When "Frank" came and caused some rain showers last Saturday, I panicked. I tried calling and texting Mr. Kenneth Montegrande to verify if the Manila run will be cancelled or not. It was already mid-afternoon when I finally reached him in his office. He told me that he just completed setting up the "site". I asked him if the race will be cancelled when it's raining and he was quick in answering that most runners actually enjoy running under the rain. "Nag-text na sa akin si Lord", he jested. "Hindi daw uulan bukas". Talk about positive thinking!
My cousins and I agreed that if it's not raining heavily at 4 AM, we will leave Las Pinas City at 4:30 AM. I then began preparing my stuff that I would be bringing the following day. I even pinned my RACE # 4437 on my running shirt. Since it's most likely that we'll be running under the rain, I brought a vest with hood and one jacket as spare.
I set the alarm at 4 AM but I was already up at 3:45 AM. YES! It's not raining. Yehey! But the smile on my face turned sour when upon opening my door, I heard the howling sound of the ferocious wind. Oh, no! I can't possibly run in this condition. Maybe, if I were 2 decades younger or if I'm still single with no kids--I will take the risk. But fact is, I'm half a century old and I do have 2 very wonderful children whom I'll leave behind if something bad happened to me.
I called my cousins and we all shared the same sentiments. We decided not to go anymore. It broke my heart into jagged pieces and I blamed Frank for doing that to me. I went back to bed with an aching heart. I woke up at 7 AM with an aching neck. It's because I was so depressed I didn't bother anymore to fix my pillow before I went back to bed.
Anyway, my mind drifted from my own problem when I realized the scope of Frank's wrath.
Again, my heart was pierced but this time, not for me but for those who suffered because of Frank.
My friends were curious if the Manila Run was pushed through. I couldn't answer them because I didn't really know. I tried contacting Kenneth and finally, at 2:38 PM today he informed me that they postponed the race to July 6. Whew! What a relief. I hope and pray that this time, nothing like this happen again.
