Sundown Marathon Singapore 2014 Personal Take by Robin Tan

Sundown Marathon 2014, barring my 2^nd FM after the SCKLM 2013, it just never gets easier. It just got, worse…

On a brief recount, it all started off well while maintaining control and comfort over my pace for the first 21K of the race. Things started to turn awry moving onto the 24K mark inside the East Coast Park which was a long and enduring stretch. I could feel my calves twitching, quads burning and hamstring tightening with cramps seriously hitting me hard reaching the 31K mark. I was down on the floor sitting, stretching in all possible ways for it to go away. It took close to 15 minutes until I was able to be on my feet and started moving once more. Cramping on the calf and quad muscles is relatively easier to manage but for hamstring, I’ve no idea how as it was first time encounter…While dragging on, there were certainly hot sprays and rubs being offered but it did not help with my condition. I was instead hoping for ice or cold sponge which has worked well in alleviating the pain and cramps as to my own experience. To my dismay, there were none provided.

The final 10K felt never ending while dehydration was telling upon the humid weather. Grateful and a great relief I was to have bumped into Shannon, one of my close running mate at my lowest point in the race. From then on, it was the both of us trying to gather strength together, focusing on tackling the remaining distance, crunching one km at a time till the end. Somewhere along the way, we have met George, another running mate whom bearing his badly sprained ankle in prior weeks has made it thus far in the race, fighting through it in the harshest of all condition. This definitely gave us further resolute going forward without any reason just to give in. Alas, crossing the line together with Shannon, hand in hand was the moment with indescribable joy and relief!

Later, post-race thoughts naturally kicked in with the many why’s to ponder. Why I had fared poorly than my first FM attempt. With cramps and sores kicking in early while not during the first or even during training, it may be down to….

Self-inflicted pre-race expectations and anxiety? Bearing the heavy thought that I should be well prepared and eager to do much better with the prior experience…

Inadaptability of the body running late at night? While all my mileage prior to the event were clocked mostly during the wee hours in the morning with fuel, hydrations, physically and mentally adapted accordingly to it…

Humidity? I’ve no answer to this but only to keep hydrating…

Anymore? I wouldn’t know…The next thing quickly on my mind was to lace up, get out the door, run freely…”Runs end, running doesn’t.”

To sum up, it was truly an enduring and humbling experience in my own accord. Fighting fatigue and sleepiness running at night, cramps and sores early in the race, soul searching and digging deep for strength and determination on the verge of giving up, battling dehydration amidst the humidity…That’s just about it with words but, there’s definitely a lot more than could be described…

“If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.” – Emil Zatopek.

Race course overview

Generally, race course was relatively flat throughout apart from the elevations in the early miles which were still manageable when fresh but definitely a mountain to climb in the later stage towards the end…

Stations were well placed accordingly with ample of hydrations and fuels provided. The isotonic drink and gel offered was Pocari Sweat and Maxifuel Viper Active respectively which is well renowned in Singapore but not in Malaysia. I personally take a liking on them after my first try, Pocari Sweat being the gasless version of 100 Plus which doesn’t bloat me while the Maxifuel Viper Active was just so liquefied and easy to gulp down as compared to the other brands which I’ve used all along. 

Certainly as with other runs, there were areas which could’ve been done better over the course. To nitpick a few – dark and uneven stretches which were not well lit, ice and cold sponges were felt wanting to cool down and relieve pain, crowd management at the entrance to the entry pen because it was jam packed. Nevertheless, it was still well and fairly organized with no major hiccups on the organizing front in my opinion.