Ever been in a situation where the escalator wasn’t working at the MRT station? Do you remember cursing at the maintenance guy for not doing his job properly while you clamoured up the steps? I remembered there was this time at Boon Keng MRT station where this individual cursed at our PAP government because the escalator broke down. Well, I don’t blame him because the escalator at the station was particularly long, something like three storeys long. After climbing three storeys, I think some people will start to think irrationally.

What happens when you add another 60 storeys? You get yourself a National Vertical Marathon. So far I have been running on flat ground, never gone vertically up before. This will be an interesting new challenge. This will again be another solo challenge. There is no way the kids are going to make it and the wife don’t have a thing for doing any physical activity in an enclosed, hard to breathe kind of claustrophobic environment.

What I love about the National Vertical Marathon is that everything is done on the very same day. You get your t-shirt and race bib upon registration. Proceed to race and collect your goodie bag later. Logistically, this is only possible if you are dispatching people in small groups. This is simply not possible for large scale running events where you are dispatching thousands of people at one go.

I was there slightly early, probably around 30 minutes before my start time. Since, there was a free slot available I proceeded to go ahead. No point waiting 30 minutes right? We were grouped in a detail of 5 or 6 and I was the oldest in the group.

Once the airhorn was sounded, everyone was off. Those guys in my detail were really fast and before we hit the staircase, I was the last man behind. Am I really old or unfit? Peer pressure thoughts came into my head and I pondered for a moment if I should pick up speed to catch up with them. Since I was really behind, I decided to take 2 steps at a time. This only worked for the first ten storeys before I realised there was no way for me to keep up this pace. This activity is unlike running where you could slow down into a comfortable pace and catch your breath. Every step you take will send your heart racing. In fact, it has been a while since my heart rate was going that fast. Definitely, not an activity for pregnant women or people with heart problems.

That may also explain why for every 3 or 4 storeys, you would have a volunteer stationed to assist you if case you needed help. Most of them were very encouraging and cheered me on as I climbed up the monotonous grey floor and the white coloured walls. Yes, the wife was right. It was stuffy, boring and mildly claustrophobic. But the sheer intensity of the exercise will also give you an incredible adrenaline rush. You get so high that you actually look forward to constantly go up. This coupled with the music from my earphones actually made it enjoyable as I looked at the constantly changing floor numbers in an otherwise unchanging environment.

Somewhere around the 40+ storey, there was a super helpful volunteer who held an electronic fan at me while I was going up. He even followed me up for 2 entire storeys. What a passionate young man who gave his whole heart to this volunteer job. Whoever you are, you will do great in life. Keep it up! This was also the time I overtook the 2 younger chaps in the same detail who were way ahead of me earlier. Now, I may not have the speed and agility of my younger days but I do have the grit and determination to continue onwards. These traits will show especially if you are competing in a longer distance.

It is not exactly 63 storeys, you need to add another 2 more levels to go up to the roof terrace. When I finally reached the top, what greeted me was a service entrance of the roof top restaurant. Not particularly impressive if you ask me.

Once I cross the finishing line(which is another flight of stairs up), I proceeded to the medal collection area. Just beside the counter, you have some models giving out Gatsby wet wipes. I was already sweating profusely and a dry towel might be more suitable instead. Then again, if you are a young chap and don’t sweat as much as me, the wet wipes will be perfect.

You are not only rewarded with the medal but also the breathtaking scenery of a 360 degree view from the top. Clearly visible was the southern part and core central region of Singapore. It was so breathtaking that some participants were just sitting there, chilling out and drinking their 100 plus.

How do you get down after climbing all the way to the top? Take the lift of course. A short while later, I was back on the ground. This time round to collect my goodie bag and grab something to eat. A coupon issued earlier during registration entitled me to a slushie and a hot dog. They didn’t mentioned that it was only half a hot-dog. Perhaps that was why the queue for the free flow corn cup and churros were a little long. But who cares about half a hot-dog when you have a goodie bag filled to the brim. In that very instant, I realised there was a difference between a goodie bag and a race pack. Goodie bags are filled with goodies and race pack is technically a pack with racing stuff in it.

There were also other fringe activities as well. You could fire off a couple of arrows, engage in a sword fight or simply chill out in one of those old school swing sets.

As I was leaving, I spotted some people with the Straits Times Run T-shirt. You mean you ran horizontally in the morning and is now going up vertically? If you think about it, it is possible even at my fitness level. The vertical climb is more of a heart and lung exercise, it doesn’t strain your leg muscles as much as running does. And the heart and lungs do recover much faster than those legs. Should I join the ranks of these adrenaline junkie next time? Maybe. Until then, it is time to take stock of what’s actually inside my goodie bag.

