March 7, 2012

Run United 1 2012

To achieve my goal of running the three legs of Runrio Trilogy this year, I registered for Run United 1 which was held last March 4 at SM Mall of Asia. I chose to run in the 10k category.

Run United 1 2012 is my first Runrio-organized run. There were enough hydration although the staff in the stations are overwhelmed by the number of runners. There were even some who fills up their own cups to have their drinks. There were trash bins but there are still a lot of plastic cups thrown on the road. This might be because the trash bins were too near the hydration stations when some of the runners drink their waters a few steps away. There were also some stations that gave away bananas but this also meant more banana peelings on the route which is dangerous for some runners.

Overall, the experience was great. I finished my run in about 1:14:28 (based from the timer in the finish line). I am looking forward to Run United 2 and 3. Hopefully, I will beat my own time in the next runs.

Update: Based from the official results, I finished the run in 01:10:35 (Chip Time) and 01:14:37 (Gun Time). The race analysis is also available here.

March 3, 2012

IT Olympics 2012

Last March 1, 2012, the College of Computer Science of University of Makati (UMAK) hosted Intercollegiate I.T. Olympics 2012. I was invited by Ragde Falcis from JuAndroid and also a faculty member of UMAK to be one of the judges for the Android competition. The other judges were Chelle Gray from CodeFlux Inc, my co-manager of GTUG Philippines; Alfred Ocon, the developer of the Pinoy Henyo Android App and an alumnus of UMAK; and Ronillo Ang, my officemate and the developer of the BlueMine Android App.

The IT Olympics are for some universities from NCR and some from nearby provinces. There are two categories for the Android Competition: Game and Productivity. However, only 4 apps were submitted and presented to us. The apps in the Game category are Mnemosyne, a multi-player Memory game with a twist, and Bartendroid, an alcohol drinks mixing game (This app was started during the GADC Manila). For the Productivity category, the apps are TechnoDock, an app that can launch apps for easier access, and Monchi, a parental monitoring app for their student childrens.

It was my first time to judge in a contest and it was a great experience. The apps presented are great and promising. After judging the apps presented in the Android Competition and having lunch, I was also invited to join the Board of Arbiters in the IT Quiz Bee. With me are Johmar M. Requilman from Taguig City University and Marlon B. Castillo from Don Bosco Technical College.

The winners in the Android Competition are Jerone M. Altura, Jerard Joseph M Buencamino and Daryl Edward R. Dela Cruz of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (Mnemosyne) for the Game category and Louis Michael Concepcion and Gabriel Antonio Aguila of University of Makati (Monchi) for the Productivity category. In the IT Quiz Bee, the champions are John Carlo M. Caruncho, Merrich Ann Maitim and Jordan Balintac from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig.