Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2012 Race Review

Jogging track in Fermont, San Francisco. It was cold & raining during my visit. Didn't run, but took a picture. 

I came back from a US trip on the 26 Nov, visited San Francisco & Las Vegas. The Standard Chartered run falls on the 2 Dec, without training during the last two weeks, it was going to be tough.

As usual the 10km run within Sentosa is quite tough, but i'm ready for it as this is the 2nd time running this course. The part i hated most is running at the sentosa underground carpark (about 1km+), with the car engines running, i'm kind of out of breath, hoping to get out as soon as possible.

Overall it was a challenging course, i do not want to run the same course again next year.

 medal for this year

the race result is out within a day.

A total of 7462 finished the race, at 2:27 it is considered slow (due to the tough course), however this time is within the top 20%.

Runs for 2012, sundown, safra army half marathon, adidas kings of the roads and finally standard chartered

 completed 10 years of distance running, i'm taking a break from standard chartered as i intend to run overseas.

Adidas King of the Road Singapore Race Review 2012

Last Sunday 28 Oct, I took part in the adidas King of the Road, with the final leg in Singapore. The race tag is kind of refreshing with the "is all in" behind my name. KOTR is a running championship held across Southeast Asia, held in five countries across the region and organised in city areas - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore. The race distance is 16.8km.

On the Race 

KOTR is a very well organised race, adidas has very good experiences in running such big events, however i had a few points to make and hope they can change and improve on.

The race starts at 7:15 am, it is kind of late in my opinion, with the morning sun at around 8 plus am, it is going to be quite tough, it will be better if they can bring the time forward by 30 mins to 1 hr. We had to walk around 1km to the start line, well i have no complaints of that, just treat that 1km as a warm-up, plus runners can chit-chat with friends. At the start line there was a water point!! Well this is really good, I'm surprised by this welcoming sight, this is the first time i saw a water point right before the start line, runners can take a quick slip before the run. Do keep up with this!

The route itself is challenging with plenty of uphill, with 3 timing check points. adidas can look into the road block itself and make sure it is secure. At the 14km mark, 2 ladies (well i'm polite to call them ladies, kind of mid-age aunties), just cut across in front of me. They cheated!! from 6-7km and jump to 14km! Because there isn't any proper road block, it will never happen in Standard Chartered race. They are not runners, cheating themselves and the rest of runners who put in the effort. This is a disgrace! For participants who signed up for any race, please respect the distance and the route. Else don't sign up for the run in the 1st place.

Along the route, the water-points are sufficient. At around the 15km mark, 2-3 water point volunteers even gave out water by crossing to the other side of the road (when runners are really suffering in the heat), they show sometime beyond their duty. Of all my years of running, this is the 1st time i saw this, i salute the volunteers for being so helpful and kind. This make the race stand up, and they are doing it with a difference. Keep up the good work!

adidas should had runpix for this race, so runners can review their race! Just showing the timing at the 3 check point is not enough. I finished in Rank 579, i doubt i'm that fast, how accurate is this, my timing is not fantastic, my friend who is 8 mins faster than me, was in 554. As runners we would like to know the total number of runners on the field. Before the race, the DJ announced that there are 12,000 runners. Well it don't look that big, i would put it at less than 10k runners. It will be unknown, how many runners started, and how many finished the race.

Overall race experience, i would give a score of 8/10. Good work! 

Just start the race 30 mins earlier, DJ speech can improve at the start of the race, play some nicer music and have runpix, then it will be 9/10!

the blue running singlet and the finisher medal 

I had took part in a few races after last year Standard Chartered Marathon 2011, it had been quite sometime and it seems that I had forgot about this blog. Ran in the Sundown Half Marathon 2012 and the Army Half Marathon 2012, the next coming race with be a half marathon for Standard Chartered in Dec.

Marathon Update

Received a call from James last night.

After finishing Sundown 100km, he went to get an extended MC (medical certificate), from the doctor, he will probably need to rest for a week. On the phone he mentioned that he ran from the first km to around 70km! He told me his thoughts during the race, and after. We had a good conversation, will be meeting up for dinner this Sunday.

