The Fit and Fun Wellness Buddy Run was supposed to be an opportunity for friends and family to come together, take a brief respite from the trappings of everyday running and just go out there and have a blast by running as a pair. While this doesn't beat the novelty of having to eat six donuts over the course of a race (yum) it was supposed to give a fresh take on your usual weekend race. I had my sights set on Tito Caloy as my buddy (think of all the fun comedy anecdotes I could have used as material) but alas...
Lady at Robinson's Pioneer Customer Service : Ay Sir wala na pong slot
GBM : Pero... . last day ngayon diba? *sob*
LRPCS : Oo, pero ubos na ang slots eh.
GBM : *sob*
Thus, I had to grimly relay the info to Tito Caloy... . He must be crestfallen.
Tito Caloy : O, naicancel ko na lahat ng gimik ko! Kundisyon na ako! Game !
GBM: Tito, naubusan tayo ng slots . Sigh.
TC : Ay sakto kakatext lang ni pareng Ambo diyan sa may Griarte bertday daw eh! Cge txt2 na lang!
GBM: (well that didn't take long)
So great. I'll be stuck without a race for the weekend. As much as I wanted to pace Tito Caloy, my ulterior motive was to somehow whip myself back to shape coming from the layoff necessitated by the Botak Ultra. So imagine how happy I was when Takbo.ph denizen Lucille/ Ohm Runner had advised me that her hubby's partner had backed out. I felt fortunate that amongst those who had offered their "services" as a late sub she picked me :) We met the day before at Go Nuts Donuts for the bib and singlet , a veritable EB of sorts as I have never met her before.
Lucille : It's up to you to take care of my hubby
GBM : Of course! Any targets?
Lucille : His best time was a 1:10... .
GBM : So it's a sub 70 then! Game !
Lucille : Thank you. Any PR wold be a tremendous bonus.
GBM: I will try my best... ..
To make a long story short, I would be running the buddy run not with a buddy... but with a total stranger...
Pre-Race
I'm running late. I cannot be late for this. I have a buddy. I don't know him. But it should be fun. I just drove from Ortigas to Fort in 5 mins. I could have sworn the cops would have given me a ticket. Whew. Made it. It's starting late apparently. The usual suspects here. And... hey! It's Doc Iris! Finally meet her! She's... tall in person! Someone's calling... wait... . It's Argow...
GBM : Yes Argow?
Argow : Shet man!
GBM : Wha?
Argow: I just woke up!
GBM: Yeah, sad. Why you calling me?
Argow: I hooked up on the board! Last minute sub! And I'm here! He's there! Waaaaah! WWaaaaah! WAAAH! Um, is there anyone who could sub for me? WAAAAH!
GBM: Geez, I don't know man. We're starting in like 5 mins... .
Argow : Waaaah!
I finally met my buddy minutes before we were to start. Until that point he was only known as "Lucille's Husband" . I must have repeated this a gazillion times to the Takbo.ph gang...
Takbo.ph friend : Hey who's your buddy?
GBM: Lucille's Husband! I'm a late sub!
TF : Who's Lucille?
Carlo was his name. Much better than "Lucille's Husband" right? . I asked him his targets, he said he just wanted to treat it as his long run. He didn't want to push because he wanted to run the Globe 21k next week. But Lucille said sub 70... And how can he finish 21k if he doesn't push on a mere 10k? My competitive juices started flowing, a diabolical plan was hatched to tow my new buddy into new running heights.
"Lucille's Husband" now had a face behind the name
We're Going Too Fast! Km 1 - 5
So it's my first time to ever pace someone at an actual race and it's my first time to run at a significantly slower pace. My adrenalin was killing me. As you may or may not know, I'm a notorious positive splitter for short to medium distance races. This rubbed off on our pace, and as much as I was trying to take it slow, it still resulted in a 6:24 pace that was too fast for my new friend. He was doing quite well first 3 - 4k, then was starting to gas already. We had passed Takbo.ph first couple Jinoe and Que, injured diva Vicky and matinee idol Bong Z as well as Timmy and Joyce so I figured heck , we must be going a bit fast.
Bong and Vix on their "leisurely" pace
Wait, did they just stop in the middle of the road for photo-op?
Buddy Carlo was starting to grumble already, much to my consternation and embarassment.
"This is hard!"
"This is too fast this ain't my pace!"
"You're a maniac!"
Little did he know, it was all part of the plan... ..
A Final Push. Km 6- 10
In order to diffuse any unneccessary weirdness, I resorted to humoring buddy Carlo with mundane, useless questions to take his mind off the pain and exhaustion. Things like...
What's your wedding date with Lucille?
Where was your first date?
What's the zodiac sign of your kid?
When was your first kiss?
If someone were to play you in a movie, who would it be and why?
Who you like better, Rustom or BB?
Think Doc Hayden would come up with new material soon?
Despite my best efforts, best buddy Carlo said he was gassing. He was not enjoying this at all! He had to take a walk break. Which was great because... . that was part of the plan. Aha! Pacing with positive split people has its advantages... like slacking off during the 2nd half. The walk breaks , the rest pace splits - all were taken into consideration *evil grin*. We actually had a 31 minute 5k. More than enough to time to recover. *moral victory* After a kilometer or so of walking, we were back on track. A run/walk strategy lowered our pace to about 6:47, but were right on track. He was feeling much better, which was a good thing...
I am not liking this Gingerbread charcter ...
Evil Gingerbread pacer dude
With the finish line in sight, buddy Carlo was seriously gassing. He wanted to walk last hundred meters. I told him just 300 meters to go! 200! It's just one more minute of misery in exchange for a week of glory! I shared the mantra that pushes me through the last 500 meter fade. Must have struck a chord, as me and best buddy Carlo finished strong to a 1:08:50 finish on our Garmins, a new PR for him! Mission accomplished! Congratulations to main man Carlo! Wohoo!
I survived the GBM Pace Experience!
Overall, the race was an organized success. Extribe did a wonderful job with it, we should see them more often. Generous goodie bags at the end were pretty impressive as well.
Niceties were given, congratulations exchanged. Old records fell by the wayside. The essence of the Buddy Run is reflected in a synergy of enthusiasm... .
Love... .
Smiles... ..
Fun... ..
and the pursuit of excellence... .
We may have not breached any of those in an hour, but rest assured the fundamental element was built that day... ..
I started the race with a complete stranger. I ended it with a complete stranger. I just so happen to know some weird things about him now.
Goodbye Carlo. We ran the good race. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. See you around...
Buddy. :)