this was the first time that i was watching a race rather than taking part in it. taking into account my long term goals next year, i decided not to run with a shin splint that is taking longer than usual to heal (probably cause i've still been running until last week).
i reached the race site just in time to see mok come into the last 200m. he finished with a time of 2:43. he was the top singaporean. considering this was his first marathon, it is an understatement to say that this was a good debut.
ashley was 8 mins behind him at 2:51 to finish second sinagporean. been hearing alot about how he'd been training. must have paid off.
saw the rest such as (in no particular order) junyang, bear bay, mark, baldwin, lucas, josh, zhixiang, eddy chun kiak, nicholas, elston, sanny and quite a few others finish. it looked so fun.
most importantly, i was down to watch the rubicon-huggs runners come in. saw uncle rodney, doing his umpteenth marathon. then there was just, my best friend for 15 years doing his first marathon. he only picked up running this year with the AHM, then decided to do the 42.2 today. he did about 5hours plus plus, which for a first timer doesnt really matter. first time just complete can already. my first marathon i cramped and walked the last 10km, so this was quite an achievement for him.
inside, i was feeling happy for everyone. some hit their PB's some didnt. but they finished, and the smiles on their sweaty faces meant it was all worth it. the time and effort spent training were all worth it.
obviously i felt sucky (understatement). the top 2 singaporean men were both uni students, which goes to show how the younger guys stepping up to the marathon distance are making quite an impact in the scene. a few months ago this was my dream too, to do a sub 3:10 to qualify for boston. never is easy to come to terms when there is a gap between what u want and what u can realistically get is too big to cross.
i just have to be patient and know that with the rest time i will come back stronger and faster. in the mean time, go mok and ashley. go boston (if u decide to go) and experience my dream for me. hope to join u guys one day. cheers.
1 comment:
Yo BFFFLF (Hannah actually remembered me by that name),
I hit my personal best today. Haha. Well it was my first and I was surprised that I did hit the timing I was hoping for, though not really seriously running for.
Thanks so much for being there. Meant a lot to me.
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