The start and finish point was the open space between Block 121 and Block 123 Bukit Merah View. A crowd gathered much earlier than the start time of 7.30 am. Turning left into Jalan Bukit Merah, then Lower Delta Road and subsequently Tiong Bahru Road, the terrain for the first kilometre was considerably rough. The next three kilometres along Henderson Road was a relatively straight stretch, uphill then downhill. Turning into the narrow Morse Road from Telok Blangah Road, participants had to cut through Pender Road towards a winding Mount Faber Loop.

The peak was somewhere near the 5-kilometre mark, where the picturesque scenery overlooking the Bukit Merah housing estate greeted participants.

The next two kilometres downhill was rather comfortable. The last stretch back to the finish point via Lower Delta Road, Tiong Bahru Road, Henderson Road and Bukit Merah View was relatively flat.

This year’s race pack collection was at Velocity@Novena on 5-6 June 2010. In addition to the usual freebies such as a running top, shoe bag, shopping vouchers and muscle rubs, there was umm… a packet of organic spaghetti.

Finally, I am looking forward to the 2010 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore on 5 December.

The annual Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009 was held early this morning. The 21-kilometre run started on the Esplanade Bridge under the night sky, passing by Fullerton Hotel. We then proceeded up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge at 20 metres in height, passing by landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer and the Floating Platform, before entering East Coast Park. A 50-metre stretch along the East Coast Park was shrouded in darkness, with the path lit up by light sticks. After making a right turn to Mountbatten Road, where runners found themselves running alongside the morning traffic, the sky became brighter. The next straight stretch was along Nicoll Highway, but after making a turn into Republic Avenue, we had to run twice below an underpass at the 17-kilometre mark. The last four kilometers was along the F1 track and across Anderson Bridge. The run ended at the Padang, where runners collected their finisher medals and participated in the carnival.

This is the second time I have came to the Padang in a week. On Friday evening, I attended the One Year Countdown to the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games as mentioned in this article.

The Youth Olympic Games Countdown Clock greets runners as they cross the finishing line.

This morning, I went for the POSB Run for Kids 2009 held in Sengkang. It is a good thing that my house is not too far away. This is the third time I am running in Sengkang this year, At 0630 hours, Alvin and I made our way to Sengkang. On our way there, it started drizzling. The rain became heavier, and there was lightning. However, the race continued as there was only slight rain (and a few bolts of lightning). The floor was wet, with puddles of water everywhere.  My timing is close to 45 minutes, approximately 10.7 km per hour.

Gun Time 5:29:05. Not very impressive but not bad for a first-timer either. If I calculated correctly, the Net Time should be 5:26:03. 

Running at night is quite different from running in the day. It is much quieter at night, and at some instances, it may be quite boring, as everything is shrouded in darkness. Also, it is much cooler at night, especially when running along the coastline (String of Lights) and enjoying the land breeze.

The route was divided into four sections:  

String of Lights

This is the longest stretch of the entire route at 21 kilometres. Seemingly identical white lamps formed a never-ending line. Starting from Nicoll Drive, I started running at a comfortable pace, so that I would not be drained out for the entire route. The next stretch was a straight route, and the only attraction was watching a few planes land at Changi International Airport. The air was very humid, and we had to compete with the plants for oxygen. After running south for an hour or so, there was a turn towards East Coast Park. Part of the route was the same for the Saucony-100Plus Passion Run last Sunday, and at night, it is just a different view. Lights from boats out at sea formed a static pattern. However, it is really interesting to find that East Coast Park is also full of life at night. There were groups of people cycling, camping, playing card games and barbequing. Water was made available at regular 2- to 3-kilometre intervals. This part of the route ended after crossing an overhead bridge across the East Coast Parkway.
 
Heartland Twist

This route had three overhead bridges to scale. Running along the Park Connector next to the drain, we saw landmarks such as Kembangan MRT Station. At the 26-kilometre mark, my right leg started to ache, so I decided to take a short rest on the bench. However, I soon realised that it was not a very good idea, as the muscles began contracting within seconds, resulting in unbearable cramps. The next two kilometres was along a jogging trail in a residential estate. Energy gels of different flavours were supplied there.
 
