I texted Neville Manaois of Pinoy Ultra Runners last night wishing him a great run for tomorrow’s TNF (which I am still moping over since I forbade myself from joining due to the risk of re-injury). He replied from Batangas with this SMS:
“Raining hard here. River rising daw. Winds picking up. And temperature dropping. This will be fun.”
Followed an hour or so after with this update:
“River is rising really fast. Really cold. Good luck to us. hehe.”
Neville added that there are 90 runners joining the 100km (that’s a lot eh?), 100+ for 21km, and 210 for 10km. It sure sounds like these 400+ runners are going to have the time of their lives tomorrow. Good luck to you if you’re running at TNF…especially my friends Annie, Coach Jo-Ar, Taki, and highschool buddies Bau and Tin. (Who else is joining?) Stay safe!
As for me, I’ll be at light, easy and wholesome Robinsons Wellness Buddy run with the hubby with thoughts of TNF on my mind.
The Bull Runner 
July 26, 2008 at 8:22 am |
Tropical storm Fung-Wong off Luzon’s north coast is boosting precip levels, so high probability of rain tomorrow. This should be fun! I’ve a few hours to decide whether to honour my Tags room reservation or risk a drive out to KM73 at 2:00am tomorrow. That’s about two to three hours less sleep. What do you think 🙂
July 26, 2008 at 9:35 am |
Rain … rain … rain … wind … rain … woohoo!!!
The TNF Gods are listening.
To the 21Km and above runners … have fun and hopefully next time we could be running on the same path (the whole length 😀 ). For now us mortals will take the short and easy path, see ya all at the finish line.
July 26, 2008 at 10:04 am |
good luck to our trail running friends! one day we’ll be as hardcore as them nyahaha
July 26, 2008 at 5:31 pm |
tnf runners good luck to you guys!!! we’re all praying for ideal weather…thats an enormous task running that long and in the rain…having to contend with the cold is already a tough challenge…much more faced with a deep river?? i saw pics of the trail at the ROX site and i can just imagine how tough its going to be…the 10k trail run in that trail condition and with the foreseen bad weather i feel is equivalent to a 20k effort…no kidding…check out the site…by the way, its 5:30pm (manila time) and the TNF runners should be trying to get some sleep already…miraclecello should be there already i hope, instead of driving at that time of the night to tags…the rain this afternoon here in manila is some indication of how it might be tomorrow…but then again there is a GOD…a running GOD i hope…as for me i feel deep envy for these guys…haha good luck TNF!!!
July 27, 2008 at 2:04 pm |
Thanks Mon. I did as you suggested and got eight hours of sleep. It was a hog wallow ha ha, the course, but that’s the norm in our other sport of mountain climbing, except running shoes don’t have that much traction. In fact the route passed by the trailhead of Mount Batulao 🙂
July 27, 2008 at 6:36 pm |
Nice steady breeze(wind), rain, Bulalo, sisig, hot soup, coffee after a nice 10Km run in the fun dirty muddy track – now that a fun weekend 😉
Oh!…if there are any readers who got muddied cause of a crazy runner in blue long sleeved shirt running on mucky puddles/pools — Sorry! that was me 😀 . intention was just to pass and absolutely not some juvenile eat my dirt attitude.
BRunner, a wise decision of taking a “rain” check on this fun activity – high chance of getting your hooves stuck in the muck 😉
Well, time to wash off the mud from my shoes – till the next run.
July 27, 2008 at 6:47 pm |
* now that’s a fun weekend
One more thing…
Heavy but controlled and deliberate breathing behind as I navigated this narrow incline, I turned to check if it was some runner on a mission to put me down for running like a mad (mud) man – lo and behold!!! an afro! 😀 RIO!?!
“Oo”
Ha ha ha – he doesn’t know me but I absolutely know/recognize him, who couldn’t with that trademark 😀
I let him pass to catch those gazelles I believe he’s running after 😉
ciao!
July 28, 2008 at 7:29 am |
The first lap of the 20k was bliss especially after 6km when no one’s in sight to interrupt the view of Batangas and the sound of wind. The 2nd lap was hell because of the very slippery mud that got more slippy and the 10k runner build ups going down and up 45 degree of sometimes almost ankle high mud. Causing inevitable cramps to calves, quads and even toes. ‘Twas fun nonetheless. On to the next TNF100…
July 28, 2008 at 9:16 am |
The TNF100 20K was probably, the 2nd best experience I had (next to Pasig Marathon).
It wasn’t muddy at all, the road were so clear, our feet never got wet and the terrain was flat all through out…. okay thats what you call sarcasm. But seriously you should try trails soon. I’m sure you’ll love it. 🙂
Btw I’m hats off to those who did the 50K relay and of course the 100K solo. You guys are awesome!
July 28, 2008 at 9:52 am |
Wow sounds like it was a real fun time out there. I’d take the rain and wind over heat and humidity any day even though I have more problems with blisters when my shoes are constantly wet. Shucks those are some of the most fun conditions to trail run in.
July 28, 2008 at 12:25 pm |
what a run! or more like what a walk 🙂 can hardly run in all that mud. didn’t know one can actually get that much mud inside and outside the shoe! my size 9.5 shoe ended up like ronald mcdonalds shoe with all the mud after the race !! 😀 50k relay naman next time when they stage in again in 2 years?
July 28, 2008 at 2:37 pm |
Thank you to all who participated the 1st TNF 100 in the Philippines.
For all those who spend the night soaked wet and cold, navigating in the dark, but still in high spirit to finish their 2nd 50KM loop after 12 hours of running…hats off to you…
for those who fought hard to finish their first loop and decided to rest for the night…we salute you as well…your unfinished business awaits you next year…
To the 10 and 20K trail runners who endure and embrace natures elements with the steep and muddy terrain… specially for the first time “trail runners”…we thank you and welcome you to the world of “Trail Running”
It was a beautiful day for a trail run… but of course things can not be perfect every time, and so we apologize to the runners who encountered difficulty in the registration, we assure you that we learn form this and vow to improve on our race…
Again, we are grateful and humbled with the kind of support you gave, we never expect to have more than 500 trail runners and 91 Ultra trail runners who will run with us…
It was an experience that we can all be proud of and hopefully become a catalyst to start a bigger trail running community in the Philippines. Keep in touch with us at http://www.thenorthface100.com or at any of our store….
Till we meet again…Never stop exploring…
August 1, 2008 at 11:00 pm |
Mr. Manaois! My teacher in History!