Loved the interesting and varied route for the Army Half Marathon (21.1km) this year.
The theme for this year's run was "Experience Singapore", and so runners ran past the Merlion, Sheares Bridge, East Coast Park, Nicoll Highway, the National Library, Orchard Road, Chinatown, the Parliament House, and the Padang. Even though we lugged a camera the entire way, we have nothing to show for it because I didn't realise the battery was flat. :( I felt very sorry that Smole had to carry it the whole way.
There must have been 15 guys to every girl. I suppose that is what you get when it is organised by the army. One of the best things about this arrangement was that the queue for the ladies' portable toilet was only one-third the length of the gents, which never happens in regular life! The bad thing about this arrangement was that with a total of some 60,000 runners, the pong of these men was quite something. I don't even want to think about it long enough to describe it.
One of the most interesting things about this run was that the water-stops were taken care by different divisions in the army. Some divisions like the 9th division infantry and the 6th division really went all out to motivate the runners. One of them gave out ice-cold sponges! The other had army men dressed up as big-headed dolls and dragons to welcome the runners. A lot of divisions had drums, loud music, and fertilser sprays to water down the crowd. What a carnival! :)
The weather was excellent too. Because flag-off was at 5:30am, most of the run was in the dark. It was also a cloudy day -- in fact, it rained at 9am on the carnival after the race. I pitied the 6km runners who were coming in at that point.
Our timing wasn't as good as Standard Chartered, but I am glad that we finished the race strong. I thought that we may have to walk long stretches of the way because we aren't as prepared this year, but that didn't happen and I actually really enjoyed this run. From now on, everytime we do a long run, it will be longer that anything we've ever done before, until our first marathon at the end of the year. :) The plans of mice and men...
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon 2006
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12 comments:
haha... you're right on the nose about the pong... which, by the way, is a hybrid between rancid oily unwashed hair and clothes that haven't been thoroughly dried for months... i guess hygiene ain't on the top of the list for NS and army guys who have to spend days in the same uniform when in the field...
Eric, thank you. :)
ToT, I think that why I'm glad girls don't have to do NS. :) Among other reasons of course.
I admire your ability to run so much. I can't stand running, that and it hurts my weak ankles... Do you ever get a sharp pain in your ankle when you plant your foot down? I get that about every 20 steps when I run and I'm thinking that's not exactly normal so I just basically don't run.
Anyways, Congrats!
Congrats on your AHM! Yea it's about finishing the race strong. :)
Hmm, b, I don't think I will be able to go very far if I had a sharp pain in the ankle every 20 steps.
Does it hurt when you walk normally? Does it hurt here, or is it the ankle proper?
If the former, the right shoes may help.. If it is the ankle proper, well, I wouldn't know...
MOFW, thank ya! Isn't it about the running the race to win though? ;)
I bought this book for the reason :P
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576737268/002-8443303-5374406?v=glance&n=283155
Hmm. Interesting book. Post a review. :)
Hmm. Is that why your blog is called `The Race'?
Oh I named it before I got this book, still learning...
hi mis_nomer!
thanks for dropping by my blog...u are fast to comment my ahm entry
anyway, well done for your run...hope to see u joining us after runs one day
If you read today's Sunday Times, please turn to Lifestyle section, L14 dated 3 September 2006. Please read this article "Being ahead in the race is not everything".
How is the article?
Taz, thanks for stopping by. :)
MOFW, hmm, interesting that there should be an article about finishing the race well when we were just talking about it. I think what Pereira says is true. But who knows when is the end of the race, or how we are going to be judged in the end? What if we think we are doing our best and being true to ourselves, but at the end of it, the judge says, "I don't even know you"? I don't really know what race I'm in, frankly.
But, it is a timely reminder not to give up...
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