The Course: Filinvest City, With No Map Published
The Manila leg started and finished at the Filinvest Event Grounds in Filinvest City, Alabang, off Northgate Avenue [1][2]. The organiser describes the route as running through a green, walkable urban community of tree-lined roads and open spaces [3]. That is all that was published about the course: no route map, elevation profile or aid-station plan appeared on the race pages [2][4].
The courses are measured to RUNRIO's own standards, and runners must stay inside the barriers, cones and other markings [4]; no certification is claimed. Parts of the route are closed to traffic, with the closure times given in a race guide [5]. Walkers are asked to keep to the right so faster runners can pass [5].
The race has changed shape since its first year. At the 2025 race at Filinvest, the longest distance was a 30 km Dream Challenge [6]; in 2026 it was a 21 km [2].
The Weather: 28°C and a 26°C Dew Point All Night
Ninoy Aquino International Airport, about 10 km north of Filinvest City, recorded 28°C at 3am on race morning, with a dew point of 26°C, 89% humidity and a 3-knot wind [7]. Nothing changed for four hours: at 7am it was still 28°C, with a 26°C dew point and 89% humidity, and the wind had dropped to 2 knots. By 9am it was 29°C [7].
A dew point of 26°C is at the top of the range runners find oppressive. The air is so wet that sweat barely evaporates, so you heat up even in the dark, and there was no cooler hour to wait for: every 21 km finisher, from the winner to the last runner home in 3:52:10, ran in the same air [8]. The organiser's pre-race release promised a Dyson Cooling Zone and a cooling booth in the race village [9]. At the 2025 race at the same venue, one 5 km runner wrote of finishing under the sun [6].
Start well below your flat-road pace and drink at the hydration stations [5].
Start Times, the Sweep and the Rules
The Race Roster listing gives the event as starting at 3am [2]. The timing records list scheduled starts of 3am for the 21 km and the 10 km, 5am for the 5 km, 5.30am for the 3 km and 6am for the dog run [8]; the organiser's own gun times were not on the pages read. You must start within 15 minutes of your flag-off or be disqualified [4].
No cut-off times were published. The rules say courses close after the designated cut-offs, and the FAQ says an ambulance picks up everyone still on the course by the last cut-off and takes them to the finish [4][5]. The results point to about 7am: if the scheduled starts are right, the last finishers in the 21 km, the 5 km and the 3 km all crossed the line at about 6.50am [8]. At the 2025 race at Filinvest the sweep began at 7am [10]. On a 3am start that leaves a 21 km runner a little under four hours.
Winners are decided on gun time, the timing chip is on the back of the bib, and unofficial pacers are not allowed [4]. Costumes that cover the face or stick out beyond the body are banned, as are strollers and skates [4]. RUNRIO can delay, cancel or suspend a race for bad weather [4], and the next leg of the series, in Clark on 30 August, was postponed because of the weather [11].
How Fast the Field Is
Kenya's Evans Bomer won the 21 km in 1:10:36 on gun time (1:10:35 on the chip), almost nine minutes ahead of SEA Games medallist Arlan Arbois in 1:19:27; Nelo Bangud was third in 1:30:04 [8][1]. Bomer had also won the Rexona 10 Miler in Pasay, another RUNRIO race, in March 2026 [12]. Maricar Camacho won the women's race in 1:32:45, fifth overall, from Jocelyn Elijeran in 1:36:22 and Nikka Panlaqui in 1:37:28 [8]. The organiser noted that all three women on the podium were mothers [1].
Behind the front the field thins fast. Only two runners broke 1:30 and 13 broke 1:40; tenth place was 1:39:57 for men and 2:01:20 for women [8]. The median 21 km time was 2:41:47, 646 of the 937 finishers were inside three hours, and 91 took longer than 3:30 [8]. Just over a quarter of the 21 km field, 253 runners, were women [8].
The 10 km had the closest racing. Welmer Labrador won by one second from Vincent Avestruz in 33:23, and Nicole Diloy beat Asia Paraase by a few seconds in 39:21 [8][13]. Behind them the 10 km was relaxed: 109 of the 1,458 finishers broke an hour and the median was 1:28:08 [8]. The 5 km was won in 15:55 by Jaren Ganan and in 20:21 by Meljoy Gonzales [8].
Field Size, Fees and Race Day
The organiser put the crowd at nearly 7,000 runners, families, friends and dogs, and said the 21 km and the 5 km both sold out before race day [1]. The results list 4,674 names: 937 in the 21 km, 1,458 in the 10 km, 1,828 in the 5 km, 377 in the 3 km and 74 in the dog run [8].
The 21 km cost P1,800 at the early-bird rate and P2,000 at the regular rate; the 10 km P1,200 and P1,400; the 5 km and the dog run P1,000 and P1,200; and the 3 km for a group of four P4,500 at the regular rate [2][4]. Early-bird places were limited [2]. EastWest credit card holders could get a P500 rebate on a spend of at least P3,000, and a group signing up ten runners got an eleventh place free [2]. Entries cannot be refunded, deferred or transferred, and you cannot change category once registered [4][5].
Every entrant gets a race singlet and bib; every finisher gets a medal, a loot bag and a finisher's towel, 21 km finishers also get a finisher's shirt, and dog-run entrants a dog bandana [2][5]. The 21 km is for runners 18 and over, the 10 km 16 and over and the 5 km 12 and over; each 3 km group of four needs at least one adult, and in the dog run the dog must be at least six months old and on a leash throughout [4][5]. There is a baggage deposit, and changing areas and portable toilets in the activity area [5].
After the finish there was a race village with sponsor activities, games and giveaways, post-race massages in the EastWest Horizons Recovery Lounge, and more than P500,000 of raffle prizes, from staycations to fitness equipment [1]. A writer who ran the 10 km described group warm-ups around the start and a finish area where runners swapped stories about the course [14]. The official hotel, Quest Plus Conference Center Manila, offered registered runners up to 60% off its room rates [9].
Plan your parking. At the 2025 race at the same venue, one runner arrived early to find the designated parking still closed and parked at Crimson Hotel instead, with about 30 minutes to spare before the gun [6].
Should You Enter the 2027 Race?
Yes, if you live in the south of Metro Manila and want a first or unhurried half marathon among runners of every speed, or a morning out for the family and the dog. With a median 21 km time of 2:41:47 and finishers out past 3:50, you will not be alone at the back [8].
Think twice if you struggle in humid heat, since the 2026 race started at 28°C with a 26°C dew point and did not cool before 7am [7], or if you need to see the route and cut-offs before you enter. A good club runner can place: third in the men's 21 km was 1:30:04 and tenth in the women's 2:01:20 [8].
A 2027 Manila leg has not been announced. In 2026 the 21 km and 5 km sold out before race day [1], so enter early once a date is announced.
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race pages, rules and FAQ, the full published results, airport weather records, news reports and two runners' own accounts.