I loved doing the SHAPE Run. :) I loved it because I could renew my SHAPE Magazine at a low cost of $20 a year and best of all, there was no need to squeeze with the guys since this would be an all-women run. So I was a little annoyed when I heard that the pacers for the race were made up of guys. My initial reaction was why can't the organiser looked for women pacers? Was it because women couldn't run that fast or was not so good at leading a consistent pace? But since I won't be following a pacer, there was no reason for me to get upset. :p The week before the race, I made arrangements with Carey and Samantha to meet at the Bag Deposit Area. Karen wasn't able to join us though she had signed up for the race as she would be outstation. I also asked Carey to give me a morning call in case I couldn't wake up as I had completed the Marina 21km @ Punggol the night before
(finishing at 10pm).
Carey called me just at the right time. I didn't have enough sleep so had to drag myself out of the bed. Reluctantly, I changed into my running gear, stashed my compact camera and bib number into my waist pouch and left. I managed to reach the start at 6.45am, None of them were here yet but Carey was just a few MRT stations away. Both Carey and Samantha reached before 7.00am. After depositing their belongings at the Bag Deposit Area, we proceed to the starting line. There, I bumped into Elise, whom I ran with for the past 2 years. The race was officially flagged of at around 7.10am starting with the 10km runners. But Carey, Samantha and Elise would prefer to run their own race. :( As I was treating this as a recovery run rather than a race, I decided to go slow as usual and had fun.
The race route was about the same as the previous year. We would run along Nicoll Highway towards the direction of the new Sports' Hub, then made a left turn at the Mountbatten Junction towards Kallang and Kampong Bugis. The weather was okie but somehow, I missed the 2km marker. I first noticed the pacers near the Mountbatten Junction. They each had an orange balloon with the expected finishing time written on it. They were prominent and you can spot them from afar as they were wearing a luminous yellow top. After passing a water station along Kallang Road, I picked up my pace since there was nothing exciting to shoot. Before the Kampong Bugis Junction, after turning left past the Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple, Samantha ran past me and gave me a huge smile which I just about captured it in time. :)
We were directed onto the park and were now running next to the Kallang River. It was shady and had a little wind. I made use of my cup to drink at the 2nd water station and shortly after, saw the 4km marker! This stretch along the Kallang River was about 1.5km long. At the end of the path, we turned into the F1 track where the F1 drivers do their pit stop at the garages. 6km marker was not far in front. This stretch of the route was bare and hot. And since I had run past here last year and the scenery was about the same (less the super trees which looked more complete this year), I could run non-stop for a while. After running past the Singapore Flyer, I heard someone calling out my name. I turned and looked around and saw Lynette! And I knew I could enjoy my remaining distance with her company. :)
We stopped at the 3rd water point to hydrate before heading out to make the u-turn just before a overhead flyover and back to the F1 track. We saw another group of pacers on the opposite side of the track. Lynette and I chi-chat all the way until we reached the Nicoll MRT Station. There, I told her that I would run ahead to see if I could spot anyone I knew. I did! The first person I saw was Brokie. She was always in something striking so it was impossible to miss her. This year, she wore an extremely bright yellow top! I shouted out to her and she gave me a big wave and smile before sprinting away! By now, I was so excited that I forgot all about Lynette! (SORRY!) I ran as fast as I could to see who else I would bump into on the other side. Ture enough, I saw Elise again! I told her to press on. After making my u-turn at the Suntec City traffic lights, it was about 1km from the finishing. I managed to saw Lynette again making her way to the u-turn.
I managed to cross the finishing in 1:14:48.59 (gun time) (nett time of 1:11:44.90). I saw Charlotte and Tiwazz near the finishing. After collecting my medal and drink, I went to collect my goodie bag. It was a nightmare! I couldn't see any queue but a big mass of runners "walking" in the same direction. It took forever to take a single step and most of us were tired, smelly and sweaty. I was grouchy. I called Elise. She said she was near the front and asked if I could make my way to her. I told her it was impossible. After about 30mins of queuing (not too bad if you asked me), I finally collected my goodie bag! I saw Brokie soon after and we were wondering why on earth was the goodie bag collection point so small as compare to the bag deposit area. Every runner would need to collect the goodie bag but not all runners would make use of the bag deposit! It simply made no sense at all. We met up a while later with Roonz (who was placed 10th in the 10km category, CONGRATS!!!), YN and Carey (who completed her 10km in 1:19:23.52. :) CONGRATS too!) After some catching up and collecting more freebies from the sponsors (I took 3 cups of yogurts), we left somewhat satisfied from the morning workout.
Carey called me just at the right time. I didn't have enough sleep so had to drag myself out of the bed. Reluctantly, I changed into my running gear, stashed my compact camera and bib number into my waist pouch and left. I managed to reach the start at 6.45am, None of them were here yet but Carey was just a few MRT stations away. Both Carey and Samantha reached before 7.00am. After depositing their belongings at the Bag Deposit Area, we proceed to the starting line. There, I bumped into Elise, whom I ran with for the past 2 years. The race was officially flagged of at around 7.10am starting with the 10km runners. But Carey, Samantha and Elise would prefer to run their own race. :( As I was treating this as a recovery run rather than a race, I decided to go slow as usual and had fun.
The race route was about the same as the previous year. We would run along Nicoll Highway towards the direction of the new Sports' Hub, then made a left turn at the Mountbatten Junction towards Kallang and Kampong Bugis. The weather was okie but somehow, I missed the 2km marker. I first noticed the pacers near the Mountbatten Junction. They each had an orange balloon with the expected finishing time written on it. They were prominent and you can spot them from afar as they were wearing a luminous yellow top. After passing a water station along Kallang Road, I picked up my pace since there was nothing exciting to shoot. Before the Kampong Bugis Junction, after turning left past the Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple, Samantha ran past me and gave me a huge smile which I just about captured it in time. :)
We were directed onto the park and were now running next to the Kallang River. It was shady and had a little wind. I made use of my cup to drink at the 2nd water station and shortly after, saw the 4km marker! This stretch along the Kallang River was about 1.5km long. At the end of the path, we turned into the F1 track where the F1 drivers do their pit stop at the garages. 6km marker was not far in front. This stretch of the route was bare and hot. And since I had run past here last year and the scenery was about the same (less the super trees which looked more complete this year), I could run non-stop for a while. After running past the Singapore Flyer, I heard someone calling out my name. I turned and looked around and saw Lynette! And I knew I could enjoy my remaining distance with her company. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment