26th May 2012 marks the date for the fifth Sundown Marathon, and my first! Signed up last year for 21km, but had to forgo it due to a work trip to Koh Samui. This run was made more special, ‘cos my mom and sister came up with an impromptu decision to support me there physically for the run! Pardon the long entry ahead 
‘cos this run is one of the most memorable ones for me till date.
Took a nap for about three hours, before loading on the much-needed carbo with Mcdonald’s lunch. And more carbo-loading with Korean fare for dinner at Bugis Junction!
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Reached Bugis at about 7+pm, and met up with Nancy to pass her the race pack for her 10km run! After dinner, we proceeded to the race venue at Nicoll Highway. The crowd was packed with mostly 10km runners then, ‘cos the flag-off for 10km was 10.30pm.
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Here’re photos of my beloved supporters! Stan couldn’t be there ‘cos he had to do duty the next morning, but the messages of encouragement from him helped too!
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After leaving mom and sister at the MovieMob area (organised by Honda), I met-up with Jo who’s running 21km too! We were late for the flag-off at 12.30am for both 21km and 42km, but it didn’t really make a difference ‘cos the crowd was still moving slowly towards the starting point (human jam, as usual).
We ran off individually as we knew we had different paced timings. I started off with an average of 7min/km, and it averaged out to 8+min/km for the whole run. The initial part was really humid and dehydrating, so I stopped at every hydrating stations to replenish the water loss and to keep myself awake as well. Also, the Tiger Balm cream that I had slapped on earlier for my stiff neck and joints helped a lot too! Reason being, whenever I slowed down, the burning sensation from the cream was a killer 
so running helped to ‘fan’ it off in a way.
At the 8km mark, my left ankle started to cramp really badly, due to the old sprain injury. Went to seek medical assistance for the salonpas spray but they’d ran out it and could only give me the Joint Care cream. Pushed myself forward till the stretch along Marina Bay Sands, and I slowed down a fair bit there. Made a phone call to my sister, who cheered me on with hilarious encouraging remarks =*)
Until the 13km mark, the pain was getting a little too overwhelming, so I had to slow jog and walk. It kinda sucks that I wasn’t able to run for the full journey, but I thought I’d better rest to catch up on the second half of the run. At the 16km mark, the sky was turning red, and my sis called to say that they received warnings that a heavy downpour was approaching, and they were advised to take shelter at the nearby tents. True enough, strong winds came and a female runner was heard saying that it’s going to rain soon. The next moment, it started drizzling, and it poured like mad -______- kudos to the Sundown crew who didn’t take cover but stood by in their ponchos to guide us along the right path and spurred us on to keep going despite the dampening rain.
Contemplated on slowing down ‘cos the rain was all soaked up in my skin, and there’s no chance that the rain would stop any time soon. Besides, the rain was kind of hurting my small eyes and skin, with stupid huge rain drops. So, I told myself to press on and run back to the finishing point fast ‘cos my mom and sis are waiting for me, and I need to beat the rain!
The energy gel and banana given near the end of the leg helped a lot, ‘cos my stomach cramp came back and the food did give an energy booster (maybe it’s just psychological). The last 2km stretch was a killer, ‘cos my knees and ankles were giving way, and the pain was coming back stronger. Thankfully, prayers and my Runkeeper app were my saviours! At 20km mark, I had already clocked 2hours 50minutes. Throughout the run, I had in mind to clock below 2hours 30minutes but in vain which was kinda expected ‘cos my previous half-marathon took me 3.5hours. So, I said to myself that I’ll be more than accomplished if I could finish this under 3hours. Persevering till the finishing start, I didn’t stop for the last 1km and increased my pace too. The guys by the side also cheered us on, and that’s one of the reasons why I love running no matter what nationality or gender, encouraging each other goes a long way!
Nearing the finishing line, I got a little too emotional and started tearing a little. LOL! Maybe ‘cos the rain was seriously a mood dampener against the will and physical condition, and maybe ‘cos I’d managed to listen to my mind, and my body was ‘guai’ enough to get me through this run under three hours. Also, I managed to shave off 26 minutes off my Personal Best timing for half-marathon run!! ^^ The crowd didn’t stop cheering as everyone crossed the finishing point one by one, and I couldn’t stop smiling to myself as I followed the stream of crowd to collect my drinks and the Finisher’s Medal /beams.
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Photo credits to my sis for being such a great help in taking photographs for friends and I! /loves
Yay! Arrived early so there wasn’t any queue to take a photo against the backdrop.
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Hello Zirong laoda! So proud of you for completing your first half-marathon with an awesome timing!
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Jo babe! My dear secondary school classmate, who took up running too! We ran StanChart half-marathon together last year as well 
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At last! My Race Bib and Finisher’s Medal for 21km runners! :*)
Sundown Marathon 2012 marks my favourite run till date; thanks to the ‘no-sun’ weather which was more cooling (though the rain didn’t help), and I managed to find the reason to keep me going throughout the run. Not forgetting the beautiful scenery and endless hydrating points (compared to other runs)… yay!
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Check out this link – http://results.hivelocity.com.sg/index.php, for results of Sundown Marathon 2012!
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Albeit still a far cry from my running babes in terms of pace and timing (dear Deb is ranked #36, like omg please), but I’m really contented and thankful to have completed this run, despite the downpour and every other thing else. This marks my first night run, and I am sure it will not be my last! Thanks to all the encouragement texts, Tweets, and kind words :*) loves. Especially mommy and sister who endured the sleeping bug, and the stupid muddy paths on the way to the MRT station. Touched to the max, really* We only managed to get home close to 9am T.T and napped all the way after. LOL!
My mom always asks if I will ever stop running ‘cos of my asthmatic condition and concerns over my old leg injuries, I told her it’s one of my passions and something I take pride in. After being there physically at the run and seeing me completing it, she told me, “I can tell that you’re happy doing this. And I am proud and happy for you too! I finally can sense your determination in doing this, ‘cos I see it in the other runners today too.” :*)
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Hopefully through this blog post, Tweets, and Instagram sharing I’ll get to know more peeps who share the same passion for running! \m/ Holler here if you love running too! ^^
Off to bed now, before I get all emotional again. Back to work week tomorrow!
Nights y’all, xoxo.
Noi
so, I could only make do with my iPhone to snap some photos from the museum tour. That, I shall leave it to next entry.
