Disclaimer: In return for a sponsored race slot by JustRunLah!, here is my review of the race.

As with my other reviews, I do attempt to provide an objective account of my race experience, focusing on various aspects which you my look out for as I’ve deliberately written in italics 🙂

Race Category
This year’s edition of the Sundown Marathon featured multiple distances – though this time with the addition of a 5km non-competitive race to the existing competitive 10km, Half Marathon and Full Marathon distances.

As I am not particularly comfortable with running at night (I prefer daylight visibility and I love my early bedtimes!), I opted to participate in the 10km category.

Pre-Race Matters
Race Entry Pack Collection was held from the 20-22 May from 10am-8pm at the Suntec Convention Halls. Late Collection was also made available, particularly for overseas participants, at the event site itself on the day of the event. There were complaints of lengthy queues at the late collection. However, when I dropped by around 8.15pm, the queues for collection seemed non-existent.

The Race Precinct
Flag-off for my category (10km) was at 10.00pm. Baggage deposit was available without much of a queue (I deposited my baggage just before 9.20pm). As the F1 pit building was situated right beside the Singapore Flyer, I conveniently made use of their (air-conditioned!) restrooms instead of portable restrooms provided by the organisers. Here’s the layout of the race precinct.

The Race
Flag off, according to my watch, was at 10.01pm. The initial portion of route was adequately wide (bearing in mind that I had positioned myself quite near to the front), hence I encountered minimal obstruction. The 10km race route was actually pretty loopy. A few notable challenges included the darkness (expectedly) and the presence of a flight of stairs which runners had to descend just before the 4km mark. Other than that however, the route was largely flat with the exception of some bridges.

A total of 3 hydration stations were available across the 10km route, with the latter two serving both chilled 100 Plus and plain water. Distance markers were present throughout the route and though I don’t seem to recall many direction signs, there were volunteers dispersed across the route to guide runners accordingly.

What I really did like was the accuracy of the race distance. Measured on my Garmin FR15, the distance came about to be exactly 10.0km! Have a look below at my route data from Strava. This contrasts to one of the previous 10km races I had participated in, The Performance Series Race 1, which had a drastically inaccurate race distance for its 10km category.

Post-Race
Thereafter came the Finisher’s Medal. And now if I may mention one of my favourite reasons for participating in the 10km race instead of the other competitive categories – the ability to catch public transport home!:)

That’s all for me for this review. If you wish, you may check out my personal blog here 😀

Cover photo credit: Sundown Marathon’s Webpage.

Today’s TRI-Factor Bike race marks the 2^nd leg of the TRI-Factor Series. One could choose from categories ranging from 5km to 56km and the organisers also added new categories of the Cycle Run Challenge (bike-run-bike) this year.

It was the first time that I am participating in the 56km category and it was also the longest distance I have ever clocked. Naturally, I was anxious as I had never cycled this distance in my life and did not train specifically for this race (yikes, again!). But I made sure to do what participants usually do to prep before a race – i.e. read all the rules and regulations, check out the route (including how to get there), tag my bike (this unfortunately took a long time as I had mini-brakes on my handle bars and the tag had to be hung there), eat and hydrate wisely, and rest early.

This morning, I awoke at 4am and made my way down to the event site, which was somewhere along Republic Avenue and behind the Nicoll Highway MRT. It was still very dark and it took me some time to figure out directions and where the start point was. Despite the cool weather, I was perspiring! It was a pleasant surprise to be offered Lucozade (by a guy carrying a mobile kit) to quench my thirst.

The race flagged off with all the 56km riders first, and my wave – the Women’s Open – was the 5^th group to be flagged off at about 5.25am.  I looked around me and realised that there were very few female cyclists in my category, where are all the women? Anyway, I smiled at the two girls next to me and we wished each other well before taking off.

