Shape Night Run 2015, 11 April

 The time is 8:25pm. Together with 6000 participants of the Shape Night Run 2015, I am waiting anxiously for any updates from the race director. The race was supposed to have been flagged off at 8pm. 

I arrived at Precinct 3 early on race day to visit the various booths set up by the sponsors.  It was a nice and sunny day, and the atmosphere merry. I noticed an overcast sky while taking snapshots of the pre-race activities and wished it would clear later. However, the weather took a turn for the worse around 7:10 p.m. Rain started pouring from the heavens with lightning and thunder, causing anxiety amongst  the attendees who ran helter-skelter for shelter.

 

From the Shape booth where I collected my Shape goodie bag, I quickly made a detour to the Colombia Asia medical tent for shelter.  I stayed there for about ten minutes and when the rain eased a little, I made a dash across to the Auditorium Sri Cempaka. Uncomfortable in wet socks and shoes, I sat myself down in the main hall of the building, removed my shoes and socks and hoped that the weather conditions would improve. Soon after, I fell into a strangely contented state of crowd watching. The various antics of fellow runners entertained me. First, there was the hopeful group whose members diligently did their stretches, ready to sprint from the starting line if they found out that the race would go on. And then there were some who were clearly daunted, as they lay on the floor wondering when they would be able to collect their finisher goodie bags, abandon the run and go home.  Others were engaged in inane chat in an effort to while away time while anxiously waiting for the official announcement from the organizer.

Shape Night Run in its 8th year

A man came up to me and offered his opinion. “Race is going to be called off.” I responded with a smile but could not hide a trace of disappointment on my face at his suggestion. Another lightning spread across the night sky and I knew deep down inside that he was probably right. But then, there wasn’t any official announcement, just yet.

A volunteer comes to the hall entrance to say that the race shall go on at 8:30pm subject to weather conditions; if the weather worsens or lightning persists, then the race would be canceled.  The rain is all but gone at this point but there’s definitely lightning in the sky. It’s still up in the air whether the race will go on.

Posing just before the rain

Rain, lightning, thunder…. Please ago away.

A crowd started gathering at the goodie bag station. 
Time:8:40pm 
Weather: Showers with intermittent lightning. Impression: It’s over… We can all go home! 

And then suddenly I heard music on the speakers and the reassuring voices of Ivan and Zher. They thanked the runners for their patience, commended them for their bravery, emphasized safety precautions and announced what most of us were desperate to hear - the race would go on! Yay! I quickly checked my bag and went along with the ecstatic crowd of runners to the corral. The crowd cheered as soon as the guest of honor completed her speech and flagged off the race around 8:50pm. It felt like we had already surmounted a hurdle by defying the elements by being out there running in the rain…

I sprinted from the start, reeling from the exhilaration of being given the chance to run in this race (It’s the 8^th Shape Run and my first time participating in it).  There were puddles of water everywhere on the course, some of which further soaked my already wet shoes.  I responded by running in small strides and a moderate pace. But to my surprise, my Garmin Forerunner 220 recorded 5:04 min/km at the end of the first km. I continued to gain momentum and was able to go sub-5 mins in the 2nd kilometer.

Knowing the route worked to my advantage this time (check out  Mens’ Health and Women’sHealth Night run) as I knew when to expect the inclines and the flat paths. Conquering the inclines was still tough but I didn’t stop like I did three weeks ago. In fact, the inclines are harder to conquer when you have water squishing from you shoes every time your foot lands on the ground.  I knew it was hard to maintain a good pace, but I noticed that I was not just getting passed by others on the inclines - I was also overtaking a few tired runners and was able to gradually move up to the next pack at the 4km incline..

I struggled at the 8k incline but I did not  consider slowing to a walk like I did before; instead, I used the other runners to motivate me. I ran side by side with a middle-aged man, who appeared to me an experienced runner. I checked my pace on the watch and noted that it had dropped to 7:00min/km at that point. After the 'U' turn, I quickly regained speed as it was downhill from there and only about 2km to the finish line. From the U turn onwards, I managed to pass some of the runners who earlier overtook me. 

I exhausted all my energy reserve to reach the finish line at a pace of 6:30min/km.  There was no display on the clock due to the late flag off time and I forgot to stop the stopwatch on my Garmin, until I reached the goodie bag collection booth.  I have  a good feeling that my finishing time was around 1:04 – definitely a time I am happy with.

I believe that I’m speaking on behalf of all the other runners that we take pride in completing that night race despite the unfavourable weather.

Thank you to the organizers for the great racing tech t-shirt which was a godsend in the rainy conditions. I actually enjoyed this run because of the rain! As my friend said in his SMS reply to my complaint about Mother Nature’s ways that evening - running in the rain is fun and refreshing.

Running in the rain was certainly fun and the closest thing to play for me and I can say that I had fun sprinting, jumping, galloping, splashing and dashing to the finish line. It was a great feeling of amazement and satisfaction - running with the elements, under the night skies.

While I look at the bright red spots on my underarms as a result of chafing, (there’s an increased risk of skin chafing when running in the rain), I am glad that that is the only painful reminder of the event.. The Shape Run 2015 was indeed a pleasurable one!

Time: 1:04:19

Rank: 158 out of 1206