MaBOTEng Usapan

Daanin natin ito sa MaBOTEng Usapan.

Last year, we saw and experienced the damage of Typhoon Ondoy. Many Pinoys have been displaced and lost their properties. The tragedy also claimed several lives. A year after, some less fortunate kababayans of ours have not recovered.

One institution that is sought to be rebuilt is a school in Taguig City. Through the initiative of MYSHELTER, led by social-entrepreneur Illiac Diaz, the school will be reconstructed using a revolutionary architectural technique using plastic soda PET bottles.

In line with this objective, Diaz is spearheading the Bottle School Run on June 13, 2010 at the Bonifacio Global City. The race will have a 3k, 5k and 10k events.

Interested runners and sponsors can inquire for more race details by visiting http://www.bottleschoolproject.org or http://www.bottleschoolproject.org.

Inquiries may be directed to thebottleschoolrun@gmail.com mailto:thebottleschoolrun@gmail.com or to Liza Fumar, Co-lead, The
Bottle School Run, through 0927 284 54 36. Alternatively, interested parties may contact Edward Kho, Race Director, through 0915-9990187.


Participants are encouraged to bring empty 1.5 or 2 liter plastic bottles on the race day.

Bottles = Building Blocks

Illiac Diaz

D-Day

D-Day in photos.

Dream Marathon Day.

I was  not running the event but I felt so excited. It was a shooting day for me so I packed my cameras and some spare lenses. Indiscriminate shooting all morning.

Congratulations to all finishers, Dream Chasers, Marshals and the Dream Team!

Course manager, a.k.a. Balagoong, Edward Kho briefs marshals and Dream Chasers a little past midnight.

Jim peps up the runners as Jaymie and Albert watch.

Checking in.

Albert’s new-found cheering team.

TE42 + before the race.

Ocsy, Wong, Greg

Buddies Miguel and Lit

Solemates. Jun and Mariele Cruz.

And they are off!

Greg in grimace. He finished strong!

Happy and Gail 🙂

Tears of Joy

Family affair. Mariel gets a warm hug from her family.

Photovendo. Ben with his “The Rock” look and Lala.

Graduation Photo

TBR Dream Marathoners warm up to Sublime’s Santeria.

Coach Jim Lafferty giving last minute instructions.

Dreaming Big

RUNNERS MAKE THEIR DREAMS A REALITY AT THE BULL RUNNER DREAM MARATHON IN NUVALI

Come May 22, 2010, the rapidly growing running community in the country will usher in a new breed of runners who will be more than proud to be identified as The Bull Runner Dream Marathoners. 300-strong accomplished individuals coming from varied professional backgrounds. Mostly first-time marathoners. All exceptional runners, in their own right. They excel in their chosen field. Now they are set to conquer the local running scene as they metamorphose into gutsy, confident yet big-hearted marathoners.

To the 300 participants, TBR Dream Marathon in NUVALI is the fulfillment of their ultimate marathon goal. And rightfully so. The TBR Dream Marathon in NUVALI has carefully laid out the path to achieving their goal in a dream-like approach: provision of a 16-week step-by-step marathon training plan; once-a-month Bull Sessions (run clinics) supervised by Team Secondwind Running Store; once-a-month Bull Circles (running talks) featuring known experts in the running circuit and fitness and medical field; and, fielding of 30 Dream Chasers – a ground-breaking concept in pacing runners – who will be running, supporting and cheering the participants throughout the course. Completing an almost trance-like marathon experience for the participants is a serene and scenic view that weaves through the race course, provided by the vast and seamless neo-bucolic expanse of NUVALI in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Further setting apart the TBR Dream Marathon from other regular races is the emphasis on non-competition. Every participant who crosses the finish line will be hailed as a winner. The TBR Dream Marathon in NUVALI is a marathon to celebrate the joy of running and to inspire runners to dream big and achieve the impossible in their lives.

TBR Dream Marathon in NUVALI is the brainchild of The Bull Runner, Jaymie Pizarro, and internationally renowned race director and former Procter & Gamble country manager, Jim Lafferty. After successfully completing her first official marathon in Singapore in 2009, TBR, with the help of Coach Jim as race director, saw to it that her dream of providing an exceptional marathon experience in the most ideal setting with the best support around to aspirants will become a reality. Joining ranks with TBR and Coach Jim to ensure the realization of the dreams of future marathoners are runners and standouts in the local running scene: steering as technical director is Second Wind principal, Pinoy Ultra Runners founder, and noted trail race organizer Neville Manaois; suiting up as legal consultant is prolific runner-blogger, of Everybody Loves Raymund blog fame (www.therainman96.wordpress.com), Atty. Raymund Martelino; and, shoring up as course manager is five-time marathon finisher and Conquer Corregidor race director Edward Kho.

As TBR Dream Marathon in NUVALI climaxes to a sterling finish, it certainly will take an eminent place in the annals of the widely-followed blog http://www.thebullrunner.com (2008 Philippine Blog Awards Sports Blog of the Year) and running community’s highly anticipated bi-monthly running magazine, The Bull Runner Magazine.

The Bull Runner Dream Marathon in NUVALI is presented by Nike Park, Oakley, and HSBC, venue sponsored by NUVALI, in cooperation with Secondwind Running Store, Nature Valley, Cecon, Gatorade, Phiten, P&G, Finish Line, and Photovendo, supported by Hammer Nutrition, Timex, Dole, Alaxan FR, Hersheys, ROX, Res Toe Run, Chris Sports, Tang Fruit Teaz, Tiger, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Hidden Spring, and Jack N’ Jill Nova. TBR Dream Marathon partners include Men’s Health, RunTV, Run Radio for media, El Cielito Hotels for hotel and Creative Juice Communications for logisitics.

