By Maui Daton / Photos by Jack Morales
I STARTED joining the Run United races in 2012, and the first of that year’s series was actually just my fifth since I started running in late 2011. Back then, even though the series was just beginning to gain support from what was then a very young running community, its reputation as one of the most well-organized running events in the country was already widely known and acknowledged.
Fast forward to 2015, and now, aside from still being one of the most well-organized, Unilab Active Health’s Run United series is also one of the most well-attended in the country.
On June 7, runners of all shapes and sizes trooped to the SM Mall of Asia grounds for the second installment of the 2015 series. Most of them had also ran the first one in this year’s multipart series, held on March 8, and, like myself, were also continuing the advancement toward longer distances and more challenging routes.
The ingenuity of the Run United series is that it is a progression of distances scheduled all throughout the year which encourages runners to level up and become stronger and faster by the end of the annual running cycle. At the same time, the series still has shorter distances for those who are just at the starting line of their running careers.
The venue was already packed with excited runners when we arrived. Those running the 32-kilometer distance had to be divided into two waves for the runners to be properly managed and sent to the starting line. An addition to this year’s edition is the inclusion of official pacers for each category, so that the runners who are aiming to set a personal record can be guided by more experienced senior runners. This setup ensures the safety of the runners and guarantees that help is provided to those who need it.
The gun was fired for the first wave at exactly 3 am. I and my teammate from Team BusinessMirror were both in the second wave, which kicked off just five minutes after the first. As expected, the route was well laid-out and support for runners in terms of hydration and medic aid was abundant throughout the race course. We opted for a slower pace and we finished the race in just a little over five hours, but they didn’t run out of bananas and cold drinks for us. The sky was overcast that morning which was really very fortunate because had the sun come out, it would have been almost twice as difficult to finish the race. Of course, we could still feel the humidity starting to build up even with the sun hiding behind the clouds, but that was so much better than getting hit with direct sunlight.
One of the more distinctive features of the Run United series is the unique finisher’s medal. Each year the design is different, but ever since I joined the races, they have been giving out medals that are like parts of a puzzle, and if you join all the races progressively, the three medals that you would have collected after you finish the third leg can be joined to form one cohesive motif that represents the theme for the year. Any runner would be really proud to display such a collection of medals.
And so a little after 8 am, my teammate and I finally reached the finish line and we were awarded the second piece of the medal puzzle for this year. The fastest male runner of the 32-km distance, David Kipsang, finished the race with a gun time of 02:03:38, while the fastest female, Nhea Ann Barcena, finished at 02:32:45. For the 21-km distance, Cipriane John Topia topped the male category with a time of 01:22:05, while the best female was Shirley Ordonez at 01:49:03.
There were a total of 9,612 finishers for all categories of this year’s second leg, with 3,671 or 38.2 percent participating in the 32-km category, which was a significant increase from last year’s 2,795 32-km total finishers for the same leg of the series. This is an indicator of how the running community as a whole is maturing, and how the series is helping runners become faster and stronger, while, at the same time, encouraging newbies to try the healthy running lifestyle.
The Run United RunRio Trilogy over the years has become an essential part of the running community’s calendar, and many runners can attest to the positive impact the series has had on their growth and development not just in the field of running but also in other aspects of their lives. I, too, can attest to that. My participation has helped me achieve a quite enviable work-life balance and helped me in my fitness goals. I am truly looking forward for the next installment of the series. There are two more, the Run United Philippine Marathon, and the Run United Recovery Run. I am certain that as much as I enjoyed running the previous ones, I will certainly enjoy running these, too.
n Team BusinessMirror (TBM) has been participating in the Run United series since 2012. Officially established on October 18, 2011, TBM is comprised of BusinessMirror employees and their families and friends sharing a common interest in and enthusiasm for running, hiking, biking and swimming. Members include competitive and casual runners, hikers and ultra/trail-marathon runners. You may follow us on Twitter, Instagram and “Like” our page on Facebook via TeamBMirror.
Image credits: Jack Morales