When In Manila, it’s fun to join fun runs every now and then. Some of the things I often consider when registering for a run are the beneficiary, race organizer and race venue. I’m glad I found all these in the recently concluded Sofitel Manila Half Marathon.
I was one of the thousands of runners who participated in the recently concluded Sofitel Manila Half Marathon last Sunday. It’s my 3rd time to join Sofitel’s races and I can proudly say it was another run for the books. Since partnering with RunRio, Sofitel’s runs such as the past Battle of the Sexes and their half marathon have all been deemed race worthy. More over, Sofitel has been holding these races for the past years for the benefit of the Virlanie Foundation.
Sofitel Manila Half Marathon 21k runners running across Aseana One
The route was a familiar one. Similar to the route used in last year’s 10k Battle of the Sexes as well as other races Coach Rio has organized in that area. The weather couldn’t have been any better! At first I feared it might rain hard as the we were greeted with strong rains the night before. Thankfully, there was only a drizzle during that morning’s run, enough to keep the runners feeling cool and energized!
21k runners heading to the finish line a few hours after the race begun
The race was pretty organized. I especially appreciated how the bananas were evenly distributed that it lasted more or less up to the last runner. You see, Philippe and I arrived 10minutes late that morning. That puts most runners 1 km ahead of us. I feared we’d ran out of bananas and hydration. On our way back, I noticed some hydration stations with several banana peels but no bananas. To my dismay I thought we ran out of bananas. However, on the next water station, Philippe managed to grab 2 bananas for us. That’s when we saw that the marshals were taking the bananas out little by little to make sure everyone gets at least one! Nice work RunRio!
Spotted: Coach Rio in the spotlight with his many fans
After more than 2 hours, we finally reached the finish line! Woohoo!! And awaiting us was the lovely Sofitel Manila Half Marathon Finisher’s Medal. We then headed to the finishers’ tent where we received even more freebies such our finisher’s shirt and GC’s from sponsors.
Sofitel Manila Half Marathon 21k Finisher’s Medal
Lining up to get even more freebies from sponsors
I didn’t stay long after the run as I had to rush to church, but I did get a quick glimpse of the runners participating in a little after-race Zumba. Fun! I love Sofitel and RunRio and am definitely joining next year’s race once again. Rumor is they might be adding a full 42km race to next year’s race categories. What do you think of this?
‘Till next time, keep running and stay healthy!
