Singapore Half Marathon 2005 Race Report

After my debacle at the same event last year, I hope to do a better time this year (last year's time=2 hrs 16 minutes).

Day 1, Friday : The trip to Singapore
The bus from Klang left on time at 10.30 am. I SMSed Kenneth to inform him I was on the way as he had planned to bunk in with me on Saturday night.

The bus stopped at two places; Seremban and Johor Bharu for a total of 20 minutes. I should not complain about the 'delay' as the bus ticket was much cheaper (RM 35) than the VIP buses like Aeroline (Rm 80). I SMSed Jamie to check the time for the bib collection. For Friday, it was up to 10.00 pm so I decided to collect the bib on the same day.

At the Malaysia-Singapore causeway, the bus slowly crawled forward to the Malaysian immigration office amidst an awful traffic jam. I went through immigration swiftly and boarded the bus for the ride across the causeway. At the Singapore immigration, after inspecting my passport, the immigration officer also asked for my identity card.

I reached a place called Golden Mile Complex. After I got down from the bus, I was in a daze and had no idea where I was. There was Thai pop music blaring, people speaking Thai and sundry shops bearing intelligible Thai script. I wanted to buy a bus ticket for the trip home on 6 Dec. 2005. Not knowing where to go, I walked into the complex and noticed many foreign currency shops, money remittance shops, Thai supermarket, restaurants, food stalls and a few seedy looking karaoke cum bar joints. The place looked nothing like a typical sterile and hygenic Singapore shopping complex. It had a Malaysian feel with all the dirt and grime strewn on the floors and walls. Eventually I found a place to buy my bus ride home for SGD 27 (RM 60).

I boarded a taxi for the short 15 minutes trip to hotel. After check-in, I still had to wait in the lobby for the rooms to be cleaned By now, it was already 6.00 pm. I contacted Kenneth and we arranged to meet him and his friend at Suntec to collect the bibs.

After unpacking and taking a shower, I left the hotel at 7.20 pm. It was a 10 minutes walk from the hotel to Suntec. There was plenty of smartly dressed Singapore girls around but I was so eager to get collect my bibs that I did not pay much attention.

This year, the marathon expo was housed in a room instead of a open space. I lined up in a long queue and spotted Kenneth ahead. He grinned and waved, so I jumped the queue. Sorry to the guy and girl standing behind me who gave me a dirty look. He introduced me to his friend Ah Meng.

After we had collected the bibs, we moved on to the Sports and Fitness Expo. Although there were more exhibitors this year, most were hawking services and products of fringe interest to runners. The exhibitors that had relevant products were Adidas, Nike and a company with Powerbar products and Polar heart rate monitors. Unfortunately for Adidas and Nike their range of products and sizes displayed were limited. Nike especially deserved a slap on the wrist, when we asked about their prioes, they said the prices were the same as the retail outlets. What is the point of being there if they do not offer any discounts to the participants?

After wandering around the expo for 30 minutes, we lost interest and left Suntec to Orchard road for dinner and other activities. Here our interest was to do some people watching which we did so contentedly. Unfortunately, our plan to continue was disrupted when rain fell as we were about to go out from the MRT station after crossing to the opposite side of Orchard road . We waited for the rain to abate but gave up when it became heavier. It was time to go back to the hotel.

Day 2, Saturday : The night before the race
In the morning. I came across CW (Penguin) and family on the street when I came out to look for a place to eat breakfast. He pointed out a place to eat breakfast and that is where I went. After breakfast, I had to go to Pasta Mania to book seats for the Carbo loading dinner. The manager was surprised when I told her to book 27 seats from 6.30 pm onwards.

I spent the afternoon at Queensway with Kenneth the Navigator with his trusty PDA and a bus guide acting as the bus route geek. The place was full of shops selling all kinds of sport and outdoor equipment. We visited several shops oogling at shoes unlike the previous oogling session at Orchard road the night before. We bought 2 pairs of ASICS GT-2100 shoes.

