My first international race for 2015 was none other than the Sundown Marathon in neighbouring Singapore. A popular night run (the organizers claim that it is the biggest night race in Asia), the Sundown was held at the popular F1 Pit building. Surrounding the building was a hive of activity - various sponsor tents, F&B stalls, floats, stage with live gigs, information signage and runners stretching out and warming up before the race generated an electrifying atmosphere.
After the sun set that day, the strong 26,000 participants were raring to go! This year there were four categories offered - 5km, (a new category this year to encourage more people to take up running as a healthy lifestyle) 10km, 21km and 42km. It was going to be an exciting night and the F1 Pit set ablaze by the fervent runners from near and far.
I participated in the 10km Men's Open category, which was flagged off at 10pm. Due to the high number of runners, we were flagged off in waves. I was in the fourth group (or "tribe" as the vivacious announcers referred us) that was flagged off around 10:12 p.m. That 12-minute wait felt like the longest wait in recent memory. Once I crossed the starting line, I quickly picked up pace to make up for lost time. I soon became the leader of the pack. I looked ahead and saw a huge number of runners ahead of me. Great! I love the feeling of passing other runners. Some of the runners in the earlier group I noticed had slowed down, a few even started walking. I checked my Garmin - it's not even 1km yet. Reminder to myself: don't start too fast and risk crashing out.
I weaved my way through the slower runners but there were just too many of them. Without a clear path ahead for me it was difficult to accelerate so I picked up my pace gradually and did what I read in the guide book: "On your right!" - I called out in a shaky, yet audible voice to the runners in front of me just before passing them. Some of them moved to their left as I closed in on them, but mostly they did not know what to do. I lost out of the number of runners I passed by 2km and but noted that there were two runners who passed me. So far so good.
Having participated in the Marina Run 2014, I was familiar with the Marina Bay Loop route. The terrain was mostly made up of pavements, pounding of which didn't give too much problem to my problem knee. I continued to catch up with the runners ahead of me and there was hardly any pain in my left knee even when I quickened my pace. As there were other runners coming in the opposite direction (those in the second loop), I risked running into them whenever I attempted to pass the runners in front of me. Try as I might, I inadvertently crossed the boundary to the opposite lane. Traffic cones were placed as reminder to runners to stay within the set boundaries. I also noticed there were volunteers who directed those of us who went off-course to get back in the dedicated path. I was forced to slow down because some runners were obstructing me and I had to wait until a space was available to overtake them. That may have affected my overall time.
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| Spectacular Singapore Flyer in the background |
The race markers were clear despite the fact that we were running in the night. The signage for turns were clearly displayed. As the race wore on, I settled into a comfortable pace of 5:30km/min. There were three hydration stations and all of them were all manned. Perhaps because there were well manned (and I felt I wasn't in the way of the runners behind me) I took longer breaks than I should have. At the third and final hydration station with 100 Plus on offer in addition to water, I was ready to pick up speed again. I quickened my pace from 8km onward. As soon as I crossed the Helix Bridge at 9km, with the finishing line in view and beckoning, I accelerated to it. Crossing the finish line felt incredibly good as I knew that I have accomplished my goal of the trip and was ready to go back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
Finishing time: 1:09:07
Nett time: 56:22
Participants in Category: 6811
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