2H'2013 registered races

For 2H 2013... 2 FM, 3 HM to go back home..

13 Jul - ARR Summer Series#4 5k run (Kiwania Park)
1  Sep - River Jungle Marathon 42km (registered)
14 Sep - SP Half Marathon (registered)
13 Oct - Penang Run #3 21km (registered)
17 Nov - PBIM 2013 (registered)
12 Jan 2014 - Penang Run Series #4 21km (registered)

New Year's Run (2013) - Kulim Half Marathon

Distance : 20.66km | Time : 2:05 | Pace : 6:03mins/km

Condition : near perfect weather | Route : flat and hilly

Satisfaction level : 3/5

Kulim Half-Marathon, an inaugural race. My opening act for 2013. I didn’t have high expectation for the run since it is very low key, and the advertisement only came out 1.5 months before the run itself. And there wasn’t much info about the logistics, the aid station etc. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t let go a chance to run at Kulim, a place I call my 2nd home, what’s more it will be a New Year’s Run.. I decided to give it a chance and hope it doesn‘t turn out like the SP HM.

It was a new year, and although I am in the midst of my preparation for the AZ RnR, I didn’t think and plan too much about this run. The race was supposed to start at 7am, so I left home around 5.30am. Smooth traffic, but raining all the way. Stadium Keladi was an easy spot. As soon as I arrived, I spotted a few familiar faces in Ling Teoh, Qamarrul, Ramlan, Hafiz, Alex Cheah, Oon, etc..  Not bad. We were told to wear their tee-shirt, else will be disqualified. I reluctantly adhered to it as I also want to avoid getting too wet as the slight drizzle was still on at that time.

As the time approaches 7am, there was only a small group of runners. Really small, the smallest I have ever seen. There were 12 female runners and probably 50-60 male runners. The sky was still dark (due to the cloudy weather) when the race was flagged off at 7.10am. We ran through the Kelang Lama area via a small road, then into the MPKK and Full Wealth, exited at Petronas into the sekolah kebangsaan. I guess it was an orientation day as the traffic was pretty heavy at that time with many motorcycles and school-going kids, not to mention the lorries. That was probably the worst moments, and dangerous throughout the run. We then entered the University KL, passed by Infineon and entered into the back of First Solar. The route took us through the small industries area of Kulim Tech Park before going back to Stadium Keladi.

The time taken was 2:05 (split 1st half @ 5:44, 2nd half @ 6:22). I reckoned I would have done a 2:09 or 2:10 if it’s a 21.1km race. The hilight ? Seeing James Lee at the finishing and snapped the pic below. So awesome to have a friend to come and support ! 

Overall, happy with the run but the hilly route is still a kill-joy for me ! Must train harder.. AZ trial – here I come !!

+ Nice scenic route

+ Near perfect weather (no sun, cold breeze)

+ Sufficient water station (4 stations, good spread)

+ Good traffic control by Rela/police

I must applaud the great effort by the organizer in planning out this local run on a shoe-string. Medal was originally meant for the top 20, but the organizer decided to give out all excess medals and certs to all participants. Alas, I have gone home by then.. Too bad :(  Always the next race to get my first medal, and that will be AZ RnR !!

Last 200m. Pic courtesy of James Lee

Desert Classic - Supposedly to be my first race in the States

Itching for some runs when I am in the States come 1H of 2013's assignment, i have decided to sign up for the first race. Desert Classic, 2 Feb 2013. So here I come.. 5th full marathon, in a totally different weather, different country, different route... Fingers crossed.. and the training starts now !!

* Update 12/1 - Changed to a half-marathon to avoid the long day since it's a 1.5 hr trip for the run. Decided to run a full @ PF Chang's Arizona Rock & Rock instead, my 5th.



