This being my first venture overseas for a running event, decided to do a photo journal review of the whole trip instead.

Pre Race

Our Malaysian coach. Smooth ride, comfortable seats.

Breakfast stop. Photo: Running Shiok

REPC Site, which is also going to be the event site

Collection of BIB and Tee, done in a classroom, was smooth and fast

Route Map and me with event tee

Group shot! Photo: Running Shiok

Still find it amusing that we as runners stayed in a hotel aptly named; elite hotel

Different type of carbo loading during dinner. Photo: Cora

Race Day

Arrival at event site at 0500hrs. Photo: Running Shiok

You know this is a fun event the moment you see that these are pacer balloons

Groupie before flag off. Photo: Running Shiok

Start/Finish Line

All ready! Photo: Neo Image

Though headlamp was listed as mandatory, some runners opted not to wear it. But I did.

Running in rural areas does gives me the Zen like feel of the surrounding. Photo: Moving Aperture

The wonderful volunteers who gamely posed with me whenever I shouted “Take Photo!” upon reaching the various CPs

Photo: Moving Aperture

These are what we get for running here; the morning sun, wonderful sceneries, smell of nature (some dungs included in the package ;)), horses and cows

2 thumbs up! Photo: Neo Image

Post Race

With my well deserved medal belt buckle

Post run groupie. Photo: Kim Lai

The food spread awaiting after the finishing line; local delights, fruits, ice kachang and the famous Muar Otaks!

The various category winners

5 of us from our group are podium winners with 3 of them here. Congratulations!

Carbo reload!

Finisher tee for 24.195km finishers

E-certs for all participants

After thoughts

Having heard positive reviews from friends who ran the previous editions and having seen videos of them myself, this run did not disappoint.

Most of those in our group signed up for the 24.195km category and there was also a 10km fun run category for those who find 24.195km a little too challenging. Got to know it was 22km last year and 21km the year before that. So the distance may change year to year.

The journey itself took around 5hrs or so. This was mainly attributed to a major accident along the expressway thus causing a huge jam. If not the usual journey should take around 3hrs or so as I understand from a friend who joined us in the afternoon after making his own way up.

Racepack collecting was trouble-free and the organiser even put up a huge directional banner by the road leading into the school in case we missed the turn in.

Once race started at 0530hrs, volunteers from St John’s Ambulance can be seen along the route every 1 or 2 km, not just at CPs, and some of them seem to be students also. Kudos to them for being there so early for us. Volunteers at the various CPs were very enthusiastic and drinks were all ready for us with many of them standing by the road side eager to hand us our drinks.

As I was not one of the leading packs, I did not encounter any problems with finding my way as there were always somebody in front. However once we enter the vegetation around the 10-11km mark, the route wasn’t so clear anymore as the site was still dark. But this is also where the supposedly mandatory headlamps came into play. Though it was listed as a mandatory item, the rule wasn’t enforced thus many runners chose not to wear one and so, once they entered the vegetation, I can see they had trouble making out the route. With my headlamp on I had no such trouble so I just followed the directional signs and light sticks placed on the ground and came through the vegetation with nary any problems. So, moral of the story; follow instructions as they are for your own safety and well being.

The route itself was very scenic as we ran through the country side and villages. Being raised in urban Singapore since young, I have never experience such rustic surroundings and I really enjoyed what I saw along the way. Terrain was not tough with barely any elevation though the stretch with the granites/stones might be a little uncomfortable for some. Estimated distance we spent in the vegetation maybe was around 3-5km max. Rest of the route were on roads or dirt paths. We also had to keep a lookout on where we land our foot as there were a number of ‘landmines’ in the form of horse/cow dungs along the way but hey, this is a country side run!

CPs were clearly marked out on the race route map and I must say it was pretty accurate. Even the location of toilets were also identified on the route map so I would advise take a look ladies, as you never know when you might wanna visit the loo in the midst of the run. Guys, well, are easier to settle, if you get what I mean.

Post race at the school was very cosy. Snack buffet spreads were laid out with fruits aplenty. Each runner was also entitled to 1 serving of Ice Kachang and 2 Muar reknowned Otaks (they marked on our BIBs once we collected). A little blemish would be the toilets running out of water. Being in a rural area, their water supply are from water tanks. So I guess once we depleted the water tank, that was when the taps went dry. So sometimes we really took water coming out of taps for granted. We just hang around until the prize presentation ceremony. I was a tad surprised when majority of the winners are from Singapore since this was a Malaysia running event afterall. Guess we have a lot of enthusiastic runners here who made the trip up. (estimated about 4-5 bus loads from Singapore).

During the racepack collection some of us heard from the volunteers that this year’s event might be the last ever as the organiser wanted to take a break. If it really is, I feel it would be such a pity as urban folks like me really could do with such scenic and wonderfully executed event away from the concrete jungle.