It was almost 5.00 pm when we reached the hotel. Kenneth would be my room mate tonight. After a quick shower and change of clothes, I walked to Funan IT mall. Jamie and family was already there. A few minutes later, the other runners including those form Singapore showed up. I met DK for the first time - he will be running the 10 km race. Others who were at the "party" were Justin and Jean, Sim, Jason, Kevin and fiancee, Kelvin, Alex and many others whom I did not know.

After the dinner, Kenneth and I went to the Cold Storage supermarket to buy some things for tomorrow's breakfast.

Day 3, Sunday : Race Day
I woke up early because I wanted to watch the marathon start, to get a feel and the spirit of a marathon race. So I left the hotel alone and walked to the Padang (Field). I was not alone as I met Jessica near the traffic light. We walked together to the Padang.

Time was running short as it was almost 6.00 am (marathon start time) . I left Jessica who spotted her father who will be running his 2nd marathon. I rushed to the Marina and I got closer, the noise was deafening. I missed the initial start but there was still plenty of runners to watch.

It was now 6.10 am and I still had to stash my bag at the luggage storage area. Where is this place? I finally found it met Ah Meng and Jessica there too. As Ah Meng had lost his luggage tag, his bag was tied to my bag while Jess stashed her stuff inside Ah Meng' s bag.

That done, we walked back to the Marina for the half marathom race start at 6.30 am.

The first 10 km
I was feeling nervous during the first 1 km because of my bad experiences with fatigue at 12 km last year. I started tentatively but during the first 5 km, it was hard to judge my running pace as I ran on the right lane whereas the distance markers were on the left side of the road.

During the first 5 km, I still felt OK and was running at maybe slightly over 6 min. per km pace (60 min for 10 km). To pass the time away, I tried spot familiar faces among the marathon runners running on the opposite direction.

At the 10 km mark, I had run for 62 minutes. Not a bad pace I thought and I felt the pace was well within my limit. A 2 hrs 10 minute finish may be possible and maybe even 2 hrs 5 minutes if I can run a negative split for the next 11 km (63 minutes).

10 to 15 km
This is where it became tougher as the route was on roads without tree cover. It was blazing hot and at times I could feel a burning sensation on my face and arms from the sun's rays. When I reached a water station, I drank about 200 cc and splash the rest (300 cc) on my head and body. I did the same thing at two more water stations; drink some and splash some. I still managed to maintain my 6 min per km up to 15 km.

15 to 21 km
I crashed out of my running pace somewhere after 15 km mark. Fatigue caught up with me and I had to walk, then run, walk and so on. I was quite blur on what was happening really.

At some point, I could recognise a specific road from last year's run; I was only 2 km from the finish line, I mustered enough energy to start running again. I kept going and managed to sprint the last 100 m to the finish line.

Strangely enough, I didn't feel tired after I finishing the race. My legs were sore as usual but I did not have the familiar post race exhaustion feeling. I think the heat must have induced some sort of heat related fatigue.

Post Race
I had a horrible time trying to collect the bags. I stood in a queue for at least 20 minutes and near to the collection counter, I had to raise my bib number in the air. Even that didn't help much. Ah Meng volunteered to take over the task. For the next 30 minutes, he had to bear extreme discomfort.

Conclusion
After I returned to the hotel, Iwondered what I did wrong during the race. My official results are:
Chip time/Gun time: 2 hrs 16 min 05 sec/2 hrs 18 min. 51 seconds

Placing in half marathon category.
1073rd place with 2948 finishers behind. About 27% of finishers ahead.

Placing (male runners) in half marathon.
888th place with 1969 finishers behind. About 31% of finishers ahead

Among male Malaysian half marathoners finishers
60th place with 138 finishers behind. About 30% of finishers ahead.

As far as position is concerned I didn't do too badly (top 30% of finishers). I guess there were many others who fared worse and probably suffered more than me.

Frankly I am not sure if I will go the Singapore again next year. The hot and humid conditions with late starting times make it almost impossible to finish the race with a good timing or a feeling of satisfaction.