At Surprise, 1hr+ from Chandler

one long out and back route

Registration Confirmation

Elevation Map

SP Half Marathon - a sub-2 hours but not a smooth race

Sungai Petani Half-Marathon. This is the 2^nd 21km that came 6 days right after my Larian Hijau 21km last Sunday. I have never run such long distance so close to one another, coupled with the 8km Eco Run in between.. That makes it 3 runs within 6 days.. SP HM is the inaugural event, organized by a national runner, Ganesan, as stated. It’s also the first time SP has a race of that nature, I was told. The starting point was Dataran Zero (Ground Zero), Jam Besar SP. I am not familiar at all with SP and it did not help when multiple request to the SP Half-Marathon facebook page did not yield any result. Many were asking about the nearby landmarks, and no response too. And seriously, that is bordering on being rude (issue #1).

I car-pooled with WeeLeong and KeeMeng to SP on Saturday morning. The original start-time for the HM was 6am, then changed to 6.45am a few days before the race, announced via facebook. I know this did not go down well with many runners who are not willing to run at such late in the morning and running in the morning sun. This is the first time I have seen the starting time changed so late into the game and not officially announced (issue #2).  Met many running friends in SP.. besides the usual suspects of i-Run and Forward group, I met fellow colleague JinXiang, Gus Ghani who’s in his 2^nd leg of race up north, Uncle Alex (the well-known volunteer photographer), Sean Wong, Kelvin, Rahim, Ramlan and many more.. Ah, yes, also the KL gang of Yim, Julie Wong, Max etc. Not forgetting Fadil and wife.. Saw them  when I was running back.

At 6.15am, we were told no need to lapor diri (though the small slip said need to “melapor diri” at 6.15am, and we were told to do so in facebook as well !). There were no mobile toilets, so the KFC toilet came in handy for peeing.. But pity the ladies/girls.. So long queue. And the single toilet for men’s ‘big business’ didn’t help either (issue #3).

Approaching 6.30am, we were then asked to get our wrist band, which turned out to be a ribbon (can be hung around the neck but I made into wrist band). Pity the poor lady who was swarmed with runners all eager to get hold of the ribbon. Very chaotic. Approaching 6.45am, it was apparent that the crowd (whether it’2 21km, 10km or others) were crowding at the starting point, and the speaker is so far away that’s it was only blaring towards the stage/VIP stand. I think the VIPs were late, and it turned out right as at about 6.50am, a group of so-called VIPs slowly walked towards the front of crowd and started taking photos. Duh !  The runners were already impatient with the delayed start and they had the cheek to be late and take photos some-more. All politicians are the same, no matter which divide they come from ! and without any warning, or even count-down, the gun went-off. Very chaotic indeed (issue #4) but what the heck. Start running !

This also marks the 3^rd time I run without my GPS watch and in that messy start-up, I forgot to switch on my Runkeeper in my iPhone. So I decided to do what I have done when I started running – enjoy run and not worried about pacing, run blind ! The route took us through the town and into the country side, going through the paddy field and vegetable farm, then into some of the housing areas. One thing I must commend is the route is really well-chosen, and the traffic control/management were handled very well by the police and staff. Alas, the main thing of a long-distance run, eg 21km, is the water station. That is one of the most important area, if not THE most important. We only have 3 water stations, at 7^th km, 12^th km and then 20^th km. Isn’t that crazy !? So, the main grudges did not stop here.. 1) Some were told that there will be 4 water stations when asked on Friday during bib collection. So what went wrong ?, 2) 2^nd station ran out of water, and for late comers, they were out of water from 7^th km to 20^th km !! This is insane and irresponsible of runner’s safety (issue #5)!  In this aspect, Larian Hijau was well planned out, with 4 stations placed at 5^th km, 10^th km, 14^th and 18^th km. Good thing I ran with my Gatorade (as I always train with it too), and by the time I hit the first station, I hv taken half of my Gatorade. Thank God !  As we turned into the paddy field area, we converged with the 3km and 5km runners, well.. they were all walking leisurely instead of running ! apa lah.. I actually encouraged them to run but they chose to walk slowly, some even playing smartphone as they walked along. Sigh..

