'Twas darkest before the dawn: 2008 Laguna Phuket International Marathon

June 15, 2008

This was the first time I experienced running in the dark. I don't mean running at night, but in the absence of light.

Moonless and without a street lamp for hundred of meters, with just the double yellow road lines to guide me, it was quite a "novelty". All I could see was the shadowy figure of the runner ahead of me, only fleetingly so when he was illuminated by the weak rays from a bulb from a small attap house or the headlights of a passing car or motorbike. I couldn't see anyone behind me as well. So it was as good as a training run, all by myself. Only I haven't ever ran in almost pitch darkness.

Those were the stretches between 12 to 14k in the Laguna Phuket marathon about 30 minutes before 6 am. The Sundown marathon two weeks ago was well lit, in comparison. As it was only two weeks since the Sundown, I treated this as another LSD run. No target, no ambitious plans. The evening before, I drafted up my running plan. I planned to go out slower than before, noticing the spike in my pace after 3k at the Sundown, which could well have explained the poor timing.

The plan was to go out at a pace of 8 min per km for the first three km, and then 7:30 pace from 7 to 10 km. Then target 7:25 pace from 11 to 20 k, and then slowing down again to 8 before picking it up after 32k. Or not, depending on the situation.

More than 5,000 participants (including 1,500 from some 45 countries) were expected for 2008 Phuket marathon, now in its third year. The route took us past two small towns (Baan Don and Thalang) before turning off into 4012 before the main highway, that leads to Nai Yang Beach, close to the Phuket International airport. The route is described as relatively flat with a few rolling hills between 12 - 15, 23 - 27 and 37 - 29 km.

After dawn broke at 14k, I saw the first runner heading back towards Laguna, accompanied by a cyclist. Two other runners were about 200m behind the lead runner. That was the 24 km mark, and I thought to myself: "Wow! Those guys are fast! They shouldn't be in the unofficial start group!"

You see, the Phuket organizers had an unofficial start time one hour ahead, at 4 am, for slower runners. Slower runners defined as those expecting to complete between 5 to 7 hours. Needless to say, I turned up at 4 am, together with about 100 others for the unofficial start.

Amazingly, the three lead runners from the official start passed me at the 18 km mark, running tightly as a pack. "There go the top three finishers," I thought to myself. Boy were they fast. This was the only time that I could see the lead runners up close :) Needless to say, many other official starters passed me from then on, all the way to the end line.

Interestingly, there was an older Caucasian gentleman who passed me running with heavy footfalls and an unique running stance ... his arms were flying awkwardly, not anything like the classic running stance that we read about. But he was headed for a sub-4 finish.

The turnaround point (20k) was in the scenic Nai Yang National Marine Park. Then those hills again (23 to 27 km) before merging with the half marathon route. Took a photo of a Thai cemetery at the 21 km mark for the photo contest.

The photo contest was adopted on the prompting of eco-marathoner and former Guinness World Record holder Hajime Nishi, who promotes the "slow is beautiful" concept. He took part in over 541 marathons in 71 countries and had taken more than 50,000 pictures during his marathon runs. In any event, I didn't even submit my only photo!

At one point, I was wondering if it would rain as it did last year. The weather forecast was 60% thunderstorm. There were some dark clouds lingering in the distance. But the morning got progressively hotter. Clear blue skies and no sign of any clouds, let alone rain. Found relief through sponging (head, face and shoulders). The water stops were well stocked with gatorade and mineral water. The organizers also provided muscle cream, bananas and watermelons. But I gave that a miss as I felt strong all the way to 32k.

I was keeping an eye during the 30 to 33 km stretch to see whether I would once again be afflicted by leg cramps. But the wall came and went without incident, which was a pleasant surprise. After that, I was a little bloated from all my earlier hydration (note to myself: I must rework my overall hydration plan), and started pouring more water over me than into me.

Much of the route from 32 km onwards didn't seem familiar even though I went through the same route last year. Perhaps i was too internally focused last year. Although I recalled that there were two sets of rolling hills, I was not prepared for the hill at 37k which was like Boston's Heartbreak Hill to me! But traversed that I did, before recognizing familiar territory as we headed back toward Laguna.

At that point, I was weakening. Muscles were tightening especially from 36 km onwards. This was the time for "Mind over Body". "Just keep moving!" "Pick it up and keep the pace below 7:30" "One km at a time!" "Not the time to give up now!" "Pass just one more runner!"

At 38k, I took a time check. 4:45. I did some quick calculations and was motivated by the thought that I could end up below 5:15 even if I slowed to 8 pace. That thought spurred me on.

When passing Allamanda, a video cameraman sitting on the back of a bike appeared in front of me. Gotta look good, man! So I smiled, gave the thumbs-up and continued plodding on. We passed a walker and he immediately started running when he saw the video cameraman. Talk about instant motivation!



By the time we ran past the wedding chapel and into the canal village, we could hear the DJ and the crowd. I was hoping to see the boys who were signed up for the 2k kids run, and thought that perhaps I could finish the race with them. But the timing was not quite right, and I was running through the final stretch.

Time check as I crossed the finishing line: 5:08:09! A personal best (PB)!



As you may know, I didn't have a great race at the Sundown. This time round, I wasn't expecting a great race. Ironic how a great outcome could come about when I least expected it.

'Twas darkest before the dawn

Honor roll: Saucony PGT4 (orange)