After that long hiatus, I finally got back to running!  And gladly my first race for the year was on the trails of Timberland Heights, San Mateo, Rizal via Waldorf Trail Run.

It was another one of those sleepless races.  I only had a few hours after work and before the shuttle departs for Timberland so instead of risking oversleeping for my first race of the year I just decided to just stay up.  It’s easier said than done though, but I survived.

Our shuttle left Quezon Ave. around 4:30AM and soon enough we were in Timberland Heights.  It was still pretty dark when we arrived, and the race had to be deferred until there was enough sunlight in the trails.  I was doing 10K.

This first race for me was strictly just for fun.  It’s quite absurd to think of setting a new personal best on uneven trails, but apparently some people really want to make a career out of trail running.  Seriously, I find it ridiculous to see runners who can’t wait to overtake other runners on a one-man-wide trail—they could’ve started up front so that they didn’t have to “disturb” recreational runners who want to enjoy the trails. I really wonder if there’s any value to their hasting.

Trails of Timberland Heights are really interesting.  They’re actually bike trails but of course feet are also welcome.  We got some paved roads but most of it is dirt.  There were some bridges along the way that made the route more interesting, and there were even some river crossings.  And we can’t forget the spectacular view!  It was a bit cloudy that morning though so the view of Metro Manila was a bit obscured.

The 10K route was really interesting but it was anything but easy.  As much as I loved all the many downhills, I really hated the as many uphills!  And some of these uphills are very, very long!

After the race, runners were treated to a lot of freebies.  They were not the usual loot bags, better: free food!   Among the ones I tried were San Marino Tuna Paella and Tender Juicy hotdogs (plural because I got two! :D).  There were also some inexpensive food in the area for the really hungry ones, but among the non-free food my favorite would’ve been the organic taho that was so yummy.

Overall, the race was really great.  All the “forks” along the 10K route where runners could get lost has marshals or were cordoned off.  Water stations were plenty and are “green” by not using disposable plastic cups.  And most of all, the route was really fun.  It was truly a great event to kick start the year!