was to do better than my first 3K, which was the Globe Run for Home. I had been training — running, swimming, and doing yoga — since that first race so I was confident that I would do better. So imagine my horror and disappointment when I found out that my estimated, unofficial time for the Eco Dash was 33 minutes! Eek! That’s 3 minutes more than my very first, training-less, virgin run! How can that be?

Out of curiosity, I plotted the route on MapMyRun.com and discovered that the actual race route was not an exact 3K. It was 3.4K. From there, I did some math and was pleased to find out that I ran at a slightly faster pace than my first run. More than that, I realized that a better measure of “doing better” is how my body felt after the race. Unlike after my first race, my body was not aching all over and my legs were just fine. What a huge improvement! Even if I hadn’t run a faster pace, I would still be grateful that my body is now able to handle bigger challenges.