Salomon X-Trail 2018: Rain or Storm? More like Disaster

I’ll be writing my personal account of how the event went down. I want to put forward that I had it relatively easy, things went my way. But it’s worth talking about and sharing what happened. I wish I had photos, but in the storm I didn’t think to take out my phone; on the drive home my wife snapped some shots of the fallen trees and landslides, but since we were going at speed I didn’t get much. Anyway, here goes.

You Wanted an Adventure?

I’ve been trying new things, looking to push myself to limits and see where I break. Maybe it’s my version of a mid-life crisis. So I signed up for the 6K Trail Run. I’ve been running 10K easy, and looking to go further. Going off road and onto a trail sounded like an exciting way to go.

I didn’t get to run, so that adventure was not had. But driving through blinding rain, floods, past landslides, that was an adventure for sure.

Rain or Storm!

We booked an AirBnB to make a weekend of the trip, rather than just drive out in the morning. One of our favorite spots to visit is Liwliwa, so hitting Subic was no problem. We got to stay at the Brick Sanctuary in Kalayaan town homes. It is, by far, the most interesting and homey AirBnB I’ve stayed. If you’re going to Subic, it’s a great place to stay because it really feels like you’re going to a country/summer home. It feels lived in, but in a good way; there’s so much warmth and a love for life there.

Our trip then wasn’t a waste at all. We got to spend a day and night in this house while we waited for word about whether the Trail Run was pushing through or not. We were checking for updates, and I was seeing a lot of posts on the Facebook event page asking if the race was still pushing through. A friend I was running with would be driving over in the morning, so we wanted to keep him updated on if he should make the drive out.

The definitive word came down from the organizers. Run was pushing through, rain or storm.

Thunder and Lightning Very Very Frightening

I woke up a number of times in the night to the sound of the rain, with what felt like the force and fire rate of a Gatling gun on the roof. We live in a condo so it’s been a while since I’ve heard that crashing on a roof. I would check each time if there were updates on the FB page. But rain or storm, and so it sounded like we were good to go.

Our friend arrived in the morning, and we suited up for the rain. I had the X-Trail shirt, Salomon shoes, and a waterproof jacket. I’d come down with a cold and I wanted to take steps to make sure I wouldn’t be running around drenched. Waterproof gear is expensive, but it was well worth it as I found myself standing for about an hour in the rain.

We checked one last time on the FB page, and there was a post saying that the event was cancelled. But then we called someone at the venue, and they said that there had been no announcements. This should have been a red light. But I wanted the thing to push through, and we had all made the effort, so we headed there.

Just getting to the venue proved a challenge as floods were already threatening. But hey, we had all signed up for an adventure.

Standing in the Rain

We walked from the car to the venue. My friend had to claim his race kit, so he stood in line. I walked around a little getting a feel for the place. People were walking around drenched. I had both an umbrella and my jacket so I was keeping pretty dry. Had to admire that even when a wave 0f torrential rain poured down, there were groups of runners who would continue their stretching and warm-ups as if it were a fine and sunny day.

Here’s where I stop and say, people who attended were awesome. There’s a fair amount of vitriol online now (some of it fair and deserved) but spirits were high and good at the time. People were energetic. At some point there was goofing. One of my favorite sights was people replacing the water canisters on their vests with beer cans.

We stood waiting. Even the line for race kit claiming was badly managed, hardly moving. For the duration of the time that we were there, that’s all we did, stand in line. From the muffled stage area came an announcement that the race was cancelled.

Who’ll Stop the Rain?

Headed back to the house, we risked our friend’s car getting waterlogged. It was a sedan and it barely made it through the flood. I was only a little worried because we drive a mini-SUV and that could handle what we were seeing. But I wasn’t one for risks. Soon as we got to the Brick House I said, We have to get out of here.

As the rain crashed down we loaded up the car and left. Getting out of Subic we had to negotiate one fallen tree, and then shortly outside of Subic, the road was blocked and we were stuck for over half an hour while a tree was cleared. We drove past two different landslides. And as we negotiated SCTEX, the rain was so punishing that we could not see anything.

This was still far better than reports from back in Subic. Roads rendered not passable. Flooding. Cars stopped. Multiple blocks because of fallen trees. I suppose the thing we have to be grateful for is that people weren’t hurt. But there were many posts of people stranded in Subic, struggling to find ways back to Manila.

Past the Clouds

We stopped for gas and food on NLEX in Bulacan. It was almost sunny. We looked back to where we had come from, the darkness, and clouds still dominating the horizon. I read through the posts from people who attended the event for naught.

I’m a new driver, and to have gotten through all that, just to drive through some of the most frightening rain I’ve ever seen, and then get to sit down and eat pancakes, that was something. We were lucky, and a lot of people were still stuck and figuring a way home.

Word was getting out that Salomon would be giving discounts on its gear, and then free registration for their next race. But the next race is in Iloilo, which means airfare and accommodations if you decide to go to that.

It’s Not About the Legalese

It’s very clear in the Salomon race guidelines that there is a no refund/no return policy on the event. And hey, I got my shirt, and I know they shelled out on the organizing costs, coming through with all the logistics for the event. So I can see how the money had been spent, and how it would be impractical to even attempt a refund. This is why I can’t really get behind the people asking for a refund, even if we essentially didn’t get what we paid for.

At the same time, even though that’s what was written in the policies, it still seems unfair. There were times when the event could have been cancelled. Weather reports remained consistent from Friday through to race time, so there was no new information, no reason to think things would be different, apart from hoping the storm would suddenly change course.

The real problem: RAIN OR STORM. That was a great, defiant statement. But it failed. It was hubris that could not be backed up. It got people fired up, got people to go. And then Salomon had to back away from this stance.

And I totally understand that too. I think it was a good call to not have people brave the rain. Even just one person getting hurt because of the adverse weather conditions would be unconscionable. But then, they should have erred on the side of safety much sooner.

Now the rain, the storms, all that, it’s not the organizers’ fault of course. But telling people to come out, that’s on them.

At this point, I think they will need to pull some damage control. And I hope they do. Salomon makes quality products. Races like this are meant to advance the brand’s connection to its customers (as well as sell products to be used at the races). If it goes down as such a disappointment, then it will definitely affect how people see the brand. That’s going to cost much more than letting people run in upcoming races.

This story is still developing, but let’s see how it goes.

I am still looking forward to starting my trail running experiences. This first one was a wash out, but hey, that means things can only get better.