If you like my article, you can read more at http://iamspartan6318.blogspot.sg

The National Vertical Marathon (NVM) 2016 was held on 22nd May and it was organised by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Sports Club. This vertical challenge is 63 storeys high with 1576 steps to conquer up One Raffles Place, one of the three tallest skyscrapers in Singapore.

There are various categories for NVM; individual, team and relay! With such an affordable price and superb organisation from the previous years of participation, there were no second thoughts about joining. As per usual, we signed up for the Lovers Challenge which meant that we would be running up the building together as a couple.

Source: http://nvm.ntusportsclub.sg

Pre-race

There are 2 major differences between NVM and usual running events. Firstly, there is no separate day for the collection of the race pack as you get it on the day itself. Secondly, there is no common flag off time for all participants. Instead, an individual reporting time is sent out to each team/couple/individual a week before the event. Our reporting time this year was at 2.25pm, which was much later than the timings we got for the previous 2 years which was about 10.45am.

Being the kiasu/early birds we always are, we arrived at Raffles Place around 1.45pm for registration, which was conducted under a huge white makeshift tent right next to the MRT station. During registration, we got our bibs and race tees! One thing to note is that you don’t need to print out and bring your declaration and personal data protection act form as they will have you to sign it on the spot (lesson learnt!). Another thing to note is that there will be a 45 minutes interval between your given registration time and flag off time.

Since we had about 1hour 15mins to kill, we walked around the mini carnival which comprised of a few games stations, lucky draw, photo booths, free icecream and food! We felt that the atmosphere at the race site did not feel as “hyped up” from what we remember in the past two years…probably because it had been a long day for the volunteers already. Nevertheless, it was still an impressive setup and we enjoyed it 🙂

Our flag off time was at 3.10pm with 2 other couples from the Lovers Challenge. We met at the gathering area located underneath One Raffles Place, which was also where we deposited our bags too.

The Climb

We were flagged off in a group of 3 pairs, with a short interval between each group to prevent overcrowding at the stairs. The organisers did a brilliant job in this as throughout the climb, we did not face any congestions or clashing between other participants ?.

This year we were aiming to beat our personal best of 18minutes 9seconds from last year’s timing… and honestly, it was not easy >< I took the strategy of climbing 2 steps at a time and at the same time pulling myself up using the railings. Probably due to insufficient training, I was already dying on the 20th floor while Kang Jing was still going strong!

There were hydrations points around every 15 stories with water and 100plus but we didn’t stop to take the water as we carried our own bottle with us. There were also volunteers stationed at various stories of the stairs and some were giving us encouragement to keep going :). A huge salute to them because it should be quite hot and stuffy to be stationed in the stairs for such a long time!

There were so many times I wanted to stop to take a break and catch my breath but Kang Jing kept pushing me on both figuratively and literally from behind. I am super impressed by his strength and patience, even though I kept scolding him for not letting me stop to rest?. But seriously, I was super out of breath and my legs were screaming for me to staapppp!!! But I wanted my PB so badly I just had to press on and keep going. And the only way to go was up ?

The last four stories felt exceptionally long… but finally, we reached the top in the timing of 17mins 10seconds woohoo!! Personal best YES!! According to the official race results, we came in as the 9th couple in that category yay ? ~

For NVM, finishing the race is always the best part as not only will they personally present you with your medal around your neck, you’ll also get rewarded with the most magnificent birds eye view of Singapore from the top! I’ll let the pictures do the talking;

We had a post race surprise when we came down from the building and it was totally unexpected. If you want to find out more about the surprise and also what is in the racepack, read more on our blog. Remember to follow us on instagram @runningmypace!

I ran my first Straits Times (ST) Race, my very first 10 km race, back in late 2014 and hence this was my third ST Run.  The route was a change from the last two years finishing at the Sports Hub, (the 4th one in the series), having the race start and end at the F1 Pit Building would have runners take in more of Singapore’s cityscape.

The race pack collection period was from 13th to 15th May, at Raffles City Atrium, Level 3.  I collected on Friday and it was a breeze – no queue.  The singlet was a different hue of blue from last year’s, one of my favorite colors and comfortable so I donned it for the race too.

