Newton Run 2010 Race Review

The finisher medal, both 18km and 30km runners received the same medal (similiar design as Malaysia Newton Run on 26 Sept 12km/25km), I thought they should at least differentiate the 2 race distance. Well the ribbon colour remains me of the flag of Thailand.

Running 3 rounds of 10km each, along the beach there was strong headwind in the early morning and it made us push harder, that was tough.

On Sunday morning, together with 5 of my running friends we completed the 30km run at East Coast Park. The cut off time for the race initially was 3:30 hrs for 30km, however the organizer decided to change it to 5:30 hrs just in Sept. The emcee announced that there were 3,500 runners for both race distance, however it looked less than that. Before the start of the race, my friend gave me a packet of power gel, which I intended to take at around 13-14km.

The race starts at 7am, it was drizzling (cool perfect weather) and I reminded myself to be careful of the wet ground. The participants in this race are mostly seasoned runners(signed up to meet the cut off time), once flag off, all these runners just push forward.

Started the race at a comfortable pace, slightly faster than what I did in training. At the 2nd water point around at around 4-5km (at the lagoon) I picked up 2 packets of gel at the water station. Finished the first 10km (round 1), I checked my time it was slightly more than 1hr, was running at a good pace. In the second round, I met up with my running mate Roland, and we ran together for most of the 2nd round, at 20km mark upon crossing the line at the check point, I checked my time it was 2 hrs 1 min, I told my friend Roland we are going out a bit fast, but he just maintained his pace while I started to slow down, pretty soon I lost sight of him.

The final round of 10km (after running 20km) was the most challenging, my longest training run had been around 19km. At around 23km, was starting to feel the strain, my legs are alright (just a bit tired by now), no problem with my knees, so I looked at my watch again and knew that I can probably finish the race within 3hrs or so.. to get another PB. Popped the 3rd packet of gel before the lagoon, guess it was more of a psychological effect, thinking you are energised by the gel...I kind of slow down more in the final round, trying to maintain the pace I wanted.

In the last 3-4km towards the end, started to pick up some speed, I knew I was the last to finished in our group, at the last 2km, I maintained a good pace. Finally crossed the line in relief, finished the 30km run ... a true test of strength, stamina, endurance and speed. Crossed the line in 3 hrs 7 mins. Was happy with my time, gave my best, at least I didn't walk apart from drinking at the water stations.

Well, at the finish I took 2 cans of 100-plus, given an ice-cream and a wet towel (kind of refreshing).. with some ice, I used the towel to cool down..

The fastest time acheived by my friend was 2 hrs 25 mins, followed by 2hrs 45 mins, 2hrs 47 mins and Roland was 3 hrs 6 mins (he was 58 years old). Another friend finished in 3 hrs 20 mins. A good race with everyone getting a Personal Best.

This is a small scale race, the participants are manageable, however I can tell that there are a shortage of volunteers at the water stations. There wasn't any cheering group along the route, apart from the 30-40 people cheering at the finish line. Anyway a good race.

Till the next race. The next largest event will be the full marathon in December, and it was less than 2 months away.