Registration Annoyance

We went to Boni High yesterday to claim our race kits for the Globe Run For Home event on Sunday, July 19, 2009. It'll be our 3rd official 5k race.

Of the three races, this Globe-sponsored event's pre-race procedure has earned minus points on my grading sheet compared to the other two races we've joined in the past two months -- Alabang Town Center's Southern Race and Robinson's Supermarket's Fit and Fun race.

Why? Because of Run For Home's 2-step registration process. For the other two races it took only one.

Image credit: Wikimedia.org

Step No. 1 -- Register for the race. Participants can register in several ways. You can do it online, through a Globe Business Center or a Fitness First branch. I chose to go to a business center since I am frequently at the mall and the online option adds a 13% surcharge for processing. Plus I don't go to Fitness First nor to any gym for that matter. Nakakatamad kasi. But, no problem for me with this step.

Step No. 2 -- Claim the race kit. Race kits were not given DURING the registration step. Instead, Globe decided to hold a 3-day 'race kit redemption' event from July 16-18, 2009 at the Bonifacio High Street shopping complex.

I like that place we call Boni High. We like the chic and trendy atmosphere and the kids love the open spaces where they can run and play. In fact, we've gone there for three Thursdays in the past month or two to 'walkjog' in preparation for the Robinson's event. But not everyone goes there regularly. At hindi naman lahat nakatira malapit dun. This extra step in the registration process cost the participants an added transpo expense (and probably a meal and a cup of coffee).

Image credit: entengvince.wordpress.com

Both the Southern Race and the Fit and Fun event were organized so that participants got the race kits at the time of registration, saving us both time and expense.

Besides, even if we did go there on a Thursday, which should not have been an extra trip for me since it fell on a regular jogging date for our family running group, umuulan naman ng malakas kahapon! We're not that hard-core yet, hehehe, so our regular Thursday jog date was cancelled. Although if it's raining on the event itself we'll have no choice but to endure the downpour.

The rain added yet another layer of annoyance to the process because people were just a tad more impatient while trying to crowd under the small tent allotted for the participants who registered in business centers, and still couldn't help getting wet. I'm sure the registration staff weren't particularly pleased either. But I must commend them for remaining calm and friendly given the conditions. Undoubtedly, that alone made the process more bearable for the participants. Salamat po.

But long story short, ano kaya binigay na agad yung race kits pag-register pa lang para nakatipid sana??

Maybe Globe and the race organizers had a logistical issue that I'm not aware of. But, Globe earns plus points for me for the inclusion of the [ ChampionChip ] in every race kit for free. It's a disposable running chip that will give each runner a way to see how he/she fared in the race. It's a novel technological idea especially for a newbie like me. Also, racing singlets are provided, which are one of my favorite things about running events because they are quite useful even after the event and serve as excellent souvenirs. Kudos to Globe for these.