Team QCPD joins World Creative Youth Forum Formal Launching

Team QCPD joined the formal launching of World Creative Youth Forum on March 27, 2009. The highlight of the event is a jog-walk from People Power Monument in EDSA to Quezon City Memorial Circle. For the details of the event, visit the organizers website.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Running with Joy Rojas

On March 24, 2009, Team QCPD was accorded the rare honor of running with Ms Joy Rojas, the first Filipina (and Asian) attempting to run across the USA through 5,000 Kms in 120 days. I first came to know of her story in the Philippine Star when the paper ran an article about her quest on March 8, 2009. (Click here for the Philippine Star article).

The organizer of the run was DOH Quezon City. They invited Ms Rojas to spearhead their group coming from Quezon City High School to the University of Sto Tomas for the The World TB Day celebration. DOH also requested for "police runners" to join the run. QCPD District Director PCSUPT (ATTY) MAGTANGGOL B GATDULA thus tasked us to join. Of course, we are more than happy to oblige, notwithstanding that it was a Tuesday! The route is a short 7 Km but the best part of it are the water stations staffed by very good looking hospital personnel of Delgado Hospital in Kamuning, St. Luke's Hospital, National Children's Hospital, STI-Delos Santos Medical Center and Quezon Institute, all in E Rod Blvd.

The run started quite late at about 6:15 AM and we reached UST before 7 AM. Here are the pictures from that run:











The participation of Team QCPD was acknowledged by Ms Rojas in her Philippine Online Chronicles website. Click here to read the story and see a short video clip of the run.

Get the rest of the pictures from the run in our Photobucket Album here.

Good luck to Ms Rojas!

Banditing in Condura Run

Guys, here are the pictures of the bandits in Condura Run! Hahaha

For those not in the know, before you make the wrong conclusions, here is the story.

The day after I arrived from Davao, I joined Team QCPD in Fort Bonifacio to lend support to Gary and Joan who were registered to run in 10 and 21 Km events respectively. Unfortunately for Gary, he got injured so PO1 Leo Oliquino ran in his place.

While I would have loved to register all the team members, I was not able to raise the P25,000 needed for all of us (@P500 each). What I was able to squeeze in were the customized singlets from Accel (Yes, that Accel of the Philippine Basketball Association! Thank you very much, Mr Willy Ortiz and Willy Marcial!). So I distributed the singlets before the run but we did not line up for the starting gun. Instead, we ran through PPSC with the intention of waking up the sleepy heads. Unfortunately, everybody seemed to have gone for the weekend so nobody was there. We ran around the place and followed a portion of the 10 Km Condura route (for the nearly controversial water, haha, thank you Condura!) finishing the run after 8 Km in time to see Joan cross the finish line 5th in the 21 Km women's category with a time of 1:36.

After the run are the usual pictures, so here we go:











More pictures at our Photobucket Album:

Running in Davao

This is a very late post due to numerous other priorities. Sorry guys.

Last March 18 to 21, 2009, I was fortunate to be chosen as one of the representatives of Quezon City in the Training for Key Enforcers of the Tobacco Regulation Act (RA 9211) conducted by the UP College of Law in Davao City. I was able to squeeze in 3 road runs in scenic routes. We were billetted at Marco Polo Hotel in downtown Davao and running around the city feels very safe. (Thanks to Mayor Duterte, haha!). Here is the snap shot of my runs:



On my first morning, I chose the "Heart of the City" route just to get the feel of the city. The route is about 5 Km long and I ran it in an easy 5:50 pace for most o the time. The overall Training Effect recorded by suunto T6 is 3.5. The route is of course marked by a lot of smoke from the jeepneys belching their black exhausts in CM Recto even in that early morning. But the overall air quality is far better than what I get in my V Luna-East Ave-EDSA-Kamias short run route. Afterwards, I dipped into the pool and did 500 meters of easy swim.

