Six road warriors of Running Bananas are ready to take the challenge of Baguio. They are willing to take any challenge ahead and enjoy the feeling of fulfillment after. Revo, Pugs, Cocs, Mel, Rans and Forgia traveled around 250 kms away from home just to take the challenge and enjoy Baguio.
The road warriors
Day 1 – April 4, 2009
We arrived at Victory Liner Terminal in Baguio at around 7:00 in the morning. The cool and fresh air of Baguio welcomed us. We decided to have a coffee for our breakfast so I brought them to Session’s Delight Bakery and Restaurant. After the breakfast, we stayed at Burnham Park while waiting for our check in time. While waiting, we had some photo-ops and Mel and Revo even did a mini concert at the park. (May magbigay kaya sa inyo? Naka-CK ka pa naman na jacket Revo :-p).
Mini Concert at the Park
Everyone is excited to hit the roads of Baguio so as we checked in the transient house, we started fixing our things and had a great lunch at JC’s restaurant in Mines View Park. After the lunch, we had some rest and because of excitement, at around 5:00 pm we are off to go for our 1st run. After some stretching, we started at the entrance of the Good Shepherd Convent down to Wright Park then to Botanical Garden. It was an easy run at the start since it was downhill all the way to Botanical Garden. From here the road started to level off all through the stretch of Leonard Wood rd. As we reach our destination – SM Baguio, the road started to go uphill. We can feel it in our legs as Forgia decided to just walk up to the top. Thin air added to the burden and the cold weather didn’t stopped us from sweating in this part of the run. This 1st run is estimated to be just 3 to 4 kms, quite a good warm-up for the day ahead.
SM Baguio is one of the best designed SM malls. It uses less electricity since it takes advantage of the cool weather of Baguio. Only the department store, supermarket, theaters and stalls are air-conditioned. We just walk around here and bought some foods and ingredients for Revo’s Nachos. And for our dinner/carbo load, we went to Good Taste Restaurant located behind Baguio Center Mall.
@ SM Baguio
Day 2 – April 5, 2009
Clear skies and bright sun greeted us early in the morning. With this, we knew this will be a great run ahead. So to start things off, Revo led the usual stretching just in front of our transient house. A little walk toward the Botanical Garden to warm our cold legs. We had another set of stretching and photo-ops in front of Botanical Garden – our starting point. Just before the start, we had a little prayer for our safety and the success of the run.
We started slow throughout the Leonard Wood rd – the same route we took yesterday. As we reached SM Baguio, Forgia and I took the Upper Session rd while the 4 hardcore runners took the steep slope in SM. We had our first stop at the Panagbenga Park, just before entering the Loakan rd. After a few stride, we had our photo-ops again at the entrance of Camp Jon Hay. As we go along, lots of pine trees can be seen left and right of the road. It is really quite dangerous to run in Loakan rd since some part of the road is really narrow and no sidewalks where we could run. Also, the right part of the road is ravine without good railing. As I said in my previous post, there are no stores where we could buy foods. We only have enough water and Gatorade. Good thing is that there are no dogs along the way. (Revo is really thankful with this.)
Halfway through the course, Forgia started complaining because of tiredness and tight muscles. She started to slow down as others keep the pace. I joined her at slow pace while she started walking as others were waiting for us at some point along the route. As we passed the Baguio Economic Zone Authority, we did not noticed the left turn to PMA. We continued running and reached the city proper of Loakan. At this point, we can already feel the heat of the sun as there are less trees along the way. We decided to take a break at a store where we had some cold water and ice candy to beat the heat. We kept on running until we reached the intersection of Loakan rd and Kennon rd. At this point, we know we are on the wrong way so we asked for directions. We head back to Loakan airport where we crossed the runway. We already added 1K from the initial 11.1k target because of the different path we took. Forgia kept asking how many more kilometers she would run. I understand that she is really exhausted as she had already added much mileage to her usual 6K run. I just told her that she needs this mileage as a preparation for her 1st 10K. (Take note that her 1st 10K would be a trail run at Sacobia, Clark). After the passing the airport, it was just around 1K left before the main gate of the PMA – our final stop. It took us around 3 hrs to complete the course including picture taking and rest.
After some photo-ops and rest, we head back to the Session rd for our lunch at Sizzling plate. It’s a good time to rest in the afternoon since it is always raining. In the evening, we attended the 7:00 pm mass at the Cathedral to thank for that great run. A rewarding dinner at 50’s Diner after the mass.
Starting point at Botanical Garden
@ Panagbenga Park
@ Camp John Hay
@ Loakan airport
The Final stop @ PMA
Day 3 – April 6, 2009
It is time to go home but before we end our stay at Baguio, we dipped in to the cold water in the Riverview resort in Asin, Benguet. Their water source is said to be from hot spring but I wonder why it is cold. This is also the time to enjoy Revo’s Nachos. (I don’t know what he calls his Nacho specialty.) Just a look at the picture and you’ll see it is really mouthwatering. How we wish we could stay longer but we still have to be back at work on the next day.
Revos Nachos
Enjoy the water!
Congratulations RB! We made this run a successful one.
==RANS==
Detailed posts on foods and places will follow.
Filed under: RB Events, RB Stories, Road Runs | Tagged: Baguio, botanical garden, Camp John Hay, long run, members, PMA, road run, series, trainings | 12 Comments »
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