STAndard chartered taipei charity marathon
January 2020
Late blog post—way too many things happening right now all other the globe. I guess I’ve been very blessed to still be able to join this race.
Racing in Taiwan was not really part of my plan. I already have Myanmar and Laos on top of mind for the first quarter of 2020, but an opportunity came when it was announced that Taiwan will extend the visa-free entry for Philippine passport holders until July 2020. My friend also happened to look for an out of country vacation and knew I had overseas races, so we agreed to book a ticket to Taiwan. As soon as the registration for the Standard Chartered Taipei Charity Marathon 2020 opened, I enlisted for the half-marathon category. I am thankful for Chinese-speaking friends who helped me with translations, maps, hotel recommendations and itinerary building.
This is only the 6th year of the SC Taipei Charity Marathon. The aim of Standard Chartered Bank in Taiwan is to promote diversified employment of visually impaired individuals and a fundraising for their Futuremakers program is implemented through the marathon since 2019. Runners may volunteer as running buddies of other visually impaired runners.
Race kit claiming was simple and straightforward. This was held in the pedestrian area of the Xinyi Vieshow Cinemas with a few tents, an organized line for participants and a few vendors. Old race merchandise was sold for a low price with all proceeds going to charity.
Taipei is roughly just a 2-hour plane ride from Manila but the 15-degree weather with drizzling rain initially became a challenge for my tropically inclined lungs. The pain in my sinuses only disappeared after 5 km and everything went smooth sailing from there. I finished 5 minutes faster than my PR!
After the race, I was honestly not expecting much as we were told we will only get a towel and a medal. After all, this is a charity race so this shouldn’t be an issue. To my surprise, they handed over a bag with a lot of freebies! Apart from that, the race carnival was done in a really big area in Dajia Riverside Park complete with several activities for kids and areas for finisher photos. The organizers also arranged shuttle buses to bring finishers to either Yuanshan MRT Station or near NTU Hospital (I was originally planning to walk until Dazhi MRT station which was over a kilometer away). Race results were available immediately after the race as we only needed to scan the QR code. Official race photos were also available after a few days. This is the third time I actually paid for race photos because I treasured those moments during the race.
This racecation was how dreams were made of—not perfect, but seamless. Aside from this race being one of the cheapest ones I registered for overseas, we had discounted plane tickets in a 4-star airline, a fancy hotel right across Ximenting, affordable carboloading options, dependable transportation system and friendly locals helping us when we seemed lost. I really hope the Taiwan government extends the visa-free entry for Philippine passport holders as I would really love to come back to explore other places in Taiwan.
As of this writing, several health hazards are claiming this first quarter of 2020. Many races have been postponed or cancelled and flights are restricted. I am eternally grateful to be able to race in Taiwan and have learned to not take these experiences for granted.