Race Review: Nila Run 2015

After my last Runninghour race in Mar, I had not participated in any race till yesterday. The whole of April and May had been a quiet period for the racing scene in SG while the Go50 runs were being held daily, I did not sign up for any race but merely took part in some runs the various groups organised.

I've signed up for Nila Run as it is considered cheap ($30 for 10km) and it is significant as Nila is the mascot for the SEA games hosted by Singapore this year and the run was organised as part of the marathon event on 7th June. I ordered Bibfix online a few weeks earlier ($10 a set) and this is the first time I'm trying it instead of the usual safety pins. I chose red and I liked the fact that it matches the colour of the Nila Run event tee. I took sometime to fix the clips on as I had initially thought the clips should be where the punched holes were, it took me awhile to realise that I can just fix a corner of the bib to the clip and the bib will be quite secured. I should be able to put the bib on in just a few minutes after this first experience.

All ready with bib fixed!

I woke up at 4.15am to prepare for the run. I regretted not signing up for the $6 shuttle bus but this allowed me to have more time to sleep (shuttle bus leaving Sembawang at 4.20am). I was initially worried about getting to the run venue as there are many road closures in lieu of the SEA games marathon event in the morning. According to the website, the cab can drop me off at Kallang Leisure Park, so I left the house at 5am with ample time to reach the run venue for the flag off at 6.10am.

As the cab went along Yishun and made a right turn onto Lentor, there was this punk motorcyclist who weaved in between different lanes and this absurd behaviour caused danger to the cab I was in. Initially, we thought that it was a one off event as the cab had to brake suddenly and slowed down so as not to knock into him. However, the guy changed lane and got just in front of us a second time, obviously taunting the cab driver in some ways. I tried to recall what might have happened earlier but my cab driver certainly did not provoke him since we had just turned into the lane while he was traveling straight at the traffic lights. The cabbie looked like a calm uncle but he was incensed by this irresponsible act, and I was so worried that he will seek revenge in a extreme way. Somehow, he had a video camera installed but it was not on, instead he slowed down and was rummaging through his bag in the front seat. He actually whipped out a camera and there were flashes of light as he took picture of the punk motorcyclist from various angles. I was holding my breath and praying real hard that the guy will just divert away so that this ordeal will be over. Luckily, trouble stopped after this and we arrived at Kallang Leisure Park in one piece.

The torch of 28th Sea Games

When we were approaching Kallang, I noticed droplets of water on the windscreen and realised with a jolt that it was drizzling. When I alighted, there were looming dark clouds overhead and lots of runners arriving at the same time. There was a very slight drizzle as I made my way to the run venue (cab could not drop me at KLP as the road was blocked), it was still quite dark but I could make out long queues of people in front of the portable toilet. I was trying to look for the baggage deposit so I just followed crowds of people who should be doing the same. Fortunately, I've walked a few steps and realised all of them were not carrying any bags, so they were actually heading to the start line. I quickly turned back and finally located the baggage deposit counters right a the end of the tentages. Depositing of baggage was fast and there was no queue.

We were held here for 5-10min

I grabbed a cup of water and headed to the start line. Again, my bladder gave me the feeling that I need to visit the toilet but I quickly dismissed the thought, knowing myself that its just psychological and probably I'm more excited than in need of relieving myself. The walk to the start line was really long, we walked along the perimeter of the Sports Hub and passed the Sea Games torch that was still lighted even in the drizzle. After we reached the OCBC Aquatic area, they stopped us from proceeding and I thought the start pen was full of runners for the first wave so we were stopped. We waited for 5-10min before they allowed to proceed on. I still could not see the start line after walking for awhile, though I can make out the crowd of people gathering at the start pen. There was throngs of people ahead of me and I thought I certainly could not make it to the first wave, but amazingly I was at the last of the first wave and nylon ropes were pulled across just behind me to stop the second wave of runners.

All ready to go

After we were waved off, I crossed the start line after two minutes. Even though we were waved off in batches, there were a lot of runners ahead of me. Immediately after the first km, we headed up Sheares Bridge and there were many who started to walk. Afterall, this was a non competitive run. There were a lot of walkers along the way and I slowly weaved my way through as I just wanted to keep my pace but not really pushing myself too much. The road was wide enough to slowly pick up my pace but after the main gate of Dunman High, the road started to get narrower and there was a slight bottleneck.

I ran past the 2km mark and kept looking out for the hydration station, I did not study the route but normally the first hydration station will appear at the 2km-3km point for a 10km run. I went on and on, noticed that my Garmin only recorded 2.5km at the 3km mark but the hydration station still did not turn up. I make a mental note to study the route in greater detail the next run, so that I will be better prepared and plan ahead. I'm just glad that I grabbed a cup of water earlier despite the feeling of visiting the washroom.

I caught up with W who started right in front of the start line, I greeted her and went ahead as she was already walking at the side. I went on at a steady but slow pace till I finally saw the hydration station after the 4km mark. I was already getting a little impatient and was wondering why the organiser placed it so far away, there was a little flooding just before the station so runners were all jammed up around the area while trying to grab a cup of drink. Somehow I kept thinking that I will slow down to a walk after 5km but I was glad that I kept going. As we turned into Tanjong Rhu and headed towards the bridge to cross back to the Sports Hub, I noticed the layer of dark clouds seemed to have gotten thicker. I was still feeling thankful that the it didnt pour when I felt drops of water coming down from the sky and it quickly escalated to a huge downpour. I had already passed the 6km mark by that time and everyone around me was drenched in a few minutes.

Despite being soaked to the skin (really reminded me of Hello Kitty Run), I did not stop. I was actually enjoying this moment of running in the rain with so many others. My shoes were totally wet after awhile but I kept to my pace. We ran around the Sports Hub where we could run momentarily in the shelter at certain stretches, I kept thinking it should be ending soon but soon we were diverted away from the Sports Hub and the route led us downslope towards the underpass. At the underpass, there was a sheltered U turn point and I was glad that we are finally turning back towards the endpoint. As I headed back towards the Sports Hub, I could see that people after me were diverted to take a shortcut and they no longer had to hit the U turn point.

I kept going on until I see the finishing point, I actually felt really proud as I had thoughts of giving up and walk initially. I looked at my Garmin and total distance of 9.1km was recorded, I guess the actual route really fell short of 10km so could not be considered for a PB. Many runners were seeking shelter under the tents of the race village, but I see no point in doing that since I was already drenched. I headed to the baggage collection point to get my stuff and meet up with H. I'm glad that baggage collection was fast and the tentage was spacey, many people were seeking shelter there while planning their next course of action. The volunteers were nice enough to hand out ziplock bags so that we can keep our phones and valuables waterproofed.

Another good race

I loved the limited edition SEA games 100 plus and Nila medal we had gotten from the race. We took the Circle Line to Bishan for a nice warm breakfast at CBTL before heading back home to shower and rest.