"Runabouts" In Metro Manila

I got the idea about "runabout" after reading the latest book of Dean Karnazes entitled "50/50: The Secrets of An Ultramarathon Runner" and getting from it the "tips" on the conduct of "runabouts", a word coined from the word "walkabout" which is a ritual among the Australian aborigines' children/adolescent to walk in the wilderness for a period of time for them to experience what their old folks had gone through, This kind of ritual has the objective to survive and strengthen themselves in order to fight the environment and be able to live with the land.

In the present set-up in a society or community, "walkabouts" are already transformed to "runabouts" where a runner simply needs a running shoes, a running attire, runner's watch and cash for him to enjoy running along the roads of a city or a locality. The cash provides him with the money to buy bottled water, sports drinks, and food along the way as more convenience stores and fastfood services could be accessible in all nooks and corners of the city. Aside from the cash, a runner would be able to plot his direction and route of his "roundabout" as part of his plan and with the advent of runners' watches with GPS capability, a runner could easily measure the distance he had covered in his run/walk accurately.

While I was in Los Angeles last year, I did a lot of "runabouts" to go around the city and visit its parks and beautiful tourist spots. I always see to it that I brought my digital camera where I could set it to "delayed shooting" option for me to be taken by the camera with the background of the place where I am standing. It was a very enjoyable and memorable experience.

As soon as arrived in Manila, I started doing my "runabouts" with my hydration pack, camera, and running attire. Through my experiences and stories where I had them posted in my blog at Wordpress, I was able to influence a lot of runner-bloggers who are interested to experience doing those "runabouts" within Metro Manila.

The first "runabout" in Metro Manila with other runners was done a day after Christmas Day last year (2008). Four of us (Rico, Arman, Jonel and I) started at the Bonifacio High Street (ROX area) on the early morning and ran all the way to the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park and back to where we started. The second "runabout" was a challenge for us to measure the distance of the Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) from Roxas Boulevard to the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City where the runners increased to a number of six (6). Our third "runabout" was another way to find out the distance of the C-5 Highway and our number of participants increased to thirteen (13) and the run was becoming popular and exciting. Our fourth "runabout" was a run from UP Diliman Campus to Antipolo and back and it increased the number of runners to twenty-three (23) runners with three female runners completing the said distance.

More and more runners are now going out on the roads and trails for their "runabouts" as a form of exercise and way to connect with nature and the environment. Our group of "hardcore" runners will continue the conduct of this "runabouts" and hope that such activity will encourage more people to run or walk and leave their vehicles at home. We will also endeavor to have these "runabouts" as our way to provide the public with information and "cause-oriented" awareness projects and concerns to protect and preserve the environment.