I Slept and Woke up in Runner’s Heaven

After several attempts, I finally got the chance to meet up with Jud Santos of the Adobo New York City Running Club.

Jud coaches speed training every Tuesday nights in Central Park and does other programs the rest of the week. I came to observe but Jud asked me to join their drill. Phyllis, a Kenyan member of the group, told me there are no spectators in the club. Man, I thought, I’m in for something! I have never done any speedwork before. Nonetheless, I agreed to do the workout.

We did a short warm up along the Bridle Path, which used to be a dirt path reserved just for horses.

Jud gives the group instructions for the workout.

Bridle Path from above.

Water break. New York boasts of clean tap water. Central Park has a lot of drinking fountains. Notice the catch basin below the fountain? It’s for dogs.

(Thanks to Gem Racraquin of Timex for the shirt. Someone asked if I did the Ironman because of the shirt. Ha!)

Photo op before the workout. We did six 800 meter laps around the Great Lawn at different paces. Jud divided us into different pace groups.

Man, the others were really fast!

I think this was after the third or fourth lap. See our smiles?

In this photo (L-R): Carolyn, Rich, Mandy, Andrew, Jess, Paul, Erin, Phyllis, me, Jet, Mike and Paul.

Map of Central Park with markings of our route.

No trip to New York by any runner should go by without shopping for gear and shoes. There are several running specialty stores, as well as sporting goods shops in the city but I chose to shop in this store in Grand Central Terminal and their branch along 3rd Avenue.

Unlike our local stores, the shops in NY have the latest models of shoes, apparel and accessories. There are so many choices!

In Manila, you buy a singlet or jersey and you share the color with hundreds of runners!

Photo op with the helpful and knowledgeable salesman. This gives me away as a tourist!

Running is a lifestyle in New York. People here do it as often as they can, even during their midday on their lunch breaks. And why not? They have running-friendly fair weather most of the year. They have lots of parks and open spaces. Right smack in the middle of the city is Central Park, a haven for all sorts of activities. Central Park is a runner’s (and biker’s) utopia.

On the flip side, what we lack in open spaces and parks in Manila we compensate for with weekly races. I worry however that if organized races don’t come so often the running community will lose it’s drive. In my opinion, running in the Philippines is still in it’s infancy stage. There’s still so much we can do to promote running as a sport and as a lifestyle.

For one, we should lobby for running lanes and runners’ rights. Government should recognize that runners, bikers and pedestrians also have the right to our streets! At the very least, there should be more safe, secure and clean open spaces in the metro. This is not impossible. Marikina did it. They have bike lanes, a sports complex and lots of parks. UP now has a bike and running lane along the Academic Oval. It’s time for more affirmative action.

Thanks Jud for some of the photos and for showing me around “runner’s heaven”. Until next time!

I finished the day with dinner at Smith & Wollensky on 3rd Avenue. Prime rib, medium well done with asparagus and sour cream on the side…yum! Rewarded myself for an intense workout.

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At the Nation’s Capital

What better way to tour the Nation’s Capital? Run!

We only had two days in Washington D.C. so we had little time to view the sites. Walking around takes much time. Taking a car would be more difficult because of the limited parking space caused by traffic and tourists.

Ella and I did a slow, sightseeing run around the city, taking frequent picture-taking stops. We started at around 7am to avoid the horde of tourists. This turned out to be a good decision.

I would like to share our route and the sites we saw.

We started from our Hotel, the Washington Plaza located in Thomas Circle. We made our way down 14th Street then turned to 16th Street towards Lafayette Square.

Just across the Square is the front lawn of the White House. At this time, there were very few tourists around. There were also no snipers on the roof and few secret service agents on the ground.

The sad part is that we didn’t have anybody to take our photos. Cops around the block will not entertain requests for a snapshot.

Across the National Mall is the Lincoln Memorial. To get here, we traversed 17th Street and Constitution Avenue. We passed by the tranquil waters of Constitution Garden’s Pond and the Vietnam War Memorial. Running is prohibited along the path of the Vietnam War Memorial.

Opposite the Lincoln Memorial is the Washington Memorial and the Capitol. From this area, you can see the tree line of Reflecting Pool pointing to the World War II Memorial. To the east of the Lincoln Memorial is the Korean War Memorial.

World War II Memorial. There is a fountain in the middle and pillars representing the states that supported the war effort. There are also two arches that mark the wars in the Pacific and the Atlantic. I had to have a photo here by the Bataan, Corregidor markers as my grandfather served in Bataan and was a Death March survivor.

Sitting on Capitol Hill on the eastern portion of the National Mall is the U.S. Capitol. This building is the meeting place of the U.S. Federal Congress. The building somewhat resembles St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican because of its magnificent dome.

On the block immediately to the east of the Capitol is the U.S. Supreme Court Building. To stand before such a structure gives a lawyer like me goose bumps. Imagine the decisions that the institution of the court have promulgated to shape society and enrich legal literature and jurisprudence.

We finished around 10:30 A.M. so we grabbed a late breakfast from one of the refreshment stands in front of the museums. We sat by a grassy portion of the Mall under the trees. While we were eating, a wild animal attempted to take our food.

Ella and I saw him come down from a tall tree. We didn’t mind him at first but when he came closer, I shooed him away because he was going right for our hotdogs!

It was then that other tourists noticed him. Turns out that albino squirrels are not an ordinary sight, even for American kids.

We walked back to the hotel which was a couple of blocks from the Mall. Along the way we found this little souvenir store.

The President, and Ms. Palin is ready to answer your questions. :p

Ahh…yes. After 12.3 kilometers, elevating the legs and feet give such a relief.