Sundown Marathon

Sundown Marathon is the first night marathon in Singapore and also has an Ultra category. My longest distance before is 52.5km. I am trying to tackle this 84km.

I had flu about a week before Sundown. By yesterday, I still have some running nose and occasional cough. I know it is not good to do the run. I plan to walk all the way. Before the start, I told Tim that it is going to be only 50:50 that I can finish. I plan at least 60km and will see how it goes after that.

Here is the route and my timing.



I have planned good detail on each km's pace. If I can follow it to the dot, I will finish at 14:28:00. I printed the whole timing on a piece of card. At the beginning, I am able to follow my timing of 7km/h. However, my heartrate is between 140 to 150+. In my normal practice at 7km/h, my heartrate is below 130. I knew that my flu is causing the extra high heartrate. I have difficult in building up buffer since my heartrate goes above 150 when I try to push to 7.5km/h. I used to able to do 8km/h. The flu has cause me to work harder but still slower.

By 21km, I was still within my plan, about 2 minute ahead. I started to have the tendon behind my left knee to be tight. I removed my patt strap, make some adjustment to my tight but it is still not good. The SKINS is very good everywhere else except the part behind the knee, I am not sure whether that is one of the underlying reason of DNF.

I spent too much time at the Bedok Town Park support table, when I restart after the break, my 2 minutes buffer is gone. The tendon behind the knee continue to be a problem. I have to take a break every few km to massage it.

I finished the first lap at 2:58am, 6 hr 28 minutes for the first lap, it is right on my plan. For the next 11km, I lost about 2 minutes when compared to the plan. Since my plan has only 2 minutes buffer, the chance of finishing within cut-off time is slipping away. At about 16km on lap 2, I am getting slower and slower. I need about 6km/h but I occasionally need massage to my knee and falling behind the schedule by about 3.5 minutes. The possibility of finishing within cut off time is fading away. I decided to "hypnotize" myself and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. It works, I forget the pain and did a few km of 6.5km/h. But at about 19km mark, I had a blister on my right heel. The blister is filled with fluid and is causing pain. I reach the U-turn point and ask if they have any medic kit to treat the blister. However, they don't have anything. I put some tissue paper to isolate the blister from touching any part of the shoe and it works. However, at the same time, my left knee is stiffened to a point that I cannot walk properly. I can only limping at 4km/h. I think my "hypnotize" period has stretched the knee beyond recoverable state. In the last 10km, I can massage it and then I can do another 2km or so. But now, even with massage, use the thought of "causal walk" cannot bring it back. I knew that there is a medic at the point going to Siglap park connector. I drag myself for 2km (it took me half an hour for the 2km!!) to the junction. However, the medic told me that they have run out of deep heat rub. He spray the cold liquid onto it and it feels better. However, after crossing the bridge, it is pain + pain + pain. I can only go at 4km/h. With 20km to go, it will take me at least 5 hours but the clock has 3 hr 45 minutes left. It is not possible for me to finish within cut-off.

So, I took the painful decision to get a cab at the Siglap Park Connector and go back to Changi Village. I have finished 64.5km - the longest distance that I have ever done.

I was really really exhausted. In the cab, I feel cold and shivering. I told the cab driver to turn off the air-con. When I get off the cab at Changi Village, the cold wind make me shiver again. I was feeling cold. I knew that my body has performed beyond the limit that I had today. If it is not for the flu that got me, I think I will do it better. The body feels really really bad when I cool down. When I return home and eat noodle, I found that I temporarily lose my taste bud. The noodle has no taste at all. The blood in my body is concentrated to protect my core, my limbs are a bit cold. I have to sleep inside a blanket without air-con for 1-2 hours to get back to normal.

Though I have DNF. I tried my best. I had the longest distance that I have ever covered (previously, the longest is MR25 Ultra of 5 laps). And next time, I will conquer the 84km.

Sundown Race Pack

I went to collect my Sundown rack pack on 24-May. It is located in the Millenia Walk.
I was there around 8pm. It is pretty quiet. I got my race pack within a minute.


The Race Pack is loaded inside a big bag. The content are:
- a can of 100+
- a can of water from Park Connector
- The bib with 0040 being my bib number and safety pins
- a luggage tag for the luggage deposit and two stickers for the Ultra transition bag
- another big bag as transition bag
- The Adidas singlet
- some coupons
- a leaflet about the east side part connectors.


