Amadeo Coffee Run=Downhill + Uphill

7:56 AM 28 February 2009 @ Amadeo, Cavite

After the Bataan 52K “Test Run”, I was not decided yet to run the Coffee Run at Amadeo, Cavite as I wanted to put more time to run on the road with long and steady runs. Yesterday, during the “speed” training session at the ULTRA Oval Track, I found out that the elite members of Team Bald Runner will be joining the said race. This made me decide to run on this race and be with the company of Jonel aka Bugobugo85, Jan Imperio, and Ismael Ilagan of Team Bald Runner.

After coordination and arrangements, our convoy of three vehicles left Manila at 4:45 AM today and arrived at the Town Plaza of Amadeo, Cavite at 6:00 AM. We had enough time to register and look around the Poblacion. We tried to look for the advertised free coffee as the place is known as the coffee capital of the country plus the fact that the town is celebrating their Pahimis Festival. We found out that the coffee was being brewed and the people were prepared to serve every guest in the town. The place was cold and breezy that I had to wear my sports jacket while talking with the other runners. The air was fresh and clean in Amadeo and we enjoyed drinking our coffee with hot pandesal at the Town Plaza where there were tables and chairs for the guests.

As we waited for the race to start, more runners arrived from Manila to include members of the Fort Striders Club, Fitness First Runners, and members of Team Bald Runner (Professional Group). I was able to talk to Runner For Christ, Jazz Runner, runners from Sta Rosa, Laguna who reminded me that I gave them some of the “donated shoes” from Del Q, the members of Fort Striders, and foreigners from Orange County, California. Thirty minutes before the start of the race, we had our jogging/warm-up along the roads of the Poblacion and prepared ourselves for the race.

The race started at 7:56 AM after a short speech from the race organizer and host of the road race. There were about 250 runners who joined the race which consisted of a 3K, 5K, and 10K race. All the race distances started at the same time and it was very orderly. The race did not have any complications. The route was a straight downhill along a single road up to a distance of 5 kilometers and the remaining 5 kilometers towards the finish line was an uphill climb. For the rest of the distances, the turn-around for the 3K was located at the 1.5K and the 5K’s turn-around was located at the 2.5K and the water stations were located on these turn-around points. Cold water and strings were abundant and there were no problems for the runners in getting their cups of water and strings.

My race strategy for the 10K run was simply to finish the race as I was not confident with my “speed” training for the week. As soon as the race started, the downhill was so tempting to be fast for the 1st half of the race but I controlled my pace as I wanted to reserve my strength for the uphill climb on the last half of the race. For the 1st half, my average pace was 4:25 minutes per kilometers, however, on my way back to the finish line, I had an average pace of 5:15 minutes. The race was a unique one because of the route and I enjoyed it. I finished the 10K race in 47:11 minutes placing # 20 overall among the finishers.

I would say that the race was perfectly organized and executed. There were no frills but the basic needs of the runners were all provided to include medical assistance/ambulance and security by the PNP. The awarding were all done without any hitches or complaints. The people of Amadeo were friendly and appreciative of the runners as we passed their houses during the race.

I am sure I will be back next year to Amadeo for their 2nd Coffee Run because of the unique & simple route to break the monotony of the usual routes in Metro Manila.

Congratulations to the Elite Team Bald Runner for winning most of the podium awards and Thanks for the Support from the Professional Group of Team Bald Runner led by Jonel aka Bugobugo85, Jan Imperio, and Ismael Ilagan.