My 2nd Half Marathon
Hi Friends! I did it! I completed my 2nd Half Marathon. If you still remember, I blogged about my torturous 1st half marathon a little over half a year ago. You may still go and review my somatic sensation of acute discomfort HERE before reading this post!
Pre-Half Marathon
I went to collect the race kit the day before (Saturday, 27th). Surprisingly, there was no queue at all, when I was expecting the chaotic, typical, Malaysian queue. Probably it was because of the low number of participants - 12,500 (all categories), as compared to Singapore's 50,000. Why so few, you might ask... I think it's the lack of experience and the inability to host more participants, as the 12,500 was the limit set by the organisers themselves. Pity all those who couldn't take part in this race. And the race kit was a lame thing in itself, since the only thing worth anything was the running shirt from Reebok, nothing like the Singaporean one. Ah well, what to do... Malaysia mar...
Half Marathon Day
My race starts at 6:15am, 15 minutes earlier than Singapore's. I woke up at 4:30am, just to make sure all my body's systems "wakes up", and also to eat something and hydrate my body 2 hours before the race.
Customarily, here's a self-taken shot of myself, fully dressed in my running attire... Take 1:
Take 2:
Take 3:
Unlike Singapore where my hotel is just minutes away from the starting point by foot, here I had to drive to a pick-up point (about 12 minutes away), and wait for the bus. And guess what? The bus came late, so I was 200m away from the starting point when the gun went off! When I reached the end of the crowd, I thought they were queuing up for the next race, which is the 10km, since everyone seemed to be walking. After confirming with a fellow runner, YES, it is the right race - the 21km (13 miles) half marathon. Being last, I couldn't see how many were in front of me, and it had already started. Not that it mattered to me, being at the end of the group, since what matters most for me is finishing the race in a better time.
And the saying is so true... "Nothing beats experience". I started really, really conservatively, knowing that I had started a little too fast back in Singapore.
I used the run-walk-run-walk strategy, rather than just plowing on non-stop for almost 3 hours previously. After the first 28 minutes, I walked for 2 minutes, and then run the next 28 minutes, followed by 4 minutes of walking, and so on and so forth. And I think this worked VERY
well, as I didn't experience ANY KNEE PAIN AT
ALL, NOR ANY CRAMPS!!! Amazing huh? Thank God for His blessings, and of course, all that half a year of training really paid off handsomely!
Too bad, the shots of me DURING the race are not ready yet... But definitely there will be a stark difference between my 1st race and this time :)
*PHOTOS COMING SOON!*
It's here! Shots of me during the race. Are you ready? Here we go!!!
Picture #1: I saw the finishing line... bucking up!
Picture #2: Checking out the time... still below 3 hours!!! Woohoo!!!
Picture #3: Punching the air, victoriously! Yeah...!!!
Picture #4: Sprinting to the line!
Wow, there's even a video of me before and after finishing. See it HERE (I'm the fastest moving, blue-colour-singlet man on the far right side of the lane (my side)).
But I would have to say that the supply of 100 Plus was good - I didn't get any isotonic drink back in Singapore, not even a cup. Here, I had at least 7 CUPS (3 during the race)! Heh heh heh... Thanks to 100 Plus!
And there were so many interesting things on the road, en route. I saw a dead cat, obviously squashed by a stupid driver, no doubt. Probably the poor cat was trying to avoid the incoming runners, but failed to notice the incoming car. I also saw someone's shoe sole. Of course, I didn't stop and inspect if it was the right one or the left one, but suffice to say that, that person will be having a tough time completing the race! And I also saw someone dropped their Power Bar. And nope, I didn't pick it up and use it. It could be a trap, you know, someone evil enough to purposefully "drop" it there. Sorry, no pictures for these!
And yes, I crossed the finishing point, with an unofficial time of 2
hours, 45 minutes and 21.08 seconds (unofficial - my stopwatch) or the official time of 2 hours, 47 minutes and 42.71 seconds! Thank God for that! That's almost 15 mins faster than my previous time. And I could even sprint towards the finishing line, as compared to previously where I half-limped, half-walked.
I was the 1,333rd man to cross that finishing point!!! Isn't that amazing??? I improved from number 4,689 to 1,333. Too bad they didn't tell me how many people finished behind me. For all you know, I could be the last runner!!! LOL... For completing the half marathon, I received a finisher's medal, and a certificate that will be posted to me in the coming weeks.
UPDATE: I had just received the reply from the organisers, that a total of 2,018 men collected their race bibs, and a total of 1,777 finished the race. So let's just assume that all 2,018 of them started the race. Meaning I finished ahead of 685 male runners, ahead of 444 finishers. This means I'm in the top 66%. Previously, I was 4,689th out of 6,339, meaning top 74%. So, even though there are less runners this time, looking at the percentages, not only I bettered my time, but I also bettered my finishing position! Thank You Jesus!
By the way, the WINNER, the CHAMPION for the Half Marathon was again, obviously, a Kenyan by the name of James Meragui. Interestingly, this person is an unknown, as googling turns up nothing for that name! Here are the Top 7 runners, and please try not to notice that Kenyans sweep all the top 6 positions:
1. James Meragui (KENYA) 1:07:12.20 (Faster than the winner in Singapore)
2. Moses Kipkemboi Kiptoo (KENYA) 1:08:18.51
3. Boniface Biwott Cheruiyot (KENYA) 1:08:36.66
4. Richard Mutua Mutisya (KENYA) 1:12:16.27
5. Lelei Joseph Kibet (KENYA) 1:12:46.95
6. Wilson Songok (KENYA) 1:12:48.35
7. Sefli ak Ahar (BRUNEI) 1:16:03.00
Top Malaysian
8th place - Venugopal a/l Rajendran (MALAYSIA) 1:18:47.29
Post-Half Marathon
When I reached home, I was wondering if I just ran 21 kilometers or 21 meters, because I still feel fine - NO KNEE PAIN, NO CRAMPS. Just a little tired, but otherwise, I feel MUCH, MUCH better than the half-dead, half-comatose me in my earlier post-encounter. Did I run the correct race or distance?
And I could still make it to my church's 2nd service at 11:15am. Though I could have just slept in to recuperate, I just want to make it a point to be in the house of the Lord. Besides, I could still walk and have the energy to do just that :)
So... that's 42km under my feet now - two half marathons, excluding all the training mileage.
Should I go for the full marathon next - 26.2 miles? Probably not yet. I want to improve more in the half distance before taking on the full distance. My next race will definitely be in the States, specifically in MO. Interestingly, there are even races towards the end of the year in MO! I'll most likely participate in the St. Louis Half Marathon on Nov 1, or the Run for the Ranch in Springfield on Dec 27, the 3rd day of Christmas. Now this will be an interesting challenge, since it will be wintertime. I will have to read up on this. Apart from braving freezing temperatures (on the lows of 37°F and 26°F respectively), I'm sure I'll need special running shoes for this. Ah! Found it... I knew there has to be winter running shoes.
Ooppss! I better end here or I might keep rambling on and on about running. Thanks for reading this long post friends! God bless you and have a blessed week ahead!