The singlet is a very body hugging design. I have the L size and it fits a tight though usable. The material is thin and extremely lightweigth. It is branded as Adizero. The design is fine but I am not planning to use it during the Ultra.


The bib has a RFID sticked to the back of the bib. It kind of makes the bib "rigid". The people at the counter told me not to fold the bib.


With 300 Ultra runner, I don't think it is a good idea to use the Sundown bag as transition bag. I need to come up with my own bag that make me easier to find.

MR25 Ultra Marathon 2007

I participated in the 2007 MR25 Ultra Marathon. The event is a 12 hour time limited event from 7am to 7pm and counts how many time a person completed the MacRitchie loop which is 10.5km in length. In order to qualify as a finisher, I need to complete at least 5 laps.


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I arrived the MacRitchie and around 6:25am. Got register with the bib number 1048. I carried with me Milo, Jello, Gel and Kraft Oreo waffler sticks. I put on my petroleum gel on both feet, sunblock, Action cream and then ready to go.

Due to the fact that I did not rest the day before, I decided to go for very conservative strategy and aimed to complete 5 laps and then see if I am ok enough to complete the 6th lap. Anyway, if I complete 5 laps, this will be by far my longest run at 52.5km If I am able to consistently hit 7km/hr, there should be plenty of time for me to finish 6 laps.

The day started with nice weather. Because I was outside for 4.5 hours the day before, I knew that I did not start in my best condition. The goal is to complete 5 laps and see how it goes. The first lap is ok at 1:26:15, inline with my expected speed of 7km/h.

After a short 5 minutes break, I started my second lap. I started to feel that my right foot has expanded and now is occasionally hitting the front of the shoe. If continue for 5 laps, I definitely will have black toenail or even worst. Also, I was wearing a Nike Pegasus TC which has a lighter weight version of Pegasus. Due to the lighter weight, I believe it has less cushioning and I can feel the rock through the sole of the shoe. On the way at the golf link, I was catching up to a girl and she sudden lost her support on the left leg and almost fall down. I asked her if she is ok and she said she is ok, then I just continued. I still finished in good time of 1:35:20. By then, my shorts, singlet is all wet already. I decided to change to my spare shoe. To add more cushioning, I decided to go for double sock with Injinji inside and Thorlon sock outside. I also change my singlet, take a break and chat with some of the sgrunners. As time flies, the break has become 30 minutes long before I started my third lap.

It was becoming all sunny and hot. I add a small belt and bring along one of the fuelbelt's water bottle so that I can refill it at the water station and drink it in between water stations. But the heat and the muscle starts to eat in. I cannot maintain my speed on the upslope and need to slow down significantly in the rough terrain between the end of golf-link and Lornie Road. Timing wise is drifted to 1:46:30.

For the 4 laps, the ITB at the knee for both left and right leg are tightening up. I can no longer reach my normal brisk walking speed. Slowing down to 6-6.5km/hr on flat and need to lower the cadence and shorten the stride on the up-slope. Timing also stretched to 2:01:00. Now, it is clear that I will not be able to do six laps judging from the condition of my legs.

It is hot and sunny. But suddenly, some cloud appears and block the sun. I decided to start the 5th lap. And about 1km into it, I meet up with the girl that I encounter on the 2nd lap. And we start to just walk along and chatting, taking rest in the Ranger Station. When it comes to the stairs, she start to struggle due to her knee problem starting in lap 2. At the Jelulong Tower, I decided to move ahead. Because of the slow walk, I have recover quite a bit of energy and I start my normal brisk walking. Unfortunately, the higher speed of brisk walking has generated extra heat and a blister was formed right under the forefoot of my right foot. It is still 3.5km from finish line and the blister is painful for every step I took. I have to curl my toes inward and use it to support my right foot to reduce the pain. I finished the 5th lap in 2:18:00.

When I arrive the finish line, it was 10:08:30. I don't have enough strength to go for another lap (my blister will not allow me at all). I just called it a day.



Summary of Timing for each lap
Lap 1 - 1:26:15
Lap 2 - 1:35:20
Lap 3 - 1:46:30
Lap 4 - 2:01:00
Lap 5 - 2:18:00


52.5km is the longest run that I ever have. Although the pace is slower than I expect and I have taken too long during the breaks, but overall, I am happy that I have completed the event.

Definitely for next year, I will shoot for 6 laps as minimum.