Thanks to Tey for this shot of me running towards the finish line.I will start this post with a sad news. A young runner, Lim, who ran in the 10km category in SCKLM 2010 this morning passed away after collapsing during the run. According to some sources, there were a few runners with medical background tried to revive him. The ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later despite some helping runners shouted and scrambled for help. According to a runner's note in Facebook, he died on the way to the hospital. Rest in peace, Lim Wei Ji. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.
SCKLM 2009 was my maiden marathon. I never thought I could finish my maiden full marathon in just 9 months since started running in 2008. A year later, there I was, running this race for the second time and it was my fourth full marathon. Coming to this race without any solid target (and not enough training), I was determined to do my best anyway. That's just me, always give my best in whatever that I do.
I have been having this heel pain for a few months now. It has not healed yet. I am not sure if I had pushed myself too hard or it is just something else. I ran this race with the intermittent pain on the heel. I hoped I didn't aggravate it.
I came early and parked in Padang Merbok just like last year. This year my running buddy, BP joined the half marathon so I was alone coming to Dataran Merdeka this time.
It drizzled slightly when I arrived and by the time I got ready on the starting line, the rain started to come down. I was surprised and happy to see BP at the side of starting line although he would only start his race 90 minutes later. We chatted and took photo together. The race started on time at 5:00am under the down pour.
I was pacing along side an elite lady runner, Julia Lim. I figured I needed someone to pace with and I knew Julia's pace. And I predicted that she would do a sub-4 this time round.
Running in the rain was not an ideal condition. The rain made the road slippery and there were puddles all around. Your shoes would get wet and heavy and you would feel uncomfortable. Worse still, if you didn't have the right socks and Vaseline on, you would probably get blisters or even broken toenails.
I was glad that I made a bold decision to wear my new Injinji five-toe socks this morning. It was my first time running in them. I broke a runners' rule here by doing something I have not done before on race day. Luckily, the socks were comfortable even when wet. The water dried up eventually when the rain stopped and the sun starting shinning brightly. But I still got a small blister at the end of the race. But it was not major.
Some major happenings and my split times during the race from my perspective:
At roughly 9km mark, rain began to subside. I thought Alam Shah overtook me. Then followed by Ben Swee, who said hi.
At 10km split: 52 mins 3 secs
At 15km split: 1 hour 17 minutes 35 seconds
At 21km split: 1 hour 51 minutes 31 seconds
At 30km split: 2 hours 41 minutes 23 seconds, somewhere before 30km, Ronnie passed me and I realised I might be falling off the 4-hour pace as Ronnie was the official pacer for 4-hour pace. He went into the toilet in the 30km mark and overtook me again later and wished me good luck.
At 33km, I saw Ronnie's wife and son, Andrian passing something to him and cheering him on.
At 38km, my leg muscles started to cramp and it was painful to run. I had to control my pace and dared not to increase my speed. Passed Keven Bong before going down slope. Even when going down hill, it was painful and I couldn't take advantage of the down hill to pick up some time. Julia moved ahead of me for good from here.
At 39km, I saw Moey and gave him some encouragement before moving on.
At 40km split, 3 hours 39 minutes 48 seconds. The route merged with 3km, 5km, 10km, family run, 21km runners etc. It was very crowded and difficult to pass the slow moving runners.
At the finish, 3 hours 53 minutes 29 seconds. My personal best.
Then I met Andre at the finish line. He ran in the half marathon. I proceeded to collect my medal and do some stretching before met up with BP and my brothers (who came to support) to take some photos.
Chatted with my other friends who ran the 10km and 21km. All were in good spirit although completed their tough runs.
I waited in long queue later to collect my baggage. It took around 45 minutes to get mine before going home with my brother.
It was a good run this morning. Now my leg muscles are very sore and the heel is still in pain. So I think I will take good rest for some time to recover from this.
Until the next run, do train hard and stay healthy.
