A Walk To Remember

Ooops! Sorry guys! This is a runners' blog. Apology to those who end up reading this blog who are actually googling for the film "A Walk To Remember" starring Mandy Moore. But the headline [of this article] perfectly suits Castles' first ever foot race.

A five kilometer fun run that we walked more than half of the time until we reached the finish line with an unsatisfactory time of forty eight minutes. Certainly- a walk to remember.

RunningCastles Trivia : MommyCastle (Nette) was actullly the one who came up first with a personal Blog that serves as online race journal. The blog entitled Patim, coined after our term of endearment to our son Timothy, had its first article dated March 17, 2011. To date, there are nine racing stories from Castles' early years of running.

Re-posting the first race event story written on MyPatim

Now, it’s been more than two years since our (with my husband Noel) very first (fun) run.


A sure question would be: Why only now? Answer is: Last year, I started reading blogs (from our running friends) then I got inspired and when we finally met our dear friend (a certified marathon maniac) he advised us to have a running journal. LIGHT BULB! If ever I’ll have or create one, why not do it on a blog? hmmm.

So this will be the first (of our running journey), Paa Bilisan 2009. I have an officemate, Kuya Jim, who is already a marathoner. And been into running years before us. He invited us to join a (fun) run, he told us just to try it. Sabi pa niya, “5km lang naman yun”. Hhmmm… Noel and I talked about it, then finally agreed to join. I am just one of two women who joined from our group and the question popped up on my mind “tama ba ang naging desisyon kong sumama?”.


By the way, did I mention that the registration fee back then was P250.00(only)?…


Two weeks before the event, Noel and I started to jog within our subdivision. There is no proper or specific training for us; the coming race is just for experience. Not knowingly, that we will be hooked (later on).


Event day, waking up as early as 2:00 am on a Sunday morning is not easy.. But excited as we are, we overcome the feeling of being lethargic. Meeting place is at our office (in Novaliches) at exactly 3:00 am, everybody was excited and all pumped up. Of course, who wouldn’t want to have a souvenir especially for first timers, kaya picture taking muna before umalis.

with kuya Jim (first from left)

ako ang muse dito.. :)

We arrived at BHS early, still dark, so picture taking again!

I guessed we already made a PR on that side. =))

first timers..

excited and all pumped up!

Then we headed to the starting line and waited there.


Gun start!


Off we go, and immediately I was left behind (kaagad?!?!) I barely could run continuously after 500m.. Then I saw a marker which says 1km, I would run and walk and run and walk until it was all walk. Then there was a turn around, I saw Noel and our officemates on the other side of the road waving, (sigh) they were way ahead of me. By the way, Kuya Jim was nowhere in sight. As I reached the 3km mark, I saw Noel walking and I immediately joined him.

We decided to finish it together, tried to run a few meters then walked again. Tired as we are, we saw the km marker said 4km. My mind was already playing tricks on me (telling to myself, “ano ba itong pinag gagawa mo?.. huwag mo ng uulitin ito”).. I told Noel, “pagod na ako mahal, ang sakit pa ng paa ko hindi na ko na kayang makatakbo”.. He replied, “konti na lang mahal, tapusin natin ito”.


Then the sight of finish line, I tried hard to jog it for the last 100 meters or less with Noel a bit ahead of me, then finally crossing the finish line. It took us 48minutes for our first 5km.


Kuya Jim was the first to finish from us, he clocked in 23:xx minutes and he won 3rd place from his age category. Galing!


Filled with mixed emotions, we are exhausted, hungry and my foot hurts (my shoes wasn’t right for me)… We immediately got our share of Gatorade, water and took some pictures while waiting for one of our officemate, kuya Ronald, to finish. While we are having our pictures taken (we are one of the loudest group at that time) in front of the stage, the host announced that they will be giving away Timex watches (for men and women) through raffle.

That made us all quiet and focused on the program. The winners are raffled through their bib numbers. One bib number called after another, until the host called a familiar number.... 3048!! Shouted by the host, it was a familiar number and as I checked my bib it was 3048!!! I won!! Immediately, I went up the stage, shook hands of the organizer/s (I think he is one of them) and finally got my first ever running watch! Timex Ironman 30 lap (for women) Cool!! and with price tag pa!

my lucky bib number! :)

I guess you already know what happened next. Of course, hindi mawawala ang “asaran” and “kantyawan” when you or one of your friends have won something, Blowout!! Blowout!! (1,000x ko atang narinig ito, LOL! So we headed straight to Jollibee for a breakfast.


P250 for a race , with singlet, hydration (was great by the way), with after race raffle, BUT – No freebies. It was a simple and cheap race but the basic needs were met.


A great experience, we had fun (and some pain) and I knew that I made the right decision after all. The best thing is I got lucky.