On 22nd May, I set off early for the 10 km race, waking up at 4.48 am, again before the alarm clock could sound at 5 am.   That way, too, I avoided waking up the whole family.  Finished my usual pre-race breakfast early too, but I made a wrong decision to get there by GPS shortest path, hitting the road blocks and hence ended up quite late for the race.  I decided to park at Gateway West.

I made my way from Gateway West car park to the F1 Pit Building, taking a shortcut climbing over the road divider, silently thanking God that I was still quite ‘flexible’ after the Spartan Race not too long ago and not getting prematured cramp from the exertion.  Then, for the very first time,  there was no wave at the starting line ! The 10 km race had flagged off much earlier and so I ran on without any further delay, hoping to catch up with the main crowd.  I think it was nearly 7 am.  The weather was cool, there had been rain the whole night, and there was a drizzle as I drove around earlier.  But it made for good cool running, and I only saw more runners after 1 km.  I had been nursing my left foot from Plantar Fasciitis, so I had decided to go slower than usual.  Also, I knew that I would have to make sure I was in fair condition to do the full marathon the following Sunday early morning (after midnight Saturday – OSIM Sundown).  It will be my third full marathon in about 12 months but I had taken longer to complete in my second full marathon, almost reaching 6.5 hours.  More on that next round…

This race route wasn’t unfamiliar as other races had also started at F1 Pit Building.  Only this time, I had my smartphone with me and stopped to take a few pictures at certain points.  Due to the weather however, not all came out alright.  Anyway, it was different as I had more time to look around and enjoy the scenery – nice skyline, canoeing in the waters etc.

I had enough energy to sprint too,  the last hundred or so metres.  Good race and I loved the rather ‘solid’ look of the medal – with the engraved merlion standing out.  Hydration was more than adequate, every 2 km or so, and each km was clearly marked.  Volunteers were awake and lively, gamely cheering the runners despite the drizzle earlier.  There was also live music near the beginning of the route.  At the end, runners could go to the 100Plus Cool Zone for the mist fans to cool down.  There were also other goodies offered like Old Chang Kee bites and cotton candy for folks and fun activities like changing tyre of a replica F1 car to indulge in but a pity I was in a hurry to get somewhere else in the morning.

At the finishing point, my left foot felt okay but I knew that it would probably swell a bit again later.  Time to recover and hope that I will be ready for the full marathon and not extend the duration beyond 6.5 hours because of not too fit a form at this point.  If all goes well, then probably I’ll be summarizing too what this  running old Joe had accomplished the last 6 months of this year after next week.  Till the next race…

I love the medal for this run so much! ? It’s so pretty and I almost couldn’t get this medal as I didn’t want come to this run at first just hours before the event! But I am quite disappointed with the finisher tee shirt. It doesn’t indicate how much distance you completed ? Finisher, running 100m I’m also a finisher right?

I sincerely thank Kelvin and Serene that I can complete this run. We start the run and end the run together, talking and laughing. It was really fun and I can’t believe I completed the run not in a zombie mode like I expected but in a very enjoyable run happy mode ?

This is the first time I run without using my running application to track my route, speed and distance because my phone have only left with about 30% battery life and I planned to go very slow the moment I decided to turn up for this run. I have no intention to come for this run in the first place hours before the race. Not because of the heavy rain in the early morning but because firstly, I lack of sleep, secondly I drank a lot of alcohol just hours before the run. Really a lot till for a moment I worry that I might get alcohol poisoning. I think it is common sense that it is not advisable for people drink so much alcohol and run. I drown myself in plenty of water too hoping to dilute the alcohol in me.

I didn’t bring any bags as I’m already being quite late and I’m afraid that there might be a queue for baggage deposit and I don’t want my running friends to wait for me for so long. And luckily I didn’t bring my bag, there’s really a long queue.

My friends have already reached and tell me that they are at the toilets but it was so dark at the start point and it took me quite a while till I finally spot it. Luckily I didn’t have the urge to go toilet, there is long queues too. I always tries to avoid going to toilet in events as to me the toilets in events are always a much scarier place than a haunted house in the theme park ?

It is really good that before the run, they had informed us through sms that flag off will be delayed due to the wet weather. But luckily it was only a 15 minutes delay if not I will be roasted by the sun.

Thankfully, the weather is nothing at all that I will complain about. I love the slight drizzle and the hiding of sun today. It’s cooling ? And the slow pace we are going at is quite safe for us, the wet and slippery parts in the route is not a huge problem.

Some parts of the route is very dark, no lights at all. Although I have no issues with my eye sight, but to be safe, placing some lights will be good. Water at hydration point is not cold and many people is littering, paper cups were all over the place ?