To make up the distance of 56km, we had to do 8 loops of 7km each. The first U-turn point was less than 1km away and I think the organisers purposely put it there so one does not speed up too much at the start. 😛 There were 4 U-turn points per loop so I did feel a little dizzy having to do a total of 32 U-turns after 8 loops! And, if I did not have my odometer clipped on, I probably would have lost count on the number of loops I had completed. The route was not as flat as compared to racing at East Coast Park as Nicoll Highway is slightly elevated in the centre and the Crawford road U-turn point is on the top of a slope. While this is a common running route, runners usually do not have to do 8 loops of it. For me, slopes are a killer. Thus, to keep going, the key for me was to conserve energy and not go all out in the first few loops.

I am very glad to have completed my first 56km ride but the best part for me at the end was the free bike wash provided by Karcher so I needn’t clean my bike again when home 🙂

Thank you my team mates for a fun day out together! We all sure enjoy ourselves today! ?

Rey was supposed to be running with us but due to an injury he couldn’t run and Hao Han have to take over. Luckily substitution of team members is allowed and as long as the bibs runs in sequence there will not be any problem. Good that the organisers considered that Sundown Marathon is just over, a lot of runners may not have recovered yet. Although Rey couldn’t run, we were hoping that he can come and serve us water and and food or help us massages our legs while we wait for the next turn to run again ? Just kidding, we all wishes him a speedy recovery! ?

Our team name is called the ‘Chin Chye Runners’ because we were like anything when we are discussing about what team name we should come up with ? We are running the mixed category with 6 runners running 100km relay. A total of 31 loops at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park with the first runner running 6 loops while the rest run 5 loops.

I had still not yet recoverd from the marathon last week and unfortunately I kept coughing since Thursday. Have not been running since Sundown marathon because my left leg is painful. I believe is because I did not wear compression for Sundown marathon so must believe compression wear really helps! Last year I wore compression stockings to run a 42km and I’m very fine and can even run the next day but now my left knee and the bottom of my left foot hurts so much that I walked tip toeing on my left foot for the past few days. This few days I just massages my legs and wear compression for recovery.

This morning, I woke up with my leg still my any better and throat really pain with every single cough. But still I look forward to the relay run. I have never participated in any sports day running events during my school days period so since weeks ago, I’ve been quite looking forward to this event. I just aim to finish the run with no extra injury and don’t want a strain to become a permanent injury. Actually is it a strain or a muscle-ache I also do not know ? I consult a doctor on Friday for my cough and at the same time asked about my leg and the docor says: Oh your leg like this is very normal after a marathon lah. For the pain take Panadol can already ? So I am quite relief because my leg is just fine! ?

The weather was good today during our entire run. Luckily no sun at all to roast us! The few drops of rain is really great! I’m thankful to it! Although I am very tempted to walk but seriously saw no runners with bibs on is walking! And I am very prideful to say I did not walk at all ? For the first few loops, the route for the run is not indicated properly and the volunteers are not ready yet so some runners ran more at some part and some runners ran less at some parts of the park ? Running with ‘bai ka’ and cough is no joke but both my ‘bai ka’ and cough is not ‘life threatening’ that I couldn’t run so I just keeps on motivating myself and telling myself ending soon and will be my turn to rest ??

During our turns to rest we just talk, take plenty of photos, play card games and socialise around making new friends. And of course eat! There is too much food from the event organisers. Bee Hoon, sandwiches, fruits, noodles, cakes, muffins, curry puff! Am not a picky eater so I’m fine with the food ?? And thank you Kelvin for the snacks! Thank you Chiu Ping for the picnic mats and thank you Thomas for picking me up! And thank you Eugene for the card games! Thank you for the Photographers who help us take precious photos! Thank you event organiser for the event! Seems like I got no contribution ? Oops! ?

There is so little teams participating in some category that for example everyone in that category can get podium because only got 3 teams or may even be the only team that participate in that category ? But think that the medal should not be a general medal for both the 50km and 100km category ? If this year I had signed up with a team of 6 women running the 100km relay, we will get first! Because got no other competitors, but getting first this way won’t feel any glory or pride right ?