Waterfront Trail

The first part of the trail required us to run on a sandy trail halfway around Bedok Reservoir. I had to stop twice along the way as the strain on my right ankle was getting worse. At the 30-kilometre mark, there was an aid station, with a supply of bananas. There was also Deep Heat cream to relieve the pain on the thighs. Realising that I should not stop moving my legs (otherwise there will be cramps), from that point on, I adopted a walk-run strategy, alternating between the two every 300 to 400 metres. My pace decreased to an average of 9 minutes per kilometre. There was also a suspension bridge which was oscillating while other runners zoomed past me.
 
Homerun

The last 7 kilometres was a painful one. After spotting the 5:30 pacer, David, I decided to follow him to the endpoint. Running and walking along Loyang Avenue, I tried to follow David’s pacing. This section also included a 300 metre upward slope, which was not as bad as I had expected. After seeing Changi Village Hotel, I was convinced that I was very near the endpoint. I kept pushing myself, determined to clear the 5 hour 30 minute mark. After a short sprint towards Nicoll Drive, I made a U-turn to the Finish Point. Pacers do make a big difference! 

After collecting the finisher medal and T-shirt, David also advised me to walk around for a few minutes before sitting down. The design for the finisher T-shirt was very attractive! Also at the marathon was Dr Adrian Loo and we managed to talk to each other for a while. 

Volunteers and other supporters cheered on along the way, and this had motivated me to continue running (and not walking so much). I have learnt that it is really important to keep a comfortable pace at the start so that there is sufficient energy to complete the entire marathon. A tip from the 5:00 pacer Sri, when the cramp about to take effect, do some quick stretching and continue running, otherwise it would be very hard to start running again. Also, the unlimited supply of water at the 21 aid stations was very thirst-quenching.

The Singapore Passion Run 2009 was held this morning at East Coast Park. This is the third time the event is hosted in Singapore. Realising that I had little time left for breakfast, I grabbed a powerbar and ate it on the way there. After I arrived, I followed other runners who were in red on a long walk towards the starting point which was over 1 km away. I was on the wave which started at 0735. This was my second 15 km run. 

The first 3 km was covered at a comfortable pace, and the wind was blowing from behind me. After that, at 3.-something km, I saw a toilet and decided to use, and this had ate up a few minutes of my time, but that was better than running with a pain in the stomach for the rest of the journey. Up to the 7 km mark, I was running at a much slower pace as the sweltering heat became more intense. At the 5 km sign, the time on my phone was 0806, which meant that I had to speed up, as I have taken 31 minutes for the first third of the distance.
 
Next up, at 0826, is a junction where the 10 km and 15 km runners split up. From this point on, I ran at a constant pace all the way to the finish line without stopping, except for the thirst-quenching drinks, of course. The additional 5 km stretch of road had some undulating terrain, and I took close to 30 minutes on this stretch. The U-turn was estimated to be at the 10.3 km mark.
 
From the 12 km sign to the 13 km sign, the distance covered seemed way much shorter than a kilometre, probably 300 to 400 metres short. I took me some time see another mileage sign after the ’13 km’ sign. When the 10 km and 15 km runners merged back onto the same track, it was 0854. It took me around 14 minutes for the last more-than-2 km stretch, whilst spotting this sign around the probable 14 km mark at 0904, warning runners that the endpoint is still another 10.4 km (or 15 km) ahead. 

The collection of goodie bags was seamlessly quick, compared to a ten minute queue at the inaugural Suburban Run on 15 March. My overall timing for this 15 km run was around 1 hour 33 minutes, approximately 9.67 km per hour, which was quite good, considering that had not been training as much recently. 

For this run, I find that the volunteers there are really hyped up and they kept cheering everyone on, and pushed me ahead. Water points at this run were adequate, and had an unlimited supply of 100Plus and mineral water. At the end of the race, I gulped down two cans of 100Plus.