Run!

Bridget: God, don’t you love to run?
Eric: Yeah, it’s the best high you can have.
Bridget: Exactly! It’s like you’re just in this place where nothing bad can happen, you know. Like if you just push a bit further, if you keep moving…
Eric:Nothing can touch you.

This scene from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants replayed in my mind as I watched more than 11,000 people run at the Global City last Sunday. I thought that must be what they are feeling… ultimate freedom.

As people of all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life ran past me, I thought maybe next time I shouldn’t be sitting at the sidewalk. I could taste that freedom. I could run.

—-

Waking up at 3 a.m. on a Sunday was not an easy thing to do but I knew I had to. Kernan was participating in the Century Tuna Superbods Run and I promised I would be there to be his cheerleader – photographer – alalay and fan. And so I shook all sleepiness from my head and mustered all my strength to get up from the bed.

We left the house at 4 a.m. and arrived at The Fort just in time to see the crowds of runners gathering at the main event strip.

My star runner did some stretching to prep himself up.

I could feel the enthusiasm of the runners gathering, I knew the day was going to be fun.

It was surprising to see so many people there so early on a Sunday morning. There were families, groups of friends, kiddies and even oldies all garbed in sporty gear excited to run. I was still too sleepy to take photos so I settled on the sidewalk while hubby went to the starting line for the 10k run.

I plugged in my Ipod and almost fell asleep as I was listening to my audiobook when a really loud horn signaled the start of the 21k run. A few minutes after, the signal went off for the 10k followed by the 5k then 3k. Hmm… maybe I could go with 3k next time.

It was still a bit dark when the run started.

Just a few minutes later, a couple of 21k runners made it to the finish line. Man, they were fast. Spectators started gathering at the sidewalk with cameras ready to snap shots of the runners. My sleepiness finally wore off and I decided to whip out my camera as well. I stood at the sidewalk and waited for my Kernie to pass by. There were a a lot of runners so it was quite hard to find him.

Then I heard him call my name and I took a quick shot, but the camera wasn’t fast enough. I thought he was going for another round so I stood there waiting to for him to pass by again. But as it turns out, runners only had to go around the track once and hubby had already crossed the finish line. So when he found me waiting at the sidewalk, we just thought of taking another running shot.

Then it was off to the booths to have some photo ops and to claim the certificate and goody bags.

The line at the photo ops went by pretty fast.

The photo booth was pretty neat because you get to pose before the event background (ala red carpet events), then after your photo is taken, they print it right away.

This is a cool motivational shot. I know my sexy hubby can get this bod.

The line to get the certificate and the goody bags were crazy looooong…

But we were determined to get the certificate so we could compile it with his previous one and more running certificates to come. I was actually thinking how the organizers could have made the claiming process more efficient knowing that they were already expecting thousands of people to come.

Anyway, after getting the certificate, the goody bags and the complimentary century tuna salad and sandwiches (which tasted pretty good, by the way), we headed out to the running strip to have more photos.

It was my hubby’s shining moment and I wanted him to feel like a star.

I was Kernie’s trusty alalay but I had fun.

I won’t mind being one for a couple more times, but I’m seriously thinking of getting into running myself. Especially since I’ve got the best running partner.

It was rewarding for me to see my hubby really happy about his performance with this run. The previous run he participated in, he wasn’t feeling well so he finished 10k in an hour and 17 minutes. Not to mention, he was alone so he had no one to take photos of him when he was given his finisher’s medal. (We were both puyat the previous night of the run, I couldn’t get up the bed to go with him.)

Anyway, we found out he finished the run in 1 hour and 2 minutes! Great improvement. And what makes me even more proud of him is he did this by himself. He didn’t take his fat burning and weight loss products before running. He was actually surprised that he did so well without any artificial help but I have always believed he is strong and fit enough to perform excellently.

I read in the book Positive Imaging that our bodies are designed for optimum performance, we just have to tap into our own power whenever we need it.

Before going home, he signed up for Unilab’s Run United for Wellness on March 7. This time we’re aiming for 10k in one hour flat.

So who wants to run?

Tagged as: fitness, health, running, weight loss