Thursday, April 28, 2011

PCPF Run with the Doctors

The PCPF (Philippine College of Physicians Foundation) is Proud to present Run with the Doctors.

Photobucket 
PCPF " Run with Doctors”, will be held on May 1, 2011 at SM Mall of Asia. Boasting of 3 race categories 3km, 5km, and 10km.

REGISTRATION VENUES

Online registration period is from March 24, 2011 to April 25, 2011 only. Delivery of race kits will start on March 29, 2011.

Regular In-store registration period is from March 24, 2011 to April 17, 2011 only at the following venues:
•RUNNR – G/F Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City (12nn – 8pm,Tel # 4031787)
•R.O.X. – Level 2 R.O.X. Bldg. Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City (12nn–8pm, Tel # 8564638)
•Toby’s SM Mall of Asia – G/F Entertainment Mall, Roxas Blvd., Manila(12nn–8pm, Tel # 556-0445)
•Planet Sports Glorietta – 2F Glorietta 3, Makati City (12nn – 8pm, Tel # 8177896)
•The Athletes Foot Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City
•Planet Sports Trinoma – 2nd level, Trinoma cor. North EDSA, Quezon City(12nn – 8pm, Tel# 9167451)
•The Athlete’s Foot Robinsons Galleria – 3F Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Pasig City(12nn – 8pm, Tel# 6363162)
•PCP Office – Unit 2201-2203 22nd Floor, One San Miguel Ave. Bldg., San Miguel Ave. Cor.Shaw Blvd. Ortigas Center, Pasig City. – Tel # 02-910 22 50

Late registration period is from April 18 to April 25, 2011 at the following venues:
•ROX, Bonifacio Global City
•Toby’s SM Mall of Asia
•Athlete’s Foot Galleria

REGISTRATION FEES
3km Php500
5km Php600
10km Php600

for more details visit runrio.com


According to Runrio's Facebook page, They will be also open for registration at the Event grounds, 4am on May 1.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Review: Converse Force 5

Converse Force 5


Retro Shoes.... a keepsake from the past? a vintage fashion statement? a forgotten weapon from the battles of the past? Whatever way you think of it, Retro shoes have slowly faded away to the performance area into the lifestyle section. Either People are a lot tougher back then or retro shoes don't carry the same support they did before. While there are also some athletes who don retro kicks once in a while, reactions have been certainly mixed. In the late 90's before his first retirement, His Airness wore a retro AJ1 and caused him blisters. On the other hand, the black mamba laced up a pair of cons weapon 86 early in the 2000s as a part of "Endorser Shopping" after his contract with the 3 stripes brand expired, he then would play well on those retro kicks. Heck, even a college intramurals teammate of mine wore chucks during our basketball games..

Photobucket

And now, We give our take on one of those retro athletic shoes. The Converse Force 5.

Photobucket

Look:
Being a "Retro Running" shoe, the force 5 has that simplistic, 2 tone scheme of black and faded lime with accents of gray and white. The color scheme is still pretty much present in modern released runners. It's like a vintage car with a new paintjob. It's classic and modern at the same time.

Photobucket

Ventilation:

One thing that has it coming for the Force 5 is its breathability. It has a soft mesh  that keeps the feet cool and dry.

Photobucket

Performance

The rubber outsole is constructed flat but  has some ribbing in the upper part of the sole for flexibility.On the heel area of the sole, there is some kind of small polygonal wings called the stabilizer bars. They are responsible on keeping you land properly and spreading the weight on the whole feet..

An interesting thing with the outsole is that a part of the heel area has been hollow, this might have to do with weight reduction of the shoe.

Photobucket

Overall, the Converse Force 5 is a decent running shoe enough to protect and give you a long and stable support. While it may not be at par with the top of the line running footwear today, it is still better than the budget friendly "Entry Level" shoes of other top brands, And without a shadow of a doubt, better than Class A imitations of high end running shoes. So, If you guys are looking for a running shoe that is Affordable but has the ability to hold onto its own while doubling as a casual shoe, then the Converse Force 5 is for you.

Recommended for: Neutral Pronation

cons

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

National Honor

April 17, 2011
Luneta Park

Photobucket

The Run with the masters is a fund raising event for our Philippine team for the World Athletics Masters Championships this June Held in the USA. Supporting the Philippine team is something I hold dear. And one of the few causes I really care about.

Being my first 10k run, I implemented a 10 week program that I saw in Front Runner's magazine for transitioning from the 5k to the 10k. Granted that time constraints prevented me from following it to the letter. I was aiming for the top 300 finisher's medals and looking at the race results of 10k runs, you would need at a sub 1 just to be sure to get to the top 300. A sub 30 for a 5k race would now be easily attainable for me, but my base is still not enough for 10k.

So come race day, I left for the race 30 minutes later than I would normally leave due to the venue being nearer than the usual BHS routes. I realized that carrying 4 bottles on my hydration pack feels a bit heavy (I am usually using just 2, until now) so I gulped down half of the contents 2 of the rear bottles .There is a small starting area at the front of Rizal monument (While the finish line is stationed at the grandstand). The sound system was far from being loud and by  5:40 am the gun was fired for 10k.

The run was tiring, especially the Flyover before the turning point at Buendia.A lot of experienced runners usually say don't expect much on your first try in a new, longer distance. Now I learned it firsthand.


By the Finish line I clocked in at 1:07:17 Not enough for the Sub 1 I was planning on getting but luckily enough to get a top 300 finisher's Medal. Hoping to improve on for the next Races.

Some of the Cons were lack of Photographers, On the past 3 races I participated in, there was only 1 hobbyist/ photographer taking the shots and he is also a runner (and not an official Photographer) . So you really can't demand having your photo taken because what he was doing was a labor of love. I hope this is something the organizers can improve on next time. Another one they said was the lack of hydration and the 20k route (which did not concern me due to the fact that I had my hydration belt and was running 10k).


Overall, those cons were forgivable, since this was for a legit, noble cause. And the organizers were honest on admitting their mistakes and improving the next time around.Good luck on our athletic masters this coming June.

By the end of the race, I was able to cop a "Run with the master's" Shorts. A nice way to compliment one of the best singlets so far.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Good Enough?

April 3, 2011
Bonifacio Global City

Photobucket

First, I had small expectiations for this race, from the overly pixelated singlet, to negative news coming from different forums. It seems like there was nothing new or different even with the price of P600. Gladly I was proven wrong.


Raceday, there was a moderate crowd for the race, But I'm surprised that it was far less than the yakult run. Hydration was ok. It was the same route as run united 1 and km markers were a plenty. Due to being more prepared this time around, I managed to get a new PR at 28:53 good for 77th place out of 714 participants. There were also a lot of celebrities in the race.

After the race, Lots of freebies were given plus free medical (blood sugar tests are fail though since it requires fasting.) Lines are still aplenty but not as bad as it was back in Run United 1.

It was the absence of pics that dissapointed me. There were a lot of Photographers in the event but only one managed to post pics. I was surprised that the site at bazu did not even show the pics unlike the races held by the same organizer (which not only had a fast time uploading the results but the pics as well). Sorry but if you have a high priced and well sponsored race, at the very least try to give the same quality as the previous races.