This was not an enjoyable run for me, mainly because of:

1)      I was not well prepared.. Coming off the flu, I have zero training the last 1+ week. And doing 2 halves in a week is a first for me..

2)      Running in the morning is not my cup of tea. I always feel I wilted away when the sun comes out.. LOL ! I just cannot stand the heat and sunlight.. Period..

3)      I hit the wall early.. Hit the wall ! One must wonder.. It refers to mostly marathons. I had to stop at 5^th km to catch my breath. And throughout the run, I had to deploy the brisk walk-run fast strategy to keep me going. Obviously, it’s another mind over body challenge.

Overall, I am happy with the time but not the performance.. Not exactly a PB but doing a sub-2 in 2 both races within a week, I would not trade anything for that !

Distance : 20.8km

Time : 1:53:20

Pace : 5:26min/km

Placing : #21 in Men’s 40-49 category

Next race : Larian Merdeka on 9/9 @ Esplanade, and then Starwalk on 9/17..

Photo courtesy of Sean Wong

Near finishing line

Finishing Line, photo courtesy of Uncle Alex

With Choo Cheng Liang & Sam Khong

Starting Point @ Jam Besar Dataran Zero, Sungai Petani

With Kee Meng and Wee Leong

Larian Hijau - a nice run, boosted by Panadol !

This is my 2^nd 21km this year, the first being the Sundown Singapore (2:04) in May’12. I am into the 8^th week of my marathon training but the last 3 days, I was down with fever. Blame it on the long Raya holidays and the non-stop eating and enjoying ! I Popped in Panadol to keep the fever in check and I was still in 2 minds if I should start the Larian Hijau on Sunday. It is going to be hectic week ahead with the Larian Hijau on 8/26, followed by Eco Night Run 8km @ Botanical Garden on 8/30, then followed on with the SP Half marathon on 9/1. Then in between, there’s 2 days mini-MBA that I am starting off !

Defying my own body’s signal, I decided to run @ Larian Hijau. This is supposed to be the first ever 21km run in Penang in years as most races are shorter ones (8km, 10km) even with the longest being Malakoff 17km. The race started at 5am in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam. Waking up at 3.15am, got myself a light breakfast, I made my way to the destination. Since this is pretty much a local event, I could see many familiar faces. The event was organized by Andrew Loh, Alvin and with many volunteers, aptly themed “Green”.

This is also the first time I run a race without my GPS watch (I lost it, remember !?). I decided to use my watch’s stopwatch and bring along my iPhone to track the mileage. I was soon to find out that running ‘blind’ is actually not a bad thing as I won’t have to be limited by the pacing and keep checking if I am too fast or too slow. I just ran to my body’s capability, listen to the signals and just using the water stations as a measurement for my pace. I started strongly but after 6-7km or so, I started to feel the pressure rising and bodyheat started to rise. Oh No, I was telling myself.. I ain’t going to be hit the wall that early and DNF ! I decided to do the run fast-brisk walk strategy.. Run for 6-7mins, then brisk walk for 30s. I think I did that for 4-5 times, and it was useful for me to recover my strength. When I passed thru the 2^nd water station @ 10km, the clock showed 57:30mins. Not bad ! I was pleasantly surprise as I have no idea at all how was my pacing running in the dark. By then, I think the Panadol started to kick-in and I could feel the 2^nd wind coming. I picked up my pace, though I still deploy the run fast-brisk walk strategy for a few more times. I was running 5:15-5:20 pace in my last 2km and it felt good. Overall, I love the route, flat and a nice long stretch of road, although some stretches were really dark. No stray dogs, thank God !  I am glad I carried along my bike Cateye as a guide for motorists coming from behind, as well as fellow runners.The fact we passed through so many mosques during the run and it co-incide with the Solat Subuh makes it a run with the ‘kampong’ feelings.

Distance : 20.8km

Time : 1:54:31

Pace : 5:29’/km

Not exactly 21km, so not exactly a PB though I am very pleased for a sub-2 (I nearly gave up at mid-point), and a sub-5:30 pacing.

