#AiRun at Sm2Sm Run7

SM2SM Run is an annual event organized by SM Prime Holdings. This year, I was able to be part of its seventh edition held on February 19, 2017, as I ran my first 12km event.

Last January 7, 2017,  SM2SM Run held a Price-off party wherein free registrations will be given off to the first 77 who will register on the said day.

Since the road to race is quite expensive, we agreed to get up early to go to SM Cebu hoping to avail the free registration before someone else does. Luckily, we're one of the first few in the line. We actually waited for 8 hours before we got our Registration form. Imagine, 8 hours!!! Well, everything has been paid off when we finally registered for the 12km category for FREE.

We thought we have used up all our luck for that day, but oops wait a minute! We won 2 GC in Max Restaurant with 1 whole roasted chicken treat for each voucher! What more could we ask for? :)

Kaon na sad ang Team kaon :)

Running for the 12km category was never our intention. We usually run for 5km in fun runs. However, only 12km and 21km runners are given a finisher medal. In a bid to get our hands at the medal, we took the challenge of running for a longer distance -- the 12km category.

We had 1 month and a week to prepare for the race. Thanks to our co-Timexan a.k.a. Coach Aldrin Pasumala for helping us train for our first long distance run.
To get a lot of energy to cover our 12km run, we snacked at NYPD  Pizza and Pasta Buffet at APM Mall Centrale the day before the race. They offer New York Style pizza and pasta buffet with unlimited chicken and soda for only 245.

The day before the race.

Race Day!
One useful tip that every runner should keep in mind -- get to the race at least 30 minutes before the gun time so you'll have ample time to prepare yourself and do your warm up stretch. On the race day, we arrived 10 minutes before the gun time so we rushed to the baggage counter to leave our belongings plus we were not able to have proper warm up because we found ourselves running to the starting line.
We weren't able to take starting line selfies too! :( hahaha

Going to the race means preparing yourself physically and mentally. In our experience, we haven't reached the halfway mark yet when the rain poured down. Thank goodness, I was wearing a trucker cap which I borrowed from Aldrin. The rain didn't get to my eyes so I was able to see even in a downpour. Running in the rain may be hard at first but when we began running, we actually enjoyed it.

No rain can stop us :)

We reached the finish line after 1 hour and 37 minutes at a relaxed pace.  This may not be exceptional for others but we're still proud and fulfilled because we were able to run all throughout the race. Kung si Panyang pa, "if you want to go fast, go ALONE. If you want to go far, go TOGETHER."

I am no expert when it comes to running but I believe that the key to running and reaching the finish line is proper training, determination, and motivation to make your running pleasurable... and rewarding!

Finish strong!

My longest run ever!