Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) 2012

I clocked my slowest  21km run in this year's edition but I am not disappointed at all.  On the contrary, I am pleased.  Pleased because Winnie who has never thought she will finish her half marathon race and putting paid to her confidence, she skipped two half marathon events last year despite already registered for these.  Her mental stage of mind had already defeated her, not once but twice before.

Very frankly, I was not that hopeful that she will attempt to run in this year event.  She did not prepare for this half marathon event.  Her last run was the 10km Shape Run in July but she managed to pull through.  Since that last run, she did one practise run on treadmill but ended up injuring herself - what bad luck.  Judging from her two previous experiences, I kind of know she will give up this run at the last moment.  How wrong I was when she said she will run and if she has to walk, she will.  Yes, that is the spirit and I applaud her for taking the first step forward.  Positive spirit aside, I am concerned too.  Is she ready for 21km?  She has not been training prior to that.  Even for me, it will prove an uphill task if I do not have regular training.

Catherine, another running kaki was supposed to join me for this run but bad luck seemed to have followed her.  She had a bad fall from a warm up run just one day prior to the event.  It is best for her to rest now, no point injuring herself further.  I hope she will have a speedy recovery so that we can have more runs in the future.

This morning, I got up at 4.00 am though my alarm was set at 4.30 am.  By 5.00 am, I left my house and heading to Aljunied station for HarbourFront.  I smsed Winnie to inform I am on the way as we were supposed to meet at Vivo City.  I managed to meet Winnie and after a last minute dash for the toilet, the flagged-off was already underway.  I believe we were in the second wave and it should be slightly after 6.30am. 

I advised Winnie to take very slow pace and stop if she feels she has to.  For the first 5 km, she was holding well.  Soon, we reached Universal Studio and she was still holding steady.  Surprise, surprise.  Ya, we stopped to take some pictures - she can't resist.  It was nice running through Universal Studio and running past some cartoon characters.  When we were out of Sentosa, we had already covered 10km mark.  We will now have slightly more than half to go.  Winnie was certainly encouraged that she could finish 10km and anything beyond, it will be a longest run for her. 

To conserve energy, we walked when going up slope.  This strategy seemed to work well.  Earlier, it was threatening to rain but the weather was getting a little hotter.  I cannot complain more, the weather was perfect for me so far though Winnie said it was hot.  At the 11km mark, we saw the clock at St James showing 7.45am or something.  We should have covered an hour 20 mins or about by then.  Winnie asked me how much time will it take us to finish the last 10km and I said, 2 hours if we walk all the way or 1 and a half way if we walk and run.  We were actually walking and running after the 10 km mark.  Cramps were threatening to build up on her legs and I advised her to take extra precaution.  She complained her toes were tight, sign of cramps building up.  She stopped to stretch.  Fortunately, she managed to overcome the pain.  Her determination to finish certainly impressed me.  I left it to her to decide her pace, not wanting to add any pressure on her.  It was walk, run, walk and run in the last 10 km.  She wanted to take picture of each marker as a remainder, starting with 11 km.  I managed to take one at the 12 km mark but I rather prefer she concentrate on her pace and manage her pain to the finish.  We didn't take any more pictures until we crossed the finishing line. 

The last km seemed to last forever for her.  She kept asking where is the finishing despite assurance from me that the finishing is just around the corner.  I knew she was grimacing in pain but she pressed on gallantly.  When we dashed across the finishing with raised hands, the gun time above showed 3 hours 33 mins plus.  The time is secondary but finishing is everything.  She has done it and she can now proudly show her 21km finishing medal to her children.  Now for the new target, 42.195km...are you game, Winnie?