The race village seems very fun but we were just eager to leave the place for breakfast so we didn’t go and explore the race village. Cold towels were issued to us which is really very refreshing for us ? Overall, I realise to me what matters most is I ran!

[1 Week Before the Run]

See how I’ll be like the walkers from the Walking Dead during Straits Times Run ? My friend is getting married the previous day and I’m one of her sisters. Which means what? From Friday we are staying over to prepare and help out prepare for the gate crash next morning and then night time gonna be the wedding banquet anyone use leg and think will know it’s gonna end very late and that I will only have 2 to 3 hours of sleep and then I will need to catch the shuttle bus and run 18.45km! Only to blame myself for signing up the run when my friend had already asked me very much earlier to be one of her sisters. Hopefully I don’t drink much. Or hopefully I will just be good and drink Chinese Tea only ? Rey is cute, he suggested I can camp at F1 pit builing directly after the wedding banquet then run in dress ?

And I want to thank Eugene for helping me to collect my race pack! ? I’ve been getting lazy to collect race pack myself for all the recent running events. Can avoid just avoid. Think for the run I will be wearing my last year’s ST race tee. This year I took smaller size tee wanting to motivate myself to slim down and end up still being too fat to wear ? Sibeh tight fit can see my fats ? Those smaller size clothes are known as ‘wait until I slim down then wear’ clothes. Pretty sure many ladies will have these types of clothes in their wardrobe ?

[1 Day Before the Run]

So we were in the hotel since Friday 8pm to gather and brainstorm, discuss and prepare whatever that is needed.

It’s my fourth time being a bridemaids. Some of the Chinese are superstitious that single ladies cannot be a bridemaids for more than three times if not we can’t marry off. I am being honoured to be asked to be one of the bridemaids, I do worry but I’m not that superstitious and if nobody is gonna marry me then I also no choice right ? I’ve learnt that being single is not the scary part, being lonely is. But I am not lonely ?

The whole wedding is fantastic! A wedding very well done and I wishes the newly wed a blissful marriage! It’s super fun at the gate crash coming up with evil games to ‘abuse’ the brothers. And I laugh too much during the gate crash till I wonder if we can get abs just by laughing ? A tiring but fun and happy day.

My mandatory narcissistic selfie shot! ?

[10 Hours before the run]

Ok, only slept 1 hour and a little more the previous night. This time jialat already. Hopefully after the banquet I can rush home and catch some sleep before the run. Food come just whack! Loading before run!! ?

[9 Hours before the run]

Huh? Just drink! The wedding is once in a life time and so many more upcoming runs you can run! How often do you see us and can drink with us? This is what I was told. And seems very legit. I missed all my friends and drinking with them.

[4 Hours before the run]

Run? What run? It’s 1am and I’m very stoned, go home after the banquet immediately and sleep then wake up to run? I had think too much already, just stay in one of the hotel rooms that is booked for us to stay over and have breakfast afterwards with them. Is this my 14th or 15th glass of beer? Is that my 3rd or 4th glass of wine? I have to stop drinking, limit reached. I must be crazy to drink different alcohol but I’m quite satisfied that I can tolerate these amount of alcohol and I’m still staying conscious(I would want to say awake, but then when drinking is concern, staying awake and staying conscious are two different things)watching show of those who are drunk and not holding a plastic bag to catch my vomit. Must be eating the food that helps me. If I’m drinking, I will eat a lot. This is my method of keeping me sober, it works on me. My plan of drinking Chinese Tea now seems like a joke.

[2 Hours before the run]

Messages of my running friends in the group chats are coming in. And this Thomas tempted me: You can walk, cut off time 4hours.

I was like, OMG! This is so tempting! I can right? Walk! I’m now very sober because I spent the past half an hour in panic searching high and low for my friend who I thought went missing. It was really like one of the series in Hang Over. How can a friend went missing when you tuck her in to bed just now? Turns up worry for nothing because the Boyfriend came and ‘collected’ her ?

But I don’t want to walk alone and I asked Serene Jie Jie what pace she doing, maybe I can jog a little. She said she will go very slow in a ‘beautiful beautiful’ pace. Which means she will really go very slow. So I asked if I can follow her and she gladly welcomes me. Settled!

So I just grab all my stuff, took a cab home, change into the first piece of running clothes I see, wash up and hoping I do not smell of alcohol, grab some money and race bib, put on my shoes and left the house immediately and took a cab to F1 pit building.