Just a week ago, I run my first official Marathon last August 9, 2026 at the Inaugural Bulacan Marathon held at SM Pulilan, Bulacan, so it a very memorable event for everyone who entered it, and makes it more memorable since it's been raining for the most part of the race. As for me, it holds more meaning since not only was it my first marathon, but as I said, I've been running for a year now, so it kind of become my anniversary run.
For 42k runners, the start of the race was 1:00 A.M., so to give time for us to get proper warmup and a place to park, we decided to be at the venue at least 1:30 hours earlier. At that time it has just stopped pouring, but as soon as the pre-program orientation started, the rain has poured once again.
Introduction of 42k pacers.
Overall, there are over 5k runners that have joined this event and among those were more than 1700 runners for 42k alone, so the starting line was packed with many runners, who has accepted their fate of running hours while its raining. As for me, I do not really have any target time since it was my first marathon, rather, my priority is to get to the finish line safe and without any injuries, especially when there are many places within the route that have no adequate lightings and there are pits or uneven parts of the road that can result for runners to trip if they don't notice it, and the rain just makes visibility even harder.
Before the Gun start.
Eventually, the race has started. With this kind of crowd, starting fast will be difficult, when I was around the middle of the line, but after the first 2km, the route becomes less crowded, so I was able to run with my easy pace. Aside from the dark areas within the route, there are also quite a few up hills that makes it harder to run.
I did not bring any hydration with me, because for every 1.5-2km, there were hydration stations, with some of the stations serving Pocari. Then, because running consumes a lot of energy, there were also stations that would serve food, such as sweets, chocolates, fruits, porridges and for what the organizers are known for, serving roasted pork. I would say that, I have spend a good 30 minutes, stopping to this stations to eat.
Aside from that, I also stopped to see the 'Labanderas', that were washing clothes along the route. Just another gimmick by the organizers to show how early Filipino women are washing clothes. There are also people in traditional Filipino clothes within the route that were dancing some of the known folk songs to showcase the the rich culture of the place.
After 5:31 hours of running, with an average pace of 7:53 minutes per kilometer, I finally reached the finish line and despite all the hurdles that I encounter with the weather and the route, I was able to cross the finish line without getting injuries. Finally, my marathon virginity has been taken away from me.
And just look at how big our medals were. That was what a 6.5" finisher medal looks like, almost as big as a plate. I also received a string bag with my finisher shirt, but I rather not wear it at the venue since the rain was still pouring.
Overall, I ranked 713 out of the 1711 runners that run the marathon, making me faster than the 58% of runners in the 42km category. I will say that it was pretty good time for my first marathon, despite taking a lot of stops to eat. And when I looked at my record in strava, it says that my moving time was 5 hours, so did I not stay on the food stations, I could have finish the race a lot faster.
Now that I am finally a marathoner, what was next you ask?
Actually, I just participate a 5km funrun yesterday and finished it at 28 minutes, and this upcoming August 30, I will be entering a 10km funrun with the goal of beating my best time of 54 minutes, so let's see if that could be done.
That was it for this post. Thank you and see you at the next post.
