A "Fool" Print

It was my first ever 100km Ultra-marathon to complete in one single day. Compared to the past, I did not do much training to prepare for this race apart from running with Eddie, May and Akira together for weekdays training. Our average distance covered was about 15km. Not enough mileage to prepare for this event but we decided to take it easy and aimed for completion.

To equip myself for this race, I wore Kayano 17 Asics shoes and used Nathan Trail Mix 4 fuel belt packed with Counterpain, toilet paper, 2 PowerGels and 1 Cereal and Energy bar each, with some extra money. In addition to these, we had our friends, Genevieve, Rosalind and Chin Yen came to support us at 18km, 35km 45km, 55km, 75km, 80km and 90km. I won't say I would enjoy the run if not for the company and support from friends. The reasons were that I have not recovered from my cough and been suffering stomach pain throughout the whole afternoon of the race day.

The race was flagged off at 6pm.This year, the Sundown Ultra-marathon started from Marina Barrage, where runners were brought through East Coast Park, Changi Village, Pasir Ris Park to Bedok Reservoir and back via the same route with each aid stations separated by 10km. As a sign of our unity, Akira, May, Eddie and I wore the same 2XU Running Tee to run together.

For the first 10km, we maintained our training pace of 7mins/km. Henry and his wife joined in to run with us at the East Coast Park (ard 8km) for the next 16km. They were training for their next week's Gold Coast Marathon. At our first own personal support point,. I took a few slices of Bak Kwa which I had prepared earlier for us.

For the next 10km, Eddie was not feeling well, suspecting food poisoning. Luckily for him, there were toilets along the costal road where he could temporary relieve himself. However, he dared to take much food after that.

As for me, I experienced an irregular heartbeat and discomfort in my stomach from 20 to 40km. We stopped by at the Changi Point Hawker Center but that did not help me much. By 35km, I was breathless where I saw our support group. I could neither talk much nor drink. Added to my worst scenario, the sleep bug caught up with me. I was running zigzag and hardly could keep straight. In order to stay myself focus, I ran along the pavement line. This sustained me a lot as it eased off my mind from the fatigue. I just simply had to maintain a constant pace and following the line with nothing else to think about.

At 40km pit stop, I got a chance to find a public toilet to alleviate my stomach discomfort. Feeling better, we continued our way to meet our support group, whom stationed at the bus stop(45km) where we had a few Cokes, Pocari and watermelon. Around 1.30am, We reached the 50km U-turn point. Not long after, Mohan was with us too. May commented it was rather demoralizing while Mohan and the group consistently overtook us after each pit stop even though we had outrun them. Eddie suggested we should cut short our rest time to 5mins instead of 10 to 15mins. We grabbed a few hot dogs, gummy bears, bananas and oranges before embarked on our next half to the journey.

When we reached 55km, Rosalind kindly brought my special needs bag so that I could change my socks and to my new pair of Nimbus 12 running shoes. After so many unexpected events, it seems like the lady luck was still not on our sides. After Eddie and me, May felt like vomiting. Upon her request, we plodded from Tampines Ave 10, via the Pasir Ris Park to Loyang Ave. Our support group was not stationed at 55km point as original planned. Gen called to inform me that they were at NSRCC. By 68km, we made another unscheduled stop at the Changi Point Coffee shop while we ordered some drinks. I took some ice coffee which helped me to stay awake a little. Subsequently, Gen and Rosalind drove the car to meet us. May was feeling better after the long walk. Nevertheless, it was Akira's turn of his condition deteriorating. He was quiet during the past 15km walk.

Along the Changi Costal Road, Akira requested to walk since his foot was suffering from blisters. May was quite active and energetic by then. I truly admired her recovery process and figured women had a better ability to recover faster than men. Me and Akira was totally exhausted!! Gen and Rosa was kindly to wait for us at the Costal road. Reckoned that there would be plenty of toilets along the East Coast Park and feeling discomfort on my stomach (again!!), I left my fuel belt with Gen and Rosa. By then, I couldn't able to run due to the strain on my right knees.

At 80km, I able to recover surprisingly after drinking the red bull given by Rosa. My right knee was not aching and I felt the strength to run. It was 8am and we had 2 hours to reach 90km before the cut-off time. Gen also kindly reminded us. Given the tight deadline, our strategy had changed from a leisure walk to a run-walk pace. It was 9.50am when we passed 90km pit stop. By this time, the morning sun had came out and we could feel the strong heat and humidity. Akira's situation did not improve much. We split in the last 10km, with Eddie and me running in front, while May and Akira were behind.

Again, Eddie had proved himself to be a strong endurance runner. The 90km did not seem to drain him. He was running quite fast ahead of me. I saw him around 97.5km where he was sitting on a chair, waiting for us. I tossed my bottle of mineral water for him to drink and we walked the last stretch towards the Marine Barriage. The noon sun was so hot that the heat within me and outsides was beyond my tolerance. Furthermore, the location was totally exposed with no shelter. Runners in front of me were all dragging their legs for the last 2km which seemed like an eternality to me. After crossing the bridge, Eddie took the lead to run up the slope crossing the finishing line with me followed behind. In total, we took 17:15hrs to complete the whole ultra-marathon. Unbelievable that I could run for such a long hours!!

Throughout the last 10km, Eddie and me were worrying that May and Akira couldn't complete before 18hrs. I was struggling between whether to wait or ran without them. My rationale reasoned me to go ahead for at least the effort of our support group was not wasted. Thank God, I was so elated when I saw May and Akira crossing the finishing line at 11.45am.

We had all made it!! Hurray for Hoh-Aye Team!!!

