711 Run 1000: A 21km "Recovery" Run

Sick before Cebu Marathon (January 12) - STRIKE 1.
Sick after Cebu Marathon and before 711 Run 1000 (January 19) - STRIKE 2.
Sick after 711 Run - STRIKE 3.

After STRIKE 3, I got confined in the hospital for three days.

I've been ignoring my on and off fever, sore throat, cough and colds with all the running mileage I've been collecting this January. I was self-medicating with lots of Bioflu and Biogesic and even decided to intake 1-week worth of antibiotics before the 711 Run. All these took their toll on my body which never fully recovered, thus the morning of the 25th of January, I was rushed to the ER. My tonsils were swollen and I had high fever. It was difficult to even swallow and I can barely talk.

My CBC results indicated my white blood cell count was beyond the normal range - WBC count is at 23,500 versus the normal range of 5,000 to 10,000 only. The doctor explained this was already in septic level, or sepsis of the blood, and the bacteria in my blood is way too much that it had to be treated with a very strong antibiotic which will be injected directly to my veins. Slowly, I felt better and after 3 days of confinement, I was discharged. It was recommended by my doctor for me to take a week rest, while continually taking the prescribed antibiotics for another 5 days. Next week, I'm hoping and praying for a full recovery. I miss running and I miss the gym and I miss the company of friends.

Well enough of the drama. I just wanted to justify the delay of my 711 Run post-race blog. Haha!

So let's flashback to the events the day of January 19:

I arrived at a very early 3AM at Aseana and to my surprise, no more slots at the parking lot across McDonald's. I settled to the next available parking area which is across DFA. Met Team Banana Becky Runner, Syril and Wyatt. Agreement was to wear the Cebu Marathon finisher shirt but Wyatt did not follow instructions. Haha!

We were hanging around and relaxing at McDonald's, confident that the starting area was just nearby (We assumed it was similar to Sante Barley Domination Run's starting area) but we were dead wrong! It was probably a 500-meter distance away from our assumed starting line. Our warm-up jog became a fast-paced run as we heard the gun start from afar. It took us about 3 minutes before crossing the starting line arc.

It was a never-ending zigzagging, overtaking fellow 21k runners left and right. But with 4500 registered 21k participants, overtaking was just plain hell. Becky Runner and I lost Syril as he sped off.

Halfway through the race (at the Cavitex Road), Becky Runner told me to go ahead. I was still eyeing a sub-2 finish but I was not that expectant given I know that going back would mean multiple merges with lower distance categories would make it more difficult to run. 21k runners had to battle it out for road space with 16k, 10k, 5k and 3k runners on their respective U-turn spots.

Action shot courtesy of Faces of the Race. Thanks for the capture!

The good thing though, is that amidst the sheer number of runners, the weather was cool and hydration is abundant (though the variety of sports drinks could mean trouble to runners' tummies). Disappointing for me though is that a number of participants (who might be newbies) are not following basic running etiquette - runners doing abrupt stops, walkers walking side by side eating up road space, runners overtaking and eating up the lane of runners already on their way back. Well, with 17000 total runners, this is probably something difficult to control.

I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 1 hour, 57 minutes and 31 seconds, meeting my sub-2 target. This is actually the first time I did a 21k a week after doing 42k. I used to think people who do this are crazy. So I'm crazy after all. LOL!

Simple yet nice looking finisher medal. 

Team MAMAWS! From L-R: Cholo, Jaycee, Archie, Wyatt, me, JP and Rolly (Photo courtesy of Cholo)

Team BANANA! Team CEBU! Hahaha! Or Team BLACK (Photo courtesy of JP)

Team LOYCE! Celebrity Barefoot Runner Loyce and fans (Photo courtesy of JP)

Team BIRDIES / Team SURVIVOR - Thirdy, CJ and Junjun (Photo courtesy of JP)

Post-race breakfast at KFC with Team SCR (Photo courtesy of Wyatt)

Results were released a couple of days after, which is a quick turnaround given the large number of participants. Official results may be viewed at http://www.myrunti.me/race/Run1000/

Top 9.5% ain't bad!

Kudos to 711 for staging an organized, massive event such as 711 Run 1000. Congratulations as well on your 1000th store. We're all looking forward to next year's edition!