Despite the threat that Parma (“Pepeng”) imposes upon the Metro several days of ruined runs made runners more enthusiastic about completing a long run that partially simulates the race route of the forthcoming Quezon City International Marathon (QCIM). This long run (LSD for some) started 4:30AM within the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Campus unlike the actual race that starts in front of Quezon City Hall.

runningpinoy’s Perspective

The lack of mileage for the past few weeks really made it difficult for me to get out of bed so early on a Sunday, but the idea of finally breaking the vicious cycle and finally increase my miles for the month eventually snapped me back to reality. Since the long run route passes several hundred meters away from home I decided to simply meet the other runners along the route saving me money and time for travel (at the expense of distance of course). I was supposed to meet the group near St. Peter Parish but due to early morning sluggishness I was actually able to meet them at the pedestrian overpass near Sandiganbayan.

At that time I was unaware how big the group was—it wasn’t exclusively made of takbo.ph runners. Eventually as we meet other group I realized that we were also with runners from Runnex and Fairview Running Club which really made the run more interesting. We were all able to meet at La Mesa EcoPark where we all got stuck—we weren’t allowed to pass through the water processing area of La Mesa so we had to revert back to Commonwealth Ave.

We headed towards SM Fairview via Regalado Ave. after leaving La Mesa EcoPark. As we got near SM Fairview strong rains poured down on us but nobody was deterred. This was where many of us went our own ways, but for the takbo.ph runners it’s back to UP!

By the time we were heading back the sun was high in the sky which was peeping through the clouds. It was cloudy but at the same time it was very hot. To avoid sunburns, dehydration, or any heat-related illness we had to change routes once again and redirect the course back to UP via Ylanan Gate. From there we headed towards the Academic Oval, ending in front of the Runnex office where Arroz Caldo and Tofu and Pork were served.

Since I had less mileage than I planned I did another loop around the Academic Oval to end at 28.8K. I wanted to do more but my rumbling stomach was telling me to do otherwise and in the end, it prevailed so I joined what remained of the group for some “emergency carbo loading.”

I would like to thank first and foremost Sir Rene (Jazzrunner) for making this long run possible. Thank you as well to James for the banana, Running Diva for the “taho,” Runnex for the food, all the runners that I ran beside with , and all the running groups that joined us during this run (I hope I didn’t left out anyone). To the people that I met for the first time, it was nice meeting you all and hope to see you in more runs!