Excited for the 2009 Men's Health All-Terrain Race

This evening I joined several people from the cycling and running communities in the unveiling of the 2009 Men's Health All-Terrain Race. This nice and comfortable event was held at the mezzanine of the Stock Market, a nice restaurant in Bonifacio High Street.

I have to admit it felt weird when Agu, the magazine's editor-in-chief, invited us over dinner to get support for their race. "Agu, you know you don't have to take us to dinner to get our support," was what I replied back to his text message. I've always been to their races and even volunteered to be a marshal at their first Urbanathlon. Of course, a freebie dinner is quite hard to resist. Plus it would be great to see other cycling people without their helmets on. So at 5:30 in the afternoon, I left South Triangle in Quezon City to join the event.

The 2009 Men's Health All-Terrain Race will be a little different than the previous years. This year the gates of the Sta. Elena will open to trail runners and mountain bikers for the first time to give them a taste of what they have to offer soon. Based from Bruce, the 12-kilometer route they tried this morning would make people want to bring hydration packs. There are no big climbs, he added, but doing several laps would be very challenging.

Hearing this from him I was really intrigued by what the golf course can offer. And when Men Health's Christine Ong showed us some pictures of the trail, I knew I just had to give it a go. What have I got to lose? They even have a category for big boys like me - a big plus. So when Vince, the race organizer, asked for our race registration forms, I quickly filled up mine and gave it to him.

Interested in joining the event? Check out the Men's Health website as well as the websites of R.O.X. and FinishLine or you can click on the poster below to view the details.