The Saucony 100Plus Passion Run

It was the inaugural Saucony Passion Run. I signed up pretty early on due to the publicity provided by poster boy SC5 and his AniMILES gang. Because of the early sign-up, I was rewarded with a bottle of Essence Of Chicken...hehe...but because of that, I did not know the different start times for the various age groups...if I knew, I would have signed up for the Men's Open which starts at 7.30am instead of the later 8.15am start for Veteran, and also having to contend with a large crowd of walkers and slow joggers in front...*bugger*

Right from the start, this run was slated for success...$20 registration fees that come with a nice Saucony running top, goody bags, championchip timing and photo-print finisher certificates...good value and organization! My only concern was the late start time for my wave, as well as the crowd of runners along the narrow pathways of ECP. DO and I were early to 'chopped' a nice carpark space at F2 carpark, and proceeded towards the start point. Met up with a number of runners, many SgRunners whom we just met the previous night at the Chalet for SgRunner's 2nd Anniversary celebrations. Also saw tekko and the VRP gals, who were looking cheery and good-to-run. Spotted Ultraman in his usual pensive mood, and managed to speak with him about his recent busy schedule.

There were many tentages, and SM Goh Chok Tong was to be a guest of honour. The poster boys SC5, Lieu, notme arrived shortly in their very shwe Saucony running top, and informed that they were to pace PM Goh...wow, happening sia! The 7.30am wave took off, with Bug, Kumaran, Cheow12, among the many we know. Then the 2nd wave of the Men's Open took off at 7.45am. I went for a final drink, and did some light warm-up and stretches. Met up with Tony from SAFRA MF, and a few others, who were doing their first 10km race for the year. Then the Women's Open started at 8.00am, and the rest of us then proceeded to the starting point. While waiting, we saw the winner of the Men's Open emerged...Lim Kien Mau of MR25, who did a 35min+. Then a few others in 36min, 37min... Then we saw Bug, 42min.. wowee ... Kumaran, 43min....hmm, a tad slow for their standard we felt, possibly a longer route?

Then it was our turn. The sun was out in force, although the first 2km stretch should see us in the shade. DO, Ultraman, Tekko were lining up nearby. With the sounding of the horn, away we went at 8.15am. There was a slight delay, but was clear after 300m. The usual people like Roda, DO, JJ, Melvin, Ultra could be seen in front. As usual I was taking a back-seat, but maintained contact of DO and Roda. Ultra and JJ had moved up quite a bit, and then I spotted Philip (Kumaran's boss) running pretty strong. I was breathing ok, and by the 4km mark, I did 18:30...ok, not fast, but I hope to maintain that for the rest of the journey. Skipped that water point, and went straight for the 5km U-turn point. Hit it in 24:10...hmm, slowed down? or that was longer than 1km?

Picked up a little speed, and very soon, spotted Ultra. Went past Philip, then Ultra, and moved ahead for my drink at the 6km mark. Ultra went on without stopping. I trailed closely from behind, and could see a ang moh runner running alongside Ultra. By then, we had hit the 'wall' big time...the human wall of walkers and joggers....we had to weave about, and at times I had to jam on my legs, causing my knees to take the strain....waah. Passed the 7km mark, and I closed in on Ultra. The sun was blazing down, and the human wall was thickening....arghh. Ultra finally shook off the ang-moh at the 7.5km mark, and I moved up to overtake the ang-moh by 8km. Then it was only Ultra and myself for Veterans. I reckoned DO and Philip shouldn't be that far back. I was feeling the strain with all the weaving, and running off-track...and a times entertained thoughts of taking a walk-break...hahaha....that bad you see!

Crossed Ultra at 8.5km mark, and we ran close for a while. I waved Ultra to move ahead as I was tiring fast at the Cable Ski area. With 1km to go, Ultra moved further ahead, and I kept up all the way to the end. Thanks to Ultra or I would have slowed down to rest. It is always good to have a pacer at the difficult parts of the race. Crossed the finish line in 47min+, and didn't see any familiar faces....not sure if any finishing photos were taken too. I was glad it was done, and proceeded to down half a bottle of water....wow....HOT and thirsty. Met leh-lio gal who did a very good 52min run...kudos! Fennel did a respectable 53min. Brokie (53min) and Vincent both looked so cool after strolling in, hand-holding in 55min :).

After a good rest, I went to join DO in the goody bag queue, followed by lots of chatting with fellow runners from SgRunners, MR25 and SAFRA MF. Didn't win anything at the lucky draw. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole event, and have heard many positive comments from the many runners too. Looking forward to have this Saucony race continue next year, and expanded if possible to include longer distances...all for the PASSION!

Distance: 10km__Time: 47min25sec__Pace: 4:45min/km

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