Adidas Sundown 2010 - Some Report and Pics

Adidas Sundown 2010 is my second attempt at 1/2 marathon race. There are 4 principal reasons why I wanted to run in this event:

(i) quite a number of runner/blogger friends will participate in the run including those who would attempt the 84Km Ultra Marathon;

(ii) I have heard about how our neighbour down there organized running events and hence wanted to experience in one;

(iii) except a couple of day trip for meetings at the Lion City (i.e. Airport - Meeting -Airport), I had never actually seen Singapore much closer; and

(iv) [Note - This is not in the original list] since my wife is doing her post grad study in heritage building conservation, I may add the itinerary to include: (a) visiting heritage conservation sites/buildings in Singapore; and (b) do some sight seeing and checking out the Singapore sales.

The Trip

The cab picked us up just after I finished subuh prayer and off we went to KLIA. First time flying with Jetstar Airways (a subsidiary of Qantas Air) and KLIA is much more condusive place compared to LCCT as far as playing the waiting game is concerned . Reached Terminal 2 Changi Airport around 9.45 am. As planned, since check in time would be after 2pm, we proceeded with the visit of heritage buildings, covering Kg Glam, North Bridge Road, Bugis Square and Arab Street. My carbo loading session was at Zam-Zam Restaurant in front of Masjid Sultan. Menu was lamb bryani.

[Zam-Zam Ala Kazammmm]

It was really hot that afternoon but we continued walking around that area before checking in at the hotel around 2.30pm. Tried to have a nap but just could not doze off.

At 4.30pm, left the hotel to MRT Bugis with the intent to reach the race venue by 5.30pm to wish off Kash and Haza. Arrived at MRT Pasir Ris around 5.10pm. Saw a crowd of Sundown runners and just followed them to the shuttle bus pick up point. Reached CEC around 5.40pm. Still got time to catch the flaging off of the Ultra runners.

[In the Shuttle Bus. See that Mat Salleh in the Adidas Shirt. He appeared again in the pic below]

[The brave hearts were in the gantry]

[Top Pic - Our Ultra Moms/Queens, ready to start the 84km journey]

[Below pic - The Journey has begun. Can you spot Haza? Tried to snap Kash's pic but couldn't spot her]

[Below Pic - Another shot at the Ultras making their earlier steps to many,many, many more through out the night till the next morning]

The Waiting

After the Ultras were flagged off, the waiting game has begun for us in the 1/2 marathon category as well as the full marathon group. Fortunately with friends around, the boredom and restlessness were kept in check. Below are few of the moments captured in camera.

[Posing dulu, nanti dah gelap x nampak. From left: Ijam, me and Zaki]

[Top pic at the left - Yim (in black) : "kau nak sgt karipap, nah aku beli the best karipap in Singapore". Det & Diket: "Kasi kenduri itu karipap sekarang, ada bran?"]

[Top pic at the right - Yim: "Satu ketul makan, kene reduce 5 minit korang punya PB, ada bran?" Me: "Yim, the girl behind got karipap as well lah". Det/Diket - "Eleh, mana main 5 minit, up terus 10 minit lah"]

[We have marked our territory for the entire night. In the pic, clock wise from yours truly: Det, Diket, Alwin, Zaki, Syah, Nadia (in black -sorry x nampak muka) and Yim]

The Run

About 15 minutes to the gun off time, me, Yim and Ijam went into the gantry and wahlau, we were already at the back with thousands in front. I guessed there were around 6000-7000 runners in the 1/2 marathon category. Diket and Alwin at that time were rushing to put on their running gear after just got back from MRT Station Pasir Ris searching for dinner. I was told later that they started way at the back pack.

Since this would be my 2nd attempt at 1/2 marathon race, the only benchmark is my Energizer 1/2 Marathon finishing time of 2hr 45min. The condition was humid, at a high side. We were already sweating profusely in the sea of runners waiting to be released from the kandang. Since I am a heavy sweater by nature, frequent re-hydration is key to my run that night and I made the correct decision to run with the re-hydration belt.