Now, as I write, I am recovering from my sore throat and fever. Had to take sick leave on Monday to recover.. Pay-back time ! :(

Hopefully I will be fit to run on Thursday night and Saturday morning.. The SP HM will start off at 7am, so it’ll be expected to be a hot run, not to my liking though !!



The MPSP Tower - Start and Finishing Point

Photo courtesy of Yu Quan. I think this was at 5-6km

Pic courtesy of Sean Wong - @ 20th km, before the McD

The medal - small but quite creative (can be used as key chain)

flip side of medal

Free Half Marathon !!

I was reading the Aug issue of RunnersWorld magazine when I came across this interesting race. It's called a FREE Half.. and it's absolutely free. Guess what, the next race coming up is at Phoenix 17 Feb 2013 !!  Well, if I am lucky, I might be still be there at Chandler at that time... and if I am luckier, I could get selected too ! So I signed up, and here it goes.. a confirmed receipt.. Fingers crossed.

Sundown - my 10th half marathon !

I completed my first ever Sundown Half Marathon @ Singapore..  5^th edition of the race and they are organizing it for the first time away from the Changi/East Coast area and had it around the City/Bay area. It was an excellent choice in terms of logistics, route and scenery ! The half and full started at 12.30midnite while the 10k was flagged off at 10.30pm. Total participants was 28k with 11k 10km, 9k half and 8k full marathon. Very impressive turn-out as it’s only a 5-year-old event ! This was gonna be my 10^th half marathon (assuming I take into consideration both the 26km Malakoff as half since they are >21k !) and my 3^rd race in Singapore (after SAFRA Sep’11 and SCMS Dec’11) in 8 months.. Well, I just love Singapore and its races, period.. although it gets very expensive !

Had my early dinner with Hizam at around 6pm @ Pastamania North Point. Took a plate of Linguine Carbonara as part of carbo loading (too little too early which I paid for it later on at the race !). We then went to the Nicol Highway area (starting point) as early as 8.30pm to kaypoh with the 10k run and also catching up with Chris who’s doing his first 21k after returning from his injury. Spent time wandering around the large field, watched the 2^nd part of movie “Tower Heist”, no less than 5 toilet visits and lots of hydration – the kiasu me keep draining down water (which I also paid dearly later on). In fact, we got a little bit of tired of waiting. I kept yawning away ! Mistake no 2 - Should have just stayed at home and catch more naps instead of wandering aimlessly !

After the 10k was flagged off, it’s time for the 21k and 42k to gather around the entrance area. In fact, from the time I went into the starting point until the 12.30am flag-off, I spent a total of 1hr 15mins just standing there and waiting. Damn. This is the most boring wait I have ever done in a race. My target is to do a sub-2 to match my PB (Taiping 1:58), if not, at least hit a 2:00. Hence I stayed close to the 2:00 pacer.  Good thing I did that too as I realized there was a 2^nd wave of runners waiting to be flagged off when I made the turn at around 1k later.

I made my customary mistake of running too fast too early. When will I ever learn !! The plan was to keep at 5:50 pace in the first 10k so that I can do a much better negative split later on.. a 5:40 will nicely get me a sub-2. After I started running, I could feel my bladder was near full. Damn ! I didn’t feel it when standing and waiting but as soon as I started running, I could feel it shaking. Bad timing. Though I was tempted to pee at the dark roadside/field, which I would have done had it been in Malaysia but this is Singapore… and I don’t want to get caught !  Had to hold on to it until I could find a mobile toilet at around 8^th km. Lost around 1min at the loo. Despite that, I hit 11km at 1 hr sharp. The best stretch was at Marina Bay Sands. The crowd were appreciative with a guy giving hi-5s to runners, nicely dressed ladies screaming enthusiastically (unfortunately not at me) at a Mat Salleh who was running top-naked in front. Pretty fast and I was confidently I could do the next 10k easily in 60mins, that’s 6min/km.

