But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will RUN and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

After 2 consecutive trail runs outside Manila, I went back to road running last night (May 23, 2010) courtesy of CCAP (Contact Center Association of the Philippines) in Mall of Asia Complex. This race is another unforgettable experience because it’s my first time…..

• To join a race at night. Just imagine that you don’t need to worry about the heat of the sun.
• To race in Mall of Asia complex (near my office). I have run in Mall of Asia (MOA) for practice but this is the first time I joined an official event here. I think MOA is now running 2nd to Fort Bonifacio as the favorite venue for fun run in the Metro.
• To be with a lot of office mates. It’s a good thing that the event was dubbed as the Call Center Fun Run night. We had our own registration in the office. More than 10 TeleTech employees from my account joined (Asher, Arnold, Jane, Ice, Arjay, Richard, Raymond, Oscar etc.).
• To run with fever and headache. I woke up early Sunday morning feeling sick. Thank God I made it to the finish line.
• Not to miss a church service in Sunday morning. I felt guilty that for my past races, I have to skip our church service in Bulacan. This time, I went to church in the morning and then run at night. Put God first!

It’s a good thing that CCAP organized a fun run for call center/BPO employees. Despite the graveyard shift, this is a venue to promote healthy living and fit body. The organizer said that they will hold the event every year. Given that it’s the first run organized by CCAP, here’s my review of the race pending the results that will be posted in this blog soon.

1. The gun shot for 10K is supposed to start at 9:20Pm but it started 40 minutes late. When we arrived there at 9PM for the assembly, we saw a lot of participants still lined up in the booth to claim their race kit and singlets. It’s a good thing that they asked Fitness First representatives to hold a warm-up dance/stretching session and I think most of us enjoyed it.
2. I don’t have a sports watch that can accurately measure distance but judging from my past races, I really don’t think that the route is just 10 kilometers. I believe it is somewhere between 11K and 12K. Last week, I joined the Men’s Health Trail Run in Nuvali, Laguna and I clocked 1:08 after passing through several rivers and traversing a difficult trail. For the same distance but this time running on a concrete road, I clocked 1:09. Something is not right.
3. Given that it’s Sunday night in the première entertainment mall of the country, we had some delays because of passing vehicles. They tried to block some roads but the traffic is just too heavy to prevent all vehicles from cutting through our routes.
4. Given a lot of BPO/Call center companies in Manila, I think that the event was not successfully promoted. The number of participants was less than I expected. In fact, the event was only posted in Takbo.ph only several days before the run.

Enough of the negative sides; I still want to give a big KUDOS to CCAP for coming up with this event. The winners section also had a separate group for call center employees and guest/élite runners to give a chance for amateur runners like us. I did not win a medal but my running buddy Aileen Canos won 3rd place in the 10K female category. This is her 2nd medal after finishing 7th place in the TNF 100 run in Baguio. I went more than a minute ahead of her so that’s my consolation. 🙂

Check out the complete set of pictures in my Flickr page here.

The night did not end after the race. We still went to a bar in Makati with Aileen, Xian and Kaye to celebrate Aileen’s victory. I don’t know what happened but although feeling tired, my headache was gone. Isaiah 40:31 is indeed a verse to remember last night. He said that those who trusts in Him will renew their strength. We can run and not grow weary. We can walk and not faint. Let’s hold on to God’s promise and continue to enjoy his blessing of a physically and spiritually fit and healthy body.

Below is a famous praise and worship song in our church by Don Moen. The song is entitled “Like Eagles”. Watch the YouTube video and lyrics here: