Race Review: Sundown Marathon (Half Marathon 4th July 2015)

This is my fifth half marathon attempt and my second Sundown half marathon experience. The first time I took part in a half marathon and Sundown was years ago (cant remember the exact year was 2008 or 2009), I wasnt really into running then and I remember walking most of the distance with San just to check off the achievement from my bucket list.

Sundown is a major event here in SG and I had signed up several times but missed all my past attempts to do the Sundown FM after signing up due to school trips (and laziness to start training). I'm glad this year it was postponed to July instead of having it the last weekend of May when we tend to have school TIE trips. I had the intention of training and signing up for this event but somehow I got lazy with running from March onwards (especially after postponement of 2XU and missing NE Compressport run) and I even missed the registration date. I went into Carousell to look for a bib end of May and found several people selling off their slots, I quickly secure one for $60 and it was cheaper than the amount I would have paid just before registration closed.

However, I was slacking and away for holidays most of June and by the end of the month I was doubtful I can complete a full marathon with totally no training. Actually, I know I can grit my teeth and force my way to the finishing line, but that will be a total torture. When I saw a friend posted in a forum trading a half marathon bib for a full marathon bib, I quickly contacted him.

I went to the race expo at Suntec to collect my bib from the seller, I'm glad the REPC is held at Suntec instead of Expo like previous years, the whole layout is very similar to SCMS and there was no queue when I went. In fact, it was real splurging as I bought many things I didnt plan to buy. The real steal was Injinji socks (3 for $30), a packet of Tackonz after the bad experience with Bibfix, I also bought a new XL spi belt that can hold my iPhone 6, some GU gels and some GU energy chews. I also wanted to get a hydration belt to try out trail running, but decide against it as it will be a costly buy since I dont utilise it much.

The reporting time for this year's Sundown HM was at midnight, unlike many years ago when we started at 9pm. I went out to collect racepack for two other races, came back and managed to nap for 5 hours. As the race is starting so late, I had

the feeling that there's lots of time to prepare. But I really regretted it as I woke up at 8+, have dinner with P at 9+, and was rushing to pack after that. I did not even have time to put the Tackonz on my bib as it was taking up too much time. I had to really rush out of the house, I intended to leave my place by 10.30pm but ended up I was only at the MRT station at 11pm.

Finally at the start line

I felt weird taking the crowded MRT in my running gear, there were several other people in the Sundown vest as well as I kept looking around to see if any of them were going for HM like me, as I was quite sure I was going to be late. The start point is at the F1 pit for Sundown, and I usually take a cab or shuttle bus to the start point for morning races, so it did not occur to me that I should plan my route before I started on my journey. This was the second mistake I made pre-race as I got so lost that I almost DNS for the race. At the back of my mind, I was thinking I could just follow those people on the train, and I roughly know that I usually alight at City Hall and walk to Esplanade if I want to get to the F1 pit. One female runner on the train alighted at Bishan (guess she was transferring to Circle Line), I felt confused for a moment as the guy sitting opposite me remained on the train. I thought he was going to alight at City Hall but he didnt, I forgot that he probably going to Marina Bay to transfer to Bayfront and I actually panicked and alighted at the next stop which was Raffles Place. Raffles Place was the worst place to alight from the train as I could not transfer to any other trains or walk to the race site, so I boarded the next train and made my way to Marina Bay again. I seriously do not know why I made such a big boo boo and got myself lost on such familiar grounds, anyone observing me would be wondering what I was doing. I was glad to see a few other runners at Bayfront MRT and I made the same mistake of just following two girls who were walking to the F1 pit from MBS. I followed them for awhile and there were others following us too, and I looked at Google map on my phone and realised we were walking further away. I turned back and walked into MBS to look for the bridge we always cross to get to MBS and I finally found it, I was the only one in my running gear at MBS and I felt so awkward. It was almost midnight by then and I reckoned the race must be starting at that moment, I finally saw other runners on the bridge leading to the pit but most of them were FM runners. I walked across the bridge and actually saw crowds of runners coming down from the bridge so I followed them for awhile, but I soon realised most of them were without their bags and they looked quite tired, I was actually in the running path of the 10km runners heading to the finishing line! At least I was finally getting near to the race site!

I was shocked with the human jam at the race site. The 10km just finished the run and the FM runners were already at the race site, it was not easy to navigate around even with sufficient lighting around the place. I quickly deposited my bag at the shortest queue and squeezed through the crowd, it was really crowded at the entrance to the race pen as all the FM congested up the whole place even though the HM were still flagging off. Some FM runners even sneaked into the race pen and were escorted out by the organisers.

I was glad that I managed to get into the last wave, we waited quite long for flag off and only took off at 12.40am. By that time, the previous waves of runners were nowhere in sight. I kept reminding myself not to go too first at the start, so I kept my pace really slow during the race. We encountered the very steep slope up Sheares bridge right after the first km and I started walking with many of the other runners to keep my legs fresh.

Finally flagging off

According to feedback from other runners, the previous few Sundown races were very humid, but the weather that night was good and quite cooling. I keep the momentum going until we reached ECP. After we came to the first public toilet, I felt like making a stop there since I didnt have a chance to go to the washroom amidst all the rush before the race. It took me quite a while as the queue was long, I heard whistles blowing while queueing and guessed that the faster FM runners had caught up with us. I picked up momentum again after the toilet break, all was good till we made a U-turn and head back towards fort road.

I remembered the part after ECP was always my worst nightmare during the SCMS FM the past two years. However, it felt very different running that stretch at night. I stopped and walk quite a few times after that and was walking for longer and longer stretches. Fortunately, there were still bananas for us before we reached Tanjong Rhu already, there were no gels in sight even though I spotted the box on the table. It was not an issue as I had my own gels and energy chews from the race expo.

Since I was just walking, just stopped to snap this

After walking for quite awhile, I decided to motivate myself to run, and I started running for 100m after every 100m of walking. I realised that I could still run even right till the end but I was just not motivated to move my legs without using this strategy. I kept going on and on until I reached the finishing point.

As I approached the finishing line, the emcee was calling out for us to keep to one side as the first FM runner was arriving. He came in within 10 seconds after me and I was lucky to get a good look and good shot of him since I was just standing a short distance away.

First FM finisher right behind me

Finally, my first HM of the year done! I took 3 hours to complete the race, its not my best timing but I take it as a good warm up run to start off a series of other races later this month and the next few months. I was glad that I did not book the 3am shuttle bus as it was already 4am after I picked up my stuff and changed into my slippers to leave the place. There were many other runners just lying down and resting around, maybe waiting for the next shuttle bus or the first public transport in the morning. There were many cabs waiting outside, but they were all booked by others so I also booked a cab to get home in the end.

Not my best results but I was real glad I completed the race

On overall, I felt that the race was well organised, and I'm motivated to make it for the FM next year.