Almost a sub five hour run.. !!!
This was something I had been planning, but it will come in just fourth race, was something I had not contemplated. Cutting down almost half an hour from the last years timing is a great feeling !! Till November, I was hardly prepared for a Full marathon, physically or mentally. It was only in last 30 days that I really slogged. If one can get used to the humidity levels, Singapore marathon is a great run. It remains one of the fastest growing sports event of Asia. A participation level of 50,000 runners in all levels is huge. They say, "Whatever time you finish, we will be waiting for you", shows to such a great extent the Organisers go to take care of the runners.
7th Nov, 5:30 am: Approximately 15,000 runners lined up for the run. Even at 5:30 am it was very humid. Since last year when I ran my first marathon over here, my entire approach had changed. Last year I was nervous, excited. Now it was a very mechanical activity. Land on Sat morning, run on Sunday and back on Monday. The race started near the Esplanade, leading thru the Business area for Singapore. In the month of September, on the same roads, there were formula 1 car scorching in the middle of the night, when Singapore hosted the world's first Night Grand Prix. Race was won by Lewis Hamilton, eventual Grand Prix champion for 2008. So while our shoes scorched on the same roads, the humidity level was very high. We were sweating profusely even at 6:00 am. The first 10 km finished in 1 hour, 6 mts.
As the sun rose, the weather become better, with little bit of clouds and wind. Running was smooth. I ensured that I was properly hydrated. At the 12km, we joined into the East Coast Park. One has to fall in love with this part of city. I had been waiting for this section of the run since last night. Lots of greenery, running view of the sea across the entire park, Ships anchored. The entire stretch of this park is 18 km and its worth every minute you spend over here. This stretch takes you almost till Changi Airport. The 11km to 20km were very smooth and comfortable. I was able to finish this leg in 1 hour 4 mts. For long distance runners, after a point, running becomes more of a yoga, control of breathing. There is a "breathing" pattern every runner has, synchronised with the steps. Once that is achieved, the runner can keep on running till finally legs give away. Once this state is achieved, he/she will never be out of breathe. This is what a runner means when one says "I got the rhythm".
The race was won by Luke Kibet, Kenyan, in 2 hours 13 mts, a record for this event. He had won the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in a time of 2:15:59 hours. That was the first Kenyan marathon victory at the World Championships since 1987.
As I closed onto the 20km to 30km, which took me 1 hour 13 mts, I was still feeling strength in my legs. Interestingly this was the first time I was not experiencing any feeling of a cramp or fatigue. It is at around 32km, the sun was shining brightly and was becoming hard for the runners. Thankfully most of Singapore is covered with lots of trees, imported from Malaysia. As I closed on the 35km mark I was feeling very upbeat, as I was exactly into 4 hours of the run. My best till date. Unfortunately I ran out of fuel after 35 km, as I took 1 hour to do last 7 km. The last 2 km of these runs are the best for obvious reasons. There are hoards of people to cheer and the feeling of finishing the 42k is always tremendous. I tried my level best to dash for the last 1 km to beat the 5 hour mark, but missed by 35 sec. Nevertheless, it was a real runners high feeling by improving on the timing by 29 minutes since last run at Singapore!! At one point when I thought I had reached the plateau of my performance, this one really spurred my imagination further and has motivated me to catapult myself to a completely different level all together.
