Why did the 34th Milo Marathon 5k feel like a can of moving sardines?

I posted earlier that the 34th Milo Marathon on July 4th is the biggest race I've been to so far (note that this is only my seventh race ever, and my third 5k). When the race began, the sheer size of the green-clad crowd looked like a stampede waiting to happen. And stampede the runners did, just like antelopes in the African plains... at least for the first few metres. Afterwards, the recreational walkers and the fun runners slowed down to a stroll, and I bet they didn't get into the finish line under the time limit.

The stats (source: http://runningpinoy.wordpress.com) on the finishers show that indeed, the fun run (particularly the 5k) was like a tight pack of moving sardines:

 3k - 1471
 5k - 9840
10k - 1079
21k -   963
42k -   780

Those are just figures for FINISHERS. According to ManokanRunner's post, (http://takbo.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=899) over 20,000 registered for the 5k event!

Staggering figures, right? The 5k category is surprising because there were simply so many people running... and it's NOT a competition!! Most probably, the people who normally opt for 3k upped their distance to 5k upon seeing that 3k in the Milo Marathon is for KIDS ONLY. 

With so many people, I was one of many runners that did not achieve our target paces and hence our target run times. I just wish that there was better crowd control in 5k... so many inconsiderate strollers in the middle of the road. Nevertheless, it was a good run for me; it's my post-birthday run after all. =)

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