Adidas Sundown Marathon 2009..

For more information, go to www.sundownmarathon.com.

No la. What they provide in the webbie is technical information pertaining to the details. My experience are as follows:

I left my home on Sat night at 9pm and reached at the venue (Changi Coast Park) at around 1030pm. After digging out my essentials from my bag, I deposited my bag and proceeded to the open field, where they were presenting prizes for the women's 10k, team and corporate challenge (4x10.5k). What are my essentials? 2 knee sleeves, 1 ankle guard, 4 packets of McDonalds salt, 8 packs of GU energy gels, 4 plasters and an empty bottle, which proved critical in the whole race. Also not forgeting the race belt and tag..heehee.

Went to the toilet twice prior to the race start and started to warm myself up for the race. My next pee time? 7 and a half hours later, which means throughout the race I did not go to the pee room. Anyways, imagine the time line prior to the start: 2320hrs: Warm up, 2340hrs: Gulp up 1 energy gel (Mint Chocolate! Thanks Sarah!), 2350hrs: Gobbled up one pack of McD salt! (Lowers down possibility of cramps) 2359hrs: Airhorn!!

At the start of the run, we had the change to see a jumbo jet flying past us as we start. Was really excited to run at night. Most of the time, there will be distance markers indicating to the runners the distance they travelled. Some of the runners took out their mobile phones and started clicking at every marker. Some even took photos with their friends with cameras! Really a great time to cherish and click with peers!

Back to the race. My race strategy was one scary one: Run throughout the race, taking energy gels starting from the 8km mark, and after which every 5km after. Water to be taken from the water points and 100plus to substain electrolyte levels. At 21km, gulp up a pack of McD salt and run till the end. At the first water point, I knew that my plan cannot work out, as there were too many people at the water points, which may slow me down (I'm slow anyway). The first few water points were like 'ants running to honey' and I had to skip many of the stations. The empty bottle was my saviour, providing me with water to complement my gel absorption. Phew!

My race pace was 8.30-9.30min per km for the first 17km, then I could not take it anymore and i decided to walk, and I realized that a run-walk strategy was the best solution to complete the race. I decided to walk and walk quickly, trying to keep pace with my running time. I walked for 25km, each km slower and slower..Sigh. Should have trained more to cope with the stress of marathon running. At the 21k mark, I reached out for my pockets and guess what? My salt packets were gone! Due to the sweat and abrasions produced in the pockets, they were wet and broke in the pockets.. Aiya! Gotta continue on the race and replenish my salt from my gels.

Gel time! I took the gels at 7, 12, 17, 22, 26, 31, 36, 41km. Was really hard to eat them, as 7 of them were Mint chocolate flavor (not available in Singapore), and the others were strawberry banana and lime. I think I will not eat chocolate for a week!!

Back to the sharing: 5km towards the finish, I felt something funny on my crotch area -Abrasions! I had plasters on my nipples (!!) to prevent abrasions while running, but never did I expect it to happen there! Walking becomes harder and I had to spread my legs while walking to minimise the pain. Towards the end of the race, I ran slow to the finish! The legs were heavy and the body was tired, but for the finish, I ran through and completed the race in 7:00:20. Ah! The euphoria, the pain was worth it!

Throughout the race, I saw alot of things. From volunteers cheering the runners on, to people stopping to stretch their muscles, to runners taking off their clothes to ward off the heat (women too!), nothing is impossible or surprising in a race! The aid stations were always filled with people, till when I started walking, then the runners were more spread out and I was able to get my drinks and fill up my bottle at the stations.

Running at night poses a completely different scenario for all: Though it is cooler in the night (still humid though), many people running at night cause a drastic decrease of oxygen and it can be a struggle competing with people for oxygen. Night running also forces your bio. clock to shift and some people may tend to be lethargic at certain times of the night.. Throughout the walking phase of the marathon, I had to breathe in hard to provide my body with the oxygen, as I am anaemic, and sometimes I do it with my head hung low, like a triathlete on the aerobars of his bike!

I learnt a few things through the race: First, I learnt to respect the race and distance. The lack of training (30km at night over 2 weeks) and assumption that I was able to run throughout the race was the killer blow and I was humbled by the experience. Secondly, I can endure! I thank God that I can run and walk throughout the race without stopping (other than in aid stations). There were times when I wanted to DNF (did not finish), but I tell myself that I will not, even if I have to walk or roll or crawl, I will not DNF. Persevere on and you will be rewarded.

There are many people that I want to thank in this race! The volunteers were great, preparing the drinks, cheering the runners on a time where they could have slept at home or doing other things, kudos to them! Thanks Sarah for her GU gels from US! For those who had prayed for the runners and myself, thank you. The empty bottle was also something to thank, without the bottle I would have no water to dilute the gels, causing GI distress and possibility stop my race!

Thank God that I finished the race. For without God, this is impossible for me to attain.

The morning of Changi Coast Park was beautiful... I hope to see it again next year...