Army Half Marathon

Could not sleep a wink and decided to just wash up and go for the race.
Reached the bus stop at 4am. Waited till 4.40am before Night Rider arrived, only to be told that the last bus was at 3.45am!
Alamak, next time cannot trust the SMRT website liao. It stated 4.30am was the last bus. =\

Decide to drive there. Packed a change of clothes, kiss wife goodbye and drove to the race site.
Reached Esplanade at 5.10am. Went to look for live firing pods.
None were found at the starting point.
Ventured to Suntec, before finding the live firing area at Marina Square packed with firers.
Abandoned my plan and proceed back to the start point.

Geez, it is starting to drizzle.
Found a place to sit and immediately felt sleepy.
Tried to doze, but was unable to.
Scared that when I wake up, the race would have ended.

Started to enter my blog entry using my mobile phone while observing the surroundings.
Not a lot of competitors as compared to last year.
Guess a lot of runners decided to sleep out this race. =S

More of that later. Will try to walk to the front of the line now. =)

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The crowd is already growing.
Stood there waiting for the race to start, only to see Vincent squeezing past.
Followed him and managed to progress quite a distance forward before I lost him in the crowd.
With my earphones plug in, I did not hear the horn went off, but it is a good 5 minutes before I cross the Start Line.

The first 2km were good.
Met Gugugaga. He got trapped in the human traffic.
A while later, he chiong ahead while I tried to conquer Mount Sheares.
Moments later, I decided to just walk up the never ending slope.
Hmm, I did not get that demoralised feeling last year leh.
In fact, I was enjoying myself running up Mount Sheares last year.

Saw Alan Goh, my ex-colleague. We spend the first 10km trading places on the run.
Spared him some of my SportsBeans during the 7km mark, my first designated re-fueling station. =)

Met Kannan, my neighbour.
Although we known each other to be taking part in various races over the last 2 years, this is the first time we met each other during a race.
Chat with him for a while before I lose him when I stopped for a sip at the drinks station.

This year's drink stations is simply horrible.
Too few tables, too few volunteers, too many runners.

Just before turning into East Coast Park, I saw Sarah and was pretty surprised that she is so far behind. Turned out she was late for the race , but she make up the distance pretty quickly.

At East Coast Park, I saw Brokie. Following closely behind is Aerosolcan and Roonz.
Tekko and Sotong ran passed my crosshairs soon after.
The distance between these guys are probably no more than 100m.
Geez, these guys are amazing.

Chugging along East Coast Park, I suddenly had this weird idea of trying to achieve my Personal Worst for 21km.
I totally lose the spirit to run.

At the U-turn point, I was pretty surprised that I am still hitting my 10km timing.
This is where my race ends.
Mentally, I have lost the race.
A inner voice keep saying "I HATE Running!!!"

Decided to walk and soak in the atmosphere.
But the going is getting tougher.
My right ankle hurts.
Probably cos I only clocked 14km on this pair of Kayanos.
The next 4km was the toughest.
My ankles, quads, knees and back all started to hurt at the same time.

Was glad to finally reach the end of Fort Road.
Enter the trail at the 14km mark.
Haha, this looks like a prelude to the New Balance Real Run.

After consuming my second pack of SportsBeans, I was hoping that they have a water point out here in the wilderness.
I am not disappointed. The Commandos have taken up the truly horrible task of feeding the mosquitoes.
Alas, they have ran out of cups and a few of us were sharing a miserable cup.

Another kilometer and the sea came into sight.
Going round a bend, Marina Barrage was straight ahead.
I stopped to take a few quick photos before continuing on my long journey.

At the 18km, I am ready to call it quits.
Feel like just sitting down at the bus stop and take a taxi when the road re-opens to the public.

But the thought of seeing the disappointment on Shannon's face push me on.
She absolutely love wearing my medals and I cannot afford to go home empty handed.
Shannon, daddy is doing the last 3km just for you. =)

Saw the sign 500m and decided to jog.
But the engine seems to be stuck in the first gear and I resumed walking.
At the 400m, 300m and 200m mark, I encounter the same engine problem.
It wasn't till the last 100m, that I manage to find one last ounce of energy to jog down the finish chute.

I am so glad that I have finally finished the race.
Yippee!!! I have achieved my Personal Worst!!! =D
Watch time? 3 hours 33 minutes.
Haha, a weird coincidence. 3:33 was my gun time for last year.

Went to exchange the ChampionChip for my Finisher's medal. Took the 2 muddy steps, change for the medal and retreat back to the safety of dry land.

Spoke to Gugugaga and Xiaopang on my way to the Esplanade.
Walked to the Cenotaph. The SGRunners were nowhere in sight.

Went to my car and had a change of clothes before proceeding to Marina Square for a bowl of laksa.
Haha, the SGRunners are still there chatting.

After lunch, most of the guys proceed to Clarke Quay to collect the Nike+ Run race pack while I proceed to Carrefour to do some grocery shopping.