So in the end there were only 4 mixed teams, 4 men and 2 women in a team that run the 100km relay. By right they were 5 teams. One team went MIA, don’t know what happened. We came in 4th. We were late by about 20 minutes than the team that came in 3rd. It’s way much nicer to say we came in 4th position than we came in last right? ? It’s quite a pity because we run so hard but still missed the 3rd team by 20 minutes which is quite a lot. But because one team ran with 5 men and 1 women, basically they should not qualify for podium right? But we just let it be because they are quite senior in age, they run fast and hard and we are happy for them too ? It is not about winning. Sometimes in this little things we learnt a lot and can relate to other things in life. Be happy and be happy for others ? Be ‘Chin Chye’ like our team name ?

Next running event: Batman Vs Superman Run 26.06.2016 ?

[Friendship bond by running]

It is really my honour to have met these groups of friends through running and I’m so lucky and blessed to have them as friends and some who I feel are like elder brothers and sisters ? I learnt a lot from them, not only about running but things in life too. The amazing part is that before running brought us together we are totally strangers but we are now friends who jokes around, chats about everything else and all sorts of nonsense too ?

So just 3 days after completing the Full Marathon at OSIM Sundown, I was ‘scheduled’ to run the PCCW (Pacific Century CyberWorks) Global Charity Run.  This is a 5 km race, a unique one as it is one of those rare few events that are held on a weekday.  I joined last year’s as I thought it was a great idea to contribute back to charity through my new found passion.

This year is the third in the series, but my second since I started running seriously.  The venue is at Silver Leaf, Gardens by the Bay, as was last year’s.

PCCW Global, the sponsor for this event, is an international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider.   $50,000 was raised and the cheque handed over to the Singapore Cancer Society during the start of the race event in a simple ceremony.  The Singapore Cancer Society is a community-based voluntary welfare organization dedicated to minimizing the impact of cancer through public education, screening, patient services, financial assistance, research and advocacy.

With a limp yesterday, I was carrying some cartons for delivery as a medley of jobs that I took on recently, I was wondering if I could actually run on race day.   But a runner’s honor must be kept and I got the bib and singlet ready in the evening.  (Race Entry Pack collection had been a breeze held at Keypower Sports Outlet at Velocity.  Though the free gifts were less than the usual, it was after all for charity and very much value for money already.)

In the morning, my son also had to make a small sacrifice to wake up extra early so that I have adequate time to send him before leaving for my race.  I put on a plaster on one of the big fat blister that appeared at the bottom of one of my toes.  I was wondering to prick it so that I could run actually.  Decided not to, also after being advised by friend SY.  And I put on the Injinji socks to try out for the race too.  I didn’t dare to try something too different for the marathon itself but after the race, I think I should have worn them for Sundown.  The blisters would have been avoided.

The socks were very comfortable and for some miraculous reasons, or just my prayers answered, I didn’t feel any pain for the duration of the race.  I ran in the Newton shoes.  I was able to run and not walk or limp.   It was still, a short course, 5 km.  There was one hydration point but as it was a simple looping route, you could easily just grab a drink again if you need.

I finished in about 33 minutes according to the big timer at the finishing point, even stopping to snap one picture, carrying the phone in my hand.  I had thought I might have to walk and taking pictures would be a better utilization of the extra time.  As it was, I enjoyed the race and then quickly collected the medal and Tee, took some pictures and left for home as some assignments awaited me.  It was also a bonus to run today as it is Global Running Day.  Just too bad to miss my friend SY who also ran with an injury at the race.  I take a much needed rest now and will run my favorite these days, the 10 km towards end of the month.

The Sundown Marathon is Singapore’s first night race. With its humble beginnings back in 2008, starting with only 6000 participants, it has since become the largest night marathon in Asia today with a figure of over 25,000 participants this year. Sundown Marathon has firmly established itself as one of the highlights of the Singapore running calendar.