We were gun off at 9 pm and on hidsight I did place myself correctly at the back since my strategy was to go on a slow pace all the way. I pity Yim, Diket, Alwin and Ijam since all of them are strong runners and by starting at the back, they would need to do a lot of zig zaging,and we are talking about at least 5000 runners in front of us.

In the first 15 minutes after the gun off, I was pacing behind a group of 3 college looking guys who ran at an easy pace ("the 3 Musketeers"). I know they were running easy since they were chatting among themselves. On the spot I knew these boys were not newbies and may just put the target of finishing around 2hr 30min-ish. Following them did help me from being sucked up by the pace of a lot of other runners whom, by looking at their strides and breathings, were going just too fast for their level. "Never mind guys, you can overtake me now since we have another 18-19km to finish", I comforted myself. The 3 Musketeers then upped their pace and I decided to maintain my current pace and those boys slowly disappeared from my sight.

Things were not as smooth as I thought for the first 7km. Though the pace felt right, the body didnt seem to respond as good. Eyes were feeling heavy. Damn. I didnt reach a quarter of the entire distance and I already felt sleepy. I should have taken coffee or nescafe at least 40 minutes before the flag off. Only one solution before things going from bad to worst. I consumed my power gel at that point though I planned to reserve it at KM10 onwards. With frequent re-hydration plus a couple of stops at Water Stations, I had successfully kept the problem at bay and continued the run with a more consistent pace.

By Km10, I managed to catch up with the 3 Musketeers. They still run easy and I decided to follow them for few minutes before increasing my pace and left them behind. The course is flat all the way and I told myself there is no reason why I cannot beat my timing in Energizer 1/2. I already expecting that the other RBUs would all finished in sub 2 hr.

Though I felt i ran better compared to Energizer 1/2, my watch didnt show any much improvement based on my mental calculation each time I reached the distance marker after KM12. To keep the initial target intact, I could either up my pace but may end up wasting the precious time by taking walk breaks by Km17 OR just continue with the current snail pace all the way. I opted for the latter. That means i could not take any walk breaks (excluding the time spent at the Water Station). Once decided, there was nothing more to do other than executing the plan. It was a boring affairs at certain time and sleepiness did visit once in a while and the only medication available was simply pouring the water over my head at every Water Stations. The plodding continued until KM 18 where at that point, it would be simply foolish for me to stop and taking walk breaks with 3km left. Told myself, "aiyoo, 21k distance also wanna stop haaaa. Dah ler slow. Kash and haza buat 84km lagi, the other RBUs buat full. Yim, Diket ngan Ijam dah melepak makan karipap kat CEC time ni". OK, not exactly verbatim but more to the same effect. So i just continue plodding till i crossed the finishing line. Final result, I did the Sundown 1/2 Marathon in 2hr 40min 16 second. Alhamdulillah i safely finished the run.

I managed to wish off Ian, Zaki, Nadia and Det for their full marathon. Syah I believed already in the starting gantry. Cooled off, talk "male chicken" with Diket and Alwin before decided to leave CEC for my hotel slightly before 1 am.

Adidas Sundown was clearly the biggest running event I ever attended so far. With the number of runners involved, I think it was properlyorganized, especially when you are talking about logistics. I still cant imagine how a local organizer could tackle the challenge of handling a 15,000 runners' event. Lets see whether Galazo could pass the test in the coming SCKLIM. I was particularly happy with the water and isotonic provided at the water stations. I can't take isotonic all the way as proven in Energizer. It could not quench my thirst, may be due to the sugar content.

The set back for Sundown i think is the location and it did give us outstation runners a bit of head ache to plan for our meals/dinner and pre-flag off prep. On a personal issue, the run did reveal that the pain in my left calve (think it is a mucles related) would not go away unless I get proper consultation. This issue has bugged me for nearly 2 months. It is mild enough for me to do a slow 21km distance but thing may be different if I want to do more than 25km. i could not do a tempo run as well without aggravating the pain.

Will i come back next year? Yes, I plan to, God willing. Will try to entice my office colleague to come as well. I know some of you guys out there will come back to do Ultra. Go for it guys! Who knows we could bump into each other in your second loop ;-)