I told him to bring along his medal & wear his finisher T-shirt. ( i will post a picture of the 100km finisher medal on the blog), how often do we get to see such a medal & T-shirt! Around 500 runners completed the race in Singapore, around 200 did not finish and another 200 did not start.

The Official Sundown 100km Results

Men

1. Ahmad Lamchannak, 08:12:03.03
2. Sefli Ahar, 08:24:58.05
3. Ewin Teo, 09:12:53.06

Women

1. Sumiko Tan, 10:24:31.42
2. Tori Leckie, 12:39:35.11
3. Claire Robley, 12:41:27.77

I signed up for the standard chartered half marathon 2 days ago, do sign up Latest by Tonight for the early bird discount, else the fees is to increase 20%. The full marathon fees for those who ran last year will be at S$60. It is Jun now, one should plan for their marathon goal, i guess many of the runners will have the "sign up first & see later" mentality, it is the organizers who are making money, many runners don't turn out on race day.

We are going to see another record runners this year.

Sundown Marathon 2011 Half Marathon Review

I had finished the race, there isn't any personal best. Just how close it was? This year I finished in 2: 06: 16. Last year it was 2: 06 : 15. So the difference was 1 sec to my personal best.

I gave my best, if i didn't stop at the last 2 water points, I am sure it can be around 30 sec faster. But anyway, I'm more determined to run a personal best again this year.


Race Review
This year Sundown orgainizer Hivelocity did a great job, after taking feedbacks & making adjustment to the overall race experience, there isn't any major issues. They received lots of complaints after last year race, as expected more people turn out for the race this year.

My friend Roland pick us up at around 5:30pm, reaching at around 6:15pm. Four of us running, last year it was 5. The race starts at 8pm, we were early and there are plenty of parking lots. Unlike last year, I didn't move to the very front of the start line.


Start of the race

When the gun went off, I just have to overtake the slower runners, kind of waste a bit of energy, need to get into good position, i overtook hundreds of people. At around 5km, I looked at my watch - 28mins. Good pace, however at around 8km, as usual the same old problem on my right knee, I slow down a bit, at around 10km, it was less than an hour on my watch. Just have to maintain this pace, i tell myself. The weather was humid, was totally wet from head to toes. At around 13km, i kind of feeling the strain, i'm running out much faster than i did in training, the only thing i knew was that i had done this before, all i have to do was to repeat it again.

From 13 km onwards, I stopped and took a slip at every water point, just to have light refreshment, it was a tough run. After 15km, the road was kind of empty in front of me, just half a dozen people, i was too tried by now to overtake any of them, just running at the intended pace.

At 19km mark, I looked at my watch, it was 1 hr 53 mins. I knew it will be quite close this time, so i just pick up speed towards the finish without looking at my watch again (when u look at your watch, you tend to slow down), the right knee problem was gone (or i just block it away), the final push to the finish line. As usual, i was familiar with the route, in the final stretch of around 2km it was total darkness, i was running towards the light at the finish line (the music gets louder as it was closer). When i crossed the finish line, i knew i had the same timing as last year 2hrs 6 mins.In the last 2.1km, i took 13 mins.

race results from runpix

I have a total of 7 pictures taken, i selected 2 of my favourite and post here :)

My friend Roland 59 years old, came in 2nd in his age group, Chin 54 years old, 3rd in his age group and Hong in 40-44 age group, he finished at 16 position. They are all superb runners and i can't keep up with them in training, i'm usually a step behind them.

Running Motivation

About 10 days to the Sundown Marathon, everything is progressing smoothly, did a few session with my training mates. A week ago i came across this clip of Heather Dorniden from the University of Minnesota races the 600m at the Big 10 Indoor Track Championships. I noticed there was blood on her face, from the fall, but she just gave her all in the race.

It reminded us as runners, our training over the years, the dedication needed just for that special day.



a special clip, you just need that something extra in every race :)

Sundown Marathon 2011

Notice the adidas logo has been removed for the 2011 promotion poster, I wonder if there will be a new sponser after 3 years, this is the normal practice to a change in sponsorship every 3 years.

Received an email today, on the registration for Sundown Marathon at the 2010 Sports and Fitness Expo to be held from 19 - 22 November. It is the same date for the collection of the race pack for Standard Chartered Marathon. Received 2 messages from my runner friends today on whether to sign up, with the coming marathon to plan for in the next 2 weeks, I will probably not worry about this.