Tonight is the long awaiting Sundown Marathon event. For the whole day, it had been raining continuously, drizzling and dark clouds forming in the sky. Luckily, it managed to stop before the race. Those participants whom participating in the 84km flagged off at 8.30pm while my event started at 12.00 am.

When reaching the venue, the starting point was crowded with people. I could see many runners posing pictures to be taken beside the Sundown Marathon signboard. Henry called me to pass his powergels to him. I searched vainly for any sign of him around the massive crowd but in vain. Then I came across Stanely and some of the Toa Payoh Safra runners gathered in front of the VIP tent. After a while, I was halted by William (Collen’s hubby) near the bag deposit area. William was aiming to do a sub-4 for the full-marathon which was same for me. We started off together and paced each other for the first ~2 km. Since the running route was quite narrow and congested, we were running off from the track to avoid the jam.

Before long, I speeded up my pace and William was far behind me. Most of the route covered at this race was using the park connector sitting on a hard cement. In order to prevent any cramps on my calves at later journey, my strategy was to run on the grassland besides the path to take advantage of the soft ground and lessen the impact to my legs. The Costa road route was a lonely run for me. I overtook many runners and kept looking at my watch. For the first 10km, I had clocked 50mins. It was promising for me..

Once I ran into the east coast park, I could see many supporters clapping their hands cheering us. Some of the children were also running together with us for a short distance. It was a great feeling!! At 18km, I would sense my legs were giving away. I kept telling myself to “go on” and looking around for any runners to pace me. I was eagerly looking forward for the 21km U-Turn point but it seems like an endless road to me. I skipped the last few water-points to save the extra timing. Finally, I crossed over the 21km mark point and clocked at 1:48hrs!! Great!! I broken my 21km record. Yeah!!

The next 21km posed a challenge to overcome. Mentally, I told myself it was another 21km and imagined myself just began my run. After making the U-turn, I crossed over the bridge and ran towards the Siglap park connector. I saw a marker showing 22km. Hmm.. the distance and the marker did not seem correct for me. Nevermind.. By then, my pace was getting slower and other runners behind me had overtook me. I continued the same pace and conscious of my calves not giving me away this time. At the park connector connecting to Bedok reservoir, the lamps were off and we were running in the dark. It was the first time of me running in the dark cutting through the HDB estate. The volunteers were holding the lightening stick and directed us to the correct route. Till now, I was impressed by the organizer as there were many water points and volunteers to guide us.

Subsequently, William had caught up with me at the overhead bridge towards Bedok Reservoir. I beckoned him to continue… Unfortunately, at 28km, I felt sudden cramp at my right calves and fallen to the ground. Luckily, my “dropping point” was 20m away from the First-Aid booth setup by the SGrunners. They ran to my assistance, did some stretching for me(I wouldn’t move my legs) and helped me up. I took another powergel, rest a while before resume my run. By then, I knew I could not able to do a Sub-4.. My only hope now was to clock a 4:30hrs at least. I thanked them for their assistance and continued my run ignoring the pain.

The rest of the run was a great disappointment to me. It was a run-and-walk strategy. Every time I felt the cramp was coming, I would pause and walk for a while before resuming. I asked for some deep heat at Bedok reservoir but it was in hot demand apparently. The young female helper at the water point was trying hard to squeeze out every single and little of the gel for me to apply. I made some jokes with her.

At 30km, I clocked 3:20hrs. No good… The Tampines Park connector was a mental torture. It was just like another never ending route. After crossing one road to the other, I could still see the signboard showing TPC. Eventually, I exited to Pasir Ris Drive via a car park. It was a terrible slow pace for me by now. Virtually, every runners seem to overtake me. I could hardly feel any cushion from my ASICS 2130. I did attempt to run along the road but was waved by the road marshals to run at the pedestrian path instead.

At the last 5km along the Loyang Park Connector, I suffered another cramp at my right calf and “dropped” to the ground spectacularly. I lied on the ground helplessly and few runners ran pass me. Luckily, one of the many runners did stop to help me. After making a recovery walk, I jogged slowly. I could hear some of the runners complaining the route was a total mental torture. The soreness and pain from the foot would slowly transact to the knees, hips and tights. Well, I agreed with that plus the relatively flat terrain for the entire route had forced oneself to use the same muscle groups again and again.

The last 5km was perhaps my slowest 5km ever. I was frantically looking at my watch. It had passed 4:30hrs.Oh no.. I missed it and my whole body strength had given away. My mind was now focusing more for completion than the timing. Eventually, I had saw the finishing gantry registered 4:59. I definitely not wanted to 5:00 for this marathon. Immediately, I picked up every of my legs power and dashed towards it before it ticked to 5:00.

After the run, I stayed to wait for other MF runners returned back. I did a quick shower first before the toilet was crowded with other returning runners. Lai Chee was awarded as 1^st runner out for the 84km women category. Wow!! Got to salute to her..

Around ~6am, the sky started to pour heavily. I was wondering how the rest of the 84km runners were doing, e.g. PS, Anthony, David, Heng etc. Hopefully, they could find some shelters to hide from the heavy rain. After 8.30am, I managed to see more 84km runners returned. To kill the boredom, I was joking with the photographer sitting next to me. Subsequently, Alvin, Karen and Carol joined me to wait for the rest. I took photos for each MF runners coming back, e.g. Anthony, David, Alber, Ho, PS, Chin, Eddie, etc. PS did a 14:00hrs for her 84hrs. I would expect her to do 13:00hrs instead. Nevertheless, it was a great relief to know she had not suffered from any hip or leg problems during her run. We had a lunch at nearby hawker center before Alvin drove me to Clementi MRT.

In the end, I had broken two records of my own - my best 21km and worst 42km. haha..