The tech runner

Last February, I ran a marathon for the very first time. A feat I never imagined I would attempt much less complete. It was a life transforming event for me.

My journey started in April of last year. My business partner, Raymond Racaza, launched his passion project, run.ph, in the Rip The Road Race and pushed me to run it to support him. The problem? That race featured the best runners in the country and had only one distance: 10 kilometers, which I had never ran before.

I didn’t quite rip the road that fateful April day, but I did finish the race. Never mind that I nearly finished last. The moment I crossed the finish line, I was in such a high that I decided to train for a marathon.

Raymond started run.ph because running transformed his life 5 years ago. One of the most successful technology entrepreneurs in the country, he has always operated under the radar, quietly growing Xurpas into one of the largest mobile content companies. Running though has stirred a passion in him that no other activity has in the past.

“There are 3 defining experiences in a person’s life. Marriage, having a child, and running a race.” For Raymond, nothing beats the experience of being out on the road. “It’s a zen experience for me. A moment to reflect on my life. A time to forget my problems, and appreciate the beauty of simply being alive.”

After finishing his first marathon, Raymond sought out to share his passion to others. “I want to show people how running can change their lives too, just like it has mine.” And so run.ph was born.

“It was originally a platform to allow running organizers to connect to the running community,” Raymond shares. Run.ph allows online users to browse through and sign-up for all of the major races in the country. It also enables users to track their race times, input race notes, and connect to other runners via its Facebook page.

Raymond noticed that most of the running sites were blogs talking about the sport of running, but there was no one single resource site that housed all of the tools that runners would need to get into the sport. “Run.ph was meant to be the runner’s resource site.”

Most indicative of run.ph’s popularity in running circles is how much demand there is for the run.ph shirts that Raymond gives away. “Each shirt is made using the most advanced sports materials,” shares Raymond. He started off with just 2 colors: The white and the black shirt. The white shirt was meant for beginners, while the black shirt with gold font would only be given to people Raymond has verified to have finished a marathon. Now there are 10 colors. The scarcity remains, however, as Raymond does not retail the shirts, and only gives them out to people he knows.

In fact, Raymond hasn’t earned a single penny from operating run.ph. From developer resources, to admin costs, to the production of his shirts, everything comes out of his pocket. There are no advertisements on run.ph despite a lot of offers from athletics brands. Even race fees collected on the site via its payment platform are remitted 100%, less payment gateway charges to race organizers.

“I am who I am because of running,” Raymond puts it simply. “I want to grow run.ph so that it can impact others the way it has impacted me.”

Relaunch

Raymond has big plans for the site moving forward and he realizes that running it at zero revenues may get more difficult, given his ambitions.

Run.ph will relaunch as a full runner’s portal soon. The new site will be more robust and the services more complete. “I’ve taken all of the community’s feedback on run.ph and applied the best advice into this new version. The first year’s run.ph was a proof of concept. The next version will truly execute on my vision to grow the running community and to put the Philippines in the global running map.”

Bold words from a man whose success is often shrouded by his humility.

“I’ve never won anything in my life,” says Raymond, “But this … The marathon … The race … This is all life changing … For me, and hopefully soon, for everyone else.” – Rappler.com

Nix Nolledo is the CEO of Xurpas, a mobile value-added services company.  A passionate entrepreneur, Nix is also an active investor in the technology startup community and a member of the board of Rappler.