Singapore Marathon 2004 :: Gavin Bong's Race Report

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Part travelogue, part race report; this essay aims to collect together all the experiences that took place at the recent Singapore marathon (le 5 novembre 2004). Do note that there will be no particular order to my braindumps. Nor will there be any coherent theme.

The HDB elevator continued its slow descent. I stood still, wary of a pool of water on the floor. A fat short lady squeezed into the elevator at floor 6. Her cellphone beeped. She whipped out her SonyEricsson and started reading the SMS. Since I was standing directly behind her, I accidentally read the SMS too. It read: Uncle Richard beat mother last night. Fullstop. When we reached the ground floor; I saw her enter a waiting van, emblazoned with the words, Asian Women's Welfare Association.

My last long run was punctuated by a group of Swedish partygoers shouting heja! heja! from their Volvo (how apt!). Punch in heja into this swedish-english dictionary and it translates as Come on! as in urging someone in a sports event. In french, they would use Allez. The spanish equivalent is Bravo. In Singapore, you'll likely hear them say: Chia yiu. Americans are different, you'll most likely hear them say Looking good.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

This year's Singapore marathon route is definitely an improvement. The decision to run the Marina South park in the first 10 km meant that runners enjoyed protection from the sun during the later part of the race. However the kilometre markers were inaccurate in the East Coast park section. This was confirmed by a Singaporean runner with whom I tagged along for a while. Is the new route AIMS certified ?

On the journey back to Kuala Lumpur, I was stopped by an immigration officer who proceeded to peruse my Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland with interest. She read the table of contents and scanned the first few paragraphs. I wonder if this is related to the recent ban on 40 books and magazines by Malaysia's Internal Security Ministry. Out of the 40, I've only read Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn. Notable titles in the banned list were Eat me by Linda Jaivin, Mammoth book of American Gay Erotica and Maxim (the magazine).

I did it! My goal was a 3h30 or better and I ran 3:22.56s (nett time). My position: 109th out of 3120 runners in the men's category. However, I didn't think it was a remarkable run. I cramped up once at the 34km mark. And slowed down terribly in the final 4km. This breakthrough race means that I'm raising the performance bar up to a 3h15 or better target, for my next marathon in 2005. Here's the full men's marathon result. Cecil Cheong, Azwar's triathlete compatriot ran a 3h19 (also his PR).

I had an epiphany. Nothing revolutionary. Just plain common sense. More to come ...

She passed me and I immediately recognized her face. It was her: Tegla Loroupe (bib: 8548). By the way, Singapore's Vivian Tang ran 2h59 in the marathon.

Tan Yo-Hinn wrote this report about the men's marathon winner, Philip Tanui, in the free tabloid "Today":

Amazingly, Tanui, a maize farmer from the outskirts of Nairobi, picked up the US$25,000 winner's cheque despite suffering from flu. "I never though I'd win the race as I had no strategy. I have been more worried about my flu ever since I arrived here three days ago. In fact, I'm still having the flu now", said the 30 year old.

On Kenya's prowess in middle and long-distance running, Tanui, whose personal best in the marathon is 2:09.56s, said: "I don't think there is any secret formula. Kenyans enjoy the sport and it is perhaps our strong tradition in it that drives us to keep that reputation up."

The spa - in Changi Village - is a little shop tucked between a grocery store and fishing supplies shop. I had agreed to be the guinea pig as my sis wanted to know if the place was any good. The entrance was fronted by newspaper cuttings displaying testimonies and rave reviews from the famous and not-so-famous. Jean-Claude Van Damme apparently was once massaged by the owner; as was a Singaporean footballer and a top official from FAM. My masseur was a cadre of the master rather than the master himself. The massage took 30 minutes in total, and it was painful. He seemed to have a vendatta against my calves and that part hurt the most. Nonetheless, it was SGD$25 well spent. 3 days after the marathon, I feel great and not sore at all.