Takbo.PH NightFest : Race Review

Last year, I only had a single chance to join a night race, the Rock And Run ( eventually it became Rain and Run ). Running at night  gives you the benefit of a cool weather , nice refreshing breeze, the comfort of  the sleeping sun and the beauty of the moonlight. The Takbo.PH NightFest is the first race event to be held at night this 2011. I wasted no time and registered early for this event, aside from the nice Takbo.PH dri-fit shirt , I was in hurry to avail of the free shirt that comes with the registration. What made this run unique for me is the location. It  is also my first time to run in Alabang. With all the excitement that came with this event, I was not disappointed. Here are the reasons why.


Race Detail
When   : April 9, 2011
Where  : Filinvest, Alabang
Time : 6:00PM onwards
Categories : 10K /  5K
Weather : Cool Weather


What's Hot ?

• New challenging route. It was my first run at Alabang and I did not know what to expect. What I envisioned was a flat route with trees on the side near the city traffic. What I got is a challenging hilly routes, especially on the mid point of each loop, a venue with lots of trees and the city traffic is comfortably not too close from the route (except for around 500m stretch ).
• Beautiful Dri-fit Takbo.PH shirt. The race shirt is a thing worth keeping, simple yet elegant design. The material is breathable and comfortable.
• Nice weather.  What can I say?
• Well lighted venue.  The flood lights was enough to lit some of the dark areas in the route. The rest were well lighted with the existing street lights around the location.
• Hydration was overflowing. The combination of water and Pocari Sweat is more than enough to keep each runner running. What made it even more refreshing are the animated personnels manning each hydration stations!
• Lively and efficient marshals. I bet a lot of the marshals during the event are also runners. They were doing their job pretty well and encouraging each runners as they pass them by.
• Fun Pre/Post race program. You can tell by the atmosphere that everybody is there for enjoyment. The pre race program was energizing, from the host to the warm ups. The post race event is also fun, sadly, I haven't stayed too long after the race to see the rest of it. 
• Super fast results! Just a few hours after the race, the result is ready for viewing. Nice one LeadPack!

What's Not ?

• Looping Route for 10K. I am not really a fun of looping route so I consider this as a minor drawback. I doubt if the location can cater to longer distances. But then again, the organizers did their best to come up with a challenging route.
• Hard to find venue. Since it was my first time to run and be in Alabang, I was a little nervous at first thinking I might get lost and be late for the race. Good thing I got the chance to ride the same bus with JazzRunner and he lead the way  going to the venue. For a newbie in the place, the location is indeed tricky at first but I made my way out alone :)

The Verdict.

There is no question that when the organizers are also runners, you expect a good race. This was once again proven by this event. Takbo.PH, being the prime online destination for runners in the Philippines, proved to us that an event is more fun when everyone else seems like a family.  Indeed, this event made the yearly Takbo.PH runfest worth waiting for. If this will happen again next year, you will see me running again in Alabang. Will I recommend it to friends, definitely YES.

Rating.