Adidas Sundown Marathon 2011

I beat the sun!!

Atlast the day came-May 28th and the time 10:00PM , the starting time of the much awaited marathon.My first marathon.The starting point was at Changi Expo, we took a shuttle bus from Singapore Expo at 8:10PM but the bus reached the location only at 10:35PM..oops!! I was upset, now i had to start alone may be with 2 or 3 other runners.So i did not see the flag off!

I started the race exactly at 10:50PM briskly.Ran in a consistent pace.Before the race i had planned to split the 42KMs into four 8KMs zone.So for the first 8KM i was reaching the target time and felt very good and the second 8KMs was also good but the third one was very tough.I saw flights taking off and landing at Changi airport, great scene!I did not feel any pain in my legs or any other parts of the body but felt very tired.I ate the Power gel every half hour.I took more time to reach the third 8KMs than the first two but i felt good when i gone past 21KM i.e half marathon distance.

Marathon route

I took 2 minute to stretch my body after 25KM , i was running almost half the pace of my usual pace anyhow i was not pushing myself. I saw runners vomiting ,lying down on the ground and some even smoking!!After 21KM i played songs in my iPod - music really helped me to focus more on the run than looking at the people camping in East Coast Park.I walked for a minute inhaling the fresh air from sea and felt rejuvenated.

As i mentioned earlier my 8KM zone splitting did not worked.Gradually i ran slower and slower till i reached 34KM i,e still 8KM to run.But after 34KM i started to run briskly but unfortunately i was running out of Power gel,again i waked for a minute.Luckily at the dehydration point i took a banana and ate, that gave me strength to complete the race.

Last 3 KM i ran like i used to run in my practice, straight road with without any blockade always makes me to run faster which i did this time also.When i saw the  board which showed 41KM... tears rolled from my eyes.. sense of satisfaction.. sense of achievement.. I finished the race without any injury.My first marathon gave me lot of confidence in myself that i can achieve anything if i set my mind and move towards the goal steadily.

Finisher T-shirt.. very proud to wear it for the first time

Thanks to everyone who supported me through out the training as well as in the race.Special thanks to my wife who inspite of  all the difficulties she came and stayed till i finish the race.Thanks to my parents and my friends and the volunteers.. you were all great! A special thanks to my boss who always encourages me to run and gives lots of tips on running.I need to train even harder for my next marathon.. hopefully Standard charted Marathon Singapore.

Great day and a great race!! Congratulation to all the fellow runners ..