Having took part in 3 consecutive Sundown races, was rather disappointed when I see there is another price increment on the race fees. Well, all the race fees are increasing every year, 10% at least, as a matter of fact a runner will not complain on the price if he is running, else just skip it. But I can sense that for the last few years, organizing a race is a big business, with probably good profit. Example is this year Standard Chartered race increase to 60k, up from 50k in 2009. And the plan is to increase to 100k participants in the next few years.

In the recent Great Eastern 2010, there are a record of 10k runners, but only around 4,200 finished the race, the rest are DNF and DNS. Just purely marketing & promotion strategy for the brand to show how successful the race was. It is not recommened to sign up for a race without proper training.


Great Eastern Women 10k
www.women10k.com

DNF - Did not finish
DNS - Did not start

Newton Run 2010 Race Survey

Today received an email from Newton running to complete a survey on the recent 30km run. This morning, my running mate message me to check the time on the official site.

www.newtonrun.com

1,280 Men took part in 30km, was placed in 370. The time is about 1 min different from my stopwatch, on the men's list I came across woman's name in the list.

Overall the total runners in the four events are less than 2,000 participants, not as the announced 3.5k+.

Ratings for the following:
Newton website, Registration Process, Race Expo & Bib pick up, Cost of Event, Race Route, Direction Signage, Distance Markers, Goodie Bag Collection, Carnival Activities, Baggage Deposit Service, Course Support e.g Water Stations, Race Singlet Quality and Finishing Medal.

Have not decide on whether to join this race next year, it is kind of taxing to run such long distance, there are too many events now, it will be interesting to check out other races.

Here is a paragraph from a book which I read a few months ago, can't remember the book title.

Success means different things to different people. Someone else might see success as having the energy, fitness and body of an athlete, another person might see success as creating something unique, having a millionaire lifestyle or a loving relationship. Another person might see their success as helping others and making a difference to people's lives. However you define your success, you then need to make a plan and put an order to it.

Sundown Marathon 2010 (29 May)

Running tag and D-tag for timing.

The medal is thinner as compared to previous years.
Men's Open 21.1km ranking - 254/3301 (9 Jun 2010)

Last Saturday took part in the half-marathon night race at the adidas Sundown Marathon 2010. Finally, I achieved a personal best timing of 2:06:14, the 5th attempt in 7 years.

Before running this race, my best timing was in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2004, a time of 2:09:09. In SCSM 2006 half, ran 2:13:44. In 2008 SCSM half, a time of 2:13:14. In 2009 SAFRA Army Half Marathon (a tougher race running up the expressway) finished in 2:18:29. After 4 attempts, I was destined to run 2hrs 14 mins for a half marathon... So I tried to take advantage of this race, with a starting time at 9pm (though the air was hot & humid), but at least there isn't any heat from the sun.

With 3 of my running friends, Martin, 40 yrs old (best time this year in 1 hr 36 mins, was placed 19), Chin, 53 yrs old (finished in 1:58). Roland, 58 yrs old (finished in 2:02), he encouraged me when we met at 16km mark, where I was leading him.. shortly he overtook me, this made me determined to give a final push, maintaining my pace towards the finish (at average 6 mins pace). My inspiration came from my friends, despite being older in age, they are superb runners always running with deep passion.

A great race for everyone, we had our photos taken by an appointed photographer after the race, followed by a deserved night snack of "Indian prata", it was almost 2am. Hopefully in the next half-marathon, I have the chance to improve my timing again, it is not going to be easy but not totally impossible.

Race Review:

This is my 3rd Sundown marathon, in 2008 I ran the full marathon, at that time the total participants was probably less than 5k, a niche race in my opinion, the full marathon sign up was just around 4.5k. From my records, 3,599 men and 861 women completed the full. For 84km race, just a few hundred runners. The race was manageable back then, but recently it seems the organizer are getting their hands tied.

Has making more Money the main factor? More than 19k runners this year, an increase of 8k plus as compared to 2009. How was the logistic, transportation and manpower being planned? In the area of bag deposit, entertainment and wider running route, it was good planning. As usual credits to all the volunteers, they are the biggest plus point in this race. With limited resources and manpower, the volunteers did a wonderful job.

