Milo marathon recap - ouch ouch ouch and in an unofficial time of 3:37

I am typing this post in so much pain, I can not begin to explain. I must add it is better today than yesterday.... Here it goes....

A week ago I never thought I will be able to run the milo marathon and was not in the mood for the 10km again as it was one of the worst experiences I had in August when I did the 10km milo as there were too many people in front that completed the 5km walking that we struggled to get through the crowds. So I wanted to do the milo 42km. There was just one problem, me being a foreigner and not a lot of explaining how the milo works, I thought I will do the 10km in August and then the 42km in November, never did I know you have to qualify to do the November 42km. I don't have a problem with cutting down but why not let the elite runners or the qualifiers start earlier and then the rest of the field? Or just explain properly on the milo site how it works. Enough complaining as I ended up running the 42km as a BANDIT.

It was about a week ago when I was approached by someone (don't want to mention who) to run the milo 42km with them. I voiced my unhappiness and this is when they told me they will run it as bandits. I was quite keen on the idea and decided to do it. I did not want to be a complete bandit so I registered for the 10km run. We were a few that were going to run this race and here we are in the photo (thanks for the pics Jonel):



This is the bandit group together




Or the photo of Jonel as per his blog "The Bandits"



The only legitimate runner Sir Jovie aka Baldrunner

We met up early at Roxas Boulevard. We also met up with Baldrunner and posed for a few photos. The reason why Sir Jovie is the only one facing the camera well, he is the only legitimate one to run the marathon as the rest are all bandit bloggers.

We walked up to the road as the race was about to start. Once the gun went off we joined the back of the pack. We decided to start together and see what happen. I knew Jerrie and I would run at the same pace as well as Lester but Lester told me he will only do a half. As faith had it, I started running with Jerrie. I guess we just cant help ourselves but before we knew it, we were on a 5min/km pace. We saw Jovie and caught up with him and then we were off. We started to overtake runners and it all went well. It was after about km 15 and a few hello Joe from the crowd where I have learned to either not respond or just say kumusta and usually they keep quiet then at that point. Sometimes if I say mabuti po, it will keep them even quieter and then the giggles will start. Well it was at this point where Jerrie told me he has a slight problem with his knee. He told me we can still continue but it is a concern for him.

I kept my pace and slowly Jerrie started falling behind. I kept looking back but he waved at me to go ahead. So I kept my pace and I felt good. At Bayani road and the turnaround point I saw Jerrie coming past not too far behind and then Jovie. We encouraged each other with a few words and off we went again. I was amazed at the speed of the first runner that passed me on his way back just before I went down McKinley hill. I shouted a few words of encouragement to him and concentrated again on my own run. It was so nice to pass the runners after the turn around point as everyone was in good spirits.

As I reached the top of Fort again I thought it must be around the 30km marker as I saw the 25km marker close to Heritage Park. I still felt good at this point. Usually in my training runs I would start to feel discomfort at km 32 so I had this in the back of my head. I was so upset with myself as I forgot once again my garmin forerunner at home so I could not see the distance I covered. There were also not a lot of markers on the route. As we went over the C5 flyover I thought we should be at the 32 km mark but I still felt great. I passed more and more runners that started walking at this point.

I was pushing forward when I saw Joms passing. I asked him how far to go and he said he is not sure but he thinks 7km. At this point a female runner was running with me as she stopped and walked and I caught up with her. She told me it is still 10km. So I knew it was not that far, it must be between 7 and 10km. I could at this point feel my legs getting heavy and felt some discomfort but I kept on pushing. I heard my name from a passing vehicle and I was wondering who that could be. It was the support team of team baldrunner with Coach Ferdie Espejo and the rest of the team. Thanks guys for giving me that water at that point, you were send for me as I needed it so much. Thanks for the words of encouragement as well and the pic taken.



After about 37 km, still 5 to go!!!

I had in my mind the idea there is still just one km left and then I saw the 40km sign and knew still 2km left and this is where my hope died. Two km's can be so far after 40km of running. I was really tired at this point as my legs started to struggle to keep my body going forward. I met up with another guy that started to push me and I took his pace and even had a sprint to the finish line. Yipeeeeee I made it, 42km!!! I went into the 10km finish line as this is the number I had. They must have thought this is the slowest 10km runner ever as the 10km clock was over 2 hours at this point.

Thank you milo for accommodating us bandits even though we did not give you any choice. I am sorry my fellow bandits for not staying to long after the race but I needed a CR desperately and the tender loving care of the wife. So I hopped on my bike and off I went into the traffic of Manila with legs that were wasted. Thanks to all the bandits for the support and inviting me along and remember our goal in three years time.... the comrades in South Africa....

To all that will do the Singapore, good luck and all the best for the race. I am off to gym, yes, you read it right, to gym as I was instructed by coach Ferdie to do a 30min 80% run today and tomorrow so I will see how that goes. To team Baldrunner, see you at Ultra on Wednesday and to all that read this blog... Keep fit and Keep healthy. God bless.