5 Nov was the finale of the trilogy, organiser marketed it as the race to clock PB, as the route will be flat and straight. I was very excited, hoping to clock a sub-2 for my graduation run. Whether true or not, I had already bought the bundle when they launched the series, even “up the mountain cross the river” also will attend.
As usual, the route only released not long before the race. What a disapointment, its a 2 x 10k loop, meaning running the same stretch of road for 4 times. The route is really flat and straight, no devil slope and bottleneck, wide path for overtaking, perfect!
But the actual run wasn’t that perfect for me. The route is so straight that it is like never ending, no turns, no bends, and boring. No volunteers to cheer us up, no views to enjoy, no motivation, the 5k stretch seems longer than usual. Finally come to a U-turn and then the same 5K in opposite direction. I tried not to look in the opposite side as what I can see is a stretch of orange army.
There are only 2 hydration points along the route and not evenly positioned. I think there should be another 1 station at the u-turn.
Instead of clocking a PB, I struggled till the end and finished with the worst timing of the series.
Only can blame myself for not running for 3 weeks before the race and just did a warm up run 3 days before.
Every failure will have a lesson learned. Will make sure to be more prepared before the next race. HM is not that easy especially for leisure runners like me.
Will do more long distance run and be prepared for my 2 FM (Tokyo Marathon and Sundown) in 2018.