The next day, I dubbed my run as the "Two Flyovers Run" as the route took me through the two flyovers of Davao. It is about 8 Km long and passed through both commercial and residential areas of Davao. The most memorable part of the run is when I was chased by a dog in Dacudao. Wow, I surely beat the pace of Haile Gebrselassie during that segment! I also remembered meeting other runners in Dacudao and Magsaysay Avenue. After the run, it is again back to the pool for me.

For my final run, I squeezed a short run dubbed as the "Two Bridges Run" as the route took me over two bridges spanning Davao River. I first passed through Bankerohan Bridge on the way out and then throough Bolten Bridge on my way back. The route is about 6 Km long and it was pure bliss running through the newly rennovated Bankerohan Bridge that fell apart two years ago. I was not able to swim after the run because I will be late for the shuttle to the airport. Darn! haha

In general, what I remember most about the Davao runs was the better air quality compared to Manila. Running in the heart of the city feels like you are inside UP (actually Marco Polo Hotel is right in front of Ateneo de Davao Campus)!

I will surely be back for more!

Here are some photos:











Other photos are available in Photo Bucket.

Another snatcher falls to Team QCPD

Team QCPD is at it again, this time, collaring a lady snatcher and recovering the stolen necklace at Cubao. Iba talaga ang pulis na mabilis!

At about 11 am of 6 March 2009, 21 year old snatcher Joy Rivera thought that she could run away with the necklace of 84 year old Magdalena Libunao. Unfortunately for her, PO1s Vicente, Baloyo, Tejerero, and Sumido were just around the corner when the victim shouted for help. Rivera was already on board a passenger jeepney bound for Quiapo when the police officers caught up with her at the traffic light in the corner of Aurora Boulevard and EDSA. When frisked, she yielded the stolen necklace. The inquest prosecutor recommended a bail of P100,000 for her temporary liberty.






PO1 Sumido, PO1 Baloyo, PO1 Tejerero, and PO1 Vicente posing with their pugo and victim before the inquest proceedings.

Please get the rest of the pictures at our Photobucket Album.

Doc Fit at UP, March 1, 2009

Team QCPD Running Club ran with is major sponsor, Councilor Doray Delarmente at the Doc Fit Takbo Para sa Puso on March 1, 2009 at UP Diliman. Councilor Delarmente won 2nd Place in the the 10 K women, Doctors category and Joan Manangat won 3rd place in the 10 Km women open category.

As usual, the race is very well organized and very enjoyable. Air quality in UP is very good, the routes clearly marked, and the fiesta atmosphere can be felt miles away!









Please get the rest of the photos at our Photobucket Album.

Run with the Chief

Last February 24, 2009, Team QCPD Running Club played host to Chief PNP, Police Director General Jesus Versosa, the foremost running proponent of the PNP. The run started at Camp Karingal at about 0530 and ended at PS 8 after around 30 minutes of slow jog. This activity is part of the Chief's routine of visiting police stations in his regular road runs. The Chief PNP is living out his pronouncement of "leadership by example." In encouraging fitness among policemen, he shows the way by taking the lead in regular physical fitness activities.

Mabuhay ka Sir!











Please get the rest of the photos in our Photobucket Album.

Team QCPD 18 Week Marathon Training for Milo 2009 Manila Eliminations on 5 July 2009

Team QCPD starts training on March 4, 2009 the for Milo 2009 Manila Eliminations with the goal of FINISHING it. Finishing is in caps to emphasize that the goal is to finish it injury free and not pretend to aspire to qualify for the national finals with a sub-4 performance. We shall be using Hal Higdon's novice program (http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice.htm) for this training. The schedule is adjusted to meld with our regular activities in QCPD, specifically the Monday Flag Raising and the Saturday Muster Inspection. As such, while Hal Higdon's program calls for runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with cross-training on Sundays, we are adjusting our runs so that the short runs start on Wednesdays and long runs fall on Sundays. Cross training shall be swimming at Camp Crame Pool every Monday 3 PM onwards. Rest days shall be Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Here is the schedule of distances already converted to Kilometers: (please click on the image to enlarge it and "right click-save picture as" to download)



All runs shall start at 5:30 AM at QCPD Grandstand and unless it is Signal Number 3 or the world is about to end, the runs shall push through! Various routes shall be taken to prevent monotony. It is also possible that start and finish areas will be the various police stations in QCPD AOR. The Deputy District Director for Administration, Senior Superintendent Elmo San Diego already expressed his interest in leading the training.

