Sundown Marathon 2008 @ Singapore

Time for another update. Had been slacking in updating the site. I guess by now most of you who are reading this blog knew that I had quit my current job and moving to Kuala Lumpur for a new job. I hope I had made the right decision. Haven't been away from my family..the longest was 3 weeks business trip to US. Not that far from Penang but I foresee things will be different. (Sounded like a spoilt kid at home) I will definitely miss everyone in Penang- family , loved ones, friends and colleagues (both in Penang and US) .

Friday 30th May'08 was my last day in office. Had about 16 days off before I start my new job. I already had my activities/ days off planned before I accepted my job. Thus the 16 days are mostly already been occupied with activities. On Friday itself, Chin and myself flew down to Singapore for Sundown Marathon on 1st June 08. We bunked into a hostel dorm (Fern Loft) on the day we arrived before moving to the Changi Village Hotel on Saturday. The run starts only at 12am ( Sunday ). The hostel was indeed clean and comfortable. On Saturday morning, we went down to around Raffles area to collect our race packs. The owner at Fern Loft was nice enough to let us leave our baggages at the hostel.

After collecting the race packs we decided to bump around in the town a little since we couldn't check into Changi Village Hotel before 2pm and wanted to have lunch around that area before checking in the hotel in Changi as we are unfamiliar of the food they have around the hotel. We decided to have our lunch at Spageddies ( to fulfill our carb load session :) as well ) . We ordered 2 types of spaghetti -Spaghetti Sauteed Mushrooms & and Spaghetti Meatballs.

LOCATION

SPAGEDDIES
Marina Square No. 6 Raffles Blvd#02-138 F&G
Marina Square(Center Stage) Singapore 039594

Tel: 6337 9156/7Fax: 6336 2176

snuffles for lunch...WOPPS ...NOT

After lunch, we started to head back to Fern Loft for our stored baggages. We took the MRT to Bedok and then boarded a bus to the hostel. Chin and me felt a bit tired by then, I know I was nervous for the run while and Chin legs started to ache a little, we took the Taxi instead from Fern Loft to Changi Village Hotel. Kenneth was already there when we arrived. Checked into the hotel and started to go to bed at 3pm! We wanted to asssure that we had enough sleep before the run at 12am. Was hard for me to fall asleep at the beginning but guess after a while, I went into snoring mode! WOPPSS.... Kevin joined us at the hotel later. Ate our dinner at 7pm and bump around in the hotel room. Fell asleep again and woke up around 10pm. Was so lazy to wake up for the run. Was basically dragging myself off the bed to changed and get ready. Bah! Same went for the rest of them - Chin, Kenneth and Kevin..

Jocelyn and her friends dropped by around 10pm -ish after their team relay event ( 10.5km x 4 ) . They all looked fresh. We were hoping we will still able to look fresh after our run. All of us were envy! We left around 11pm and headed to the starting point which was a 5 mins walk. Jocelyn and friends board the bus and we head over to the starting point. I was dead nervous by then... I decided to wear my Polar watch instead of my Garmin and only to realise my foot pod died! F***. Chin was wearing the Garmin instead. She offered to swap. We swapped the watch but then being the fickle minded person I swapped back with her and decided to follow her pace which is more constant. The run flagged of around 12.05am. The men and women Full Marathon events were flagged of at the same time. The Ultra Marathon events (84km) were flagged off around 8.30pm. The starting was jam packed. It took a while to tear away from the big group. As I hit the first water stop at 5km, I got irritated as the water was not prepared on the table. The volunteer was just pouring them into the cups as the runners approached. *Sigh* Well its not a big deal anyway..but somehow I just got irritated. I guessed I get easily annoyed during runs - am really a difficult person to handle pre and post run ...BLUEK! And the victim that got to deal with me obviously would be my running partner- SORRY CHIN! I had totally no idea of the route that will be used. As I run, I found the route to be amuzing - running passed Changi Airport, HDB flats, pedestrians, reservoirs and most interesting ( or perhaps the WORST) going over 4 overhead bridges!!! The overhead bridges nearly killed my knees especially the one which only had steps. Chin and myself took 5:05 to complete the 42km. Way off our targeted time. Kenneth and Kevin better off their marathon time. CONGRATS Kevin and Kenneth!!

Chin and Me with our finishing medal

I guessed it was the route that put us down. Hit the wall around 30km. I was suprised to see Chin boosted her energy around 36km. She started to pick up her pace and ran fast. EXTREMELY fast! You couldn't imagine that she was near to exhaustion and feeling delirious earlier on at around 28km. I was happy when I saw the 40km sign but the remaining 2km seems to be so far away not to mention when they said 400m to ending, it seems to take FOREVER ~! We ended our run around 5:05am. My legs were so WEAK as soon as I hit the finishing line, they turned so numb that I could barely feel them. I PUKE! (not immediately though) I could still taste my Subway sandwich which I had for dinner.. YUCKS! Luckily it was just liquid coming out...BAH! Collected our finishing T-shirt and medal. Rested a while before heading back to the hotel. Took us about 15 mins to reach our hotel. I was semi crawling back. If anyone was to poke me that time I think I might just collapse...I told myself that I will never run a marathon again...but now as I'm typing this blog, I do hope to run a marathon again...and hope to qualify for Boston Marathon one day...HAHHAHAHA... ( DREAMING ) . As soon as I hit the hotel, Chin and myself take turn to shower and then jump into the cozy hotel bed...Kenneth came back to the hotel around 6am. Poor dude...he was totally drenched from the rain. He said the rain came pouring as soon as he arrived at the finishing line. Perhaps it was showers of blessing...*grin*. Kevin came back bout an hour later, socking wet as well. All in all it was a great experience. Might not be doing it again but if they changed the location next year...I might want to do a night run again :).

Route and gradient mapped out from the garmin watch