2nd Nike Runaholics Run

The legs didn't feel so bad on Sunday morning, but it was pretty hazy at East Coast Park where I attended the 2nd Nike Runaholics 15km run. There was a smaller group compared with the first time, maybe due to the haze factor. Some notable celebreties like previous NMP Eunice Olsen (though she didn't run) and Radio DJ, Rod Monteiro (this guy is a speed monster) graced the occasion. Brokie, Commando, DO, Bee, Cosmic, Metero, Alvo, Yujinnya and I were there from SgRunners. The MR25 ang-moh elites were probably still resting from their victorious NIE run, but this time JJ and Mika were available to set the pace for 5min/km. We started the run towards NSRCC, and I was careful not to breathe too deeply...haha. The runners seemed to be running at about 5min pace, which was what I thought I will try to keep up with. After a while, the weather did get to me. I could feel the heat, trapped presumably by the thick haze. Though there was a light breeze, I felt pretty uncomfortable. Fortunately there were bottled water at the water points, which provided much needed relief.

I U-turn and ran back past the start-point at carpark F2 in about 38min...presumably still a 5min pace. Took another bottle of water from Stephen Lee (MR25 President) and he encouraged me on. The heat really got to me near the Cable-Ski area...there was no sun, but the trapped heat made me sweat profusely. The breathing was definitely not smooth at all. As I approached near the final U-turn near MacD, the front-runners from MR25 indicated that we were close to the U-turn. I reached the U-turn in 58min, and with an estimated 20min to go, I decided to increase my strides to help with the poor breathing...hopefully I could finish the run without too much cardio effort...haha. Near the seafood area, Mika ran past me and urged me on. She said she was following our pace from behind, which seemed like 5min pace....haha. One thing's for sure, I was quite consistent...:)...but I was slowing. I told her to move ahead. JJ went ahead too, and they spoke to DO a little just in front. From there, I picked up pace a little to keep within reach of the 2 MR25 gal elites and DO.

I reached the end-point in 1hr17min+, out of the 5min pace...but was glad I finished without taxing my lungs with the 'bad air'. Took a bottle of water and an apple, and went up to support our runners coming in. Brokie came in second amongst the official ladies runners...wow, she has been winning races...the SgRunners/AdiRUN women's team came in second at the NIE Director's Relay. We met many familiar faces at ECP doing their ninja training today...leh-lio, doraemon and tktan, Gentle, notme, SC5. A lot of them were doing 30km+ runs...wows, told them to watch out for the haze. We had a nice long chat while waiting for all the runners to return, and later went for nice makan at Marine Parade Food Centre.

Distance Ran: 15km__Time: 1hr17min__Pace: 5:10min/km