I spent the eve of the marathon, sleeping in the afternoon; making up for the ‘lack of sleep’ at night. It’s my first marathon after all and the longest I have done was 20km.
As the mid-night approaches, I went around preparing for the event. Championchip was secured to my shoes. Race tag to my race belt. Singlet, tights and socks for the event was set aside nicely on the sofa. PowerGels was packed into the bag. Towel, fresh clothings and a deorderizer was thrown in as well. Alarm was set to go off at 3am.
It was 12:15am. “I have less than 3 hours of sleep”, I said to myself. One final glass of water. Time to take a nap.
Time flies. Before I knew it, I’m up. Breakfast was simple. A banana and a cup of strong tea. I packed another banana in to eat before the marathon begins.
Daphne was very supportive, woke up at 3:30am, and dropping me off at Marina Square. It was about 4:30am. She will be back later with the Alexis for the ‘Kids Dash’.
The cool air in the early morning still fills the air. As I walk towards the Esplanade area, I saw some teenagers, probably hanging out over the night and waiting for the first transport in the morning.
Walking across the ‘padang’, I saw volunteers being dispatched to their respective stations. I walked over to the ‘Team Monash’ tent, hoping to see if there are any early birds like myself (and deposit the bag there as well). Not a single soul. I am too early.
Rather than lugging the bag with me, I decided to deposit the bag at the official baggage deposit service instead. I have my banana and start stuffing the ‘gels’ into the back of my tights. Over at the baggage deposit counter, there was hardly any queue. Service was fast, and they wish me all the best for my run today.
Many has start gathering at the Cenotaph. I saw some of the pacers from the ‘CBDÂ Run’ there. Decided to head towards the ‘Tan Kim Seng fountain’ and meet up with members of SGRunners.
Time flies and before we knew it, its time to head towards the starting point.
The DJ was ‘pumping’ the runners up. Empty space at the starting line was soon filled and packed with runners. I position myself with the ‘Under 6 hours group’.
The horn went off, as I cross the Start Line, I reminded myself to stick to my pace and strategy. Mine was simple. I am keeping to a run-walk strategy. 4min run followed by a 1 min walk.
As I head towards Victor’s Bowl (5km) in Marina South area, the ‘elite runners’ are running pass us (10km), soon, the leaders from the ‘half-marathon’ is catching up with us as well.
I am hungry even before I hit the first U-turn. As I make the first U-turn, I decide to down a packet of PowerGel first. Crossing the 10km mark, a glance at my watch tells me 1hr 12min has went by. “Good, I am within the pace. 3 more (10k) to go”, I told myself.
The crowd is thinning out as I hit the 16km mark. Heading towards Fort Road (20km), I was wondering if I can see Daphne and Alexis making their way to ‘Kids Dash’. As luck would have it, I saw them in the car turning towards ECP as I cross the Fort Road junction. I tell myself, “Good, 20km. 2 more to go”. I down my second PowerGel.
Turning into East Coast Park, I reminded myself that this is my training ground. Pace yourself well. Going towards the 2nd U-turn, I can feel that my legs were getting tired. I change my run-walk splits to 3-2 (3 minutes run, 2minutes walk). Many people seems to be feeling the toll on their legs and are desperately looking for ‘deep heat’.
30km. “Yes, 1 more to go!”. SGRunners support table up ahead. By now, my legs were getting weaker. I switched to 2-3 (2minutes run, 3minutes walk). I told myself to stick to this rhythm. Concentrating on my breathing momentum (in 1-2-3, out 1-2-3) and keeping a close watch on the running rhythm, my strategy at this stage is simple. Never ever walk more than 3 minutes.
By now, the legs were tired. The run-walk strategy is important and keeping to the rhythm is important. The rhythm is there to keep the mind occupied. Never let the mind off the run. It started to rain. A blessing, I told myself. I continue with this pace and soon hit Kallang Stadium (35km). Running from behind me, one guy was shouting to the rest of us, “7 more to go. What is 7 when you have already run 30?”.
I look at the watch, around 5hrs, and determined that I have a chance to go under 6 if I continue with this strategy. I am still doing good.
Hitting Kallang Road, I managed to have another banana to fill my empty stomach. This is probably the only stretch where the traffic is built up and curious eyes was peering through the comfort of their cars looking at us.
Running into Promenade, there is a slight slope ahead. I stick to my pace, and decided that I want to use the toilet there as my last toilet break. The toilet break is followed by a 3minute walk break. I am now at 39km, just 3 more to go. It is like a 2.4km run.
I change my running split to 3-2 again. A guy from behind was counting numbers as he passes me. Took me some time to figure out that he was counting the number of people he passed going towards the Finishing line.
At 40km mark, no more walking breaks. Whatever it is, no matter how tired the legs feels, or what the minds will say, I am not going to lose the rhythm. From here onwards, I am totally focused on my running rhythm ( breathe in 1-2-3, breathe out 1-2-3).
I know I need to push a bit as I see Esplanade ahead. Timing will be close to 6hrs. I still have a chance. I pick up the pace. Supporters was cheering as I went by Esplanade. “400m more”, someone shouted. From behind, someone was sprinting and screaming as he entered the ‘tunnel’.
Not to be distracted by the ‘scream’, I hold my pace. Out of the tunnel, I hit the road. “NOW!”, I said to myself. My pace pick up into a sprint. As I make the turn, I can hear people cheering (is it for my sprint? I don’t know). I saw members from Team Monash in the distance, give them a ‘High 5′, and off I go. Sprinting the last 100m.
As I crossed the Finish line, I pumped my hand in the air, stop my watch and noticed I just beat 6hrs by 2 seconds. The ‘gun time’ says I am at ’6min 2sec’. “So, did I make it under 6?”, I asked myself. No time to ponder.
I have completed my first marathon. And that is the primary objective.