At 5.15am, I was waiting at the hotel entrance waiting for Chantelle, Penguin and Sunshine runners. Thomas Ng, another runner while passing by, said, “Tony and gang were over there.” Then only I realized that there were two entrances: Weng and I were waiting at the Peninsula hotel entrance and the others were waiting at Excelsior hotel entrance, which was 50 meters apart.
Mr. Dan was there to support us too. After a group photo session with other running friends, we walked to the starting line, 500 meters away. Everyone was excited as the moment that we have been preparing and waiting for had finally arrived.
At Starting Line
Reaching the starting area 5.40 am, that was the biggest crowd that I have ever seen. Most runners were already in the starting pens (a small area with a fence round it in which farm animals are kept for a short time). The elite runners were in front while the slower runners are supposed to line up at the pens behind. We actually did not bother which pen we were supposed to enter. We found one pen in the middle with an opening, and we just squeezed in.
The scene was abuzz with energy as runners and crew scurried around making last-minute preparations for the race. Lively music was playing loudly from the audio speakers. The announcers were charging up and getting connected with the runners waiting to unleash their power. The few minutes before start were the most exciting moment in any race. After a brief photo session by Weng and Dan, we were ready expecting the gun off moment.
At 6am sharp, the race was on. The crowd roared. Flashlights ignited the starting area. Slowly, we inched forward in a pack. I was desperately trying not to step on or be stepped on by anyone in the middle of the horde. At that moment, the song: “Who let the dogs out” was played. It was most amusing and appropriate for the occasion. After stepping on the Champion-chip mat, we began our marathon challenge.
Earn the Marathon Medal
There was a steady procession of runners moving up the trail like pack mules. Having experiences in running marathons, the first 5km was run slightly slower than normal pace. With thousands of runners, speeding was not easy. In this case, my running speed was more or less determined by the general running crowd. Whenever there was pocket of space, I would speed up a little.
The morning air was mild and still. With the humid weather, every pore in my body now gushed sweat. After 10km mark, I increased my speed by having longer stride and I continued with this style of running -- much like turbo-engine that required some time to warm-up.
Beyond 25km mark onwards, exhaustion set in and I began to feel a little tired. I was surprised that during the 30km training run three weeks ago, I was still very energetic at this mark.
Beyond 35km mark, the tiredness in my legs worsened. I just wanted to rest. Could it be the depletion of my muscle glycogen stores? So I used one method which I read long time ago – using arm movement to control the legs movement. When I swung my arms, my legs must follow the rhythm. Immediately, my speed increased that even overtook two runners. One of them showing concern and said in Mandarin: “Pal, go slow man”. Then he read out loud the quote printed at the back of my Adidas vest: Impossible is Nothing.
This technique worked for a few kilometres. But after that, my arms began to feel tire too. Then I used May Ching’s (another runner) motivation quotes: ”Go, Go, Go, Mr. Marathon man!” It sure helped a lot.
In this run, there was no knee pain; no muscle cramp. I believe the 500 km of training run would have conditioned the legs muscle. The only complain was legs getting tired. However, any of these three factors would slow down the pace.
When I saw the 39km marker, I was thrilled – two more kilometres to go. But when I saw the 40th marker, then only I realized that actually it was three more kilometres to go. See what long hours of jerking can do to the brain – could not even perform a simple arithmetic.
Three more kilometres to go, according to my calculation, my timing was bordering four hours, and I was trying hard to do another sub-4. But running sluggishly, I knew it was a difficult task. Nevertheless, I really tried to push harder. Immediately, I could feel the calf muscle giving me the cramp signal.
When I saw the Club President, Mr. Munning, standing there taking photos, that really gave me the boaster. I waved my hand and presented my best smile amidst the tiredness.
Beyond that point, it was just maintaining the slow speed of running: my breathing was shallow; I put my head down and kept ploughing on, putting each foot forward mechanically.
I was really excited when I reached the underpass. It was like discovering an oasis and it really was a welcome sight– I was nearing the finishing line. With the cheers of spectacles, it charged up my battery power and immediately, I felt much lively and I picked up speed again.
I was cautious running the last 200 meters as I do not want any surprises to happen. What mattered was making it to the finish line. Waiving my right hand at the crowd, I looked up at the official timing device – 4 hours 6 minutes. I felt a grand sense of accomplishment. Yeah, I made it despite a slip from my previous SIM 2004 timing.
Later, checking at the official results, it was 4 hours 4 minutes as I took extra two minutes to walk from the back portions of the pens to reach the computerised starting mat.
The Course
The entire course for Singapore marathon was flat. Seasoned marathon runners would say that there is not much challenge here. But for the Phuket Mountain Marathon ran by a few of the runners recently, only 5% was flat and that was another extreme.
Compare to 2004, the course changed slightly while maintaining the main structure. That was a welcome sign as changing the design of the route gave runners the freshness feeling.
Most of the time, we were running in parks full of grasses and trees. I like to run in this type of course as the air would be cleaner. I remembered that in 2004, there were breeze at the park. I could hear the dried leaves rustle in the breeze. Another good point was that the roads were completely closed to traffic. There was no vehicle speeding along side competing with the runners.
Before 10am, most of the roads were still under shade. I could not imagine for slow runners, they would be roasted in the hot sun.
Somehow, most of the Pacesetters runners were not able to run faster either. Many of the runners felt that the late start (at 6am instead of the usual 5am) and with the humid weather, that could easily tire the runners.
Mobile toilets were consistently located along the running route at fixed interval. Running around the park adjacent to the seashore, there were ample public toilets just next to the running route.
At around 30km mark, bananas and Power Gel were distributed to provide the much need energy. The funny thing about taking Power Gel was that the fingers would become sticky. I have to ensure my both hand are opened wide. Otherwise, the fingers would stick together.
Stay tuned for the followings:
Quotable Quotes – charge you up with wonderful message
Cheering Teams – like scarce commodity
Mat Salleh Runners – funny encounters; brave guy peeing in full view of runners.
Water stations – serve drinks in style
Kenyan Runners – Great runners
Pee Stop – exotic showers
10km Racers – Move on to become marathon runners
Whom I Saw – Sammy Cheng’s sister?
At the Finishing Area – hype of activities
Conclusion
By KC
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