Everyone (PNP, military, civilian, everyone!) is invited to join us in this training. The fastest runner that the team has right now has a pace of around 4:00 to 4:15 minutes per Km while the slowest are near-walkers (hehe), so unless you are super fit or super fat, you will find a suitable running companion/s from among us.

See you at the runs!

P.S. If there are interesting races that come up during the weekends, we shall participate in it. We will just run the additional Kms required by the schedule as necessary.

For any inquiries, please feel free to call, text, or email me at 0915-771-7344, 994-1689, nicktorre3@yahoo.com.

Snatcher cannot run better than 3:00 pace, gets caught by Team QCPD members in Cubao

28 year old snatcher Jeffrey Leona had the misfortune of being chased by members of Team QCPD Running Club this afternoon in Cubao, Quezon City. Naturally, Leona was caught in no time as the police officers were composed of PO1 Renante Salumbides, PO1 Michael Somido, and PO1 Immanuel Baloyo, all 3:30 min/Km pacers for 10 Km. Had he ran further, blocking forces were PO1 Alfie Vicente, PO1 Aristotle Apales, and PO1 Anthony Tejerero, also equally fit and strong runners of the team. Leona is now cooling his heels inside PS 7 (Cubao) detention cell after the inquest prosecutor recommended a bail of P 100,000.00 for his temporary liberty. The victim, Ms Diana Labado of Laguna, was very thankful for the very efficient and literally fast policemen of Quezon City.

Here are some pics of the action:

di man lang pinagpawisan ang pulis...


tunay na mga pulis na mabibilis!


tatoos showing that this guy had been in and out of prison.


finally cooling his heels in prison!

Power Run Results and photos

Once again, congratulations to the following Team QCPD Runners for making us proud in the Power Run at Mall of Asia on February 15, 2009:

PO1 George Caculba - 2nd Place, 10 Km, Men
Ms. Joan Manangat - 3rd Place, 15 Km, Women

Here are the team photos:



10 Km men winners:



15 Km women winners:



And also congratulations to Team Bald Runner who swept the 15 Km men category! Great performance!



Please get the rest of the photos in our Photobucket album:

Running and I

Confession
I have a confession to make: it was only less than two years ago, on July 6, 2007 to be exact, that I started running with enthusiasm and found it really fun! This was very ironic because when I became a police cadet on May 1, 1991, the first official police ceremony that I joined was called “Reception” which was 99.9% running, jumping, and crawling. For civilians, “Reception” connotes a party and merriment—and it was a party alright. But the only ones having fun and merriment are the upperclassmen who made mincemeat menu out of the plebes (that included me!). Reception was actually a preview of the next three months that followed, aptly called the “Breaking Period.” Daily routine during the breaking period started at 4:00 AM with rifle exercises, capped by endless and mindless runs with our "beloved" (actually hated) M-14 rifles. By 6 AM, we were cramped in the latrines, taking 10-count baths. By 6:30 AM, it was breakfast time and the usual fare was a cup of rice, a hard boiled egg, a sausage, and a glass of water. And yet even this Spartan meal was hardly touched. Harassment by upperclassmen continued at the dining table and about the only thing a plebe consumes was the aroma of the food. After breakfast, it was again back to the field for the never-ending marching and rifle drills. 12:00 noon was lunch time with a cup of rice and any watchamacallit viand and another glass of water. But the main course was again the harassment of upperclassmen. Afterwards, it was back to the field for more drills and exercises. The only other “rest period” before the “Taps” at 10:00 PM was another meal time (dinner) at 6:00 PM. Meal was again more of “trash” to be smelled rather than eaten. There was no respite before bedtime and exercises continued well into the night. The rest of my two years stay in the Philippine National Police Academy followed pretty much the same routine except that drills were replaced by study time and classroom instructions during the academic period.

