Part of SCSM Marathon Route

The last time I ran into Marina South was at the SCSM06 in the first week of December last year. I have heard updates from some of the regular runners in that area about the construction works inside. A group of about 10+ started at SAFRA MF this morning for the 23km run Fennel, Derrick, Jaime, Phei Sunn, Alber, Julie, Teck Hou, Ong, Mak, KK, Trevor were all set. Wai Fung who had just recovered from her ITB injury went to do her own run.

I had just a meusli bar for brekky, and did not bring my fuel belt along. The initial run along Harbourfront and Keppel, then into Marina South was pretty smooth. Trevor, Derrick and myself took turns to lead the way. KK was running along with us. The stretch into Marina South, pass the Victorbowl area and then to the Ferry Terminal was pretty mental. The sun was out at certain stretches....my lips were parched...I kept going and planned to do a water break at Victorbowl.

I reached Victorbowl in 1hr16min...estimated 14km covered. As I walked up the stairs, I was surprised to see locks on the entrance....aiyo, the place was closed. I looked around and found that the whole place was deserted. I looked around for toilets, and found them to be locked too. I then realized that the whole place was shut down...wah, my morale dropped immediately...no water, and I was feeling weak. I walked around a bit, and then saw Derrick running up. He told me that the place was shut for at least 3months...I should have taken a drink at the Jetty earlier...shucks.

It was a long way out from then on...spotted KK in front, and asked him for some water. As we exited to Prince Edward Road, I went to the Bus Depot....wow, water at last. Drank my fill, and then relief my problematic stomach as well. I felt quite weak as I walked out from the Bus Depot....I proceeded to run at a slower pace along the tough stretch of Keppel Road and then towards Harbourfront. The sun was beating down, and I felt drained....most likely due to the lack of water earlier. By the time I reached the foot of MF at Morse Road, I was totally spent. I decided to just jog slowly up MF, and when I reached the carpark at MF loop, I had to walk to take a breather. After 200m, I continued on to reach the top. My throat was so dry I had to take another pit-stop...quite unusual for me to take so many stops.

I took the road down Kampong Bahru side, very slowly. As I ran down, I was contemplating if I should do next week's Mizuno MF 10km run...I was having doubts if I could finish it well. WTH, I'll just go and do a casual run to complete....I won't push it. With that decision, I made my way along the small slope at Telok Blangah Rise and back to the ClubHouse. I was so glad that Jaime offered me a 100plus....I grabbed it and immediately went into the aircon part of the ClubHouse. I bought another Aloe Vera drink to supplement. I felt very dry, and I downed lots of water. This was one of the hardest run for me this year. I had no mood to eat, and left the place after washing up.

Distance: 23km__Time: 2hr10min__Pace: 5:39min/km