Mizuno Wave Run 2008

all the guys & 1 baby girl?

Having skipped last year's Mizuno Wave Run, which received quite a fair bit of flak, I jumped into this year's race with the hope that things could only get better. With Brokie's connection, I managed to get quite a good registration fee, so that made the decision easier.

I parked at SAFRA Tampines, and made my way to the start point at Temasek Polytechnic. Spotted Ultraman, Mashie and SealBoon inititally. Then Brokie, Vincent, tekko and startdust showed up. Then more SgRunners showed up. I was trying to locate some SAFRA MF runners to pass them my SAFRA top for logo printing. There was a sizeable crowd of about 4000+, and the weather was looking cloudy but cool.

At the strat, I could feel some droplets of water, but fortunately, that was all that came down. The start was a little slow and difficult, with the bunch of us having to meander round the tight track, and then running along a narrow corridor of pavements. That continued for at least up to 1km. I sped up a little when I had the chance, and then settled into a 4:45min/km sorta pace. There were a bunch of schoolgirls that were trading places with me....Cedar, ACJC, etc....they were pretty nifty.

When we reached Bedok Reservoir Road, the Kenyans were already way ahead. It got more spacious, and I was able to move along better. The weather was still cool as I made my way eventually to Bedok Reservoir's sandy surface. It was that slip-sliding once again, but that was when I was able to overtake more runners, as they slowed down after the initial 5km. I was pacing with this strong gal in grey, and she was catching up with Rhoda in front. I just followed them from about 20m, and then I sensed that someone was pacing me for quite some time...I took a peek, oh, it was Ultra. I acknowledged him, and continued on. Caught up with Trevor along the way, and Ultra followed suit.

I was careful not to over-stride less fatigue set in...after some steady shuffling, we exited out from the gravel onto road parallel to Tampines Ave 1. Figuring it was about 2km left, I continued to maintain pace, but was feeling tired already. Then along the canal, I saw the 9km mark, and decided not to slow down. That final 1km seemed so long, and by the time I reached the stadium, I was spent. I saw the tracks, and moved ahead a few runners, including Rhoda. I realized then that 44min was out of reach...I strode to a finish in 45min20sec, with my arms raised. If there was any solace, I found out later that the distance was actually 10.3km, which was announced by the Organizer. If that is the case, I would have done a Personal Best of sub 45min for my 10km...whoopee!

SgRunners family @ Mizuno Wave 2008

I gulped down 6 cups of 100plus, and mingled with the SgRunners for photos and chit-chats. I hung around for quite a bit, before making my way back to SAFRA Tampines for a meeting to discuss SCSM Marathon Pacers' Training. Met the SAFRA Tampines runners who has just finished their Sunday LSD, and we chatted a bit about the PI Pure Run and the upcoming SAFRA Location Run. Thereafter, I met up with our run-leading team (Team FatBird) from the Human Race Training in city for discussions and makan. It was a very fruitful and enriching day of both running and planning of more run activities.

Distance: 10.3km__Time: 45:20min__Pace: 4:24min/km