Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2008

and just like that….. my first marathon experience has come and gone.

Apart from some sore knees and some aching thighs and calves, I left the race with a whole truckload of experiences that I would never ever give up. (I did of course also get a finishers medal and a tee shirt that claims that I am a finisher, but then again, you could steal one of those medals and from what I heard, you could buy one of those tee shirts on ebay)

Well, here goes….

I got up at 3am that Sunday morning, and instead of actually getting ready and eating my breakfast and stuff, I admit, I turned on the TV to see my favourite team struggle to beat a manager-less team.  Sigh.  What a way to start the day, but in the end, they did win by that solitary goal (scored by a defender no less).  So, I took that as a good sign.

Had my milo and nutri-grain (mmmm breakfast of champions) added a banana to that and I was good to go.  I had prepared everything else the night before so getting ready was relatively easy.

I left the house with baby to pick Amine up and headed over to the padang.

Everything from the time we got to Raffles City and to the start was a real blur but I knew one thing, I was starting to panic a little bit.  My HR was going through the roof and I had to mentally tell myself that I would be ok.  The next thing I knew, I was off and running with my running partner Amine.  We had decided to run together and hopefully finish the race together.  He had done a couple of marathons before and knew what to expect whereas I, running my first one, had no idea what to expect, much less whether or not I was going to finish!

The first 21 km was really good.  I felt good with the 7 min pace that we were going at and we were actually covering the distance with no problems.  I did however had to make a stop for a pee break but somehow, every bloody porta loo that we passed had a massive queue outside it and it was definitely too bright for me to just go to the bushes to let it all out.  So just before the 17 km mark, I popped into the ECP food center’s toilet, and guess what, there was a queue there too!

I was finally in and out of the loo in about 4 mins and continued my run.  I found my partner in crime (he had slowed down his pace for me) and just after we rejoined, I saw the most welcoming sight anyone could ask for… my wife.  There she was, cheering me on together with her cousin (who’s bf was also running the full marathon), snapping pictures, not getting her shot, sprinting ahead, taking another shot, not getting it, and sprinting ahead to get the shot and I think, she gave up trying.

So the run continues and just as we were about to hit the 21 km mark as well as the turnaround point, I start feeling a dull ache in my left knee.  I said to myself, “dammit! not now! not when I have another 21 km to go.”  So by this time, I was already slowing down my pace.  Amine tried to get me to speed up, but each time I tried, the ache just got worse.  So I told him to go ahead.  He refused to but after a while more, he decided to zoom off, and just at that time, I saw the next most welcoming sight… my wife again, but this time, I saw my parents!  At the 25 km mark, I stopped to take a drink that was waiting for me.  It was at that point that I actually contemplated quitting the race, but seeing my darling wife, and my most supportive parents and of course my wife’s cousin (who incidently was the one who handed me my bottle) and hearing the encouraging words that they had for me, I decided (rather reluctantly) to continue.

So it was at that point that I started my long lonely journey back to the finish line.  I was just plodding along, giving myself new checkpoints each time to hit.  I started walking a whole lot more and was getting more and more discouraged as more and more people started passing me.  It was then that I remembered that I had my shuffle with me (duh!) plugged in the earphones and the minute the music came on, I was off!

Then came the next hurdle, I was starting to get hungry.  My stomach was growling and I had this image of the fuel indicator in a car with the needle pointing at E with the orange indicator light illuminated.  At this point, I said, “die!  I am going to have to forfeit the race because I got hungry.”  I had just sucked down two gels in less than 10 km, so I was not about to take another one cos I really didn’t know if my stomach could take it.  I was just hoping to see the fruit station soon!

I was soon out of ECP and on my way down Fort Road.  I saw the petrol stations on the left and at this point, I was seriously thinking about going in to the station and try to do a barter trade with station attendant, a packet of gel for a chocolate bar or something.  I didn’t do that of course!  I just continued on just hoping that the fruit station would come soon before I fainted from hunger.  Finally! At the 32 km mark, at Stadium Boulevard, I saw the drinks station, and just beyond that, like a mirage in a desert, I saw two girls giving out bananas.  I guess I wasn’t the only one who was feeling hungry because I saw a lot of runners just sitting at the side of the road eating the bananas and drinking their drinks.  I thankfully grabbed 2 bananas, ate them and washed them down with two cups of 100 Plus.

