Tuesday, October 20, 2009

5 KOTR Singlets, 5 different stories

I have collected 5 different singlets from Adidas King of the Road races the past years including the newest neon yellow which I will be using this Sunday.
This white singlet marked my very first 10K event held on September 17, 2006 at the SM Mall of Asia. I finished the last half of the race walking as I was not prepared for the 10K event. I have no choice but to sign up because Adidas has only one event then and it was only a 10K. The singlet looks cool and one of my favorites until now.
March 11, 2007, another white singlet from Adidas and this time, the race was held at the NBC Tent at The Fort. I didn't plan of signing up for that race when I was informed that another white singlet would be given but one of my officemates, knowing that I would do my weekend run at The Fort, asked me if I could register for him, so I said yes, and went there on a Saturday. Registration was held at the Adidas Warehouse and it only took a few minutes to sign up, so I ended up registering for myself and IceOne. The race was my first experience running at the famous Kalayaan flyover.
July 01, 2007 KOTR Singlet was red and looked fierce. I love red and it really looks good. This time the race route was held at the Quirino Grandstand and never did I have difficulty in signing up. Race packets were given after you sign up and the costs (for information for those new runners) were far more cheaper than today. Adidas tote bags were also given during the past races. I've collected 2 black from the past races I've joined and 1 royal blue from this race.
On October 11, 2008, a powder blue singlet was given at the KOTR. The route was the same as the 2006 race and this time no tote bag was given to us at the finish line. The singlet was not the same, it was ill-fitting. I only love the color but I can never wear it during practice runs because I am not comfortable wearing it. The race was a nightmare for me. I finished it limping because of my ACL. Adidas is not a PR race for me but I was quite disappointed because I can't concentrate running with an injured knee but the experience tested my endurance.
And for 2009...the most b#@*t!!! singlet I've had! This cool neon yellow limited edition singlet is not just expensive but the most difficult singlet I've had in years. The organizer changed their style in the registration process. You register in any Adidas satellite stores and you will be given two stubs, one for the entrance ticket at the SM Megatrade Hall and the other one for claiming of singlet. Singlets were claimed as scheduled but I never anticipated the long queue in claiming the singlet. The long line in the entrance area plus another line that took me two hours was long enough compared to the time of running for the 10K event I've registered. The carbo-loading stuff as promised were just a product of imagination, they never gave us the stub for food so what will I expect on the race day itself? We paid a huge amount for this because we love to run. Who says running is inexpensive? The singlet was nice and I love it, but runners should also be treated fairly and I hope on the race day we will not experience such chaos again.
See you on the road!

2 comments:

Cathy said...

5 KOTR singlets! wow, you should be given a loyalty award or something. I agree, they should have organized the race distribution better. but your kotr stories are one for the books.

gemini said...

thank you for dropping by catblox...