Recommendation: Yes

If the event does return next year, go for it if for nothing but just to experience the country feel to running. Who says runs can only be done on tar roads?

I would personally like to say thanks to the event organiser, Mr Camel Muar and his team for making this run possible. Also to Jaime who coordinated the various logistics for our group despite having to run herself. Running Shiok, Kim Lai, David, Running Shots – Epalite, Neo Image, Run and Explore, Moving Aperture and Alvin Tew, thank you for the wonderfully taken photos. And to all my running mates, thank you for making this event such an enjoyable one.

Disclaimer: In return for a sponsored race slot by JustRunLah!, here is my review of the race.

As with my other reviews, I do attempt to provide an objective account of my race experience, focusing on various aspects which you my look out for as I’ve deliberately written in italics 🙂

Race Category
This year’s edition of the Sundown Marathon featured multiple distances – though this time with the addition of a 5km non-competitive race to the existing competitive 10km, Half Marathon and Full Marathon distances.

As I am not particularly comfortable with running at night (I prefer daylight visibility and I love my early bedtimes!), I opted to participate in the 10km category.

Pre-Race Matters
Race Entry Pack Collection was held from the 20-22 May from 10am-8pm at the Suntec Convention Halls. Late Collection was also made available, particularly for overseas participants, at the event site itself on the day of the event. There were complaints of lengthy queues at the late collection. However, when I dropped by around 8.15pm, the queues for collection seemed non-existent.

The Race Precinct
Flag-off for my category (10km) was at 10.00pm. Baggage deposit was available without much of a queue (I deposited my baggage just before 9.20pm). As the F1 pit building was situated right beside the Singapore Flyer, I conveniently made use of their (air-conditioned!) restrooms instead of portable restrooms provided by the organisers. Here’s the layout of the race precinct.

The Race
Flag off, according to my watch, was at 10.01pm. The initial portion of route was adequately wide (bearing in mind that I had positioned myself quite near to the front), hence I encountered minimal obstruction. The 10km race route was actually pretty loopy. A few notable challenges included the darkness (expectedly) and the presence of a flight of stairs which runners had to descend just before the 4km mark. Other than that however, the route was largely flat with the exception of some bridges.

A total of 3 hydration stations were available across the 10km route, with the latter two serving both chilled 100 Plus and plain water. Distance markers were present throughout the route and though I don’t seem to recall many direction signs, there were volunteers dispersed across the route to guide runners accordingly.

What I really did like was the accuracy of the race distance. Measured on my Garmin FR15, the distance came about to be exactly 10.0km! Have a look below at my route data from Strava. This contrasts to one of the previous 10km races I had participated in, The Performance Series Race 1, which had a drastically inaccurate race distance for its 10km category.

Post-Race
Thereafter came the Finisher’s Medal. And now if I may mention one of my favourite reasons for participating in the 10km race instead of the other competitive categories – the ability to catch public transport home!:)

That’s all for me for this review. If you wish, you may check out my personal blog here 😀

Cover photo credit: Sundown Marathon’s Webpage.

Today’s TRI-Factor Bike race marks the 2^nd leg of the TRI-Factor Series. One could choose from categories ranging from 5km to 56km and the organisers also added new categories of the Cycle Run Challenge (bike-run-bike) this year.

It was the first time that I am participating in the 56km category and it was also the longest distance I have ever clocked. Naturally, I was anxious as I had never cycled this distance in my life and did not train specifically for this race (yikes, again!). But I made sure to do what participants usually do to prep before a race – i.e. read all the rules and regulations, check out the route (including how to get there), tag my bike (this unfortunately took a long time as I had mini-brakes on my handle bars and the tag had to be hung there), eat and hydrate wisely, and rest early.

This morning, I awoke at 4am and made my way down to the event site, which was somewhere along Republic Avenue and behind the Nicoll Highway MRT. It was still very dark and it took me some time to figure out directions and where the start point was. Despite the cool weather, I was perspiring! It was a pleasant surprise to be offered Lucozade (by a guy carrying a mobile kit) to quench my thirst.

The race flagged off with all the 56km riders first, and my wave – the Women’s Open – was the 5^th group to be flagged off at about 5.25am.  I looked around me and realised that there were very few female cyclists in my category, where are all the women? Anyway, I smiled at the two girls next to me and we wished each other well before taking off.

To make up the distance of 56km, we had to do 8 loops of 7km each. The first U-turn point was less than 1km away and I think the organisers purposely put it there so one does not speed up too much at the start. 😛 There were 4 U-turn points per loop so I did feel a little dizzy having to do a total of 32 U-turns after 8 loops! And, if I did not have my odometer clipped on, I probably would have lost count on the number of loops I had completed. The route was not as flat as compared to racing at East Coast Park as Nicoll Highway is slightly elevated in the centre and the Crawford road U-turn point is on the top of a slope. While this is a common running route, runners usually do not have to do 8 loops of it. For me, slopes are a killer. Thus, to keep going, the key for me was to conserve energy and not go all out in the first few loops.

