1K @ Amway Fun Run - First Run for the Year

My first run for the year started with a cold Sunday morning. Never minding the 15 degrees Celsius of cold weather me and two of my friends went to Mall of Asia Arena at the seaside boulevard to run the 8km fun run of Amway Philippines. The 1K @ Amway Fun Run features distances for 1K, 5K and 8K. The registration fees for all the run is only Php 200.00

gun start at 5:50 am

Me and my friends registered for the 8K run that starts at 5:50 in the morning. This is the first time that I will be running for 8K; all of my past runs are all in 10K. I already have slow performances from my past runs that I decided to try for the 8K to gauge again my running skills. 

Due to the cold weather, I didn’t felt like sweating much for the entire run. But I felt dehydrated on the first two kilometres, because the first hydration stop is at the 2 kilometres mark. Plus, there is no trash bins at the hydration area where you can throw the used cups. You can see the cups littered at the streets, making it hard to run. 

fellow runners for 8k

runners filling the streets for the Amway fun run

There are only few 8 kilometres runners that there is enough space for you to run at your fullest and not worry if you will be bumping with other runners. But when the 5 kilometres runners started their run, the streets along the seaside boulevard became packed with people that there is not enough space for running. There are also lots of runners that are walking instead.

tired runners walking the route

I finish the race at approximately 68 minutes. This is not my target time, but still I am happy at the result. There was a little difficulty passing the finish line as there are runners who are taking their pictures along the way with the finish line as their background. 

runners nearing the finish line

final stretch before the finish line

Of course, in every fun run, there are lots of freebies. So after getting our baggage, we decided to line up at the different booths hoping to get some goodies. But unfortunately, the freebies are not worth the long line of people. But hey, we shouldn’t be really expecting much. We only paid Php 200.00 as registration fee and I think the shirt was worth it for the said fee. Oh yeah, I was not also able to get my shirt for this event because I was late to register, and they already ran out of stock. But they promise to give the shirts by the first week of February (hopefully). 

An Afternoon visit at Luneta

The Rizal Monument

the large flag at Rizal Park

It’s been a long time since my last visit to Luneta Park. I think it was in college when we need to finish a project that we went to Luneta. Luneta or Rizal Park is one of the tourist destinations in Metro Manila as it is where the monument of Jose Rizal is located. Jose Rizal is the Philippines national hero. The huge flag in front of monument is also eye-catching especially whenever it dances with the wind. 

We were not able to roam the whole park as we went to Quirino Grandstand, which is just in front of the Rizal monument, to watch the sunset at Manila Bay. Quirino Grandstand is named after the late President Elpidio Quirino is the home of the oath taking of the Philipppine's presidents. The statue of a carabao, the Philippines national animal and statue of Lorenzo Ruiz, the Philippines first saint can also be seen at Quirino Grandstand. 

The sunset at Manila Bay is one also of the must see attractions when you went to Rizal Park.

A picture of the Quirino Grandstand with the sun setting 

Another view of the sunset at the Quirino Grandstand

the carabao statue 

the monument of Lorenzo Ruiz

Aside from roaming the parks and watching the sunset, you will also see people having picnics, kids playing and flying kites. You can also ride the “kalesa” or horse driven carriage to get around the park. Riding the kalesa is quite expensive, the price range is Php 200-250 per person but the experience is worth the price.

the kalesa

You don’t also need to worry where to eat at Luneta Park for there are restaurants nearby and of course there are also the street vendors where you can buy ice cream on a cone, the still affordable fishballs, kikiams, the sago at gulaman, and green mango with bagoong to name a few.

Ice Cream, Fishball, Sago at Gulaman, anyone?

the Manila Bay after the sunset

Going to Luneta, made me think that we need not to go far to see scenic places and enjoy life little pleasures, sometimes they are nearby waiting to be visited and enjoyed.