Unscientific and baseless
So why did I lose interest in running despite the rigorous training I had been through? Well, I am not so sure for others but for me, the seemingly unscientific and baseless exercises, mainly composed of running and drills, encased in a regimented routine, developed in me a sort of an aversion to the activity. This could be because psychologically during training, my mindset was “survival” and among the methods necessary was to conserve strength. I knew then that the running and exercises will not end even in sleep. I think this also held true to many of my co-trainees then—and I believe, this holds true to many policemen now. Moreover, in the regimented police life, punishment for infractions is usually exercises. If you were late, you do 10 pushups. If you moved in ranks during parade, expect to do the Army Dozen before bedtime. If you receive too many delinquency reports, expect a long road run with combat pack. And woe to you if for whatever reason, you collapsed during any activity: the cure was more exercises “to make you stronger” according to the all-knowing upperclassman. The psychological effects of the exhausting work-outs, especially the monotonous road runs forced upon me both by regulations and upperclassmen, may have imprinted in my mind the outlook that running was indeed a form of punishment that must be evaded. And rightly so—in the first week of training, almost a third of my classmates gave up and quit. Many of those who stayed and persevered experienced the unmistakable signs of SEVERE overtraining—rapid weight loss, dehydration, bloody urine, etcetera. But you cannot stop nor complain: slowing down means more upperclassmen breathing at your neck. But lo and behold, when I became upperclassman myself, it was my turn to unleash hell to plebes. Life suddenly became heaven. Nobody was telling me when to exercise, much less, run. But the psychological aversion still remained, thus, running became the avoided one. I ran not for the sake of running but as part of other activities like the obstacle course, circuit run, and the like. And this aversion for pure running remained so for the next 14 years. I still looked after my health but I indulged in other sports. I swim, bike, play badminton, and occasionally run, to keep fit. But I never ran with the conscious goal of enjoying it and improving my performance. And this irony is even starker: in preparation to my cadetship in PNPA in 1991, I ran around Intramuros where I lived at that time and occasionally in Roxas Boulevard, enjoying every stride.

Fast Forward
In 2007, I felt it. I am then 36 years old. My waistline was 34 and with a height of only 5’7”, the bulge in my tummy was already visible. My physique was still better than many of my colleagues but I know that I am not in the best of health. The most telling indicator that I am unwell was my general feeling: I often felt sluggish, weak, and always catching my breath even in the morning when I wake up. All these despite regular badminton games every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 3 PM onwards. Sometimes, I even play the whole morning of Sundays. I felt something was lacking.

The rediscovery
Then the incident happened: a very fit-looking colleague suddenly suffered a heart attack. Only the timely visit to the hospital saved him. He underwent angioplasty to the tune of almost a million pesos. The incident made me think, “Uh uh, if this happens to me, I would surely be dead because I do not have that kind of money.” During that time, I am already reading about scientific trainings and heart rate monitors. Despite the prohibitive cost, I took the plunge and bought a Suunto T6 on February 24, 2007—top of the line equipment at that time. The gadget guy in me gave me a fresh look at exercise. Together with my laptop, I began tracking my fitness improvement through badminton games. I played with the main purpose of hitting the target heart rates estimated by the Suunto Training Manager. But after three months of monitoring, I found it more and more difficult to hit the desired training effect. Of course, this was because my cardio vascular condition was improving and I have to progressively increase my workload to continue improving, otherwise, I would stagnate. To do this, I never stopped moving even during breaktime and ran around the courts in between games. This made me look like a show-off so I knew then that I needed to do something else. This I think, made me rediscover my long lost love for running.

Cheapest
Compared to other sports I engaged in, running is the cheapest. Except for the optional Suunto T6, all one needs to run are a pair of running shoes and some decent clothes. But the T6 made running even more interesting. On July 6, 2007 or roughly 5 months after I bought it, I bought the foot pod accessory and running really became very entertaining. That was July 6, 2007 when I first ran with it. I felt like a car when I run: I track my speed, distance, and heart rate much like I do in my car watching the speedometer, odometer, and tachometer respectively.

