Sundown Ultra 84km - Slow, Slower, Slowest

Finally I get to try and pen my thoughts after the inaugural Sundown Ultra 84km. There's so much to download - chronological description of events, or feelings, or after thoughts - I don't even know where to begin. [Photos]

Less than 24h to the race, I had a brilliant idea to park at Civil Service Club Changi so that we could chill out comfortably pre-race, and shower in proper facilities post-race. Finally put my membership to use. Eddie, Alber and I reached there before 4pm on Saturday - super KS! - and I realised the SGRunner group were only coming later. Sent out alert to fellow runners that parking was available there. We went for a super early dinner then back to Club to lounge by the pool. 7pm - time to freshen up and change into race attire - Zoot tri-top & Skins bottom. Strangely I was not nervous at all. It was going to be such a long race that it was useless fretting over it. It probably didn't even matter if we started slightly later. 5min was a pindrop against the whopping 14.5h cut-off time. Saw many familiar runners at the start point. SGRunners had a booth so we milled around the area, chatting. JD and Sumiko came to wave us off too. :) Passed by many many encouraging supporters, volunteers and friends who took the trouble to come and cheer us on despite the inconvenience for them. Unable to list all the names here, but heartfelt salutes to them.

Alber tagged on Anthony and DO's group of 25min-5min run-walk strategy, and they went ahead. Eddie could not stay at my slow-slow pace, so he too ran off. I did not adopt any run-walk strategy. I simply planned to run until I could not run anymore, and walk-trot to the finishing line. I pretty much ran solo for 84km. No pacer, no company. Just me and my inner voice. The desperate things I did to mentally distract myself included - singing nursery rhymes to myself (because I could not recall any other lyrics), reciting encouraging words, praying for good weather, and my favourite -- counting down mountains.

It was a 2-prong counting. 1st - to celebrate Linda's recent Everest attempt, every 10km ran would be in honour of each 1,000m she climbed (well, I assumed she climbed to approx 8,400m). 2nd - I would also dedicate each 10km to 1,000m of mountain that I had climbed (Kinabalu, Everest Base Camp, Siguniang, Kilimanjaro, Mera, Mustagh etc etc...) Alas, I ran out of mountains after 70km! Had not climbed beyond that height....

The 1st loop went. At the ECP U-turn point stretch, I saw many friends way in front - too many to name. I went from slow, to slower, to slowest. It was my slowest ever road marathon, 6h! Disgustingly slow. In comparison, my trail 42km was also 6h. I reached the Ultra-transition tentage, saw Benny there changing shoes, and Ultraman sick over a trash bag. Oh dear. I was too distracted to chat much. Changed my shoes, ate 2 buns, took a new bottle of drink and started on my 2nd round.

Even aunties and uncles were ahead of me. There was a group of 3 Ipoh runners, and another couple, all on a run-walk strategy. Their walking and running was much faster than mine. Sigh :( They were dressed in normal running jerseys and shorts/ tights. None of that fancy spaceage looking diver compression suits that I had on. In fact, looking around, I was hardpressed to find another in fancy gear. I must be the last of the SKINS-2XU parade. Double-sigh.

I passed by Kayano - to my utmost surprise. With his speed, he should not be within sight at all. I later learnt that he had a bad tumble during the 1st round. It was a horribly mental stretch along coastal road. I was taking 100min per 10km, and doing a 10min-2min run-walk. It was such a drag just to keep shuffling along for 10min. The 10min seemed forever, and the 2min never enough. It took an eternity for the 10km marker to appear. The worse stretch though was getting through ECP to the u-turn. I ate a Double Latte power gel. Bad choice. On an empty hungry stomach, the coffee started churning. The u-turn point was insanely far away. Benny and Angela were many km ahead. Passed Eddie who happily announced that he just had Macs. Great idea, wondered if I should eat too.

The next stretch to Bedok Reservoir also took forever. It drizzled briefly and the sun soon awakened. I came alive briefly along one of the Siglap connectors. Somehow the morning sunshine lifted my mood a lot, and I ran strong along that stretch. The brevity ended and I was moody again. Stomach growling, I was so looking forward to the Don's chicken pie that Alvin was suppose to standby near Bedok Reservoir. Passed the SGRunners support station and dear Ivy helpfully made me a heavenly cup of hot milo. I did not take any of the food as I was eyeing the chicken pie instead. My legs were threatening to cramp, so I eased off the running on tarmac. Walked along, and horrors! No Alvin nor chicken pie in sight! Thankfully, the volunteers at the Bedok Reservoir drink station donated their breakfast sandwiches & packet milo to the runners. A couple of us stopped to eat. Kayano asked if we could reach the end-point by 11am. I confidently told him "of course". We had about 3h to clear the last 14km. It should work out fine. I loved the Reservoir track. It was a nice soft break from the hard pounding. I slowly jogged on the sand and felt my cramps flushed away. That 20-30km stretch took me an eternal 2:15h. Horrid crumbs.

The Tampines-Loyang last stretch was pure mental. I was zoning out. My timing estimates had gone from 12h, to 13h to simply finishing before the cut-off 14.5h. I cajoled, encouraged, threatened, and scolded myself to keep moving, keep walking, just continue placing one foot in front of the other. Many of the volunteers were taking naps in the aid stations by then. The last 3 water stations were unmanned and also ran out of water. I still had a little Endurance drink left in my bottle, and had to make that last. I had taken 6 packets of powergel and my taste buds died. When I saw the 38km marker, my eyes got teary. It was a concurrent sense of happiness at having only 4km more, and anger at having 4km more. Soon after I crossed the 40km mark and turned into Commando camp. It started drizzling, and got heavier, until it was just pouring buckets. At that point, the runners around, we all could not care anymore, we just jogged as best as we could. I was mindful not to slip and fall on the cement.

I filtered into the finisher bay, and the clock above said 14:05h. A group of SGRunners were at the side shouting my name, Alber ran the last 10-20m with me, Alex & Passion were taking photos, and couple of other things passed by in a flash. I was happy to be back, finally, but felt crappy over the bad timing. But for now, first thing first. The missing chicken pie had turned up with Alvin & Karen at the finishing line. :) I happily tucked into the much needed solid food.