Adidas Sundown Marathon, Singapore


I read about this unique event held recently (May 31st, 2008) in Singapore city. It had Marathon (42K) and an Ultramarathon (84K) as the main events, with both starting late in the evening. The Ultra guys probably ran it from after sunset to post sunrise. Amazing!!!!

What really stood out was the level of participation in such a unique event. I could estimate about 3500 participants in the Men’s marathon and about 250 odd in the Ultra Men’s. Even the Women’s marathon had 850 runners for the midnight event!!!

Thats amazing, absolutely amazing. In India, even at the biggest marathon events (Mumbai), a paltry 1000-1500 turn up for the 42K, Singapore really stands out head and shoulders above, comparatively.

Here’s a review of the event by one of the runners: Collin Yeo’s blog

Singapore Marathon run

BIB/DIV: 1768 / M3034
TIME: 5h:29m:15s (gun) / 5h:25m:51s (net)

It was a wonderful experience to run my 2nd full marathon, and my first here in Singapore. I reached Singapore in the morning of Dec 01, the flight was delayed by an hour and I managed to reach the Race Entry Pack Collection counter at the Suntec City Convention Center only by 12:30 pm. By that time, the running group from Chennai (about 10-12 runners) had left, and whom I was expecting to meet there at 12:00.

After the BIB collection, I went to my place of stay, a small and cozy place called Sleepy Sam’s, located in the Arab road area near the Bugis MRT station. The place was full of backpackers from all around the world, and here I got to meet 4 runners also doing the marathon, 2 from Chennai (Shumit and Vidyuth), one from Malaysia (Subbramaniam), and there was one more guy from UK. I spent the rest of the day just resting and lazing around the nearby areas around Sam’s.

The morning of the run, we had to get up at 3:30 am since the race starts early at 5:30 am. It was still dark when we left by a taxi for the starting point, and where I got to meet the rest of the gang from Chennai. I was really amazed to see the way these guys organize the marathon there, with clockwork precision and efficiency. Everything was just perfect. It was not as colourful as we get to see here in Indian marathons where a lot of runners come out to have a party with all those flags and banners and costumes and stuff. In Singapore, it was more serious stuff, with events like 10K, 21K, 42K. The 10K was also probably about serious runners, it is a distance which needs more dedication than that required and shown by most of the 5K/6K runners here in India who come out to have a social outing and maybe some fitness walking instead of running.

The runners were organized at the starting line in batches with different target times. 6 hour runners were at the back, and ahead of them were the 5 hour, 4 hour runners, etc, all in different groups. This ensured that there was not too much of chaos at the start with people trying to overtake the slow runners ahead.

The race started in really good weather conditions, though it was humid. The first 30KM were really straightforward to run, I tried to maintain a pace of around 6:30 per km, and it worked well. However, the problems always come after the 30K mark, and thats when the running becomes difficult and thats when you have to run with your mind. By 33-34KM, my legs had done all the running they could do on this day, and then it was my mind which had to intervene on how to cover the remaining distance. I tried walking and then trying to run again. After some time, even this became a tough ask. I had to then stop, stretch a bit, lie down and get some sense back, and then run. This took me a few more kilometers. After this, even normal running became difficult and I went into an almost walking run, which was still giving me a pace of about 7:30/KM. Later, it became difficult to even continue with this, and as a last strategy, I started an ultra-fast walk and then some run sequence. This gave me a 8:30-9:00/KM pace. After reaching the 41KM mark, I gathered all the energy I had and ran the last 1.195KM to complete the run in a time of 5 hours 25 minutes.

The route throughout the race was fantastic. No flyovers, very beautiful all the way, through the business district, along the Singapore river, and along the various parks situated on the Singapore coastline. There was amazing crowd support, and support groups were there all through the way, even after 5 hours of race start. There were people ready with sprays and deep heat lotions at a lot of points, and I myself tried it a couple of times. Since it was not a loop course, we came to see the top runners in action, gliding through the air. In the latter part of the race, it did get a bit hot, but still nothing compared to what I have felt in Mumbai, the only other full marathon that I have run.

At the finishing line, I again met folks from Chennai. The medal collection was as smooth as anything else in Singapore, you just go and pick it, thats it. The finishers T-shirt is something to cherish, and the runner’s T-shirt which I got at BIB collection was also great, all Adidas. The medal was also a piece of art.

I am sure I will keep returning to this wonderful event year after year. It was fun.

All set for Singapore Marathon


Its time to leave for entering the unchartered waters of Singapore Marathon. Just a couple of days now for putting to peace the unrest which was triggered in August. Its has been 4 months of practice, a lot of hard work for sowing the seeds, and finally the time for reaping the harvest.

I still fear whether the 33km I did in practice would hold my legs for the 42km journey. I still fear if that 6:24 pace is going to eat my legs a little short of the magic mark. It is really swimming in unchartered waters, and I have to see if I am able to come out dry. Anything under 5:00 hr would probably still be good, but not good enough.

I am sure that the early start at 5:30 am (did I hear the Mumbai marathon organizers snore) would be a big boost. 40,000 runners, a flat course, great atmosphere would all help me to keep going.

End of the taper days

This weekend finished what was the last week before the Singapore marathon week. It has been some really lazy couple of weeks now, not too much of running, smaller distances. I ran a fastish 10k midweek to check up on my pace, did it at 6:10 compared to the 6:24 target. Today was a longer 13k which i did below my race pace. I am still skeptical of maintaining the 6:24 throughout the race, but I will try.

My visa should be ready in a couple of days. This weeks focus would be to get me and my baggage ready for the trip. Vaseline and duct tape are a must for me. A small handbag is all I should need.

Final big run before Singapore

Yesterday evening, I ran my final long run, and from now on, its taper time. I ran a distance of 34.75 KM as per my Polar RS200SD footpod, which would translate into actual run distance of 33 KM, given a 5% calibration error (my 21K at Vodafone half was shown as 22K). Total time taken was 3 hr 58 mins. The first 7K were extremely tough and all the time I was thinking about whether I will be able to finish the complete distance. The next 14K were the best with little or no fatigue, and then gradual building up of stress in my legs for the last 12-13 kilometers. My legs were still strong towards the finish, and I ran the fastest pace during the last 1.5KM stretch to complete the run under 4 hours.

So, overall, things look pretty good. I was thinking of doing about 2 KM more yesterday to make it a round 35 KM, but it was late in the night, and I was anyway over the scheduled distance to be run (32K). My earlier estimate of a 4:30 finish now seems a stretch, and I would be happy to do the run under 5 hours. I would also try to work on my speed, and that should help me to cut time, since I am doing good on the endurance front.

BTW, this was the longest I have ever run, either in practice, or in a marathon (yes, I ran less that this in the 2006 Mumbai marathon, the rest I walked). The last time I ran a 32K in practice was in 2006, and I had done that in 3:57, and I remember that I was really drained out towards the end of that run. Running the last few hundred meters was the biggest challenge then, while in my 33K run yesterday, the last 1.5K was the strongest I ran, and even after that, I was not really busted.