We ran, we jogged, we walked and finally limped, but we made our personal bests! – John Neilson

Eight hours and forty-five minutes in the chair; waving the invisible Team Costa flag for my husband and my friends who were tackling the Twilight Ultra for the first time.  That’s with the exception of the culprit who had done it once before and somehow managed to rope all of us into registering for a race that was well beyond any previously completed distances.

Let’s wind back the clock to pre-Xmas.  A particularly pleasant day spent around the BBQ pit with condo neighbours and friends.  As the BBQ wraps up and we’re chilling at home a new message pops up in our FB newsfeed by one of our more elusive members of Team Costa with the following words:

“Sports fans – It took shockingly little alcohol today to agree on the next challenge. This one will be the stuff of legends and take care of a bucket list item by taking us farther than ever before!  

Drum roll… on Saturday, 28. March at 7pm, we will start running then walking then crawling a 10k loop in our beloved East Coast Park (a.k.a. massive home field advantage). We will keep going until we either say “no mas” or until a puny 16 hour time limit is up at 11am on Sunday morning. Some of us will turn ultra, all of us will break personal distance records, and everyone will be a CHAMPION! The camaraderie is truly fantastic, the race is well supported, and we need to make sure we have a good turnout!”

Who could say no to such an invitation, some said yes immediately, some were signed up by proxy and some just didn’t want to miss out on this madness.  Promptly registered, the Team Costa contingency included: David, Stan, John, Michelle, Sven, Veronika, Chris and myself.

Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year and other races came and went and somehow the training for this incredible event just in our backyard was sorely underestimated and under-executed.  Business trips, holidays, injuries and other races had a way of infiltrating our less than stellar training schedules.  No matter, this is Team Costa and regardless of circumstances we always rise to the challenge, well except for me on this occasion.  With an ankle injury sustained at the Urbanathlon race, I was knocked out of participating in the Ultra and became the through-the-night support and designated photographer.  I now know what DNS stands for.  I’ll carry that badge of honour.

A week prior to the race, we gathered around to discuss the race route, how to tackle the 10km loops, what gear to have, food to pack, and essentially pump up the enthusiasm and mental preparation for what was ahead.

Come race day we all met early enough to set up at a shelter near the race tents, collect our bibs and absorb the upbeat atmosphere. One of my highlights was the proximity to our home.  A mere 10 minutes walk, which was closer to 30min when we stumbled home at 5am.

Prepped and ready to roll, the race organisers respectfully observed 91 seconds of silence as tribute to the late founding father of modern Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Shortly afterwards the race started and 230 participants began their long journey into the night.

What’s the objective you might ask?  Firstly, ultra challenges are recognised as races where the participant must complete a distance greater than a marathon (42km/26miles) either within a set timeframe or a specified distance. This particular race had a set timeframe of 16 hours, from 7pm to 11am the next day, with two 5km loops.  With the event tent as the central point one loop headed east and the other west.  Refreshment stations were set-up at the halfway point of each loop along with checkpoint officials marking the bibs indicating completed loops.

Having completed 80km at the 2013 Ultra, Sven was the only ultramarathoner amongst the Costa team and hence it was no surprise when he separated from the rest of the group early on to run his own race.  The rest of the team, with a target of 50km, held together for 20km at which point different fitness levels were highlighted and they started breaking up into teams of two.

Four hours and 25km later fatigue, knee problems, aches and pains slowly seeped into the team.  The fresh look was not so fresh anymore.  There was a strain behind the smile as it was clearly trying to mask the physical discomforts. For John and Veronika, 25km was their new personal best.  Neither of the two ever ran more than 14km, giving them their first half-marathon experience.

Time passed by and bit by bit the loops were being conquered.  By 1.30am, I was left on my own.  All other supporters have left to catch some sleep.  The team has broken up and running at their own pace, except for John and Veronika who stayed together till the end.

