P63,000!

More than a week after my marathon and yet pledges are still coming in. The current total now is about P63,000! This is the largest amount of after-the-fact pledges I have received in all marathons I have run so far, and I have my family and friends to thank for this.

I am still trying to set up a Paypal account so some of my friends abroad can send their pledges in more easily. If that happens, the total amount raised for charity patients in the PGH could still go up. Once again, my deepest gratitude to everyone for the incredible support!

Pictures!!

I didn’t have any bike support this year and I didn’t have any friends stationed along the marathon route so I thought this would be my first marathon without a single picture. As it turns out, my friend Joseph sent me a link of photos taken of me during the run. Here are some photos:

Luckily, another first in this year’s Milo Marathon was making use of the services of Photovendo to take pictures of all the runners so I have visual proof in the form of photos that I took part in the marathon. To see more of my photos, click here.

Lots of after-the-fact pledges coming in

More pledges have been made since I completed the marathon. Current running total is now about P52,000. With a few more people indicating that they would be making a donation without specifying an amount, the total funds raised may end up exceeding P60,000, which would be awesome given that I had very little time to raise funds. I really have the most amazing family and friends!

Marathon #7 a success, thanks to you! :)

It took 6 hours and 13 minutes, way longer than any of my marathons in the past. But the key thing is that I completed it. Which means that I will raise about P47,000 for charity patients in the PGH wards. Yahoo!!

I was really concerned before the race started because I barely had any rest. I fell asleep at around 8:30pm last night but for some strange reason, I woke up at 10:30pm. I couldn’t sleep anymore after that so I decided to just go for it. Making things even more difficult is the fact that there wasn’t a lot of shade in the new route, unlike before where the a lot of the route was shaded by trees and tall buildings. The lack of sleep, lack of training, and the intense Manila heat made me realize at some point that there was no way I was going to be under my time last year. So I decided to drop that plan and just make sure I finish.

I started really struggling in the last 6 or 7 kilometers. I ran out of Gatorade at that point and most water and Gatorade stations had already run out of water. Thankfully I run into Romy and the race support team of P&G and they give me some Gatorade with about 4.5 kilometers to go.

With 3.5 kilometers left, I figured I would just walk most of the way. Interestingly enough, I end up walking right next to someone who’s run several marathons before. We ended up just talking most of the way to the finish line, and started jogging again once we got to Luneta.

I was surprised that medals were still being given out at the finish, especially since I finished the marathon a lot faster last year than this year. Maybe less people ran or more medals were prepared, but I am pleasantly surprised to have a medal.

Thanks once again to my family and friends for your unbelievable support, encouragement, and generosity. Even if I started asking for pledges only 5 days ago, a lot of money was raised. Several friends have also indicated that they will make a donation but haven’t specified the amount, so the total may end up exceeding P50,000. Amazing!!

‘Til next year! Hopefully I can be disciplined enough to be in better shape then.

One day more

In less than 12 hours, I’ll be on the road, running the marathon. I’m still really nervous at how it will turn out. I have to say though that the surge of support in terms of pledges and words of encouragement from family and friends has gotten me really excited and looking forward to a fun (and exhausting lol) run. I hope I can fall asleep by 8pm tonight to help me get a lot more sleep than I have in the past. The next update will be made after the marathon. Hopefully I will have good news to share.

More pledges! :)

I can’t believe how much support I have gotten so far in a very short period of time. In just two days, I have gotten pledges in the amount of P36,018.77. (if I finish, of course). And with several time-based pledges, if I finish in the same time as I did last year, this goes up to almost P40,000. I’m not even counting the people who said they will donate but have not specified an amount yet.

I have a few days left before the run itself and with all the encouragement from my family and friends, I am getting quite excited. I’m sure I’ll be utterly exhausted after my run, but with the amount of money I will raise and the idea that so many patients in PGH will benefit, it will all be worth it.

The first few pledges are in

I’m really pleased that despite everything being so last minute, a lot of pledges have already been made. So far, if I finish the marathon, I will raise P14,573.84.

To add to this, I have some friends who are basing their pledge value on the amount of time it takes for me to finish. If I complete the run in about the same time as I did last year, the total pledges could go up to more than P17,000. Hopefully pledges continue to come in over the next few days (and maybe even after my run). Thanks to everyone who have already pledged!