Time to update my blog! And it will be all about the Standard Chartered Marathon.Why? Coz Kiat and RY were participating in the full marathon-42.195km.
Kiat was back in SIN last wed to attend the marathon on Sunday. RY came back from Guangzhou on Fri-birds of the same feathers ...
Before I begin,last Mon or Tue,I can't remember exactly which day it is already,we saw the President at the HDB Hub.He was the guest of honor for the annual charity gift box donation,organised by the Boys Brigade. When Dav and I went down for a short break around 3 plus,we saw lotsa people and then we saw him.Hey, this is our 1st time seeing him real life and up close. They even opened up the walkway so that his car can go all the way in.Talk about presidential treatment :P
2nd Dec 2005
Ok,back to the marathon, on Friday,Kiat and I went to Suntec convention to collect the goodie bag.We met Esther there as well-so qiaos.There were a number of events going on in the exhibition hall-3 on 3 basketball,street hockey,games etc. There was also the press conference whereby the winners of the last marathon were present.These guys from Kenya really can run man!
4th Dec 2005
On Sunday-D Day,they left at 5am to the Esplanade. I met them at the mid points to give my support! My first stop was ECP.SC had this runinspirator tour whereby there is a free shuttle bus service to ferry the supporters to different stops to support the runners. My 1st stop was to ECP.I boarded the bus at Kallang MRT.On the bus with me were some Hongkongers.They too were going to ECP to support their friend.I was wondering if they were Thomas's friends as he also came down with a group of Hongkongers to run. Can you imagine,people come all the way just to run..I don't think I will,I rather spent the money to go overseas to shop and sightsee :P Anyway,this is where the drama began,we were happily sitting on the bus when the stupid bus driver drove us all the way to the Padang. I was like &^%$&@. The route on the brochure stated that after Kallang(Stop no 4) ,it would be ECP (3) ,then Nicoll Highway(2),then the last stop was Padang,which was the finishing point.We all ended up at the Padang! The best part was the Hongkongers did ask him if the bus was going to ECP and he said yes,apprantely he did not understand I presume. I was so damn angry,I was complaining to the woman in charge when we alighted but apparently there was nothing she can do but ask us to wait for the next bus. By the, the Hongkongers have already boarded a taxi to ECP. I,too hailed a cab to ECP.I was so afraid of missing the guys at ECP and had to procced to the next stop without seeing them at ECP. Thank god, when I reach there around930am,I managed to see them-1st RY then he waited for Kiat to come.By the ECP stop,Kiat was already half cmi hehe . I saw this old uncle running barefoot-it must be very painful with all the blisters..:(
Picture coutesy of marathon-photos.com. So small, can go to the website to see though. That's ry in blue,Kiat is next to him.
I didn't take any pictures of them in ECP as I took video instead. Video better,can capture everything.
Afer ECP, I took the bus to the next stop-Kallang-it's the same bus driver! I checked with him first man,scarly he sent us back to Padang again-faints....Luckily,this time, he dropped us at Kallang. I waited for a while for them to reach Kallang. I was sitting at the bus stops with the other supporters . In front of us were SAFTI people,there to support their people. They were giving out water, bananas,energy bars to people who needed them. I see lotsa runners stopping by to apply counterpain ointment.I believe their legs must be aching like mad man.There was this guy next to me waiting for his friend to run pass too. He was armed with a very powerful camera to capture all their shots. 
The safti people in front of where I was sitting. There was this guy from SAFRA-too bad I did not capture him in this shot,he was clapping and shouting encouragment to the runners-I guess that's the spirit of the marathon as well:)
After a while, I saw RY. He was still looking goods after so many kilometers. He is damn fit man. Quickly took a picture of him but my skills is damn bad!By the time I snapped the shot,he has already ran pass me-he was still waving at the camera when I was aiming at him but I did not manage to take,only took some stupid cars on the road so embarassing.
At the Kallang stop:RY is the one in...,ok,my photography sucks again-its quite difficult to describe where he is .He is the topless one,in this picture,can only see his right arm kekekeke
About 30 mins later, Kiat arrived at the Kallang stop,by then they had already ran close to 30km.
This shot was bad too but at least can see the face :P
After this stop,I made my way to the Padang. When I reached there, I couldn't enter the 'runners only' area-the finsihing line and resting area.I can only see from the sides. I had to make a big round to get inside the Padang. I stood on top of the spectators stand (quite afraid to fall as it was bit wobbly and the stand was empty=no support) But, the view was good. RY even saw me from where I was standing and gave me a drink which I desparately was in need of.He had already completed the race before I got there. Afer a while,Kiat completed in 5hrs plus..phew...The winner?He completed in 2hr 15 mins. They were saying when they were running towards ECP,the police were already clearing the road for them to run back to the Padang,can you imagine! The speed and stamina these Kenynians have! When I woke up to prepare to go and support them,they have already finished the marathon :P
(Picture courtesy of marathon-photos.com)
Taking a well deserved break!! I met Choun Hian too! He also ran the full marathon.
We saw some of the foreign runners on the way back.They were limping too..from cramps...in fact almost everyone I saw around us who had just finished the marathon was limping. Quite a sight :P
Finally....well done Kiat and RY! Really proud of you guys! It really boils down to determination and grit.It was my first time attending the SC marathon as a supporter,maybe next year,I could be a participant-in the 10km,not the full marathon.We shall see.......
The below was Kiat's account of the day:
"Woke up in the morning before the sun came up, around 4.30am… reach the start point at 540am, did a little warm up, and off we went!
The first 28km was ok, though we only managed to smell the Kenyans and elite runners… I followed the pace of my super fit friend and did good.
For the last 14km, that was when all hell broke loose… OMG…. I started to feel sores and pains from places on my body that you did not even know could have them…
First was my left knee, which has never seen 18km, not to mention it was only less than half of what I needed to complete. And amazingly, the human body is highly adaptable, where my left hamstring reflexively diverted the pressure onto itself from 20+km onwards, which resulted in an EXCRUCIATING cramp at the back on my left knee with 15km to go… of course my right thigh and lower back joined in the party…
Some other highlights was an old man running barefooted in the hot Singapore sun, and I managed to talk to him and he told me he was already 68! Also at my last 2km, I was desperately borrowing Deepheat ointment from fellow runners to ease my pain… lucky to find one fellow ‘loser’ that was trying to lessen the pain…
At the final stretch it was all about you and the run, where you did not care who overtook you, and very often you will return the favor just by walking… it became a walk, cramp, stretch, drink, run, walk, cramp again event.
Completed the race at 5HR 24Mins, (after the Kenyans finished their race, went back to their hotel to bathe and have breakfast, took a nap, did some shopping at Raffles City, and lunch maybe), I finally reached the end, limping but very satisfied… "
PS: The 68 year old guy which he mentioned was the same uncle I saw in ECP-the one whom I wrote he ran barefooted.
(Christmas carolling)
Deco at the entrance 
More Flowers
I had the alaska crab leg
