Sundown marathon and women 10 km 2009

Images of the route flashed through my mind as I laid with the kids while waiting for MBH to finish the women 10 km run. Second year participating in the Sundown Marathon, and the new event was the women 10 km run. Earlier, MBH set off with a few thousand women at 8:30 pm to the sound of upbeat music. There was certainly excitement in the air.


How did the 10 km run go? MBH managed 1:32:44.32, which was a very good time. She took my advice to start slow and walk every km. After the turnaround at 5 km, she picked up the pace and overtook many. The coolness of the night helped. However, there were a few observations for improvement:

• Traffic was closed only up till 9 pm, so slower runners had cars to contend with.
  
• The water point was not at 3.8km mark, and runners had to turn around first.
  
• Sections of the path were narrow and crowded.
  

I thought the adidas visor was very nice and so was the finisher medal. And most importantly, I commend MBH for completing her second 10 km race in spite of sporadic training. :)

How did my run go? Actually a month ago, I had decided that I wasn't able to train for the triathlon and marathon at the same time. Why I registered for the SD is another story altogether, but coach was against the SD as it was only one week after Bintan. For the record, I am amazed at how folks can do consecutive races for 3 or 4 weeks! :) So my plan was to treat this as a long aerobic run, the last long run being Tokyo in March.

Started slow about 8:30 pace, and HR below 140. Met Ironman Dreamer (IMD) and Jodan and chatted with them. This year, we ran on Nicoll Drive most of the way instead of the narrow park connector. This was a good idea as the crowd had gone up this year. Later on, runners were diverted to the PCN.

pix courtesy of IMD

It got more humid as we went along. HR went above 140 after NSRCC, and I slowed to keep HR below 150. Pace dropped to closer to 9 min/km. U turn close to Fort Road, and I was surprised that there was no timing mat. Hhhmmm.

Crossing over the ECP brought us to the section with many traffic lights, but traffic police were there to facilitate. By then, many runners were starting to cramp up. I was still good and ambled along. Until the overhead bridge into Bedok and the narrow undulating path. It was about 25 km or so, and I could feel the tightness. Started brisk walking the rest of the way.

Some interesting observations with the walkers. Many were young runners, perhaps on their maiden marathon. Some sat to stretch their legs to relieve cramps. One elderly gentleman had an interesting routine. He would sit and rest a few minutes and then walked. Boy could he walk! Often overtaking me.

Groups would also sit around to wait for their friends to catch up, then run strong for a few km, and then sit and wait again. Nice approach. Then there were twosomes, friends and couples, who ran together all the way. Some couples were holding hands. Romantic stroll through the night, all 42 km of it! There was a couple and the husband was pushing the wife. Another couple - the girlfriend (wife?) was very patient with the guy when he had to stop to stretch. Clearly the lady was the better runner.

So was this how it is going to feel like for the run leg of a 70.3 or IM? Where it's more walking than running? Anyways, I realize that brisk walking also takes work, especially to keep the pace below 10 min/km. That's something to work on in future.

Dawn broke and to round up a long night, I decided to run the final km. It turned out to be longer than 1 km, as this year's finishing route took out the famous Changi Village bridge and we had to run a longer distance (it seemed!).

Some other observations: I am so impressed by the 84 km ultramarathoners. Before we flagged off, a few came back from their first 42 km. They appeared as if they just ran round the block. So effortless, consistent pace and all. Toward the end of the race, it was easy to tell who the ultras were. They were the ones who still ran strong. Even if they walked, it was easy to tell them apart from the rest of us! Hats off to them.

Congrats to my friends PK and HY for completing their first marathon!


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PS: For the first time, my hands were swollen mid way through the run. Not sure why, but the swelling went off later in the day.

Honor roll: Mizunon Rider 12