Secret life of a ‘fun runner’

DO YOU find your husband or boyfriend sneaking out at 5:30 on Sunday mornings? Does it puzzle you that he preps his car but does not really dress up when he leaves? Does he skip the usual Sunday breakfast? Does he become unreachable around 6 to 9 on these mornings?

Before you wage World War III and start burning his clothes, you might want to consider the possibility that your man is just going to a “fun run.” What is this? No, it’s not a secret code for picking up girls. Rather, it’s a run to the wild; or more appropriately, in their case, a run across Edsa, Slex or Nlex with a group of friends in their “toy car.” It’s not a cat call but a car call, something like a weekly bromantic pat on the back for purchasing a great car.

This fun run usually starts with a group of guys meeting up at a café, gas station, or somewhere convenient. In our case, it was the BMW showroom in Alabang. When the Lamborghinis, BMW M5s, Porshce GT3s, Ferraris or R8s arrive, the guys start comparing notes or catch up on who just bought the latest covetable car. They spend a few minutes ogling the cars (there might be a few phrases about girls), but ultimately the discussions are about the literal meanings of rack, ride and car booties.

After that, they proceed to their chosen route, whether it’s a run to Tagaytay, Clark, or just up and down the Skyway. They fall in line, then pick up the pace when they are on the designated road, and meet up again after exiting the toll booth. They speed along the expressway (and some will be really speeding), but when they reach the end, they leisurely drive up to their next destination.

They are flexing their sports car’s muscle with a clear stretch of road that these morning drives afford them. When all the driving is done, they all sit down for breakfast and happily discuss how each one fared, who went fastest, and of course who was left at the tail end. They continue the banter until its time to disband and rush to each other’s family lunch; otherwise, they might not be allowed to go to next week’s fun run.

Now I know what the next question floating in your mind is: Are there girls during the run? When I joined, I was the only girl in a group of 15. Sometimes, a few girlfriends will tag along with their boyfriends, but after a few times, they will realize the extra sleeping hours are more important than watching and hearing guys do a p_ss fest. Usually, fathers bring their sons to bond over a cup of coffee and some cars (or use them as a “get out of the house easily” pass).

So who does a fun run? Businessmen, top executives and maybe some low profile politicians—but all car enthusiasts. They bought themselves the car of their dreams as a prize for all their hard work, but because of busy schedules, they have no time to go to the racetrack.

Despite the absence of creature comforts, the visceral feeling one gets from driving a classic roadster is priceless. PHOTO by Alvin Uy

According to Emil Banno, an entrepreneur and avid fun runner, “A fun run is more for camaraderie, a get together—a time for relaxed conversations about cars with people who share the same passion: weekend warriors who do not want to get stuck in traffic.” It’s a car’s enthusiast’s “me time.”

Most fun run veterans would recommend that newbie sports car owners get the proper training on how to drive fast cars better. They also recommend that if you want to go really fast, go to the track. The run is not fun when the pretty sports car ends up around a tree.

There have been a lot of controversies and issues where supercar owners get into accidents, which usually stems from irresponsible driving on public roads. This is a contradiction of what a fun run is all about.

So how should you deal with your man crawling out of the house at 5:30 a.m.? After he has gone through the required better-driving class, you can kiss him and tell him to have a good time, and just sleep and enjoy the few hours your man is out of your hair.

For comments and suggestion, please e-mail me at jnt@chicdriven.com, follow me on Instagram at @chicdriven, or like us on Facebook/chicdriven.