And I was off again.  The next 4 km just passed me like a blur.  Along the way from 21 km to where I was 11 km down, the ache in the left knee was joined my an ache in my right knee and guess what? they decided to throw a party.  I tried changing everything from my speed to the way I was running but nothing was helping.  Then, I came up with this ingenious idea, I started brisk walking.  I thought, if I could walk at the same pace as I was running which had dropped to 8.45 min, I could lessen the impact on my knees.  Clever right? Wrong!  The calves started to threaten to cramp up, so when that happened, I would start running again.  So what I did from Geylang Road onwards was to alternate between the brisk walk and my shuffle/run method.  It worked for a while until the carbon monoxide and heat from the traffic that was held up beside the runners started getting to me.

The minute I turned left into Crawford Street I knew that I didn’t really have very far to go (3.5 km or so) but let me say that it was the longest “not-very-far-to-go” that I had run/walk/shuffle that I had ever had to do.  When we hit the F1 pits, the heat had reached an all time high (hey! don’t blame me, I write it as I felt it), the knees felt like popping and it really didn’t help that my left shoulder blade was tightening up really badly.  Finally, I was out of the pits and I thought that I was home free…. but the route markers brought me into the Marina floating platform and I was hit by another heatwave.

By that time, I had lost track of the time and I couldn’t remember anymore of the route so I didn’t know how much longer I had to go.  After the floating platform, I saw a lot of people/spectators/participants up ahead.  And how did I know they were participants?  They were carrying their finishers medals and the black tee shirt that was given to all full marathon finishers.  Dammit!  Did they have to gloat like that?  I mean, I was still running for goodness sake!

Then!  I heard some music.  And then, I heard an announcer’s voice announcing the start of one of the kid’s race.  I was near.  I was really near!  I came out from the underpass and I think the first thing I saw was the Victoria Concert Hall!  As I turned round the corner, I heard someone shout my name and tell me it was just a little bit more to the finish.  I picked up the pace and all of sudden, the pain in my knees disappeared, I had goosebumps all over my body and I nearly shed a tear when I turned round the corner and saw the finish line.

I heard a couple of people shout my name as I was heading down the last stretch and what surprised me even more was when I crossed the line in under my 6 hr target.  I crossed the line and pumped my fist.  I had done it.  I had completed my very first marathon.  It is truly a feeling that is undescribable.  I felt like a million bucks and what made the run even more special was that the good people of the Singapore Cheshire Home are going to benefit from my run.

After I returned my chip, collected my medal and my tee shirt, the very first person who was there to congratulate me was none other than my “without-a-doubt” better half.  I really had to put my shades back on cos I felt my eyes welling up when she said, “You did it baby!  Well done!”

I was really glad that my parents were there to witness my finish and to congratulate me.  Nothing like having your loved ones there when you finish a race as mentally and physically taxing as this.

Now, through this all, I have one person to thank and that person is my wife.  The love of my life, the one who believed in me when even I didn’t and the one who supports me in all things that I do, no matter how crazy it is.

“Thank you sweets for waking up at that ungodly hour to send me, and take photos for me, and carry my mid race and post race drink for me, and meeting me midway through the race to cheer me on, to welcome me at the finish line and to bring me to lunch and then to bring me home.”

To Amine, thank you for keeping me company for the first half of the race, to Merle, thanks for handing me my water bottle, to my parents, thank you for waking up and coming down to cheer me on and bearing the heat at the end, and to all those who encouraged me during the run, a big thank you to you all!

and… just in case you want to know, I finished my race in 5hrs 48 min 27s, not a world record, but I finished under my targetted 6 hrs, and most importantly, I finished!  I had fun, I did it for a good cause and I have the memories to last me a lifetime.  I hope you enjoyed my journey as much as I did!

and it really is true… Impossible is Nothing!