2008 Army Half Marathon

I had been nursing a flu all week and didn't get to rest much before the Army Half Marathon today, so it was with a heavy heart and low spirits that I got up this morning and prepared myself for this race. It had been drizzling through the night, so the air was rather damp and chilly. I caught a ride from BoSe to the Marina area, met a few other SgRunners running kakis at the starting point as well, and then with the flag-off at 6.30 am sharp, the competition had begun.

Right from the start, I had tried to keep to around a 6 min/km pace and managed to do so for the first 10 km or so. I also forced myself to stop and hydrate at every other water/isotonic point and tried to regulate my breathing. In addition, I recalled the tips given yesterday at the public forum on running at Changi General Hospital, and tried to incorporate them into my running. I suppose that helped a bit. At the 14-km mark, the route turned into a "trail" which was very challenging but also very fun. By the time I emerged from the trail, fatigue had already begun to set in and I could feel my chest tightening with every breath. I wasn't sure whether it was because of the flu, but I didn't want to risk it. So I cut back on my pace until it became a jog-walk mix. I finally crossed the finishing line at 2 hr 09 min 53 sec (watch time), with my body aching all over. But it was a good run nevertheless, though my ultimate goal of a sub-2 hour half marathon remains distant.

After the race and after trudging through a swampy Padang for my medal and my free ice-cream, I hung around the Cenotaph for chit-chat and phototaking after the event, then hopped into BoSe's car to go over to Central to collect our racepacks for the Nike Human Race next Sunday. But the queue for the racepacks was horrific and stretched as far as the eye could see. So BoSe and I decided to abandon plans to collect the items and went to have our lunch at a Japanese restaurant instead. The food was sumptious, and my stomach and my legs were eternally grateful to have been spared the agonising wait in the seemingly endless queue with nothing to munch on.

AHM Race details (Distance/Marker : Time)
5 km : 00:28:30
U-turn point : 00:54:01
10 km : 00:58:02
15 km : 01:26:42
20 km : 02:02:34
End point : 02:09:.49.49 (according to race chip)

Gun Time (at event finish) - 02:12:49.49
Rank : 1391th out of 5200 runnres in the Men's Open Category (according to Gun Time)