Sundown Ultramarathon 100km Finisher Medal

Sundown Ultramarathon Finisher medal, 1ookm
Ultramaraton Runner

OFFICIAL RESULTS ON RUNPIX

Of the 488 who finished, 12% were Women and 88% were Men.

As mentioned in the earlier post, i met up with my running friend James for dinner on Sunday. He brought along his finisher medal. Right now, i guess this is the only picture avaliable on the net, didn't manage to find one. Sealed in a self-made plastic cover for protection, there was reflection when the picture was taken, precious medal! Nevertheless we can still view it :) When each runner crossed the finish line, the organizer volunteer will putting the medal over your head.

He ran till 70km, didn't rest or take a break apart from the water point. From 70km to 100km, it was run & walk to finish.

Result
13 hrs 50 mins 57 sec. Men's open 67th place with 235 finishers behind.

If you are walking like a penguin, then you have to stop, there's no point walking towards the finish line in a limp, the distance is just too great (there is a cut off time for the race). By pushing through the pain barrier, there might be more harm to your body. This is the advise given by James after the race, and the organizer had mentioned this before the race. He saw a lot of runners who had to give up at around 50km, there was a bus to fetch these guys.

I'm glad to play my part in helping him to draw out the training plan, yesterday he thanked me for it. Although i have not attempt an ultramarathon before but more or less i did read on how people train for such races. As each runner is different, the most important factor was to know the person well, based on his running experience, looking at the physical and mental aspect, how he can adapt to the training program over the months. Important things to look out for over this training period, more critical in the last month or so. Understanding how the body react during the training, and finally the 1 week rest needed before the race day (tapering).

In return, the challenge he thrown me was to participate in the race next year, now that he had completed the one and only ultra. 100km??? I knew my limit, and the distance i can cover, 100km is simply too much.

Before i ended this post, here is something i would like to share with all (there will be a separate post on more of the specially selected quotation from the book).Finished reading a book on Extreme Running by Kym McConnell & Dave Horsley over the weekend.

The only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and can be reached only through suffering.
- Igjugarjuk, Caribou Eskimo Shaman

Sundown Ultramarathon 100km - A New Record in Singapore

It was a great day, my friend James Loo had completed the 100 km ultramaraton in 13 hrs 54 mins. Importantly he had gave his best and survived the course. And he had put his name in the Sundown Marathon Singapore Record book forever!!

Some 900 runners took off the gruelling 100km Sundown Marathon at 6pm yesterday(26 Jun) at the Marina Barrage.

Last year around 30% completed the 84km distance. It's much tougher in 100km. Will update the results shortly.

I will be meeting him next Sunday, and there will be a special interview, which i will post here for everyone.

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010 Race Certificate

Received the race certificate yesterday, i'm most glad that there was no damage to the certificate itself, Perfect! For the last few years, the certificate usually arrives in the letterbox either bend or fold. Last year i had to return the certificate to get it printed again, but when it arrived, the corner was bend again (an A4 laminated paper posted out in an envelope).

This is probably my last full marathon in Singapore (the 5th), I have no intention of running a full marathon in Singapore, due to a few reasons. If i would to train for a full, i intended to go overseas like Thailand or Taiwan.

Will see how it goes, the next race coming up will be at the end of May, Sundown Marathon 2011 (half). I have given myself the goal of running under 2 hrs this time, finished 2 hrs 6 mins on the same race course last year.

the beginnning of another running season :)

Marathon Medals in 8 yrs

26.2 miles (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009) This is my favourite as this picture span across 5 years, an approximate of 169km covered on race day, plus a few thousand kilometers in training run.

The toughest was 2008 Sundown Marathon, completed the race under a Cat 1 thunderstorm in the early morning. Runners were told to take shelter in nearby bus stops, but most of us just ran towards the finish line in the last few kilometers. Stopping and taking a break is not an option, not even in a storm.

Singapore Sundown Marathon 2008, 2009, 2010

The end of Singapore Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon from 2002-2009.
Medals shown here are from 2003-2009

This is the 8th year of distance running, had ran thousand of kilometers in training over the years. Shown here are Sundown Marathon and Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon medals.

Early this week, a good friend Steven captured these pictures to be used as stock photos. Every medal tells a story, facing the unknown, the struggle, the setbacks, the pain, the fear, the satisfaction... hopefully all runners can enjoy their run, it is not necessary to be the fastest, importantly, upon crossing the finish line, you knew you had gave your best.

Mile
1. Hello Start Line - Goodbye Doubt
2. Goodbye Fear
3. Hello Spectators - Goodbye Nerves
4. Hello Little Water Cups - Goodbye Anxiety
5. Goodbye Uncertainty
6. Hello Headwind - Goodbye Good Enough
7. Hello Cold - Goodbye Cynicism
8. Hello Warm Numbness - Goodbye Pain
9. Hello Don't Stop Now - Goodbye Arrogance
10. Hello Pounding Heart - Goodbye Overconfidence
11. Goodbye Giving Up
12. Goodbye the Easy Way Out
13. Hello Halfway Point - Goodbye Obstacles
14. Goodbye Pessimism
15. Goodbye Comfort Zone
16. Goodbye Apathy
17. Goodbye Cramping
18. Goodbye Coasting
19. Hello Wall. Goodbye Ego
20. Goodbye Struggle
21. Goodbye Demons
22. Goodbye Weakness
23. Hello Adoring Fans. Goodbye Previous Best
24. Goodbye Limitations
25. Hello Almost There- Goodbye Disbelief
26. Hello Finish Line - Goodbye Old Me

from the ad of ING New York City Marathon

Steven is an assigned official photographer for the coming Youth Olympic. For the latest photos updates in the coming month: AsianPhotosArts

More interesting & latest YOG updates! Till next post.

Running 84Km? How do you train yourself?

On Sunday night, a friend called and told me he had an announcement to make. Announcement? He had set the goal of running the Sundown 84km Ultramarathon next year, end May. He had completed 2 Sundown full marathon over 3 years, a 3 times marathon finisher.

Looking at this year stats - There are 592 registered for the Sundown ultramarathon. 61 were non-starters, 381 finishers and 150 DNFs. So 64% will get to cross the finish line, as compared to the usual marathon between 70-80% finisher.

How do you carry on running/walking when you had just completed a full marathon?

I guess the most important factor will be the mental side, which will help one to pull through this distance. There are runners who gave up at the 70km mark this year, it is just too painful to carry on, and they came to realize that the pride of finishing is no longer important when they put their whole health at risk. A guy who quit at the 55km mark mentioned that he took 5 months to build up to the race, did a multiple runs of 40km and above. However on actual day, he experienced pain and was forced to give up.

To cover 84km is double the commitment of finishing a marathon in my opinion. Careful planning, diet, training and race day conditions are all factors needed to finish this distance.

On the race itself, runners usually has their team of helpers (friends), who will assist them in gels, drinks and snacks. They will usually change into a new pair of running shoes, fresh running attire after finishing the first round, 42km. Something like a refueling station.

This year a 60 years old Taiwanese man (with 20 years running experience) finished the 84km running backwards in less than 13 hrs. The winner was a Korean, Jae Duk Sim, 42 yrs old finishing in a record time of 6 hrs 18 mins. Average runner will probably take 11 hrs or more.

It take years to build up and maintain a certain fitness, as one became more experience in running. A distance runner usually reaches his peak after 30 years old.

Wish my friend the best of luck, may he achieve his dream & accomplish his goal.

DNF- Did not finish.