What I got for 63 pesos

After almost a month, I did my second run.Most runners I know do their runs progressively, I did the exact opposite: I ran my 5k first before running my 3k! 

I would have wanted to run in the 5k as I have survived my 1st. but the event that I joined required a child partner and my only willing nephew was 10-year old Jermaine. Although he was willing to run in the 5k, he was only qualified to run in the 3k.

I registered for this run on the last day of registration as my nephew did not always show enthusiasm towards running. There would be days he'd wake me up early so we could jog around, but there were also times he'd rather stay home and play with his computer games. So before I finally registered, I had to get his 100% commitment, after all I wouldn't want to waste 500pesos.

After my duty last May 1 (last day for registration), I took an MRT ride to Ayala station.  I had to walk to Greenbelt 1. I am a rehabilitated mall rat, so I did not find the walk from Glorietta to Greenbelt amusing.  After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, I reached L time studio only to find out that they can no longer accept registrations for the 3k run. Bummer! But they advised me to proceed to SM Mall of Asia's Hypermart as ALASKA has set-up a booth for registration there. Not wanting to break my nephew's heart. I hailed a taxicab and went straight to Mall of Asia. 

I reached MOA a little before 5:00pm. Was so delighted to know that all i needed to do was purchase a few Alaska Chocolate drinks and my registration will be free of charge but I had to do it quickly since the registration will be closed by 6:00pm. After I paid for the drinks, went back to the booth and filled-up a registration form, I was handed 2 bib numbers for me and my nephew and another chocolate drink. No shirt was issued to us as only the 1st 500 finishers will be given a finisher shirt.

Come race day, me and my nephew woke up early to go the the Mall of Asia grounds. We just took a bus to Baclaran and took a cab ride to MOA. Gun start was set at 6:30am, we were there at 6:00am as I wanted to be there early since I was unfamiliar with the place. 

2 rehydration stations were set up at the starting point, I told my nephew to have a drink first before we position ourselves to the starting point. Here is Jermaine with his Gatorade cup. Which he did not finish because he said it tasted bad. Hahaha

As this was virtually a free run, it was well attended. I had a hard time looking for the starting point. I was confused because I saw a lot of adult-child pairs wearing the same bib color as ours but they were lined up behind the "FINISH" sign. It turned out that they have placed the signs wrongly. We really had to start at the finish point. At that point I already had a feeling that the run will not be as organized as my first run.

The runners were not guided to stretch so I just asked my nephew to do our usual stretching routine whenever we run. After waiting for around 30 minutes, amidst the whining of children getting impatient, I heard the gun shot that signified our start.

Jermaine started strongly, I always checked on him and kept reminding him that he should tell me when he is already tired. I was a bit worried since he is asthmatic. After the 500m mark, he said he was already tired so we walked. He complained of side stitches every once in a while so I had to remind him to breathe deeply. At the 1km marker, we already saw pairs on their way back, that gave me very small hope that we will be able to get a finisher shirt.

We finished the run in 27 minutes. After the run we lined up for the loot bags. I expected to get just Alaska products but got the surprise of my life when we got finisher shirts! The loot bag contained 4 Alaska yoghurt drink and a sports bottle.Here is my happy Jermaine with his sweaty hair, wearing his finisher shirt and showing his loot bag:

So let's do the math, I paid 63 pesos and got the following:

• 7 pieces of Alaska chocolate drink
• 2 finisher shirts
• 2 loot bags containing a total of 2 sports bottles and 8 Alaska yoghurt drinks
• 3 km run 
• and priceless bonding moment with my sumpungin nephew. 

Needless to say, that is probably the best deal I ever got for 63 pesos.