The month of February has just ended, and while it was the shortest month in the year, it has proved to be so far the busiest month for me with the series of events that I participated in, so much so that I had to take a break from writing in Hive for weeks. Among those events, I say that the events that I had about two weeks ago were the biggest highlights, as they were also attended by thousands of people from different parts of the country.
First was Rakpublika 2026, which is a rock concert to celebrate the first Republic in Asia, the Philippines. And in its 10th year, it becomes way bigger, with 100 different bands performing over a 2-day concert, so they have to adjust the first day to Friday, though the main event was on Saturday.
Then on Sunday, there was the Bulacan Half Marathon, which is the biggest running event within the province and was something that I had been training for months, as it was my first official attempt at a 21km run.
On its own, running a half-marathon is already physically exhausting, but watching an open concert is also not a joke, as people have to stand most of the time, not to mention, I was the type who would dive into the middle of the mosh pit, so getting some bruises and an aching body is the least that I expect to get. Thinking straight, I should give up on participating in either of these events since I do not expect them to take place so close to each other. But I'm not, so I decided to go for both, thinking that I would at least get a few hours of rest between the two events. Spoiler, I did not.
As I said, Rakpublika has a way bigger lineup this year than they need to do a 2-day concert, but while it was just an appetizer, Day 1 is already packed with 35 bands, with some headliners out there such as Badwave, Datu's Tribe, The Chongkeys, and Chicosci. Based on the schedule, the last band will perform at 12:35 A.M., but due to some technical issues and each band taking some time to set up their equipment, Day 1 ended at 4:30 A.M. the next day.
By the way, I found this Clip of the pit, shared by one of the event's hosts during day 1, where I was also captured.
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On Day 2, there were 65 bands in the lineup, but they were divided into 3 stages, so maybe this time, they will be able to follow through with the schedule, but that assumption also proves to be wrong, particularly to the Amphitheater Stage, where most of the big headliners will perform due to the same reasons that takes place during day 1 but there were also some additional programs that is not in the schedule that results for the concert to take longer.
So I took those dead times to visit some merch booths and look for items to buy. In my search, I came across Sojina Jaya (img 2), owner of the Skull Army clothing and partner of the late Jamir Garcia of the metal band Slapshock, who went mainstream during the time that they were active and even 6 years after their disbandment, has still more than 160k monthly listeners on Spotify. I also came across Trish Reyes (img 3), who is the vocalist of the Bloody Countess and previously the vocalist of Even.
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After that, I began switching between the 3 stages, depending on the band that was playing.
| Amphi Stage | Skate Stage | Tattoo Stage |
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By 10:00 P.M., one of the main headliner bands, and our close friends at Setsuna arrive at the venue, which is still very early as they were supposed to perform at 11:20 P.M., but since it was still Orca that was playing during that time, we do not expect that they will be able to perform at the assigned time, so instead of just waiting on the back stage, we came to celebrate the birthday of their drummer that took place 3 days prior to the event. We also drink some liquor, but with moderation, since they still need to perform later, and for me as well, due to my marathon.
Unfortunately, I was not able to watch them perform. It was already 1:30 A.M and there were still 2 bands before them that had not performed yet, and if I don't leave, I will be late for the assembly time for BHM, so as sad as it is, I bid my farewell to them and will just make it up with them in Red Horse Muziklaban this coming March 14.
By the way, just like to share some of their songs for Saturday selections.
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So yeah, without any rest and with some alcohol in my system, I went straight to the venue for my next event. After I arrived at the venue, I immediately changed into my running attire and proceeded with my warm-up. Due to the large number of participants in the 21km category, the runners were divided into 3 waves. Even though it is my first time joining the race, I decided to go with the first wave since I am already feeling sleepy, and I felt that my feet were hurting after I did my warm-up.
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Eventually, the race finally starts. Looking at the volume of participants, I think there were more than a thousand people already in the first wave alone. I assume the 2nd and 3rd waves will also have the same volume, not to mention the participants for the 10km and 5km categories. First wave starts at 4:30 A.M.
When it comes to the route, most of the roads were well-lit enough to run properly, and there were lots of marshals around to help navigate the route and manage the traffic in places where vehicles were crossing. And for the majority of the route, what you will see on your right is a river, and a rice field on your left, so the air is fresh and you feel very close to nature. Just take a look at this beautiful Drone Image.
Every 1.5-2km, there are hydration stations to make sure that runners are properly hydrated. There was also an electrolyte station around 8-9km. Once we reached 12km, 15km, and 18km, there was a food station with lots of fruits and desserts, but most people lined up at the Lechon (roasted pig) station, including me. On certain parts of the route, you can see people dancing traditional dances.
These food stations were quite a distraction for runners planning to set their new personal record. But for me, I found it as a good excuse to rest my feet, which were already feeling fatigued just before I even reached half of the route, but the food also made me bloated, so it only became harder to run.
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Despite those, I still managed to reach the finish line with an official time of 2:31:38, which I know could be faster if only I am at good condition, but my goal this time was to prove that I could run the distance.
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But still, I do not recommend doing the same thing that I did and abuse your body, though I do not know any person crazy enough to do what I did.
Anyway, that was it for me. Thank you for reading my post, and see you on the next one.