Unilab 2013 Duathlon: Am I In or Out?

I'm happy to post that I was able to get onto the Start List for this year's Unilab Duathlon at Clark next Sunday. Woohoo!!!

Further, as the recent bad weather affected part of the bike route, it was announced that the bike leg will be reduced from 50km to 40km. That's ok since it's still the SCTEX that we'll be riding through. ;-)

Back to training...

2013 Unilab Duathlon Under Review

From swimbikerun.ph's website, the race organizers of the 2013 Unilab Duathlon will review the race (schedule, route, etc.) due to recent damage brought about by typhoon Maring.

A part of the SCTEX, where the bike route will be, was heavily damaged as seen below (pic c/o swimbikerun.ph):

Click here for details of the announcement.

Blog Facelift

Seeing that today's rains have stopped any sort of run/bike workout (although I was able to do a set of weights circuit with my trusty dumbells this morning), I decided to give this blog a new look.

Apologies for the meantime though since the slider section still needs updating with new images/info.

Hope you guys like it!

Unilab Duathlon Registration Saga Continues...

Last night I went through my Gmail inbox after a long day at work. A particular email with the subject starting with the word "APOLOGIES" from Bike King was quickly opened. It read:

Thank you for your interest in joining the Active Health Duathlon.

Earlier, you received notification on finalizing your registration. This notification was erroneous.

We sincerely apologize.

Our registration system was supposed to cut off the notification once we reached the quota of available slots.

You are presently on the wait list.

To see where you are on the list please visit our Active Health Duathlon Events page here:

http://bikekingphilippines.com/events_active-health-duathlon.php

Click on the Waitlist tab.

Thank you again for your interest, and once more, we apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Bike King

So I clicked the link and replied immediately, as below:

I checked the website Start List and I saw my name there (#633). I already paid this afternoon at Secondwind Ortigas. :)

Thanks.

No immediate reply so I followed up:

Bike King Org,
Feedback pls. I already paid yesterday before I got your "apologies" email so pano na? I already booked my hotel at Clark.
I'm on your website's Start List and Wait List.
Let me know ASAP if I need to refund my reg and hotel fees.
Thanks.

A reply came, as below:

Hi,
You are on the wait list (#58). We will find out by next week on the final status of those on the wait list. We will give you a full refund of your entry fee if you're not accepted.
Thanks,
Raul

My reply as of this writing:

Hi Raul,
Thank you for your email. Again, kindly note that yesterday, I've already paid the reg fee AND booked a hotel in Clark (Hotel ****) for me and my family to stay. This would've been prevented if your reg system worked as it was supposed to, i.e. real time cutoff of the registrants upon reaching the quota.
I understand the system error that you mentioned but I hope you and your team can also understand the situation that I (and the others waitlisted) am in. Right now I just find this whole episode simply disappointing in my short history of race registrations. In the telco industry where I'm in, if system errors occur we charge the system supplier/owner for damages on its failure to fulfill a service since it caused customer complaints and destroyed the company name (Unilab and Bike King, in this case). As an endurance age grouper, I blog my run/bike exploits including races and this is the first time I've written 3 posts (so far) on the whole registration drama alone. Rather weird since I only do 1-2 posts (1st when I hear about the race and 2nd when I register) for races that I want to participate in. I usually blog a 3rd post for my race recap. But 3 (or 4) posts just to write about the race registration? Sigh...
Oh well....
I hope the notification of whether I'm in the list or not comes next week as you've said so I can make the necessary arrangements either way. If I can know the result earlier ---which is most probably not participating since the odds are against me as I'm #58 in the wait list (much like the impossibility of clocking a sub-3 42km for my age) --- please contact me via 0922xxxxxxx or 0917xxxxxxx so I know where to claim the reg refund, contact the hotel to arrange another refund (which I might not get the exact money I spent due to refund fees), and inform my family that the weekend getaway at Clark is canceled.
Still hoping for a positive outcome though.
Best regards.

Yup, much like your favorite primetime teleserye, I also want to know how this story will end.

Abangan...

Unilab Duathlon Registration Saga Ends

As it was near 12noon today, I searched for the best WiFi spot in the meeting area. I went to another room and, finally, was able to enter the Bike King website and open the registration page as they committed to open it up by 12noon, for a limited time.

And, finally after several info typing and clicking "Submit," I got this in my inbox:

I drove immediately to SecondWind, Home Depot Ortigas branch (yes, I skipped lunch) and paid the mandatory fee with the email confirmation print out in hand.

Finally, I'm in!

Time to train....