Men's Health Urbanathlon 2009 and Race Results

The Men's Health Urbanathlon 2009 was held in McKinley Hills last November 22, 2009. I had anxiety attacks the past two weeks while waiting for this day, but I'm so glad it's finally over. The anxiety attacks were for nothing because it turned out that this is by far the most exciting race event I've ever experienced. Unlike the usual races, Urbanathlon 2009 has obstacles that participants must overcome to finish either 5K or 10K distances. I joined the 5K category only because I was intimidated at the obstacles. But it turned out the race was easier than how it was advertised.

For this year, the Urbanathlon 2009 had 5 obstacles. First off was the 30 pieces hurdles cum MMDA orange barricades we see on the road. But what they didn't tell us was that these 30 pieces would be arranged in 4 rows of 5 hurdles per row. Therefore, I only had to overcome 4 hurdles to pass through. Whew! And all the while I thought my stamina will be challenged by jumping over 30 hurdles.
(Photo courtesy of urbanathlon.menshealth.com.sg)

The second obstacle was the 20ft weaver. It is a triangular setup with parallel steel bars. The racers must weave themselves in and out of the bars alternately up to the tip of the triangle then weave their way down to the base on the other side. It sounds quite difficult but the race marshalls were very lenient especially to us ladies :)

The third barrier was the 16-floor stairs. We went inside a building and ran 8 floors up then 8 floors down. This was kinda easy since participants were clogged in a narrow stairway such that I could hardly get my momentum.
(Photo courtesy of urbanathlon.menshealth.com.sg)

The fourth barrier was the 20ft by 20ft low crawl. This was cool! It really felt like commando in action for a while there. I had to go down on fours and crawl to the other end of the barrier. Race marshalls were reminding us to stay low and wait til we reach the end before we raise our heads and stand up. Otherwise, we might get injured if we get stuck in the wires (which were really just straws for our sake). It was the only obstacle that dirtied the participants. It rained the night before and the grass was moist.
(Photo courtesy of urbanathlon.menshealth.com.sg) 


The fifth barrier was what feared me the most -- the 8ft wall barrier. My bf and some race marshalls helped me or I wouldn't be able to climb to the other side. It wasn't that difficult really but my initial fears caused my knees to shake a bit. I had to compose myself so I could steady my legs, lift myself up finally and make it to the other side.




Kudos to Coach Rio and Finish Line for a well-organized race. The P450 registration fee was so worth it. We were given Kenny's Roast sandwich for breakfast and a finisher's shirt after the race. It rained with other freebies also from sponsors. We'll definitely join 10K next time in Men's Health Urbanathlon 2010!

Results are in! You can view results HERE.