Now I run with various goals in mind: improve my speed, increase my endurance, see the sights, feel the rush of the air, or simply just have fun. I already finished the 2008 Milo Marathon with a time of 4:20 which is nothing to brag about really. I ran my first marathon without any external support, bringing along everything that I expect to need—power gels and drinks in my hydration pack. Big mistake. Good thing there were friends who knew me and shared their support. I remember Coach Rio dela Cruz of UP in the final stretches of the marathon giving me Gatorade and encouragement while in the middle distances at Buendia and Fort Bonifacio, Camanava Runners and Procter and Gamble Team replenished my hydration bottles.

I now train my sights at the Ultramarathon such as the Bataan Death March. The possibilities are now endless.

Team QCPD Home Base

Team QCPD is very fortunate to be based in a magnificent camp conducive to training. We are in Camp P/Maj Gen Tomas B Karingal, Sikatuna Village, Diliman, Quezon City adjacent to the University of the Philippines. (In fact, strictly speaking, the land we are in is UP property, leased to the Philippine National Police for 50 years at P1 per year). The camp occupies an area of about 5 hectares and houses the various facilities needed by Quezon City Police District Headquarters. Situated relatively away from major thoroughfares and lined with huge age-old trees, the air quality in the camp is among the best you can get in Metro Manila.

Under the leadership of its District Director, Police Chief Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, Quezon City Police District was adjudged as District of the Year nationwide for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008, a feat unprecedented in Philippine National Police history. Among the most visible factors that contributed to this recognition is the complete transformation of Camp Karingal into one of the best police camps in the country in terms of facilities, cleanliness, orderliness, and security. From a squatter-infested camp that endured the presence informal settlers for more than 20 years, Camp Karingal now prides itself as a squatter-free facility.

The main offering of the camp to fitness enthusiasts is its 330 meter asphalt oval track that suits very well the needs of regular joggers. The bigger circular path (also aphalted, courtesy of DPWH-QC) around the camp is 750 meters long and is lined with massive acacia and mahogany trees. The track has a grandstand and ample vehicle parking around it. The main building has 3 clean restrooms (each with a bathroom, three water closets, 2 urinals for men, and two lavatories) that are open to the public while the grandstand has a toilet for male and another one for female visitors. Most of the offices have their own private toilet and bath areas. The camp also has a 5-bay firing range (which is now underway to be expanded to a 20-bay range), a medical/dental clinic with ambulance (and staffed by a doctor, three nurses, two dentists, two dental assistants, and administrative people), a Catholic chapel (with its own priest), a Muslim prayer room (with Imam), a covered basketball and multi-purpose court, and a Landbank ATM. The roofdeck of the four-storey main building gives a spectacular view while doing stretching and cooling down.

All these facilities are inside the camp guarded by the best policemen in the Philippines today!

And we save the best for last: all facilities can be used by guests for FREE! (Ay, may range fee pala ang firing range. Well.....)

Come and join us in our regular physical fitness activities every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday at 6:00 AM, every Tuesday and Thursday at 3:00 PM, and every first and second Saturdays of the month at 7:00 AM!

See for yourself:

View of the parade ground from the top of the main building:

right side:


center (with grandstand):


left side:


close up of the beckoning asphalt track:


various rest room facilities if there is an emergency that you are in danger of doing a paula radcliff: haha








if you overdo things and need a medical clinic: hahaha!




if you need oxygen because you got carried away in your fartlek:


if you smash your teeth while stumbling: hehe


for the gun lovers:








the main building:


if you feel galante and decide to treat your running mates but need to get cash fast:


the relaxing roofdeck with a nice view:


gulayan sa sariling bakuran (sb):


our giant water cistern as seen from the roof deck:


for meditation before or after the workout:




please get the rest of the photos at our photobucket album: