Limping Marathon Runner

Sleep deficit, inherited from last night's noise from other occupants, everyone was contemplating if they should just sleep through and take breakfast,lunch and dinner before we board our bus back home. Agreed! Were there more half-marathoners than full distance runners in this accommodation? There was so much noise last night when we were in our bed around 8pm. Wish we could all stay in bed but we didn't. Waking up at 1am, we were ready to battle our reluctant inner thoughts at 2am. Making our way to the gathering point, there were already hordes of students along the way. Most of them had "the puzzled look" injected into their faces. 'Why are these people wearing bottles around their waist?' One could sense that he is being watched.... At gates of the gathering ground, I was being stopped for not having a second BIB behind my back. They wanted both my BIBs at chest levels *WITS!* 'You can't pin on the race belt.' I had to pin my rear BIB on the spot before I was allow to enter. C'mon.... firstly, I am blocking the way, can I be allowed to move aside? Secondly, how .. in the name of some holy crap am I to pin the rear BIB myself?! With much argument and disgruntlement from the staff, I was asked to pin my BIB just after the gates. There were so much commotion at the small area. Lots of runners had to turn back and get their BIBs before being allowed to race. I occupied myself with stretching and washroom visits, to distract my mind from the earlier incident. 'Slacker! I'm looking for you!' It was Cheow12. It was great to see a fellow slacker. I met Bernard and his partner (knew them during Phuket Marathon last week) as well. Making our way to the start line, I saw Mythos, Jennifery, Kops21, IMD and YeeHua. Shut was just beside me.

The race started. 'What am I doing here at 3am on a lazy Sunday?' It is not lazy anymore. Trotting along, Shut and I exclaimed at the water point that was barely around 500m away from start point. It is meant for our second loop and people are already starting to take water breaks! We continued our way, passing a loud disco on our left. People's party had ended. Ours? We just got started! Looping around before we went up a ramp to join the bridge, we were still good. Occasionally, I stopped for a photo or two. I noticed how long the bridge looked and said to myself, 'Here goes.', as I ran towards it. The gradient of the bridge was not as bad as it seemed. Did I just feel something on my left foot? Point noted. Several times during the stretch, there were spots of foul stench where you would not last even if you can hold your breathe for a minute. Wait a minute .. I did not come across any Port-A-Loo (portable loo) along the way. With my mind drifting away, I looped under the bridge and started my return leg. The returning route was just as dull as the way we came. With the entertainment from my MP3 player and half marathon runners on the opposite side of the bridge, I survived boredom. I saw Eliza on the other side.

I lost sight of Shut somewhere. He went ahead of me when I was doing my stretch somewhere, sometime. Exiting the bridge, I heard sounds of loud music coming from the end point. I had to keep left for an extended loop to Queensbay mall and further away before turning back. Along the way, at 25km mark, Powergels were distributed. I kept the new packet and consumed my own "Apple-Lime" flavored Powergel. Yucks. I'll stick to my Raspberry cream. On the opposite side, Fennel was already on her way back. She was followed by Kops21 and HoHoRunner. At the turn around Queensbay mall, first light was seen and I took a picture of it. Two, actually. Or was it three? .... Too many. I carried on. The U-turn point seemed outrageously far and it was definitely a form of encouragement when I finally reached it. Oh... the sunrise scene looked different again. More photos taken. I got to get going, no more clowning around. By this time, I was already down to every 2.5km for a run/walk break. My left foot was already giving problems. Some fellow runners thought I was giving up and kept encouraging me, when I was only taking scheduled walk breaks. As long as I reach before 6 hours, I am still happy about it. After the 35km, we need to carry on another stretch before turning back into the end point area. That 5km to 40km mark was no easy feat as well. Sun was up high in the sky. A 5:30 finishing time was still possible to me, at that point of time. I felt much lighter when I saw a "1km left" sign. Another obstacle or other obstacles came into view. There were plenty of walkers from 21k and 10k runs, dotted along the way. I had to maneuver by elbowing through the crowd as I turned to face the finishing line. There were plenty of people hanging around the area, sitting or standing, walking or running. It was a total mess. I crossed the finishing line at a 5:32 timing as I received several congratulating shouts from the side. 'Slacker!! Why are you so slow? Taking pictures, right?' I am truly guilty of taking my own sweet time. :p After collecting my finisher medal, I heard from IMD that Tricia had to be dripped (dehydrated). Take care, Tricia! Another runner suffered similar condition and had to be sent to hospital for a night's observation. I met YenErl who did her 21km (Well done!) for this event and Runwitme whom I did not get to meet at Phuket as well. Some folks did exceptionally well. Needless to say for IMD, TeeLee and YeeHua. Fennel took women's 19th position too. Well done, guys! Cheow12 came in before me and credited me for his fast timing. 'I cannot be behind Slacker Bala' Win liao. Haaaa... With several of us around, we took pictures together at the finishing line before most left for their hotels. Shut, TeeLee and I made our way back to our motel. We stopped for 7-11's Slurpee before carrying on. First time ever with Slurpee tasting like you struck gold on a treasure hunt. Most left for lunch where Shut and I decided to sleep it through lunch time. Fennel's mum's friend (confusing) took us around for feasting Char Kway Teow and we ended up at Komtar. Settling our dinner there, we made our way back to collect our baggage at our motel before boarding our bus at the terminal heading back home. I can sense the coming of a pig trotter.