The big advantage is avoiding the sun, and the heat, which is very theoretical here as it still means 26 Celsius and 85%+ humidity. But if you are used to Singapore running, that's very pleasant!
Saturday was mostly spend in a slight state of stress, wondering about what to eat, getting a good nap in, not feeling too tired, and the all-important output question as going to the public loo's in the early hours of Sunday is pretty daunting to say the least.
The hours crawled by and finally I could hail a taxi and get to the start, which was pretty chaotic with hordes of 10km runners just finishing and spilling over the night festival arena made very muddy by a 2 hour storm in the afternoon. Luckily us barefooters can walk anywhere so got to the the starting pens and met up with the other runners in my running group for a quick photo.
After some inane announcer chat and a 15 minute delay, the race got underway. I was going for 4:15 time, and even if I told myself to settle quickly into a comfortable rhythm, I had to do lots of dodging and weaving the first few km's as there were quite a few bottlenecks. With the crowded conditions, watching my steps were important as it was wet underfoot and in the dark it was difficult to see if it was going to be slippery or not.
By 5km the run had spread out enough to become comfortable. I had set myself splits for where I should be, giving some cushion for a bonk, or walk, but at 10km realised that I was feeling good, my times were OK, and started wondering if I could go under 4 hours, which was a goal I had set for the mid-year. Only one way to find out, and that was to go for it, and hope for the best!
I trying to keep my pulse at 145-151 and pace at 5:30/km and basically was clock watching from 10km, scrolling through my pace, km's, cadence every few minutes. We had a 20km out-and-back loop through East Coast Park starting from 15km. I hate the ECP as it is dead flat and straight, boring as hell, but does take advantage of cool sea breezes. At night it is very dark too, and with few spectators, it became a very internal mental run. I knew if I came out the other side at 35km strong I could make the sub 4, so drank quickly at water stops, kept a very disciplined pace and was constantly evaluating myself and the race.
The race crew and spectators were pretty surprised to see a grim, determined barefoot runner stumbling out of the dark into the pools of light and offered some encouraging shouts of "jiā yóu!" (add oil).
I got out of the ECP and knew I had very few minutes of cushion time and had to push hard. Time really seemed to stand still and the km's crept slowly past. At 39km I knew I was going to make it baring any accidents and just hung in there. A very encouraging runner kept me company the last km, excited to be with a barefoot runner, and we did a great sprint for the finishing line, finishing in 3:53. Super stoked as my last marathon was 4:27, and this was my first marathon that felt like I was racing and not just surviving!
Then it was a small matter of collecting my bag and joining my friends who did the half marathon for a unique experience of having a beer, or three, at 5 o'clock.
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