Whilst each 5km loop brought them closer to their target, by now it was getting very tough.  As John put it, “I didn’t realize just how much new pain you can acquire in the last 5 km”.  It was no longer about physical endurance, it was mental. I wondered, how much longer could they endure the aches, pain and fatigue to reach their goal. It was evident they needed to dig deep and find just a little more and add just one more loop. Unless you were Sven, who by 2am had completed 55km (15km ahead).  He was like a dragonfly, flitting in to the tent for sustenance and then out for another loop.

Whilst they may have looked a little worse for wear, their “never give up” spirit propelled them forwards and onwards with the final target in mind.  For David, Chris and Stan the next 20km wasn’t exactly a breeze but their fitness was evident as they pushed on to double their personal bests.  Neither of them, including Michelle, have done anything more than a half-marathon in recent times.

John and Veronika have slowed down substantially.  John’s knees were causing him a lot pain and the last 5km (reaching 35km) took just over an hour to complete.  They were both reduced to shuffling and most likely would want nothing more than to stop but after some rest, food and lots of anti-inflammatory they took off at 2.19am for the next loop. Twenty minutes later Chris came through 45km and was ready to barrel through the last loop, followed by Stan another 10 minutes later.   David has dropped behind by half hour since Chris has come and gone but still sported an incredible smile pretty happy with himself.

As the hour passed, I felt the fatigue crawling inside of me, knowing I wouldn’t last much longer spectating.  I figured that John and Veronika would come through by 3.20am but as the minutes dragged by, I realised this was the end of the road for them.  It took 90 minutes for them to return to the tent and by this point Chris caught up with them as well.  Watching John hobbling towards me with his sore knee and I knew he was done for but then so was I.  Sleep was beckoning fiercely.

At 3.44am John and Veronika completed 40km.  An excellent effort given that I considered both of them as part-time runners.  They have both tripled their previous personal bests.  Somehow I don’t think they’ll view 5km or 10km races with trepidation anymore.   Chris, Stan and David knocked up their first 50km.  When I asked Chris if he would do it again, he indicated that he could be persuaded.

With creaking joints and stiff muscles we all waited for Michelle to come through her 45th km to give her a final salute and word of encouragement before we set off for home.  We really thought she was done for given how much she has slowed down but there was “no quitting” signals in her eyes.  She would have crawled on her hands and knees if she had to and whilst she probably wasn’t far from it, thankfully she finished her race standing tall (or maybe a little hunched from exhaustion).

It’s 4.46am and these guys have endured 8hrs44min.  Some packed away 50km and some 40km. We left Michelle to complete her last loop and somewhere in the distance was Sven still going strong.  Blisters abounded and weary bodies were searching for sleep. The next day their muscles sang to a different tune.  But they’ve endured. They’ve pushed beyond their personal limitations and found a new them.

So what happened to Michelle and Sven?

Amidst tears and exhaustion, Michelle, ambled through her last loop that took her 90 minutes to complete.  Tackling the underpass stairs to get home was quite the challenge.  Whereas Sven, saw the sunrise and with two hours to spare he stopped at 100km, crashing through his last record by 20km.  For him it was a “little dream come true”.

What was their experience?

In their own words:

John

Before the race I thought I’d pace myself and do a combination of slow jogging and walking and get to my target 50km distance.  When we all started together it felt really good, like a team sport. I really enjoyed running with a variety of Team Costa members.

At about the 15km mark I started to have a ache in my left knee, by 20km I had to drop back to walking or risk injury. By the 30km mark a lot of other aches started to hit me including blisters on both feet.  From 30-40km I was just glad I had Veronica to walk with me as my body was definitely telling me to stop.

I learned that I can choose to keep going when my body says stop. I learned that I need to pace myself earlier and if I were to do it again, I would start even slower to last longer and delay the knee problem which stopped me at the end.

Michelle

There was a wide variety of emotions this race tapped into starting well before race day. Nervousness, apprehension, excitement. As we were all there as a team before it started it felt so humbling and wonderful to be part of such a group of amazing people from all over the globe. It was amazing we all stuck together for the first 20km. We may break off in small groups, but all regrouped at water stations and the main tent. Without the camaraderie and support of one another I don’t think I would’ve lasted so long.

