My second marathon of the year was fulfilling as I broke my previous PB. Finished in 4 hours 28mins cutting about 15mins off from previous. I will continue to train and beat this timing, hopefully I finish in sub 4 which is my goal.
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| Early morning at Shaw tower |
Pinned my number tag on my running shirt two days before and pack my bag the night before allows me to wake up later in the morning and not to rush out of the house. And I had ample time to slowly eat my tarts which I had brought the yesterday, I have the say the tart was delicious.
Suppose to meet my colleague at 3.25 cause he is picking me up by car but I mistakenly thought was 3.35. Step out of the at 3.32. I was late and the car was already at the bus stop.
Drop off at far east centre and we make our way to meet the others at Shaw tower. Saw lots of runners having their breakfast at the Mac and others getting ready with their gel pack and adjusting their shirt, putting up their number tags. All of them has one goal, that is to make it to the finishing line.
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| Opp Ion |
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| Beautiful elephant found outside Taka |
Lot of people making the shortcut by climbing over the rails to the start point and so did we. Runners were so eager to get over. Luckily we won't the ones that got stuck at one of the entry point halt by the security.
Very fast and we were flag off by the acting minister and some of the committee. It was still dark and I can feel the breezes at some point but most of the time was stuffy. There is so much runners on the road in the beginning, that there is one point where everybody got jam for awhile when turning to a narrow road.
When I was entering East Coast Park that is when I saw the Kenyans running in the opposite direction. They made the U turn earlier on and was heading back to the city. The leader of the pack was fast. Incredibility fast. Hes strike was big and super fast like turbo. Leaving the rest of the packs far behind him. Saw our female national champ Qi Hui a few meters after the elites.
I was chasing the 4hour 30mins pacers. They are very easy to spot. They got balloons behind their backs. At one point I got surround by a pack of pacers and runners following them. Two pacers were in front of me and beside me were their followers. Got hit by their balloons so many times on the head. So I tot I need to get past them soon and fast. One of the pacers start to fasten his speed that is when I got my chance to slide thru the pack.
Finally make it thru the U turn point, 21km down and another half marathon to go. That is when I felt my stomach feeling very uneasy it must be the American hound dog with American chilli I had yesterday evening. I was trying very hard to hold on to it to the end but i cant so I ran over to the toilet and found there is not toilet paper in there. Grrr... Sadly, I returned to the race when I feel abit comfortable again and started running. That is until I cant impossibly hold it anymore after 1,000 metres. I had to get tissue from the volunteers along the race and had ran over to the toilet ahead near big splash.
Feel good after reliving myself and once again I was back on game. One of the checklist to tick before the marathon... A packet of tissue. One lesson I have learn and will never forget.
Exited ECP and another 10km plus more to go. The sun was already up up in the sky. I didn't want to look at the time as I'm afraid of going to fast and burn out at the last 5000 meters.
I hated the last few km as it takes forever to reach to the finishing point and that is when fatigue starts to sets in. I was so tempted to walk but I slowed down my pace when I was on the long expressway bridge behind MBS. I know I was nearer and nearer to the finishing line but I wasnt excited until I saw Fullerton hotel. The last U turn... I sprinted all the way to the finish and I was glad to beat my previous PB. Both arms up when crossing the line for the photographers to snap a couple of shots of me. It is a good race to end the year of 2011 of setting a new record.
Medals, Finishers Tees and 100 plus were rewarded to me after a tough run. Next reward will be food for me. Had lunch at raffles city food court and had yong tau fu.
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| Supporters near the finishing point |
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| Watching upon runners nearing the finishing |
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| Kenyan walking to finish with disappointment |
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| Disappointment for him |
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| Photo taking for our 50 dollars. |
No major hiccups but I guess the organizer should put up more distance markers which is lack of. They should have sponge soak in water handed out to runners like they have in the Army half marathons cause its a humid day. Heard that there are a complains about the bag deposit that cause relay in some of the runners and the bottleneck problem. And didnt get to choose the finishers T-shirt size as it is base on a first come first serve which the organizer need to do something about.
Nevertheless, I would like to thank all volunteers and all the supporters for their support and cheer during the race. I really appreciated your attendance in the race. Its hard to find Singaporean cheering for runs but I saw quite a few. Not easy to cheer for hours. Saw one ang moh guy in green shirt at East Coast Park and again spotted him near MBS giving hi fives to runners.
The Biggest Marathon of the year is finally over. And another new chapter is opening up for me. Planning to set another new PB next year.
