Sun Life Virtual Run 2019
For 11 years, Piolo Pascual has been working with Sun Life to run sporting events to encourage FIlipinos to live healthier through SunPIOLOgy. This year, they launched the “SunPIOLOgy Xone” that features the following events: Sun Life Virtual Run, Sun Life Cycle PH, and Sun Life Resolution Run.
Sun Life Virtual Run: Run anytime, anywhere
A new event this year, the Sun Life Virtual Run is a long-distance race that participants may complete anytime, anywhere. Participants from different parts of the country may challenge themselves to complete an accumulated distance of 50 or 125 kilometers which can be spread over 30 days. This way, runners can pace themselves and freely strategize in accomplishing their target distance within the prescribed period. Progress is tracked using a GPS watch, a fitness band, a running app on a smartphone, or by taking a photo of the progress on the treadmill and submitting it via www.takbo.ph.
Registration for Sun Life Virtual Run is ongoing at www.sunpiology.com and will be open until October 14, 2019. The run period will be from October 15 to November 15, 2019.
Sun Life Cycle PH: Family bonding on wheels
Nurturing the Filipinos’ growing love for cycling, Sun Life Cycle PH is back to take cyclists on fun and exciting routes that will run from Bonifacio Global City to Pasay City. Participants of all fitness levels are welcome to join.
Categories for the Sun Life Cycle PH are: Tricycle Ride (100 or 500 meters) designed for children ages two to five; Kids Ride (30-minute Solo or Family Ride) for children between the ages six to 15; Short Ride (20 kilometers) for participants 10 years old and above; and Long Ride (40 kilometers) for participants 14 years old and above. With partially closed roads and kid-friendly biking paths, the event can be a chance to bond with the entire family. It may also serve as an introduction to races for cycling enthusiasts.
Sun Life Cycle PH will take place on November 23, 2019. Registration is ongoing at sunlife.cycleph.com and will be open until November 22, 2019.
Sun Life Resolution Run: Race to fight diabetes
An exciting and energizing way to kick off Sun Life Philippines’ 125th anniversary in 2020, the Sun Life Resolution Run is a race that aims to get everyone into a healthy mindset as the year starts. Also hosted by Sun Life in select Asian countries, increasing awareness in diabetes prevention and management is one of the company’s advocacies that is especially crucial in the Philippines, as the disease has been declared as an epidemic in the country.
The Resolution Run will feature the “125 Xone,” where runners will pass through “xones” aligned with the diabetes prevention theme. Moreover, 125 lucky runners will also get to win electronic gift cards worth P1,250, which they can redeem in various partner stores.
Attended by some of the country’s brightest stars, the run will double as a charity event that will benefit the Hebreo Foundation, Noordhoff Foundation, and Star Magic scholars.
Sun Life Resolution Run will take place on January 18, 2020, at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Registration will begin on November 15, 2019, at www.sunpiology.com and select Toby’s Sports Stores until race kit supplies last.
A Little Something for Everyone
I find it interesting how the events this year feel very inclusive for those who can’t commit to the traditional fun runs, whether it’s because the dates aren’t flexible or we can’t be bothered to wake up early as it doesn’t fit with our lifestyles and work schedules.
I like how they also have something for families and choose Diabetes prevention for their other activities. I’ve always believed that you inherit a lot of your own parents’ lifestyles and having an avenue to do fitness activities is important to embed in children the need for healthier habits.
What is a Virtual Run?
If you asked me a few weeks ago if I knew what Virtual Run is, I would have looked at you in a funny way and wondered if it was some sort of new app I should be downloading on my phone. When I was invited to join the run, I was initially very hesitant.
This is partly because while I enjoyed a good workout, fun runs never really felt like they were for me. In general, I don’t enjoy running, don’t like having to wake up so early in the morning on weekends and being around hundreds of people I don’t know. These are basically all the reasons I have never willingly joined a regular fun run before… that is before knowing what a “Virtual Run” is.