The Sundown Marathon is definitely not for the faint-hearted, as participants are faced with the additional challenge of running through the wee hours, with categories such as the full marathon flagging off past midnight.

REGISTRATION

Kelsey and I are usually really early sleepers, and we often feel sleepy even when it’s just 10pm… so we have absolutely no idea why we signed up for this event haha. We knew that it was going to be a torture to stay awake and run and yet we still decided to sign up for it.  The idea of being part of this grand event probably just robbed us into signing up for the half marathon category.

RACE PACK COLLECTION

The race pack collection was held over a span of three days on the weekend before the actual event at the Suntec Expo. Besides Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, Sundown Marathon is probably the only other running event that has a large scale race expo in Singapore. You can find booths from most of the well-known sports outlets, including Key Power Sports, Runninglab etc.

We collected our race packs in the afternoon on the second day of collection and it was a smooth process. There were no queues at that timing and we simply walk straight through the counters. Next up, it’s shopping time! There were some really good deals going on and our advice to runners, stock up your gears only during the expo. You really do save quite a fair bit.

We stocked up on our GU energy chews because it was going at only $2.50 per packet, which is a decent discount from the U.P of $3.50 or so. We also got ourselves 3 pairs of Injinji socks at a deal of 3 for $39, which again is a great discount from the U.P of $19.90 each pair. Injinji is one of our favourite brands for socks because the individual slots for each toe really help to prevent blisters for long distance running. It really works! So check it out if you are having issues with blisters. I do remember that the socks were going at an even crazier deal of 3 for $30 during the 2015 expo, but I guess its inflation at work.

There were also freebies going around during the expo too. 42race was giving out free bandanas with just a simple email subscription to their website and Gymboxx was giving out vouchers with free 1-day gym pass.

Overall, it was an eventful expo and while many runners may find that the expos are pretty much similar every year, we still get really excited to browse through the booths.

RACE DAY

We made our way to the race site via the MRT and alighting at promenade station, which was just a short walk away.

Interestingly, when we reach the race site, the first thing we saw was this huge cage where teams are pitting against each other in a game of dodgeball. Apparently, this was part of the new initiative known as the Sundown sports zone, to spice up the atmosphere in the race village. It is a competition where teams sign up and compete for the top prizes. Interesting concept, but we are a little skeptical if that was what runners really want. After all, there wasn’t much crowd of runners attracted to it. The sports zone was located far away from the main race village so it felt more like a segregated event. We thought it would probably be a better idea to let the runners be the participants of this sports zone for free as a post race fringe event.

Since we had some time to spare before our category flag off, we decided to walk around the race village. Soh Rui Yong, one of Singapore’s top marathoner, was the ambassador for this year’s event and his face was spam all over the race village. A huge pity that he wasn’t present at the event though! Otherwise, poor Kelsey wouldn’t have to take a photo with just the poster.

There were many booths selling food for the hungry runners as their post race meals and boy were we so tempted to get some of it even before we ran. There were lots of varieties, ranging from Japanese food such as rice ball and udon, to western cuisines such as wraps. We held ourselves back and promised to come back to the booths as a post-race reward!

After a tour of the race village, we went ahead to deposit our bags at the baggage deposit located just beneath the F1 pit building. The efficiency of the bag deposit was pretty impressive, considering that there were some runners collecting while others depositing their bags at the same time. This is the first race we have seen, that is held at the F1 pit building, which utilises the building for baggage deposit rather than the usual makeshift tentages. Thumbs up for that!

Lastly, it was time for our pre-race ritual – Visiting the portaloos. (because we love to poop. just kidding) Another great experience with the portaloos as it was well spread out around different areas of the race sites. There were 3 sections of loos with about 20 loos in each section – An abundance of loos.

So far so good, all was well, until the moment when the starting pen was opened to runners.

Unsuspicious of anything, we went ahead to what seemed like an opening to the starting pen where a large crowd of runners was funneling through a small entry.

