Sun was just beginning to appear from the sky as the gun went
off for the 11KM division. As my friends and I stood in the middle, squeezed
in the midst of an enormous crowd, we had a very relaxing start and just walked the
first few feet away from the starting line.
I was feeling lethargic and wasn't in the mood to sweat the
morning off.
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| Sleepy but excited. Taken before gun start with fellow bloggers Darwin (TrackingTreasure.net), Nel (Pasahera.com) and colleague Don. :P |
When I finally felt like running, I didn't stop until I got to
kilometer 5. The scenery got so interesting, I had to stop for
souvenir shots and lavish the view of mountains and enormous trees along
the way.
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| One of the challenging parts of the trail was going up this rocky ravine. It was scary! |
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| The route passed a community of our Aeta bros and sis. I heard them giggling as we approached their area. I looked up happily and waved back. Seeing how excited we were to see them, they went down from a hill and had photos taken with us. It was the sweetest thing. :) |
Unlike the first kilometers which was through a flat and sandy trail,
the farther part of the route led us under the SCTEX bridge, an Aeta community, small waterfalls and several sections where
we had to dip our shoes in mud and water.
With the nice combination of flat and hilly terrain accompanied
with awesome nature views, this has got to be one of
my favorite race routes to date. :) I crossed the finish line in under two hours which is an average time, but still, I was just happy to have finished the entire thing. :)
Congratulations to all the participants, race organizers and
sponsors. Special thanks to KC Aguila from the PR of Primer Group of Companies
for the invite.
Oh and if you're interested to join running events, just check out the organized races at takbo.ph.
"This event is presented by Ayala Land which is about to develop a 1,000-hectare residential area complete with recreational facilities, leisure park as well as schools, industries and golf courses within Porac." (Info. courtesy of JazzRunner) It is hosted by R.O.X. and is part of their vision to allow individuals to choose their own adventure and go for it.
EXPLORAC would not
have been made possible if not for sponsors such as Primer Group of Companies,
The North Face, Gatorade, AXN, Nathan, Sea to Summit, Black Diamond, Dispatch,
and Center for Outdoor Recreation and Expedition.
R.O.X. is owned and operated by the Primer Group of Companies, Asia's
next retail giant.