It’s been a while since I’ve run in Roxas Blvd., much more run a race with no expectations—just for the pleasure of having fun while running, and Hyundai was able to bring that with its first fun run.

I admit I was hardly in the mood to run that Saturday morning of the race.  Why?  Because Saturday mornings closely follow Friday nights!  And coincidentally, I had an engagement the night prior the race.  Luckily though, I checked the events website one last time and found out that the race starts in waves, and I belonged with the last one.  The last wave (“H,” 5K) starts at 6:40AM—gives me an extra hour of sleep, which wasn’t much, but just enough to have some rest for a short run.

I arrived in the originally designated starting area (in front of Km 0 in Luneta) at around 6:40AM and I was greeted by a sea of runners—on their way back.  Strangely, I didn’t see any starting arch and runners going the other way so I had assumed that the race didn’t start in waves, and I was too late, so I just settled to taking pictures, and eventually headed towards the finish line in front of the Quirino Grandstand.

As I was watching the program on stage I suddenly heard the last wave about to have a gun start—really?  It was around 6:44AM then so I didn’t expect it had not yet begun.  The trouble was I can see on screen as wave H starts, but I can’t see where exactly was it starting!  As I walked around in the area I found a familiar face whom asked me why I wasn’t in Mayon (referring to the Mayon 80K Ultra happening simultaneously with the event :D).  Moving on with the conversation I found out that the starting line has been moved to the side street, so I decided to check it out and perhaps take more pictures.

As I saw the starting line I decided to not waste the opportunity, and continue with the race despite being already late by a few minutes—all while still carrying my backpack!  It’s one of those moments that I was glad I was doing “only” a 5K.  Besides, timing chips are in use.

The turnout was huge!  Well, what else can you expect, the race was free!  I knew I wasn’t going to set any record here, let alone be able to run decently—but that really wasn’t the point.  As I saw countless faces, runners of all sorts of sizes and shapes, I realized what this race was really all about—fun!  I saw families walking together, friends taking their pictures, some “serious” runners having a very hard time navigating through the crowds—all having different purposes, but all occupying the same road.

What’s great about this initiative by Hyundai was introducing running to more people, to exercise a healthier lifestyle.  It’s no doubt that many “seasoned” runners donned the race, but certainly there were much more newcomers that made their racing debut with the race—who wouldn’t be motivated with the fact that you don’t have anything to pay, but have much more to gain?

As a race it was very, very organized, which was quite surprising because of the huge attendance.  There were so many marshals on the road and the hydration was much more than enough for the massive crowd.  And most of all it was really fun!  I didn’t get to run as fast as I wanted, and that was a good “excuse” to just run, for fun!

Thank you very much Hyundai for this very enjoyable fun run!  Thank you as well to all the people that made this happen and congratulations for a job well done!  Congratulations for a highly successful event!  Another one next year? 😀

To all the participants of the event, keep it up!  See you on the road.