As we moved further in, we were alarmed to see that there were barricades all around us to prevent us from moving further ahead to the starting line which was around 200m in front! Across where we were standing, we could see another group of people streaming into the 200m of empty area that separated us from the starting line. It turns out that there was more than one starting pen and we had unknowingly entered the one catered for runners running above 3hours!

OH.MY.GOSH. ?

So basically, we were stuck together with this whole group at back of the starting line probably fated to be in the last wave (faints), as people on the other side of the barricade continued to stream in to fill up the space at the front… There were alot of people in this group obviously upset with this situation. All of us had came early to the starting pen but we were now stuck at the back! There was a lack of information being passed down to the participants regarding this and how on earth were the organisers supposed to know who are the 3hours and above runners with no indication on our bibs?!? Many runners were angry at the security, but of course, we do understand that they were just carrying out the instructions given by the organisers.

Some runners attempted to climb over the barricades and many were warned and scolded by the security. Things got really out of hand when one frustrated participant just slam open the barricade and charged out the front of the starting pen. The opening between the barricades allowed many others to follow suit and we were lucky to sneak out of it too ? . But you could tell that the security was so pissed off and he was barging through to fix the barricade as to prevent any more participants from slipping out.  It was quite a chaotic scene to be honest. I really do hope that the organizers can take such issues seriously in the future and if starting pens separated by timings were to be implemented, information has to be well disseminated to the participants way beforehand.

Anyway, we were lucky to get to the nearer starting pen eventually and we set off in wave 2. We would probably have been in wave 1000 if we were still stuck behind the barricades.

As usual, I accompanied Kelsey throughout the half marathon running at her pace. The Sundown crowd was really huge in numbers and there was little space to run in the first km. There were even short moments initially where everyone had to stop because the crowd was simply too large for the narrow routes. The crowd eventually spread out as we meet with a steep long upslope up a bridge soon after the first km.

We turned into East Coast Park (ECP) after 3.5km on the bridge and began another 3.5km stretch along ECP before U-turning out. It was a cooling stretch and the portion of ECP in the route was just about right (not as long as the FM where they spent almost 20km inside ECP). I enjoyed this stretch because it was just a straightforward flat path. However, we did encounter some issues with other participants here. There were some who just recklessly stop in front of us, and I had to brake awkwardly in order not to knock into them. It got a little frustrating because it was so dangerous for everyone!

Soon, we got out of ECP and reached Gardens by the Bay where the real problem struck us. Around 16km, Kelsey suffered really badly from the lack of long distance training which was accompanied by the sleepy bug. She began feeling nauseous and couldn’t carry on running no matter how hard she tried. It was really disappointing for us because we were only a short 5km away from the finishing point and she had a good chance to better all her HM timings previously. She decided ultimately that it was too uncomfortable to carry on running so she slowed to a stop. We walked on for the next 2km, but things didn’t seem to get better for her. Just as she was about to begin running again, comes the marina barrage slope.

It wasn’t a good idea to run up the slope in her conditions, especially with some 2km left to the finishing point, so we cleared marina barrage by walking. Following which, she gathered whatever energy she had left and ran as much as possible, with some walking in between. Finally, her dreadful night came to an end when we crossed the finishing line in a timing of 2hrs 45minutes. It was quite a surprise because we thought that it was definitely going to take more than 3 hours with all the walking. Nevertheless, she pushed on as best as she could and I’m proud of her.

Kelsey was still feeling all unwell and nauseous after the HM and we had to cut short our night at the race site so that she could get home to rest. Oh well, despite all the delicious looking food at the booths, we didn’t get any of it.

That’s it! Our Sundown Marathon 2016 came to an end. It was a mixed experience for us in terms of the race organisation, with some really good set up at the race village, to the huge deal breaker at the starting pen. I would also love to see more focus and investments into runners’ benefits and experience rather than churning out more unnecessary stuffs. The race pack is getting barer every year while the fees had continued to stay high.

Overall, it was still a good event but there is definitely room for improvements.

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