As I travelled to the location by car, it was very smooth along the way. But considering the majority of runners depended on the race day feeder buses (learnt that there was about 10 buses catered for the event), it was a huge disappointment, together with complaints from lack of drinks at each water point. From all the posts on Facebook Sundown Marathon, it sounds like a nightmare for most people.

The organizer will have to look into the complaints and improve... else runners won't bother to sign up next year, the race fees are not cheap (increasing every year) in the first place. I had experienced bad races in Mizuno Wave Runs (first 2 years) and understand the frustration even after the race, hopefully runners can forget about this and look forward to their next race. Good luck & enjoy your runs :)

Earlier post in Feb:
Medal Collections till 2009

SAA's 10km run in July 2010

Report by Leonard Lim

Another running event is set to be added to the local calendar, as the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) looks to muscle in on the popularity of the 10km event.

Starting and ending at the Kallang National Stadium car park, the race - yet to be named - will take place on July 6 or 18. The route, an SAA proposal has been submitted to the Land Transport Authority for approval, it is understood to include the Nicolle Highway area.

A total of 15,000 participants - both men and women across all age groups are being targetted.

Observers see the new race as a way for the SAA to earn income through registration fees, in an industry that has grown tremendously.

The fees have yet to be confirmed, but the market rate for such an event would be about $30.

The SAA has not received a cent in government funding since April 1 last year, after missing deadlines to submit budget and training plans to the Singapore Sports Council (SCC). The association's flagship event, the Singapore Marathon, adds close to $1 million to its coffers every year.

But the co-organisers SAA and SSC split after last year's edition, and the two set to host rival marathons in December.

There are already several popular 10km runs, including the Shape Run and the Great Eastern Women 10k.

Last year's Shape Run (8,000 runners) took two days to fill, while the Nike Human Race (10,000 runners) took five. More than 14,000 women took part in the Great Eastern event last year, up from 10,000 in 2008 and 7,700 in 2007.

Last year there were at least 45 running races in Singapore and nearly all boasted a capacity field. At last count, there were already 29 listed for this year, with more set to come.

North East Run 16 km (14 Mar 2010)

First race of the year... liked the cute cartoons.
RESULTS OUT TODAY (16 Mar)
Ranked in 434/1585 runners.

Back of the medal..
Race tag and medal, comes with red & white ribbon.

North East run 16km from google map. (14 Mar)

This morning NE run 16km location was at Pasir Ris, my first race of the year, it starts at 6:45am. Before the run, I knew that there will be a couple of overhead bridges. So, during training runs, I incorporated overhead bridges, the longest run was just 8 km with 2 overhead bridges.

The gun starts off at 6:45am, watching my pace by not going too fast at the beginning, pretty soon along the route, there was the 1st overhead bridge, it was up slope, it was not too tedious for me. Followed shortly was the second overhead bridge, climbed up the stairs feeling strong. After crossing 2 overhead bridges, was the 5 km markings, I looked at my watch, 30 mins.

At 10 km mark, after closing the 3rd overhead bridges (with staircases), my stop watch was 1hr 1 mins. We ran inside the campus of Temasek Polytechinc, took my time to enjoyed the nice buildings, and popped a power gel.

At around 13-14 km, the sun was out and started to feel the heat. It was like running towards the sun, and my face felt like burning for a while. I decided to pick up my pace, after crossing a total of 6 overhead bridges, it was near the end of the race ... in the last 1.5km keeping my pace constant, met a fellow Malay runner without his right arm in front of me, was motivated and admired his courage and grit, I decided to keep up with him, maintained eye contact as we run side-by-side, gave him a smile as a form of encourgement. I surged pass him shortly and crossed the finished line. My watch shows 1hr 32 mins, am satisfied with today's run.

Collected the goodie bag, the medal.. and was given a free ice-cream of berry favor! Wow... so having an ice-cream while doing my warming down... do not know if this was advisable, anyway I think I deserved it as a small reward after a tough run.

Walked towards the train station and came across a stable ... here are some pictures taken with my camera phone..

2 ponies and a few horses. Picture taken using 2MP handphone.

The stable in the area.

Thanks for reading, the next post coming up shortly this week will be my 1st LEGO review. Have a good week..