Limping Marathon Runner

Warning: Health Hazard. Very long post.



1st Pic: Balasing with Roger
2nd Pic: Fixed BrokenRunner posing at the finishing line
3rd Pic: Gentle holding onto a $10 note with TLR in the background

If it had not been my urge to pee... I would have been late. Probably not able to reach in time to do my 21km. Why? I accidentally fixed the alarm time at 4.40am. Lucky thing for me, it was just 3.20am. Nevermind, I should wake up anyway. Time to shower and freshen up. My dad thought I am crazy, asking me why would I run so early in the morning. 3hrs of sleep only... not a fun thing to do before a half marathon.

So, I flagged a cab, picking up Renohtaram along the way. I explained to him that Carine couldn't make it. She is suffering from stitch, muscle pull. We stopped over at Fullerton Hotel and walked over to the event grounds. The first person we saw .. .. DreamRunner. We could not locate the rest of the guys at the location that we're suppose to meet. After we did our bag deposits .... we saw Skyver1810 with his friends. Renohtaram and I went around a few more times before doing our warm ups near the Esplanade. Along the way, I saw Eric and Peter, familiar faces from MR. At around 5.30am, we made our way towards the Start line hoping to catch a glimpse of the guys. Nope. No luck. We did spot DreamRunner again, where he introduced CheeryRunner and Pre to us. For the first time too.. we stood so close to the start line. I prefer the back of the pack, actually.

The horn sounded off and with a wave of the flag, we're off! Renohtaram and I went slow pace at first, trying to watch the trend of the crowd, avoiding a fast burn out. Within minutes, we Skyver1810 dashing past us on our left, really fast. Not too long after, it was TLR who went past us on our right. We maintained speed... the Sheares Bridge's grade of ascend wasn't as bad as I thought. I didn't want to take water sips until around 10km, just afraid that I would get stitch. I saw Renohtaram taking a drink at the first water point, I slowed down a little for him to catch up. I didn't want to stop. I reached the ECP stretch.. I saw people having BBQ and others who just woke up from the tents. Probably got woken up by pounding footsteps of a few thousand runners. The sky is still quite dark. Barely around 6.30am or so. Still a little sleep, I was running in a semi-conscious state. Some folks who cheered us with drums (sort of... maybe there's a better name for that?). Almost at each water points, they had portable mini-compo playing songs with fast tempo beats. Good to distract joggers who are giving up. While turning around, I saw my NS PS Chang. I'm always like to spot familiar faces during runs. After 10km, I started to take drinks for hydration and to cool off. Okay. I was stopped once at a traffic junction by the Traffic Police, letting cars pass.

At the stretch just entering the Stadium MacDonalds area, I saw DO. DO?! You must be kidding. I don't think he is pushing at his racing pace. By this time, Commando ran past us. DO was running along my side until near the Nicoll Highway bridge where he took off. He must have gone off to chase after Commando. Minutes later, I caught sight of a runner closing in from my left at the corner of my eye. Someone was running really close to me. A familiar face popped up. BrokenRunner! She was smiling and grinning... I said, "Ehhh .. hello!! Go go!!". As swiftly as she came, moments later, she disappeared. Once I passed the bridge crossing Kallang River, some shouted from behind, "Balasing!!". It was IronmanDreamer. "Hey!! Go man.. I'm hungry already.", at that point.. I was really hungry. Looks like my 4 slices of bread with peanut butter jam lasted for only 10+ km. My stomach was growling. I took some Gatorade drinks along the way and I felt a little better, slightly more energized. From then, I didn't see anyone else till I reach the end point. A quick glance at the official time, I saw it showing 2hrs 2mins. Okay. I'm satisfied. I've not exactly timed myself in a half marathon before. Most of the time, just running the distance. So, is this a PB? No idea man.

I collected my goodie pack and the guy took my BIB... grrr... I wanted it for collection. I found our group and I was distributing T-shirts and chit chatting with all the people around. A few new faces that I've not seen before. Fantastic! We waited for most of the them to come back before taking a group photo and heading off for breakfast or.. brunch.

Post-race: Most guys did between 1hrs 45mins - 1hrs 55mins. I think Ah Chuan did exceptionally well. First time meet the real person, totally honored. IronmanDreamer went to do a 12km with his darling after his own 21km. Ultimate!! A great day to achieve PB and then spend time with darling. Lolz. Roger (BrokenRunner's brother) did well too. I got a shock when I saw Joggers bleeding, while I called out to him. Seems like he fell, even before the race started.. Oh my.. take care man! A cool finishing for Taz who has just recovered for illness too.

Runners attendance taken (sorry if I missed anyone):
TLR, Fd, BrokenRunner (and Roger), Lyn, Siong, Renohtaram, IronmanDreamer, Alvo2102, Meteor, CheeryRunner, Pre, DreamRunner, Kops21, Tiwazz, DO, Sotong (and Mrs.), Gentle, Skyver1810, Deathscythe99, Commando, Philip, Cheow12 (and Mrs.), Taz (and mei-meis), Joggers, Fastlane, KeepRunning, Penguin, Dong, Shortlegs, Sanji182, chPear, Dasher, Bug and bselby0.

Runners should be somewhere out there... but did not see you:
_phishy, ShaunZer, Flip, phonmooda and scarecrow (TLR saw him).

Runners whom we missed dearly already:
Carine, Menmoch, Eunice, Cyberkinetic, Kay, yojanjan, Jesslance and Sxuanjing.

Runners see you soon:
Bee and bariumoxide