Distance : 11km
Time : 1:00 hour

Body : Good

Mood : Looking forward to a sub-2 finishing

I spoke too soon and as I started turning into the Barrage, I felt an emptiness in my stomach. I started to get hungry and tired. I could feel an empty tank and nearly hitting the wall. Very soon, I felt dizzy (pitam) and had to stop, walk, stop for about 2mins to stay balanced and not toppled over. By that time, I knew the sub-2 is over. All I need is to complete the race safely. Bad fueling strategy ! I was cursing myself – I should have grabbed that darn Subway sandwich on the way up and I regretted not doing so. I trudged onwards and the stretch along Barrage where the 21k and 42k started to split was pretty dark and uneven road surface. Nonetheless, it was pretty soon a run-walk-jog and I repeated this again and again throughout.

The weather was also unusually hot and humid and for the first time in so many runs, I pour water on my head and body at every water station !  I felt that I have to soak myself in water to keep me going. The final 8k or so were run along some parks and river. Pretty dark and uneventful compared to the first 10k. Soon, I was pacing myself and did around 6:30 and I should be hitting the ‘tape’ at around 2:05. 5k down and met a couple of Mat Salleh runners whom we gave each other an encouragement pat on the back whenever the person passes by. It’s the kind of booster we normally give to runners who are walking and as a sign to say “you are so lazy, run, don’t walk !’ 3k before the end, I saw a middle-aged Japanese runner collapsed by the roadside and 2 medic were frantically calling out his name. He was turning, so I knew he should be alright. Maybe over-exhausted. Man, as soon as I saw that incident, I stopped and started walking. Somehow, such scenario always give me the cringe and that ‘no matter what, I want to end up safely at the finishing point’ ! Some jogs later, 200m before the end, another Mat Salleh was on the side walk, fainted but at least he didn’t look like he had a heart-attack. I could not garner the strength and energy to do my customary last km sprint.. All I could was a slow run towards the finishing point.

Distance : 20.62km (not exactly 21km)

Time : 2:04:31 (6:02’/km pace)

Body : Blah.. empty fuel tank

Mood : Blah. Cursing myself why I did the basic mistake of bad fueling strategy and started off too soon.

Overall : Glad that I ended the race with my 2^nd best time, and more importantly no injuries, no heart-burnt, no muscle aches..

So, another Sunday ended, another race.. I now will look forward to my 2^nd Full Marathon in 2 weeks time (Jun 24^th) !

Note : Heavy downpour and thunderstorm struck around 45mins after I ended my race. Real freaking storm. Salute to the half-marathoners who ended the race slightly later (like Hizam who did his virgin HM) and all the full-marathoners. I thank my lucky stars that I decided to turn my Sundown to a half instead of a full. It could have been a DNF had I do the full !!  Chris completed his HM on the comeback but not too sure what’s the timing – that’s not important though.

   

 

Larian Hijau MPSP 2012 - another 21km coming up !!

Event : Larian Hijau MPSP / MPSP Green Run 2012

Date : 10 June 2012 (Sunday)
Venue : Start & End at Ibu Pejabat MPSP, Bandar Perda
Time : 5.30am – 12.00pm
Distance : Competitive Event – 21km & Fun Run – 3km
Event Objective:
- Promote healthy living through running activity.
- Cleaner, Greener, Healthier Penang.
- Showcase Bukit Mertajam as potential running location and potential for sport tourism

PJ Half Marathon (Oct 30, 2011) - a tough race indeed !!

PJ Half-Marathon... This must be one of the toughest race I hv ever run.. I have not been feeling well during the Deepavali Melaka home trip, and to top it off, I had a 'great' time enjoying the ikan bakar, nasi lemak, satay goreng etc at Umbai ! and I have been feverish during the trip up to KL. I decided to run since I am already at KL and also I have been short of training the last 1 week+ due to the incessant evening rain. So I popped 2 panadol and there I went !