A virtual run is when a goal distance is spread over a period of time, that can range from one day to one month. It can also be…
- Done through a combination of activities and not simply running. It can be as simple as walking to work to as complex as dancing and sports.
- Tracked through a variety ways such taking a photo of your run on the treadmill, GPS watch or sending screenshots of your fitness app on your phone.
- Done anytime and anywhere. You don’t need to be in a geographic location to participate.
Registration
SUN LIFE VIRTUAL RUN 2019
October 15 to November 15, 2019
50KM, 125KM (accumulated distance)
Registration was pretty straightforward on Takbo.ph, where you gave your personal details and payment method. Since I wasn’t sure yet how much time I could commit to this, I decided to join the standard race for 50km.
REGISTRATION FEE
STANDARD (1,100): Microfiber Polyester (Drifit) Fabric and Imported Finisher’s Medal, Sun Life Sports Bottle, Sun Life Towel, e-Certificate, inclusive of delivery within the Philippines.
PREMIUM (1,400): Closed Mesh Full-Sublimation Shirt with Fine Details and Stitch, Imported Finisher’s Medal, Sun Life Sports Bottle, Sun Life Towel, e-Certificate, inclusive of delivery within the Philippines
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
October 14, 2019
My Experience doing the Sun Life Virtual Run
I’m guilty of having put my fitness on the backseat the past few months as our start up was launching, but I felt like this was a good way to jumpstart myself back to the healthy lifestyle.
Once registered, you have to log into the Takbo.ph platform online, click what race you are registered to and submit your runs.
They show you a little progress bar where they calculate how much you have logged in already to keep your motivated, before you are given space to note down your runs – distance, time, and proof.
The verification process is almost instant and you get to see every run logged in before it.
What I struggled with
- Being that I don’t have any fitness tracker on me and I was dependent on my cellphone to track my progress, my distance didn’t actually include the classes I took like HIIT, boxing, spinning, etc.
- Unlike their other events, I thought I would have appreciated a more community aspect to it. While it was online, I would have loved having an option to see your friend’s progress bars too!
- Difficulty calculating how long my distances actually took, so I just started putting 12 hour completion times to make the hassle less!
What I liked about it
- There was something interesting about the lack of pressure while still maintaining some sort of accountability. There was still a deadline and a goal!
- I liked that I didn’t have to be physically in one place at a designated time. My schedule is very erratic and I don’t know when I need to be working late or waking up early.
- It didn’t leave room for excuses. My gosh, if everything is already so flexible, there is less room for complaints!
- It made for a nice reason to walk around in the middle of the day instead of just being on my phone. I ended up discovering a few new activities and restaurants because of it!
Last Thoughts
A silly thing that happened was that even if I couldn’t track distance from other fitness activities, I ended doing more of them anyway. There was something about building that momentum and already exercising in your mind that made it easier to show up, even if I wasn’t really changing much in the beginning. It was mostly because the act of tracking my progress made me want to do more.
I managed to complete the 50km in only 11 days. It was surprising to me because I would have never thought that I would average 4.8km a day on walking alone!
Here’s a screenshot from Samsung Health, the free phone application I used to track my runs:
That being said, I don’t think you need a Virtual Run everyday to be a healthy person. The beauty of activities like these, which focus more on distributing the exercise throughout the course of several days instead of just one day, is that they remind us that a healthy life is something you build into your lifestyle, not just one class that you take every week or one fun run that you do every 3 months.
Integrating exercise into your life doesn’t even have to be booking a workout, going to the gym or running a marathon. Sometimes, it’s just parking a little farther and taking the longer route, walking instead of commuting, using the stairs instead of the elevator and so on.
Thank you to Sun Life Financial for this fun reminder that little steps add up, fitness is a lifestyle and not everything is a competition. Sometimes, completing things at your own pace, time and way of doing it for the fun of it is just as meaningful.