What I loved about this was it really felt like a team sport in the beginning and then it transitioned to an individual sport. Thru the pics you can see the evolution. It was a very emotional run for me as it’s something I never thought I would accomplish in my life. I couldn’t stop the tears of happiness, accomplishment and relief when they handed me the medal. I had to dig deep to find my motivation and driver. The last 5km I finished my book and turned on my music. This made a big change for me as I just lost myself in the music. I always knew I loved music and having this relief felt wonderful.

David

Running a 50km Ultra Marathon was not part of the plan a year ago, but thanks to this inspiring and crazy group of fun people, I can now say: “We did it!”

Thanks to “Mr. 100k” Sven for showing us that it could be done. All of us broke personal best records running 100k, 50km and 40km.  The last 15km were incredibly hard, after the adrenaline is gone and you’re digging into any remaining energy reserves. That’s when you just grind it out. Amazing experience.

Sven

Thanks Team Costa for the support and awesome team spirit!!! I was in a really bad place between kilometers 80-95. Then I got this energy burst, passed a guy I had been going back and forth with and went from being behind him to 26 minutes ahead.

For better or for worse, I made up my mind to stop at 100k when I was in horrible pain earlier in the race but I didn’t really register that I had almost two hours left until after I told the organizer I’m done. It also started to get very hot after sunrise. It’s hard to think straight after so much torture and pain.

4^th time lucky

When you sign up for a race 3 times and don’t get to run it – you probably don’t have much luck with it. In 2012 and 2013, it was due to being overseas because of work while in 2014 it was due to the inclement weather. Hence for a ‘change of luck’, I decided to go for the 10km run instead of the half marathon. And I guess you can say it worked.

Race Pack Collection

Collection was at Orchard Central and it was relatively smooth. Although there was a queue, I waited for about 5 minutes before it was my turn. When I was shown my bib, I tried my best not to laugh as I saw the name on the bib – ‘El Nino’. What was I thinking?! But as I recall it might have to do with the fact that this run was a run to raise awareness of the climate and so I guess I was ‘playing’ my part as well. It took another couple of minutes or so and I was done. With some time to spare, I decided to take a look at some of the products on offer and bought a couple of of ‘rare’ Gu-Gel flavors – Expresso as well as Salted Caramel.

Race Day

Woke up at 0430hrs to slowly prepare and as I opted for the 10km, I made my own way to the F1 Pit Building. Slowly made my way to start point at about 0615hrs but still managed to make it for the first wave. 10km run flagged off at 0630hrs and ran off along Republic Boulevard towards Crawford Street. The first water point was at around the 1.3km, just before going under Nicholl Highway, which was rather early and probably the reason why most runners gave it a miss. After a u-turn, runners headed back along Republic Avenue before turning out on Nicholl Highway at the ERP gantry opposite the Concourse. Up to the 2^nd u-turn point, along Nicholl Highway near to Suntec City, I managed to keep up with the 1h 10mins pacers – as in I could still see their balloons! 😛  But due to my poor discipline in not sleeping early and getting enough sleep, I started to lose sight of them at around the 5km mark. As I always comfort myself with ‘Run Your Own Race’, I pushed on along Nicholl Highway towards the Sports Hub.

I stopped to fill up my bottle at the next hydration point and true to their call to runners to bring their own bottles, there were big bottles of water for refilling and even funnels to aid the refilling. This is commendable as not many races do that and sometimes runners have to stop volunteers who are trying to restock the drinks to top up their bottles which tends to lead to more confusion.

From here it was a left turn to Sims Way before making another left turn to Kallang Airport Way and then a right onto Old Terminal Lane. This was probably a smart route to craft out as it also caused minimal disruption to traffic as both Kallang Airport Way and Old Terminal Lane are not frequently used. Apart from a short stretch which went back on Republic Avenue, the rest of the route was mainly along the jogging path along Kallang River before heading back to the F1 Pit Building.

After crossing the finishing line, was directed into the pit building where medals,bananas as well as 100+ were given out to all runners. So on the fourth try I finally got a Run350 medal!

Overall this was a pleasant run with a manageable run. The cause behind the run should be supported as well and organizers might consider what some other runners have proposed – no medal/no t-shirt option to not only support the cause but to continue to keep the race fee manageable.  🙂

Click here for over 400 photos of NTUC Income Run 350 2015.

