Our Philstar Celebrity Run 2009 5k experience
My wife and I along with some friends joined the 5k event of the Philstar Celebrity Run. I was able to achieve a personal record-breaking time of 23 minutes considering that I logged 39 minutes in my 5k run last month. Wow!
Thank you race disorganizers! I ran more than a kilometer less of the 5k like many other 5k runners. Here’s what happened (according to the early 5k finishers):
There was supposed to be a turnaround marker at the halfway point of the route but a runner inadvertently bumped the sign and it fell off the ground. There were no race officials (or there are some but inexperienced) around to direct the runners or even hand out halfway bands. So what happened is, people start turning around on their own even if they still haven’t reach the halfway mark.
Being near the bottom half of the pack (we started late hehe), we saw this mob of runners telling us to go back already because the route we were following was in excess of 5k already. Fearing another adidas KOTR snafu, I went with the crowd. Big mistake. 
I was disappointed in not being able to do the complete course but in the end I can only blame myself.
Lesson Learned
Memorize the route or even just the turnaround marker or water station spots. After the race it dawned on me that there should be a water station before you turn around.
Oh yeah, in every race always look for the halfway band!
Other things that I don’t like about this race:
- The hilly course
- Traffic enforcers letting vehicles pass even if there are still lots of runners waiting to cross
- I would’ve prefer a looping course than a turnaround one
- Not enough distance markers
- Long line at the finish line as slow officials collect bib stubs. This could be prevented with RFID tracking.
All in all, it could’ve been a great run due to the cool, overcast weather but it was marred by poor organizing.
Celebrities Spotted
Oh yeah, the celebrities we spotted but . We only saw Miriam Quiambao (5k but she was able to do the correct course) and Rovilson Fernandez (interviewing people). Apologies for the lack of photos, our expected photographer wasn’t able to make it.
You might also be interested in:
- We’re joining the Philstar Celebrity Run 2009
- adidas King of the Road 2009 Running Expo experience
- Globe Run for Home 2010 5km experience
- Top 5 Pinoy Celebrity Team-ups for The Amazing Race Asia 4
Filed under: Deals and Events
FAIL din ung sa baggage area. Iba na ang kulay ng bag after you claim it. Apparently, nakalapag na lang ang mga bags sa lupa. >_<
ganun? balak pa naman namin magpalagay dun. buti na lang dun na lang kami sa car ng friend naglagay ng bag.
considering the schedule was pushed back from Oct 11, the event was not short of disappointing. Pinaka thumbs down yung having to stop through traffic lights and having to run beside moving vehicles.
Giving the extra months for the organizers to prepare this event (pushed out from Oct 11 to Dec 20),..still A VERY DISORGANIZED…. My kids run 5k and got almost lost of race route ….!!! Cars, bikes, other non runners are coming from 4 directions and some almost blocks runners path… it just simply placed the runners in un-safely running condition…. aside from other thigns.. , we did completely enjoy the event since it was very difficult from us to trace our official time and ranks.
Event rating : Disorganized, and I gave the organizer 5points out of 100points. We are
no marshalls on the road, tapos may newbie pang sumigaw na walang turning point, lahat na nagsi ikot, well kami sa mga naniwala, then nung medjo malapit na kami sa 26th street, may nakita kaming marshall, ayon we asked kung tama ung route sabi nya tama, and may turning point daw tlga dun eh, since nagka gulo na ung race, eh minabuti na naming bumalik at umikot dun sa pinaka turning point, pinaka dissapointing kung nakarating kayo dun sa turning point, pa iikutin lang kayo literally, tinanong namin ung nagbabantay dun kung may bracelet or anything, sabi nya wala, wala daw binigay sa kanila grrrr!!! nag photo opp na lang kami dun as proof na umikot kami dun.
On our way back, dun sa may hydration area, we saw stocks of YELLOW bracelets, un dapat ung makukuha mo dun sa turning point, pero ung bracelet eh hindi umabot sa taas.. we finished aroung 57 mins something, but the record is irrelevant na rin due to technicallities ng race event organizers.. On the positive note, mukhang I can run na sa 10k hehehe
yun nga daw sabi. walang naghahandout ng bracelet sa turning point. kaw bahala dumukot dun sa nagkabuhol buhol na yellow bracelets.
sobrang di accurate talaga magiging PR mo dahil maraming bloopers yung organizers. at least ikaw nakumpleto mo
ako siguro isa pang good run bago ko masabi kung ready na sa 10k.
well actually, wala tlgang bracelet silang binigay, kaya hindi na namin ko nonsider ung PR, good thing hindi ito ung first run ko, ko kung nagkataon baka hindi na ako umulit hehehe baka 2011 pa ako mag 10k nakakahiya namang gumapang pa puntang finish line eh
One word para s organizer “PALPAK”
If you ran less than 5km, well I ran more than that! Waaa… There were many martials around but unfortunately they don’t know what they are doing… One of the martial pointed me twice for the the 10km route… Realizing I was in the wrong route (I was also one of the confused runners because of the event in 5km turnpoint), I went back and finished the run for 52min…
good job Belle, hehehe level up na, sa 10k :p
I ran the 21K. There is not enough hydration station on the later part of the race, worse! there is no water at the finish line. The free Vitwater also ran out. I have to go back to my car just to drink water and when I returned, even freebies ran out.. Then later, I saw fellow finishers carrying plastic bag loads of Vitwater.
A very very disappointing race!!! SAYANG BINAYAD NAMIN DITO!
yeah. this is only my 3rd race. Got good freebies at KOTR and Fit n Right. disappointed talaga ako sa race na ito. Sayang.
what a waste of effort. very disorganized