Mangrove and Running

Mangroves according to wikipedia  are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics. Mangoves are best known for their gigantic roots that entangles each other. These roots serves as habitat for various kinds of fishes and helps stops soil erosion in coastal areas. The branches of these huge trees also serves as homes to birds and a food source for insects, and animals.

Today, mangrove forest are being threatened to be destroyed due to land developments and pollution. Due to this threat mangrove conservation are now being implemented worldwide. Condura together with various sponsors conducted a marathon to for the protection and rehabilitation of mangrove forest in the Philipppines. February 3, 2013 is the second year that Condura organized a race to conquer the skyway to help build a mangrove forest.

The Skyway is a 17km highway and motorway from Makati City to Alabang, Muntinlupa City. This road serves as the race track for the Condura Skyway Marathon. The distances to run for the marathon are 42k, 21k, 10 k, 6k, and 3.8k. So, you can only imagine a road filled with people running from midnight (for the 42k participants) until 7:00 am. 

runners preparing for the race

The Condura Skyway Marathon is the second time for me to join a fun run. I signed-up for the 10k to see if I improve from the last 10k race that I joined. For the 10k runners, the race starts at 5:00 in the morning but runners are encouraged to come at least 1hr before the race starts. Luckily, we followed this important rule, because there are lots of sponsors that set-up their booths and are giving out freebies. 

runners exploring some booths

Before the 10k starts there are already 21k runners and 42k runners that have finished the race. The 42k runners started the race at 12 midnight while the 21k runners starts at 3:30 am. At 4:30 am me and my friend already started to do some warm-ups. Runners are slowly filling up the area, as some band plays music. This keep the crowd feel alive and taking the sleepy feeling away.

At 5:00 am the race starts for the 10k. Running at the skyway is not an easy feat. There are the ramps going up and part of the road that is also going up so runners are fighting the force of gravity. Even the way down is also hard. If runners are not that careful in running the downward slope, they can stumble and lose control because also of gravity. But what's nice in running the skyway is the feel of the cold morning breeze that will envelope your body, the view of the rising sun and doing something for a good cause.

runners with their lootbags

a nice Sunday morning

my 10k medal