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It’s sunday, it’s early and the alarm has gone off. It must be race day!

Here we go again, after a few weeks off to recover from my Translantau 50k Trail Ultra experience, I am back pounding the pavement over the shorter distances. No 2XU last weekend, so this is the first race for me in a few weeks.

I was away the week before with the family in Cameron Highlands, which was very cool and a great place to run, BUT, because it’s such a great place to run, my preparation for this 10k race wasnt exactly ideal. Wednesday, no run, Thursday 10k in the morning in Malacca and 9k in the evening in Cameron Highlands, Friday 14k trail run to the peak of Gunung Brinchang and back (2000m peak) and then Saturday driving back from Cameron to Singapore – 7 hours in the car, bed at approximately midnight, alarm set for 0500. hmmmm, not ideal at all.

Anyway, I’ve raced after worse, so I’m just going to get on with it.

I drive in to town and park at Suntec – a short stroll over to the Pit Lane and I’m there in good time, the start pen for the 10k hasn’t opened yet and most people are just milling around waiting. I see Stu and we have a quick catch up. Not many of my usual buddies and opponents here today, maybe the long weekend has made this a less attractive option.

The start pen opens and we head down the chute. I have a good position practically on the start line, Stu and I wait there chatting until the visiting dignitaries have done their bit and we’re off.

One of the major plus points for me on this race is that the 21km has gone off in the opposite direction so there is no merging of distances which happens often in other races. Heading out with the leaders I have huge amounts of clear space around me almost from the first 500m and it makes for a relaxing run. In fact it’s almost too relaxing, the gaps between the person in front of me and the runner behind have opened up to about 500m after 3km of Nichol Highway and I dont overtake and am not overtaken for the rest of the race. In these situations you have to force your own pace, which is hard to do. It’s a sticky morning, which makes this task even harder. We loop back round the Old Kallang Airport and back over the Kallang river and onto the Riverside Path that takes us the final 3km to the finish.

Here I encounter my only complaint about the whole event -marshalls not marshalling. I understand that mostly these are students, collecting extra credits, but it would be helpful if they did at least attempt to show you which way you are supposed to be running, particularly when there is no other runner in sight and you are hurtling towards a junction with three possible exits! So I have to ask a few times which way and eventually I get a response. It’s not a massive issue, but equally it’s not hard to anticipate that a runner might want to know which way they need to go and to just point in the right direction when someone is coming.

Through all of this I have kept a decent pace, but the humidity is making this a slower than normal race for everyone. I pick up the pace for the last 2-3km’s trying to catch Zhi Yong who is in the distance ahead of me, the gap has been consistent since about halfway, so we are running around the same pace now, despite my efforts I dont close the gap and he’s already finished when I turn into the pit lane. I pick up a final sprint and I notice that the ribbon is across the finish line. I’ve never run through a ribbon before, so it’s nice to do so with a load of photographers snapping as I finish. I catch up with Vanja (3rd Lady) and Zhi Yong (he’s in 8th place, I’m 9th) and we all head into the pit building for a 100plus and a banana. Unlike the marshalls, the Aunties manning the 100plus stand are wonderful, they applaud the three of us as we enter the building as if we have just won the race and it makes for a really great moment and a nice way to finish the event.

After a brief cool down I wander back to the car and head home. 41:19, 9th place overall. Considering the dodgy preparation and it being my first race since the 50k, I’m ok with the result – but there’s still work to do in the quest for the perfect 10k performance!

Overall, this was the best large scale Marina Bay race I’ve done in a long time. Well organised, no bottlenecks, no merging different distances and a memorable finish experience. 9/10

Next races for me: JP Morgan Corporate Challenge for the company team and then Energiser Night Trail.

Happy Trails!

Click here for the photo gallery of NTUC Income Run 350 2015.

