November 29th, 2005 |
The Wild Manila event is an urban adventure race that takes participants, composed of 4 persons with at least 1 woman, around Metro Manila’s remaining green parks: from the starting point at Quezon Memorial Circle, to Balara, then to Ateneo de Manila, followed by a stop at the Marikina riverbank, a pedal or commute to Paraiso ng Batang Maynila and Orchidarium in Luneta, Manila. Racers then go back to Quezon City at the Parks and Wildlife Bureau culminating in UP Diliman.
0330H Saturday and I was already awake, waiting for my mobile’s alarm to go off. Hmm. Too early and I can’t already go back to sleep. Nevermind if I’ve just slept a little, about 3 hours. But then, I’ve got to prepare for the day’s event: cover the Smart Cycling Club (SCC) in their participation of the 3rd Wild Manila, the annual event sponsored by Haribon. The previous night, I’ve charged my camera’s and Epson P-2000’s batteries. I should confess that other than doing the photoshoot, I’m quite excited of using my Canon EF-S 10–22mm ultrawide angle lens. A new baby that I got just last Friday.
There were around 21 teams participating in the race with three from SCC: Team Addict, Team Talk and Text and Team . While the event started somewhat in confusion: we arrived at the starting point a few minutes after the actual race started, the rest of the day was smooth and enjoyable. In fact, covering the event was really exhilarating even if I was not a participant. With the availability of a service vehicle, I was able to follow the three teams in pedaling across Metro Manila, in the different staging points where they reported and performed different physical and mental tasks in order to get the clue to the next destination. Nevermind if it drizzled and got stuck in traffic in San Juan and Manila and bearing with the stench of the Marikina River and having the three teams placing 14th, 17th and 20th but I was having fun with my camera just as the teams were having fun joining the event. As they say, it’s the participation that counts and to add, sharing in Haribon’s noble cause.
We had late lunch, around 1400H and already, my tiredness was palpable for lack of sleep and the somewhat rigorous activity. So palpable that while inside the claustrophobic Addict van (claustrophobic since even the windows at the back were painted over) I already slept and woke just before arriving at Smart. When I arrived home, I dozed off to get some shut-eye before waking up 2000H to prepare for a graveyard shift duty in Paranaque.
The Wild Manila 3 tshirt given to the participants. Right, the banner that marks the staging points in the different destinations.
Early in the race which started out with a run around Quezon Memorial Circle, this participant was already hurting his feet, a mistake on his part since he was not wearing socks. Right, participants preparing for the pedal to Balara for the first destination after the run.
One of the tasks was to cover over a drawing of animals with coins of different denominations. When we arrived at Ateneo, we found the participants stopping vehicles: taxis, tricycles, and even private vehicles just to get some change of twenty five centavos, one, five and ten peso coins. Right, Team Addict in the course of completing the task with Mel and Treb putting in the last available space.
Another task, this time in the Marikina Riverbank was to use a 3 and 5 liter container to fill up a 4 liter container. The stench was just unbearable here. Right, the participants of SCC.
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