The parking @ Stadium Petaling Jaya (used to be called Stadium Kelana Jaya) was easy and there were many policemen and volunteers helping out. The race started at 6.30am but by 7am, the sun is already up.. The race is along the highway side roads, more like motorcycle paths.. The first couple of km was OK except that at times, you need to run in between runners as at certain stretch, it's only 2.5 person's width !

The first 5km was OK and i did that in 5:12 pace.. in between 5-10km, there were some ascending run along the highway and I was keeping to the 5:39 split. trouble started when I was at 12/13th km when my knee problem started (the usual suspect - runners knee / patella pain). The pain was bearable and I continue running though I had to make a few stops/walks in between. However, once I made the U-turn at Subang Skypark, the pain became unbearable. I could not even walk properly ! So in between 14th-18thkm, I literally walked and limped. Even when I tried to do a slow jog, the excrutiating pain came right back.

Well, the direct sunlight and the exceptionally hot morning did not help. Imagine you have to walk and limped all the way along highway back to finishing point while facing the sunlight ! I nearly gave up at the point and wait for an ambulance to pick me back. But I guess I am made of better quality and decided to hold on. At the last 1.5km, I decided to jog slightly to the finishing line. The last 400-500km was really refreshing. As we close into the stadium, there are people who came and cheer us and the entrance into the stadium was very carnival-like with many photographers shooting the runners.

After some ice-pack at the medical tent, I was up and away. All in all, 20.76km, so not exactly 21.1km.. Took me 2:13:31, not exactly a respectable time but to think that I limped and walked for 4-5km, it is a consoldation that I still get my medal as the top 200 finisher in Men's Veteran category ! I finished #175 out of the field of 337 runners in Men's Veteran.

I must say while the route was not exactly great but it was a pretty much flat route and the drinks/sponging were well spreaded out every 4km. Pretty well organized event. Thumbs up to the organizers !

Pace:
1st 5km split - 5:12 mins/km
2nd 5km split - 5:39 mins/km
3rd 5km split - 6:25 mins/km
4th 5km split - 8:20 mins/km
5th split - 7:07 mins.km
Average pace : 6:26 min/km

So, that was my 7th Half-Marathon since Nov 2009 and my 9th 21k+ road race since Nov 2009

A PB - my first sub-2 for a half marathon !!!

L : The runnig tee (another Brooks for me !!) : R : Panorama Hotel where I stayed, just right next to the Clock Tower

L : The Finishing Point ; R : My Men's Junior Veteran category

Yahooooo !! I hit one of my 2011 targets - to run a sub-2 hours for a 21k and what best to do it @ Taiping Tourism Run !!! Well, it nearly didn't go on as planned.. It started pouring at 4am and slowed to a drizzle at around 5am then picked up again.. Race started at 6.15am and by the time we started the race, I was already drenched and soaked to the skin !!

After around 1+km run, I started to have a funny feeling in my stomach.. In fact, I had some diarrahoea the early morning itself.. Must be the curry mee I took the night before as part of carbo loading. One key learning - watch what you eat and don't simply eat !! I nearly gave up as I was disturbed by the heavy rain and weak stomach.. But I guess it was a mind over body challenge and I kept going. As the race went on, things got better. I like the stretch between 7k - 12k where there's a long stretch of straight flat road and there's where I got my pace back. The Lake Garden and town side is a bit hilly to my liking.

One good thing is this is the very first time in any race that I did not walk.. I ran throughout the race ! Legs were OK (although I lose 2 toenails on my right foot !) , and heart was willing.. So I kept going. The few pacers that ran around me also allowed me to keep a constant pace of around 5:40 throughout...

The icing on the cake was to have Chris (still in crutches)/Rox/Brenna cheering me at the finishing point.. Kinda cool actually :-) Of course that's the first time the Nielsons left the island !!
and Yes ! I got 58th position in my Men's Junior Veteran category :) Not bad for a rainy Sunday.. Now, I need to take a couple of days off and resume my PBIM training...