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Race Day

The flag off was at 5am.  I had to wake up at an unearthly hour of 3am, grabbed my breakfast and was on my way out of the house by 3.30am.  I reached the venue (F1 Pit Building) at about 4.10am.  The first thing was to pay a visit to the mobile toilets, where long queues were seen.  Did what I had to do and made my way to the start pen.  I was glad to be in the first wave.  By then, it was already 4.45am, and together with the crowd, I was anxiously waiting for the horn to signal the start of the race.  Even though it was almost 5am in the morning, it was strangely warm and humid.  I was already perspiring profusely just by standing in the start pen.

5am… The horn went off…. Everybody started to surge forward, clapping and waving their hands in the air happily.  There we go..! By the time I crossed the timing mat, about 1 min had elapsed already.  So you could imagine how huge the 1st wave was.

As I starting running at my supposedly comfortable pace, I was surprised at how lethargic I was.  The air was thick with humidity and difficult to breathe.  As the others zoomed past me, I could see that their bodies were already drenched in sweat.  I continued on, and interestingly, a runner in full Spiderman suit zoomed past me.  Soon I neared the 8km mark, and my worst fear started to manifest itself in the form of a rumbling stomach.  I silently cursed my luck and knew that I had to quickly find a toilet.  Luckily, I was swinging by Sports Hub, and managed to break from the running crowd and got a cubicle for myself. No queue! Lucky me!  Wasted almost 5 minutes to conclude my business, during which sweat was pouring non-stop from my head and getting into my irritated eyes.

I emerged from the toilet and started to run but the momentum was gone and I could not find it back throughout the race.  My legs felt like jelly and the humidity really got to me.  Started drinking from my bottles and grabbing cups of cold water from the hydration points from 10km onwards and thereafter at every hydration points I passed by.  At about the 10km mark, there was a hydration point and gel station.  As I stopped to take a cup of water, I was shocked to see another runner in front of me grabbing as many gel packs with his two hands and trying to stuff them into his pockets!  My goodness!  I was like “huh?” As I passed the 14km mark, there were bananas given out, and I was tempted to take one.  But anyway, I didn’t, as I was afraid of upsetting my stomach again.

The killer slope at the Marina Barrage, where you run up the slope, do a circle and run down again, really robbed me of my strength and stamina.  This was near the 16km mark.  After this horrible stretch, I started to alternate between jogging and walking.  It was when I passed by 20km, that I started to use every ounce of my remaining energy and sprint to the finishing mark… 2:45hrs.  A far cry from my PB of 2:23 hr obtained 2 weeks ago.

But nevertheless, it was a good experience for me as I had experienced the slopes along Nicoll Highway and especially the one at the Marina Barrage, as well as the killer weather.  Well, no excuses….I had made up my mind to re-start my training on slopes and intensify them, so that the next run would be even better!

End of Race

For this run, it comes with a finisher tee and a medal that were given out after the finishing line,  and a can of cold refreshing 100 Plus as well which I gulped it down in double quick time 🙂  I did some cooling down exercises before heading off for home.  My next half marathon is likely to be the re-scheduled 2XU Run, which new race date has yet to be announced.

Click here to for the photo gallery of NTUC Income Run 350 2015.

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Runninghour2015: Run So Others Can is Singapore’s first and only race where runners run with over 200 visually, intellectually and physically-challenged runners. It aims to increase awareness and allow runners to experience life with a visual impairment.

Woke up around 4am that morning! After the necessary preparations, I took the first bus down to The Promontory @ Marina Bay. Managed to reach the place at around 6.30am, considered quite early as the 10km competitive run only starts at 7am. Starting the race at this time is pretty good as there is no need to cab down. There were not much queue at the baggage deposit area, hence the process proceeded quite quickly. At the same time, runners that signed up for the blind-run are required to collect their masks from the booth.

After warming up, many runners began to make their way to the starting line. It is heartening to see quite a number of visually-challenged runners, as well as on wheelchairs participating in the run. Despite their disabilities, they are able to challenge themselves and do something of their comfort zone. Some of these special runners were part the pacing team too, which includes 50, 60 and 70 minutes.