I am very glad to have completed my first 56km ride but the best part for me at the end was the free bike wash provided by Karcher so I needn’t clean my bike again when home 🙂

Thank you my team mates for a fun day out together! We all sure enjoy ourselves today! ?

Rey was supposed to be running with us but due to an injury he couldn’t run and Hao Han have to take over. Luckily substitution of team members is allowed and as long as the bibs runs in sequence there will not be any problem. Good that the organisers considered that Sundown Marathon is just over, a lot of runners may not have recovered yet. Although Rey couldn’t run, we were hoping that he can come and serve us water and and food or help us massages our legs while we wait for the next turn to run again ? Just kidding, we all wishes him a speedy recovery! ?

Our team name is called the ‘Chin Chye Runners’ because we were like anything when we are discussing about what team name we should come up with ? We are running the mixed category with 6 runners running 100km relay. A total of 31 loops at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park with the first runner running 6 loops while the rest run 5 loops.

I had still not yet recoverd from the marathon last week and unfortunately I kept coughing since Thursday. Have not been running since Sundown marathon because my left leg is painful. I believe is because I did not wear compression for Sundown marathon so must believe compression wear really helps! Last year I wore compression stockings to run a 42km and I’m very fine and can even run the next day but now my left knee and the bottom of my left foot hurts so much that I walked tip toeing on my left foot for the past few days. This few days I just massages my legs and wear compression for recovery.

This morning, I woke up with my leg still my any better and throat really pain with every single cough. But still I look forward to the relay run. I have never participated in any sports day running events during my school days period so since weeks ago, I’ve been quite looking forward to this event. I just aim to finish the run with no extra injury and don’t want a strain to become a permanent injury. Actually is it a strain or a muscle-ache I also do not know ? I consult a doctor on Friday for my cough and at the same time asked about my leg and the docor says: Oh your leg like this is very normal after a marathon lah. For the pain take Panadol can already ? So I am quite relief because my leg is just fine! ?

The weather was good today during our entire run. Luckily no sun at all to roast us! The few drops of rain is really great! I’m thankful to it! Although I am very tempted to walk but seriously saw no runners with bibs on is walking! And I am very prideful to say I did not walk at all ? For the first few loops, the route for the run is not indicated properly and the volunteers are not ready yet so some runners ran more at some part and some runners ran less at some parts of the park ? Running with ‘bai ka’ and cough is no joke but both my ‘bai ka’ and cough is not ‘life threatening’ that I couldn’t run so I just keeps on motivating myself and telling myself ending soon and will be my turn to rest ??

During our turns to rest we just talk, take plenty of photos, play card games and socialise around making new friends. And of course eat! There is too much food from the event organisers. Bee Hoon, sandwiches, fruits, noodles, cakes, muffins, curry puff! Am not a picky eater so I’m fine with the food ?? And thank you Kelvin for the snacks! Thank you Chiu Ping for the picnic mats and thank you Thomas for picking me up! And thank you Eugene for the card games! Thank you for the Photographers who help us take precious photos! Thank you event organiser for the event! Seems like I got no contribution ? Oops! ?

There is so little teams participating in some category that for example everyone in that category can get podium because only got 3 teams or may even be the only team that participate in that category ? But think that the medal should not be a general medal for both the 50km and 100km category ? If this year I had signed up with a team of 6 women running the 100km relay, we will get first! Because got no other competitors, but getting first this way won’t feel any glory or pride right ?

So in the end there were only 4 mixed teams, 4 men and 2 women in a team that run the 100km relay. By right they were 5 teams. One team went MIA, don’t know what happened. We came in 4th. We were late by about 20 minutes than the team that came in 3rd. It’s way much nicer to say we came in 4th position than we came in last right? ? It’s quite a pity because we run so hard but still missed the 3rd team by 20 minutes which is quite a lot. But because one team ran with 5 men and 1 women, basically they should not qualify for podium right? But we just let it be because they are quite senior in age, they run fast and hard and we are happy for them too ? It is not about winning. Sometimes in this little things we learnt a lot and can relate to other things in life. Be happy and be happy for others ? Be ‘Chin Chye’ like our team name ?

Next running event: Batman Vs Superman Run 26.06.2016 ?

[Friendship bond by running]

It is really my honour to have met these groups of friends through running and I’m so lucky and blessed to have them as friends and some who I feel are like elder brothers and sisters ? I learnt a lot from them, not only about running but things in life too. The amazing part is that before running brought us together we are totally strangers but we are now friends who jokes around, chats about everything else and all sorts of nonsense too ?