It was another fun-filled out-of-town trip for the
Team Alpha1 boys last January 21-22, 2012. I and six of my running teammates went to Subic, Olongapo for lots of eating. And oh yes, I forgot. Running too!
Now here are 21 photos from our Subic adventure:
1
We went in two separate cars - mine and Daves'. We met at a Caltex station near the San Fernando exit at NLEX. We went on a convoy after the meet-up.
2
Upon arriving at Subic, we were famished! We came across Texas Joe's. And oh boy the food was heavenly.
3
I ordered spare ribs. Yuuuummmmm! And I did something I haven't done for a long time - order extra rice! Haha!
4
Texas Joe's is just a few meters away from where we will be staying - Subic Park Hotel. We made it just in time for the 2pm check-in.
5
Our Deluxe rooms were spacious! My roommates were Bryan "FFS" and Martin "Coyote". I was supposed to take a nap, having been tired from the long drive but I opened my laptop instead and checked work emails. Loser!
6
Around 5pm, we went out and searched for a "meryenda" place. A friend of Daves recommended a place called Xtremely Xpresso. The place was just a walking distance from our hotel.
7
Found the place! Xtremely Xpresso Cafe!
8
Pizza and Pasta - perfect carbo-loading! I had a Bailey's-flavored Gelato ice cream for dessert.
9
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by at the nearby church to have our photo taken. It was also a time for me to say a quick prayer for a safe and injury-free run the next day.
10
After a few hours of sleep, we were up again to do our pre-race rituals. We asked the hotel attendant to take our picture. He wished us good luck and off we went for our warm-up run!
11
I had Eugene's camera with me so I was playing around, trying to imitate Spongebob Runner, who always had his camera with him during runs and taking pictures just like the one you see above. Everyone was game and having fun every time I attempt to take pictures.
12
The gun start for the 21k runners was moved from 5am to 5:15am so we had lots of time to relax and mingle with other runners.
13
This being my first official race for this year (having just recovered from my knee injury), I planned to take it slower than my normal competitive pace. This is also Rocky's first 21k for the year so we decided to just pace each other.
14
The race route was mostly uphill for the first half. But what goes up, must come down. Mostly downhill after the half-way point U-turn. At kilometer 16, Rocky told me to go ahead as his right knee was acting up. Now alone, I did my usual strategy of targeting one runner at a time and overtaking them. I was targeting members of the Army since they have been very fast during the start of the race and were now tired. Hehe!
15
There were a lot of food vendors in the race village. Hungry, I bought an egg sandwich and a bottle of soda. Rocky ate one order of spaghetti and one order of pancit palabok. Haha! We waited for Byron to cross the finish line and then walked back to our hotel.
16
After everyone had a quick shower (including our full marathon finishers), we made it just in time for the 12nn check-out time. Here's us in the hotel lobby while settling our payables.
17
One more shot with the Subic Park Hotel logo at the background before leaving. Plan is to have lunch at Meat Plus Cafe, a must-visit restaurant in Subic!
18
My lunch - baby back ribs and carrot cake for dessert! I'd come back for that melt-in-your-mouth baby back ribs! Perfect 10!
19
Group pic in front of Meat Plus Cafe. We went to the nearby duty-free shop after. I bought lots of junk food - 60 dollars worth!
20
Martin, Bryan and Byron were all asleep in my car during the drive at SCTEX. I was fighting the urge to sleep while driving since I had no one to talk to. Good thing we had a stop-over at an NLEX gasoline station. I had my caffeine fix by ordering the strongest coffee available at Gloria Jean's. That helped me survive the remaining two hours of drive to Paranaque.
21
I love the dog tag given to the 21k finishers! Official time: 2 hours, 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Thank you Subic International Marathon! It was a great event!
