By 6:30 A.M., our gracious host Atty. Audie Samar [a native from Naga; took up his pre-law in UP Diliman; finish law at San Beda, Batch ‘92] fetched us from our hotel in order to familiarize ourselves with the race route. By 6:45 A.M., we were at the starting line. Of course, the usual photo-ops came next.
With our host, Atty. Audie Samar
We then proceeded to traverse the race route, stopping every now and then to ask the city folks for directions even if we had a race map. At distinct points of the route, we went down the vehicle to take pictures.
42k runners Atty. Alex Martin [future prosecutor of Malolos, Bulacan], Atty. Audie Samar [better-half of RTC Judge Olive Escubio-Samar], and myself
Past 7 A.M. and at the 18k mark, we saw a vast field covered with fog.
We reached the finish line before 10 A.M. Wondering why my Garmin 305 registered only a distance of about 34.5 kilometers, we all concluded that we certainly missed a certain stretch of the race route. Nonetheless, we decided that what we had was just about enough to guide us with what to expect during race day.
So off we went to have our breakfast at a coffee shop along Magsaysay street.
We saw a group of runners from Manila having their breakfast at the other table. While I was thinking that I was done for the morning, Atty. Audie said that our trip to Naga won’t be complete if we don’t go take a look at the foot of Mt. Isarog, a volcano which has remained dormant for hundreds of years.
Next stop was the Basilica de Minor located in the heart of Naga City.
From there, we had an unexpected “bisita iglesia” as we transferred from the Basilica to Peñafrancia church then to some other churches in Naga. To the left is the inner portion of Basilica.
The Penafrancia church.
With topnotch lawyers Alex Martin and Audie Samar.
The front portion of the Basilica.
We ended the short trip with a sumptuous lunch courtesy of our host.
The rest of the afternoon was “sleeping time”. In the evening, the Slimmers Adriatico group had dinner at Shakey’s SM Naga. Back at the hotel, it was time to prepare everything – attire, bib number, rubber shoes, watch, hydration belt, socks, timing band, sunblock, sunglasses……
The supposed rest and sleep turned out to be a case of restlessness…… tik… tak… tik….tak….
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