My First Army Half Marathon

This was to be my first 21km Army Half Marathon (SBR/AHM) and my second 21km race. I did my first half mary at KL in March05 with a time of 1hr50min..so this was the time to beat for today's run. I did not prepare in any special way for this race, and my training runs have been revolving around the StanChart Martathon in Dec05 instead.

My Race Running Vest with bib

I slept all of 2 hours last night - went to bed at 11pm, and woke up at 1.30am. I guess it is the excitement of the race, and my tapered legs just needed to move and get the run going. I logged on as usual to SgRunners.com, and found that most of the people have already signed out - all catching a last minute rest. Took a bath at 3.30am to freshen up, ate a bowl of cereal and downed a cup of coffee to perk myself up. Left for the Padang at 4.30am, and reached Raffles City carpark at about 4.50pm. The place was already a hive of activity in the wee hours of the morning. I took a walk to the memorial and soon bumped into Balasing and Renohtaram of SgRunners. Couldn't see the rest of the SgRunners yet. I then moved along and found Adam, Yean, Colleen from SAFRA Running Club. I then moved to the start point and met up with Alan, Kumaran, Ong, Jaime, Akira, Thiam Huat from SAFRA too. I then introduced CheeryRunner to Balasing and Renohtaram as they crossed paths.

At 5.45am, the Chief Of Army started off the race. Alan was just telling me he was going for a 1hr45min time. I was planning for an averahe 5min/km pace, hoping to do a 1.48min sort of time. The weather was good, just a little humid. The start was smooth, and as I crossed the gantry, I couldn't hear the beep of my electronic bib (hmmm...i didn't test it before). With the srmy runners, many of whom were young, there was not much problem with jamming up...they were all eager beavers rushing ahead. After about 1km, I saw TLR moving ahead from behind. Kumaran and Ong were all up in front. I had no one to pace but myself, feeling my heart-beat and form. Did a check at 2km mark and I was behind my 5min pace..I have to catch up, and bank in a bot more time. After 3km, the slope up Benjamin Sheares' Bridge saw me overtaking hordes of runners...I guess the hillwork at Mt. Faber really helps...I didn't feel that the slope was steep at all, and very soon, it was down slope... Saw a sign somewhere at the 5km mark that read 'Babes Ahead..' I hasten my pace a little at the good news. Went forward and there was a Pit Stop for water...in fact there were a lot of water stops for this race, and I think I made one too many pit-stops. Soon we turned into Fort Road, and the ECP area. The route was dimly lit, and I went ahead and paced a few front runners...Quite a few more ladies to overtake too...They were all in front, very good runners. At the U-turn, we had covered 9km. I saw the leaders moved on the other side from us. After the U-turn, I increased pace again to catch up. I was then matching pace at 10km, doing about 49min+.

After 11km, there weren't that many people to overtake, and we ran a constant pace for about 5km. At each km, I checked my timing, and it seemed that I have gained back the time. I was then looking at a possible 1hr47min time. With about 6km to go, somebody ran up and called my name...it was skyvers...I said 'good pace' and asked him to move ahead. 2 others also overtook me at this stage...hmm, maybe I was slowing down a little. Soon we ran pass the Indoor Stadium, and into the canal and onto Marina Promenade. At this juncture, some people actually started to walk..they probably started to fast, and were then burnt...I could hear one guy panting and making loud noises behind...very soon, he caught up...He looked muscular and I think is one of the army commanders. We then ran a tit-for-tat over the next 3km. More runners, many young nsmen, stopped to walk. There were a few cases of runners fainitng and crashing by the sidelines. My heart-rate must have been very high, and I was really feeling very tired. I had to push for the remaining 3km, and a quick check of my watch indicated that I could make 1hr45min...wow, that was exciting to me. I tried to hasten my pace, but it wasn't easy when people start slowing down...there is a tendency to want to join them. Then there was a SAFRA guy that overtook me, and I decided to run after him. Towards the last km along Esplanade and into the Padang area, I could see many people along the sides of the roads cheering us on. With 5oom, I caught sight of Kumaran, who was shouting my name. I was thinking, 'this guy finished so fast?'...I made a concerted dash for the finish line, out-pacing this ang moh guy by a bit, and with 50m to go, I could see the electronic clock reading 1:44:05. I sped towards the finish in 1hr:44min28s. I punched my own HRM which read 1hr44:37. Phew...made it sub 1hr45min...I was happy. A Personal Best for 21km. As I walked through the finish area, I saw skyvers and we congratulated one another.

Army Half Marathon 21.1km Finisher's Medal

I then went to get drinks, which was so difficult to be had (only 1 miserable guy pressing from a dispenser). I then met Alan who told me he came in 1hr40min, just slightly behind Ong. Kumaran was happy too..he came in 1hr35min..very good timing by my standards. I then went on to collect my finishers' medal and goodie bag. Spent the next 1hr cheering the rest who came in, and also congratulating them for the finish. Later we went to Cafe Cartel and had a very good breakfast. I went back to find the SgRunners at about 10am, but could not locate them. It was a great day and a great run for myself as well as my friends. I can now take a rest, and will look to begin training for my first Marathon in Dec05.

Distance Ran:21km __Clock Time:1hr44min___Pace:4:57min/km
Chip Time: