The Thin Line

Mondrian Bike

Taking a bike literally as a work of art. The Look 586 Mondrian.

GK Heroes Run!

On November 18, 2007, at the Philadelphia Marathon, runners from Singles for Christ New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia ran the Gawad Kalinga Heroes Run 2007.

I ran with SFC New York team which includes Henry Tong, Jim Gabriel, Dave Lucido, Ramon Llenado, Israel Perez and Mia Ramos (the only rose among the thorns). With the exception of Israel and Ramon, we all trained with the RUN NYC Nike running club. We also managed to recruit a non-SFC member, Jerome Tanhueco, whom we met at Nike.

Four of us, including myself, were beginner runners. We registered for the shorter race (the Rothman 8k). Henry, Jim, and Ramon -- who ran the 8k at last year's GK Run -- along with Jerome, ran the half-marathon this year. Jerome clocked the fastest time at 1:30.

The Physical Challenge

For the more seasoned runners running the longer race, the challenge was to run faster times. They each had a lot of miles logged (on their Nike+ or Polar foot pods). For us beginners, our modest task was to simply finish the race.

I found myself trying to slowly raise my goal. First, I wanted to eliminate walk breaks. And then I wanted to race for time. Later, I even (foolishly) considered running the half-marathon, but my schedule curtailed any serious attempts at more consistent training.

We all thought we did well with our individual races. To me personally, the experience and excitement of the race was enough reward. I never thought running would be so much fun.

Raising Funds for GK Houses

The bigger challenge... Henry Tong, who put up our group's Active.com web page, set our fund raising goal to $10k.

It seemed like physical training was just half the battle. Scheduling to train was time-consuming enough, but add the time we needed to really follow-up with the people we beg -- uhm ask -- donations for.

We didn't quite reach the goal, but we were in for a surprise...

The Anonymous $3k Donation

One morning, I checked our team's page and saw a $3k donation. Some of us suspected fellow runner Henry Tong himself ponied up the cash -- though he denies the deed. We'd like to thank our Good Samaritan, whoever he is.

Race Day and the People in Red

The SFC NY team left the hotel early in freezing weather and we all feared the worse. Thankfully, apart from a minor drizzle, it was a pleasant race (those thermals get hot after the first two miles or so...).

During the run itself, we met familiar faces from SFC New Jersey and some unfamiliar faces -- presumably locals -- donning the red GK jersey. Both the 8k and half-marathon groups had their supporters in the sidelines of course.

My favorite moments during the race were seeing and greeting my smiling teammates and the other GK runners in red as well as hearing the cheers of my SFC NY friends somewhere before Mile 2 (and back).

And the soup at the food tent was great.

 

A Million Thanks

It was in the end, a fulfilling experience. We raised $7,045 -- almost enough money for five GK houses!

I'm really thankful for my fellow runners and GK advocates for the motivation. And we are all thankful for everyone who gave us support by donating or cheering us on.

Onwards to GK Heroes Run 2008!

The End of Pool Season

The Pool Banquet

I beat one of the people I couldn't beat previously. Somehow, this makes up for all the losses I took this season.

View more pics at my Pbase account.