Last February 23, 2013, yours truly alongside with other runner bloggers and the members of the media were invited by Salomon Philippines to have a sneak peak of the trails of the forthcoming Salomon XTrail Run to be held this March 23, 2013 in Hamilo Coast, Pico de Loro, Nasugbu, Batangas.  If you plan on joining this race, you absolutely must see this post before picking your distance!

As usual, I didn’t have any sleep before we were off for Hamilo Coast as we departed Manila quite early, but I didn’t mind as Hamilo Coast in Pico de Loro is one of the nicest places I’ve ever been (and has some of the best foods in the country, no kidding!).  The area does sport some really scenic routes and interesting terrain but I’ve never ran in the area so it was a really exciting trip for me.

The first part of our itinerary is the formal introduction of the event at Arribada Lounge along with all details you can expect from an event launch.  And from the presentation we all knew that this year’s Salomon XTrail Run will be one of the most “technical” trail running events of the year!

After the briefing and some light meals, we were off to test the trails of the route of the 6K leg.  We expected it be more challenging than the usual, but no one was quite prepared for what was coming…

After the exhausting uphills and the tiring sands of the beach, we entered the trails.  We thought those parts were not so easy, the ones that followed were anything but easy!

For the 6K leg coming out of the trails is a great news as you’re headed back to the starting area.  For the other legs it’s not so as you have just passed the “easy” part of the route.  The 12K would have to brave some more tough trails ahead, and the 24K will have to endure much more difficult trails on top of that!  Clearly with this test run we were made aware that Salomon XTrail Run is anything but a walk in the park!

This year’s leg is the most challenging Salomon XTrail Run leg thus far, and it’s definitely for those thrill-seekers looking for a challenging “fun” trail runs to join.  If you don’t have much experience on the trails I highly recommend not to join anything farther than the 6K.  Meanwhile if you’re experienced with the trails and is in for quite some challenge, do the 12K, but if you really want to push yourself and has quite some endurance to go with your guts, by all means join the 24K.  Just remember that there’s a strict five (5) hour cutoff for the 24K, which in my opinion is barely enough to complete the really tough route.  And also note that this is a “green” race so you better bring your own hydration containers, suitable for the distances you’re running.

For what it’s worth, despite being so much more difficult than any of us expected, the test run was really a lot of fun!  I highly suggest that if you’re skeptical or lacked training or just really want to enjoy your trail run, go for the 6K.  Trust me, there’s more than enough “fun” to go about this distance that you’d imagine.  But aside from that, if you were to ask me, I’ll definitely pick the 6K over the other distance because I could spend more time at the beach! 😎

Thank you Salomon for giving us the chance to test the 6K route of XTrail Run!  It was a blast and I really had fun!  I’m looking forward to this great race, and I can’t wait to see the look on every finisher’s face (especially the 24K participants :D).

For more information about this event, email inquiry@salomonxtrailpilipinas.com, or go to www.salomonxtrailpilipinas.com.