There were a lot of things I liked better about Unilab Run United 2010. The Century Tuna Superbods Run last February was great but, even if I’m not a runner, there were some things I thought could have been done better. This time, I saw the organizers’ extra effort to make sure everything went more smoothly which makes me look forward to the next runs in the following months.

Sadly, my Kernie would have to retire from running for awhile because he’s going to be very busy with a special project. So I made sure I took more photos this time. Hopefully, before the year ends, we could have our first run together.

We arrived a bit past 5 am but we were just in time to see the 10k runners gathering at the running strip.  Of course, we had to take the mandatory photo before the run.

The whole stretch of the road was packed with runners.

Kernie made sure to inch closer to the starting line so he could start his run earlier.

We were hoping he could finish 10k in one hour flat.

It was still a bit dark so I stayed near the starting line a few more minutes before going around the venue.

Kernie and I agreed we would meet each other after the finish line so he won’t have to go through the throngs of people lined at the side of the running strip to find me. That cost us a lof of time during the Century Run and we found ourselves at the end of the very, very long line by the time we got to the redemption area.

So I scoped the venue and took note of the entrances and exits.

This time, the redemption booths were all lined up in one area.

And there were more booths too. Smart move by the organizers. I had an inkling we would have shorter lines this time.

Almost one hour had passed after the starting signal so I settled on a spot on the sidewalk after the finish line.

There was tighter security this time with barricades spanning the whole sidewalk and bouncers acting as human dividers for the runner’s lanes.

One of the Kenyan runners was the first one to cross the finish line for the 10k run. He’s Kimberess Rember and he finished 10k in 32 minutes. Cool guy. He must be winning these kinds of marathons all the time.

Only a handful of runners followed him so I took a little breakfast break with my Nature Valley granola bar.

I love, love Nature Valley. Ever since I first tasted them at the Century Run, I was hooked. I could eat Oats N’ Honey or Peanut Butter the whole day. I’ve been buying boxes and boxes of these granola bars. I’m even eating one right now as I type this.

Later on, more runners were dashing across the finish line. I kept an eye out for my Kernie so I could take a good shot.

Meanwhile, I snapped some pics of random runners that caught my attention. Like this mom, who had her kid on a stroller. Way cool.

And this cute girl with colorful striped pink socks.

Coach Rio was walking around checking how the finishers were and double checking security. Double thumbs up for super involvement.

I also spotted Diether Ocampo after he finished his 5k run.

The security guy was pretty nice to him but they weren’t as nice with the other runners. I saw some of the bouncers shouting at the other runners, “Galaw! Galaw!” or “Bawal dito!” when some runners walked slowly after the finish line or took a moment to catch their breath.

I wanted to tap one of them and say, “Hey man, cut the runners some slack. They just finished 5k/10k/21k. You’re just standing there!” Granted they must have been given orders to keep the road clear but I’m sure they could have been a little more considerate.

Finally, I spotted my Kernie from the pack of runners. Yay!

We met just across the redemption lot as the runners started to fill up.

And just as I expected, we were able to claim the lootbag pretty fast.

There was no line!

Hubby was pretty happy with the lootbag: a shoe bag and the event shirt. I was happy because there was a bar of Nature Valley.

Then we went to the “I survived!” board for a photo – op. Too bad there’s no poster of a sexy runner to take a motivational shot.

What I didn’t expect though was the long line at the photobooth. The line went pretty fast the las time so I didn’t expect this would take almost an hour.

I was getting pretty bored so I started snapping more photos. Here’s my star runner doing a little sunbathing.

You can’t tell by our smiles that our backs are actually burning.

A little bit later,  I took a peek at the Women’s wellness booth which had glorious airconditioning. There were booths where you could wash your face, change clothes or just rest. More plus points to the organizers for this one.

When I went back, to the line, Kernie was almost halfway through. When we got our turn, we found out that the photo ops took so long because of this…

Each runner can pose four times which means longer photo sessions. That was a neat level up from the simple photo ops during the Century Run. Maybe, it’s a little bit worth the wait. Either they set up a third booth next time or they set up a tent over the stretch of the lines.

After the photo ops, Kernie and I checked the other booths. There was a kids’ booth which made us rethink if we should have brought the girls. Once again, the trusty assistant.

According to the results logged by this running chip, hubby finished his 10k run in 1 hour 2 minutes and 2 seconds.

This was the same time he logged in during the Century Run and surprisingly he was also the 477th finisher out of all 1881 10k runners.  During the Century Run, he was 477th out of 1837 male runners.

Anyway, I still think he had a great run. A few more races and he’ll nail that one hour finish. Hopefully, the next time, I’ll be tagging along with him.

And I’m pretty sure when that day comes, this is how I’ll be like at the end of the day…

Happy weekend everyone!

Tagged as: running, unilab run united for wellness 2010