The last time i participated in this was when i was still serving in the army in 2001 when it was only known as the Army Half Marathon. Whuff...that's like a good 8 years and i could still do a sub 5min for each kilometer and i vaugely recalled my timing to be somewhere just over 90mins. Those were the days when i was still well under 60kg and could eat 3 big macs at one sitting.
The run on sunday was fantastic as this was the first event that KS, XL, A* & i all took part together. KS & i did the half marathon while KS & A* did the women 10K run. This was A*'s 3rd 10K event this year and i'm so proud of her. Don't think she ever done more than 30K in her last
3 years - what an achievement. And she has another 10k event this december to go!
KS and i arrived at the start line almost 20mins after the gun went off for our event. It was a packed packed packed run even for the half marathon. Throughout the first 12k or so i had to swerve in an out to overtake the back packers which was vey disruptive to reach my pacing.
During Desaru HIM earlier this month i did 21k in 2h28min, so i though without swim and bike i should easily do a sub 2hour run. So that was my goal that morning and this will be a gauge for me to know if i could do a sub 4hour 42k in december.
The first 10k took me around 57min which was well within my plan to hit sub 2hr. so i thought to myself "good pace and keep it up". I must say i was quite ill prepared on the nutrition part as i brough along 1 x gul gel for this run which i consumed at the 10k point. From 10-15km i was doing fine and the pacing was being maintained as planned. When i reach the 15km mark i hit the wall and i know i needed to get another boost of gul gel if i wanted to maintain the energy to go on. Unfortunately, i had to go on without the extra boost. So the rest of the 6km was purely mental and i kept asking myself to try not to slow down and along the way i decided to skip a couple of the aid stations to reduce my time loss.
Actually i was expecting some sort of fueling from the organiser but nothing was seen in the form of gels or fruits. It was only until the 18k mark then bananas were given out which i thought was abit too late into the run to have any positive effect, probably the energy from the bananas will kick in only after the 21k mark which makes no sense to consume in the first place. What a disappointment, really.
Nevertheless, i manages to clear the 20k mark at 2hr01min according to my timex and finally crossed the finishling line at 2hr07min. Well this was quite acceptable for me i though having done a close 6min/km pace, which coincidentally was the pace i have been training for the whole of this year for the run leg i my events.
Overall, aid stations were well dotted at every 2k which i thought was quite well done. The route is great and challenging especially on the Sheares bridge (where the run got its name). The support and entertainment planted enroute was great (thanks to the volunteers, great job). On the negative side, i felt the race was too crowded and made it tough for people who want to enjoy a good race. The lack of proper fueling was abit disappointing from my point of view, and the T-shirt provided looks really ugly this year. Honestly, i won't pay for this event again the next time round.
Event: Safra Singapore Bay Run (21km Run)
Date: 16st Aug 2009
Venue: Singapore
Bib No: 4731
Age Group: 21k men's open
Results: 2h 07min 05
Date: 16st Aug 2009
Venue: Singapore
Bib No: 4731
Age Group: 21k men's open
Results: 2h 07min 05
Position: 940/4676
Image copyrighted to wanzws's flickr album:
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