We knew it would end up in chaos but we signed for it anyway.

After the 7-11 run, the first thing Mike and Shiela asked was when are we going to run next. On that same day, Mike found out about Cafe France Run for Good Health. We signed up nearly a week later.

Mike said the staff from Karate Kid, where runners can sign up, didn't know a single information about the run. As for the racing kit, very few information was there. There was no website dedicated for it -- aside from the details posted in SwimBikeRun.ph. He warned me that it could turn out to be "chaotic."

We had to wait for more than an hour in the CCP complex for the program to start. The racing kit says we have to be there by 4:00 a.m. but we were told to gather near the arch by past 5:00 a.m. In between, no emcee or any staff from the Cafe France informed the participating runners what time it would start.

The emcee turned out to be stressful. He reminded (no, scolded) the 10K runners for 10 times, both in English and in Filipino, that they need to pass on their second loop in the left side of the road -- not through the Gatorade arch.

It was also difficult to run during the start of the race. We were standing next to each other, shoulder-to-shoulder unlike the 7-11 run, where we were reminded persistently that we needed to be at least one-arm-raised apart.

Everything went well during the run itself. Staff were all around the route guiding the runners which way to go. BRAVO!

But what I didn't like most was the crowd control in the finish line. Runners who finished early were all standing there, blocking the timer. As a result, I didn't get my official time. My watch tells me though that I finished the run somewhere between 42-44 minutes.

Despite this, I am very happy that we joined and finished the run. It was very fulfilling. Plus, I got through Junjun Alas. Hehe.

Task completed.

I wanted to run this morning. It was, however, raining. But who am I to complain, right?

Many Filipinos lost their homes because of the recent strong rains that brought about heavy flooding in various towns and cities in Mindanao.

Photo grabbed from swimbikerun.ph

Not to mention that most of them were also heavily devastated by Typhoon Pablo last December. The town of Cateel in Davao Oriental is once again under state of calamity.

As far as I know, victims of Typhoon Pablo received a lot of donations both from local and international donors. But, at least based from news I am getting, it seems that victims were not able to get it. They held a protest action the other day but government officials called it as mere propaganda. Yeah, right.

My prayers are with you. Hope these people won't be victimized twice by natural and man-made disasters such as these.

I really hope this gloomy weather will end soon. Of course, aside from my prayers for my fellow Filipinos, I also want to start training for my 5K run on Saturday. I just got my singlet earlier this evening. (Disclaimer: Sorry, I'm too lazy to take a photo of it so I just grabbed the photo above from a site. Hehe.)

I am so excited. Task completed.