Princess of the Rock

Last week my friend Jen and I registered for a race on Corregidor- she chose the 10k, and I chose the half marathon.  (Can I say a little something about Jen?  She gave me the warmest welcome here and is just an amazing person in general.  Also, we kept up a thoroughly enjoyable conversation for the entire day.  I heart her a lot.)  Usually I register for races months in advance, but I'm glad we did this one on short notice because it gave me a lot less time to stress about it.  Of course, I had a lot less time to prepare for it too, but I've been keeping up on my long runs, so I was confident I could at least finish.

We had to catch the ferry at 4 in the morning. 

This is how we looked on the outside.

This is how we felt on the inside.

And yes, I actually needed a sweater.  It was the first time I have worn one since we arrived.  True to the nature of the Philippines, our ferry left almost an hour late, leaving Jen and I bitterly calculating how much longer we could have slept had we known. 

It was a beautiful morning on Corregidor- not too hot, and a little bit of a breeze- and we counted ourselves lucky regarding the weather.

The start was interesting: the national anthem is played and then someone prays.  I was happy because I wanted all the prayers I could get, because I had a feeling this race was going to be a doozy.  Bruce has this "race joke" where when the race organizers tell the runners to start lining up, he totally sprints to the very front and crouches down like he is on racer's blocks.  I totally did that, and people thought I was hee-larious.  "Keep laughing," I thought. "I'm a joker at the start, but I'm no joker at the finish."  They should have known I meant business because I was wearing my shorty shorts.

I would like to say a few words about this half marathon course.  It was the most difficult and heinous and beyond belief course I have ever seen in all of my days.  It had been raining, so for starters the pavement had slick spots all over.  If you were even on the pavement, that is.  We ran on mud filled trails, we ran through knee high weeds, I turned a corner only to find a huge flight of stone stairs.  And the hills...Oh, those horrible hills.  Miles 5,6, and 7 were one non-stop incline.  I actually had to walk parts of them, something I have never done in any race ever.  My whole internal dialogue was statements like the following: "What in the hell?"  or "When I get my hands on whoever designed this course..." or "You have GOT to be sh***ing me."  For two solid hours.  2:00:57 was my time. 

But guess what?  It was good enough to make THIRD PLACE!  And Jen won the ladies 10k!  So we both got a trip to the podium yesterday.

These nice ladies wanted to get their picture taken with "some winners."

The finish line.  It was a welcome sight, to say the least.  Especially since, I failed to mention, miles 11-12.5 were also STRAIGHT UPHILL.

Jen collects her loot from the race directors.

When they called my name, I ran to the stage screaming like I was on Price is Right.  I won 3,000 pesos (about $70) and a pretty nice sports watch.

The winner and I.  She only beat me by 3 minutes, but I honestly don't think I could have gone any faster, so I'm not even mad she won.  Although, I do feel compelled to point out that I outweigh her by at least 40 pounds.  The winner is called "The Queen of the Rock" because the island of Corregidor is also known as "The Rock."  I've gone ahead and christened myself the "Princess."  Or maybe Duchess or Lady in Waiting.

The top 10.  The lady in the red jacket won last year, but I beat her this year.

The top 3.  I look like a giant.  I think there should have been handicapping like they do in horse races.  Carrying a rucksack with weights equivalent to that of my quads, calves, and glutes would have slowed those little midgets down.

This was a fun race (in hindsight!).  It was decently organized and there were lots of water stations, which was awesome.  Also, when you pass people here, they say, "Nice One!"  It was so refreshing.  When I crossed the finish line, they tried to interview me, and all I could say was, "GET ME A DRINK!" because since I knew I was in third I skipped the last two water stations...I wasn't taking any chances.  Even then, people were totally nice to me.  It's quite amazing. 

The thing that was the most stressful about this event was our transportation home- there were two ferries back: one at 2:30 and one at 5:30.  When we registered, the 2:30 ferry was full, so Jen and I were confirmed on the 5:30 one.  Unfortunately, Jen and I had the branch Christmas party, and she was singing and I was playing piano, and that started at 5:30 back in Manila, so we absolutely had to be on the early ferry or people were going to be mad.  So mad.  Earlier in the week I actually prayed that we could find a way to get on the 2:30 ferry, and I had the most peaceful feeling that we would make it.  So I had told Jen, "Don't worry, because God made us a reservation."  After Jen won the 10k and I placed, we were talking to the race director, and I told him, "We ran our hearts out today, and you put on a good race, and now we need something from you.  Can you put us on the early ferry?"  And he did. 

Some angry guy tried to take the shine off my answered prayer by accusing us of butting the line of people also trying to get on the early ferry, but obviously he didn't realize that my place in the line had been guaranteed by a higher power.

So we had a great day, and were back in time (okay, 15 minutes late, but to Mormons that is on time) to the branch party.

Oh, I almost forgot a couple of things.  You would not BELIEVE the things I saw people eating for the pre-race meal on the ferry.  Hot dogs, potato chips, cup of noodles...It was like a cornucopia of trans fats, processed meats, and white flours.  No wonder I beat most of them.  Also, a woman crossed the finish line for the half marathon yesterday- it took her well over 3 hours- and the first thing she did was light a cigarette.