Summary:
Time : 1:58:25
Pace : 5:38 mins/km
Distance : 21.04km
Calories burned : 1692 cal

Split:
0km - 5km @ 27:18 mins @ 5:28 mins/km
5km - 10km @ 28:07 mins @ 5:37 mins/km
10km - 15km @ 28:13 mins @ 5:39 mins/km
Last km (16-21km) @ 28:42 mins @ 5:44 mins/km

Love the medals, nice shape too !

and that's me.. It's super ugly ! Hahahaaa.. Must be struggling hard in the last few meters towards finishing line !!! Photo taken courtesy of Tey Eng Tiong !

PJ Half Marathon is BACK !!!!

Wow ! Just saw the confirmation that PJ Half Marathon 2011 is back after a 3 years hiatus !! I am not going to miss this iconic race (PJ HM is the first half marathon race in Malaysai)

Date: 30 Oct 2011
Time: 6am
Venue: Stadium Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya

Can't wait for the on line registration ! So looks like NB 30k is buried and dead since all dates have been taken up for that month !!

http://www.myraceonline.com/

SCMS - Registered Half-Marathon !

Registered for SCMS (Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore) 2011, another new race for me ! If everything goes on well, this will be 2 weeks after first ever Full Marathon race @ PBIM.. So a HM is good enough :)

Registration ID: 34549095
Registration Date: 02/07/2011
Receipt Date: 02/07/2011
Issued By: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011
Event: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011 Half Marathon - 21.1km
Date/Time: Sunday, 04 December 2011

Half Marathon flag-off time : 6:30 am @ Sentosa

So they are expecting a new record turn-out - "70,000 Set to ‘Run for a Reason’ as Registration Opens for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011" ! Wow !!

Standard Chartered KL Marathon - My inaugural race (Half-Marathon) !

June 26th (Sunday) - Took part in my very first SCKLM which has attracted a total of 22,000 participants across all categories.. I had planned to run a FM but ended up with just a HM.. In fact, I have registered for both categories, kinda a freak accident as I forgot I have already booked a FM in Feb and then I ended booking a HM in March.. Anyway, with my flight in the afternoon, no way I can finish up the race, refresh, check out from hotel and hop on a bus to go to catch my flight back.. Too high risk and no time for me to recover. So HM it was !

The race kicked off at 6.15am but I was already up and exercising with the FM folks as early as 4am ! The FM was flagged off at 5am. Kinda bored while waiting for another 1 hr 15 mins.. I will not go to starting line-up so early if my race is not ready.

Distance : 21.46km

Timing : 2:18:31 (chip time), 2:19:28 (gun time) ==> a PB !

Pace : 6:45mins/km

I did 26mins for first 5km, then 32mins for 2nd 5km but by 10th km, I was already tired out.. But the urge to register a PB pushed me on.. At 17th km, I picked up my pace and the last 3km was pretty tourturing as the sun was out and pretty hot at that time.. In fact, the home stretch of last 500m was a real challenge as it was the converging point of all categories and with 5km and 10km participants 'walking' in, you have to zig-zag and weave in between the people to run..

Must say this is among the best organized, if not the best race I have run in.. With water + 100 Plus drinks + ice packs almost every 4km along the route, and with mobile toilets strategically positioned and many marshalls and volunteers cheering people on, what can one complain about the race !! Keep up the great work Standard Chartered !

Pretty satisfied with my race though I was hoping to do a 2:15 and I was pacing the pacer for some distances before I fizzled out at the 16th km !! :( Anyway, always a next race to better my PB and look forward to !

I will surely be back for the race next SCKLM 2012... But wonders if it'll be HM or FM !

Up next - Penang Veteran 10km run @ PISA !

My post-race meal.. lots of nasi lemak from the hotel (Swiss Inn @ Petaling Street) !!

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore - Registration starts June 23rd, 2011

Registration starts Jun 23rd. Will sign up for 21km, another one of my inaugural run !

2010 Race Route. Half-Marathon starts @ Sentosa Island, 6.30 am and ends @ St. Andrew's Road (the Padang)