Excitement filled the air when the 10km Competitive Run was flagged off at 7am sharp. The run started off with runners passing the Marina Bay Sands area, followed by the domes of Gardens by the Bay. Upon reaching the Barrage, we were directed to run along the pathway leading to the rooftop before heading down again. The run proceeded on to Bay East before reaching the 5km mark and returning on the same route back to the starting line.

On the whole, the terrain was rather flat, with the exception of the stretch at Marina Barrage. I would say it is actually a good route to clock one’s PB. At the same time, runners were seen cheering on the special runners, encouraging them to push on and stay strong.

After crossing the finishing line, water and the medal were given to the runners. I would say that the medal is rather unique, as it is Singapore’s first medal crafted with Braille.

On the whole, I would say the event is very well organised- from the registration process to race pack collection, pre-race, actual race and post-race activities. Volunteers were friendly and took initiative in handing out drinks to the runners at the water points. Route was smooth and I managed to clock my PB of 48 minutes. 🙂   Last but not least, kudos to all runners that took part in the event, especially the special runners. Your “never say die” spirit is encouraged, and it is what makes us runners unique.

I misunderstood the race information when I signed up.  I wasn’t sure if I could have signed up for the blind run, as I was registering alone.  So I signed up for the 10k competitive.  When I received the e-booklet the week before the race, I realised that I could have signed up for the Blind Run and find a partner on the morning of the race.  I would have done the blind race instead, just to experience and more to the theme of the event.

I attended one of the workshops before the race to learn about the blind/physically challenged and how they’d run with their conditions. (previous post)

Race pack collection was nice and smooth; I collected on the Saturday around lunch time, there were only a few other people there and we were in and out in no time.  On the way out, I checked the timing chip and it worked properly.  I thought I read on the reminder email sent a few day before that there was going to be some activities, but I didn’t notice anything else was going on so I left for lunch.

The t-shirt turned out to be very small in size so it was an opportunity for me to wear the JustRunLah! t-shirt for the first time.  I like to always try to wear the race t-shirt or at least wear one in a similar colour 🙂

Come race day, 5.30am wake up, second Sunday in a row.  Drive down was smooth, easily parked at the Wilson car park round the corner and a nice couple of minutes walk to the starting pen as my warm up.  But it was a hazy day.

Off I went to the starting line of 10k competitive.  They flagged us off first at around 7am.  The 10k blind run were also ready on the lane next to us.  They were flagged off a little bit later, as they had to run with a blindfold for the first 500m each.

I wasn’t too far from the front of the starting line and noticed for the first 500m that there were lots of faster runners going past me, which kind of put me off and distracted from my original pace. Without noticing, it pushed me to run faster but also burned out sooner.

I loved the route.  I think it’s prettier than on a highway.  It started at the Marina Promontory opposite The Sail (condominium), from there we ran along the rear side of The Shoppes at MBS, crossed below the flyovers to Gardens by the Bay, up and down the Marina Barrage ramps (at least it was only on our 3km), crossed the Marina Bridge to Gardens by the Bay East (edge of Marina Bay golf course) where we u-turned.

I didn’t bump into many of the blind / physically challenged runners, one was in the 1-hr Pacer group, passed me at around 4 km, another was on a wheelchair with a great determination.  Very impressive.

The race was well organised.  Volunteers were great.  I like to carry my own bottle so I’m not too sure about the water stations but seemed enough to me.  There were a lot of photographers along the way.  The only bad thing was I didn’t see a clock above the finish line so I was busy trying to stop my app as I crossed, not noticing the clock was actually on the right hand side 🙁   I clocked a little over 1 hour, 1 minute faster than my time the previous weekend.  Another PB.  I was happy.  I would love to make it below 1 hour.

I grabbed my cold bottle of water and walked around a little.  There was a Holiday Inn booth which my husband missed as he could have gotten his coffee.  They were also selling hot dogs which looked yummy but not sure we’d eat that after the run  🙂

Some people joined the zumba session for a cool down, I thought my legs had done enough for the day so I headed back  😉

I think it was a good race for runners to clock in their PBs.  I certainly enjoyed it.  It doesn’t take much for a race to please me, just block off some pretty route, provide some water, security/medics, a timer, and I’m a happy runner <3<3