The Sundown ultra in Singapore 31 May - 1 June
2008
Before the start of the 84k
Sundown ultra in
Singapore on Saturday evening 31 May I joke with my running buddy Joe about
the VIP treatment I expect here. I had had a motorcycle escort during my
last major training run in Cambodia, so why not here?
Plodding along, about 10k before the finish in the
Sundown, a cyclist is
sitting in the grass next to the trail and shows a peculiar interest in my
bib number. I have my shirt in my hand to avoid chafing, the protective
nipple plasters having fallen off already long ago, but the number is
visible. A couple of hundred meters later the cyclist catches up and says
"Hi, I am Ellory, you’re in third position and I am your escort". Now these
organizers really know how to fulfill a runner’s most undeserved
expectations! The escort does help: Ellory’s company turns the last stretch
from a struggle to keep moving into a real run. One has to live up to one’s
status isn’t it.
This Sundown (ultra)marathon
is a first in many different ways. For me personally: I have gone beyond
marathon distance before (6 hours, 60k, etc) but never twice the distance, a
first that I share with 44% of all registered ultra runners. It sounds much
more than it actually is, given that this is the first real ultramarathon
race ever in the Southeast Asia region. Even then it was only an add-on to
the core event, the marathon, and if it weren’t for the insistence of Adrian
Mok, the driving force behind the
Sundown, his
colleagues wouldn’t have included the double. From an event organizer’s
perspective their hesitation was all very understandable: why double the
logistical hassles (e.g. with a 14 hour time limit for the ultra the drinks
stations needed three shifts of volunteers) for something that will only
attract the crazy few? As it turned out, when I tried to register two weeks
after the opening of the registration the 100 slots available had long since
filled already. After much discussion, registration re-opened and the
additional 200 slots filled and still not all requests for participation
could be honored.
It was also the first night marathon in the region. Adrian Mok tells me
that’s what started it all: his longer training runs during the night when
he was preparing to solo the Run Round Singapore 168k event in 2005, making
him more attuned to his senses, an experience he wanted to share with
others.
I’m sure the Sundown
is also a regional first in the number of participants it attracted in its
first edition: about 4900 for the full marathon. It usually takes a while
for an event to establish its place on the race calendar, to build up its
name as being well organized, and/or having a fast, scenic, fun etc. course.
And think about the numbers on the full marathon of well established
regional events like the Bangkok
marathon (20th edition in 2007: 1932), the
Kuala Lumpur marathon (7th
edition in 2008: 858) or even the
Standard Chartered Singapore marathon (7th edition in 2007:
10,113, competing with Hong Kong for
the biggest marathon crowd in Asia, but its 2002 edition only had 1987 full
marathon participants).
I’m not knowledgeable enough to claim that . 4900 runners for a first
edition is a worldwide high but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is. It speaks
to very professional event organization and it speaks to an incredibly
enthusiastic running community in Singapore.
For me there was another first: never have I seen so many people walking
on a run. Because of the way the races had been scheduled that had two sides
to it. The course is a full marathon circuit of the eastern coastal parks
and its network of connector trails. Doing the ultra meant completing this
circuit twice. The ultra started at 8:30 PM, the marathon at midnight. I
came through the starting area maybe 25 minutes after midnight, encountered
the first marathon walkers just a couple of k into my second circuit, and
pretty soon ran into the tail end mass of marathoners, mostly walking or
jogging at very slow speed. The connector and park roads are not very wide
so this mass of people constituted a real obstacle. Judging from my
finishing time I must have passed at least 3900 other runners in that second
lap. And passing them meant weaving through the crowd, sometimes leaving the
road if there was just no way through. The additional energy required
irritated me, but it also directed my attention away from the tiredness and
in hindsight I’m not quite sure if it slowed me down or actually helped me
out.
It also made me think about the Singapore running community. In my home
country, and most other countries I would imagine, many of similar fitness
and ability would never even try a marathon. They would consider it beyond
their capabilities, only for the super fit and naturally gifted. Not so in
Singapore. Maybe people don’t buy into the myth of the marathon as the
ultimate challenge as much as the public in more established running
nations? If so, that would be great because it really is a myth and not a
very helpful one at that. Yes, a marathon is a challenge, but "ultimate"?
What does that make us ultras look like? Not many choices apart from super
humans or nutcases. The first is patently untrue, the second, well, most of
us are pretty average. There is quite some evidence that we’re born to run
long distances. Ultras have a much longer history than modern day athletics,
although not many are aware of that, spoon-fed as we are on the marathon
myth. So it was very refreshing to encounter such numbers of ‘normal’ people
giving the marathon a try.
The course is a real highlight of this race. What a great mix of park
trails – which on a Saturday night in May, until quite late, are a carnival
of exercising, barbequing, relaxing and partying citizens – and connector
trails, often along canals and through nice residential areas that outsiders
would not normally visit, most of it very leafy. As good as it gets for a
city marathon. The course has one downside: most trails are concrete, about
the worst surface for running imaginable. And it has some interesting
challenges: quiet a few sharp turns, a couple of foot bridges, and a couple
of k of a barely noticeable incline just before the finish, but did I notice
on the second lap!
So what about the race you might ask. Joe and set out at a conservative
pace in a big crowd of 10.5k team runners, and stayed together until after
their turn around point. I then slowly pulled away from him, each of us
settling into our personal cruising speed that feels like one can keep it up
"forever". I have no clue where I am in the field of 318 ultras but it
cannot be in the front because I keep overtaking others. Around k18 the
course has a 2k out-and-back stretch and the first couple of runners coming
towards me have a bicycle escort so I gather they must be the leaders. I
start counting and at the turn around point conclude that I am in 16th
position, which is quite an ego-boost. On the return leg I see Joe again,
looking good, not too far behind. The course then heads away from the coast
towards the Bedok reservoir. Runners are now few and far between and I take
sustenance from slowly gaining ground on the runner ahead – when anyone is
in sight that is – and, so far so good, I keep overtaking fellow
competitors. However I start to feel the distance and although I do not
drink at all stops I do at most and the intake doesn’t become easier. My
body temperature is noticeably on the rise – ambient temp is around 25
degrees celcius – and I am happy that the drink stops are only 2.5k apart
and I can regularly throw water over my head and down my back to cool down.
The closer we get to the finish the more I am looking forward to having it
over with but I am only closing in on the half way point! At k40 a race
volunteer radios my bib number to the support crew at the finish and when I
arrive they have the goody bag that I have dropped off before the start
ready. I grab a banana, sit down at a park table, and wonder how on earth I
am going to do this another time. If my tired brain got the count right I
passed the half way point in 7th position, but 8 and 9 are right
behind me and one of them does not even stop. I gobble down my banana and
one and a half can of energy drink and set off again. Feeling this tired I
need some resolves to keep me going. Concentrate on running, not speed, and
try to avoid walking is one. The other is to focus on reaching the next
drinks stop, not looking beyond, a strategy suggested by Joe. Very effective
as it turns out, thanks buddy. Not long after starting again, the other
competitor just behind at the half way point overtakes, and we stay together
for quite a while, doing a lot of the crowd weaving in tandem. He takes more
time at the drinks stops but catches up with ease and looks fit and strong.
Somewhere down the line I lose him, but I have no idea when. I also pass
another five ultra runners before meeting Ellory, the bicycle escort, but,
again, without being aware of it. With him by my side I manage to keep a
steady pace until the finish, arriving tired but very satisfied with 8:22 on
the clock. Joe arrives 2.5 hours later in 46th position. Like for
me, starting again for the second lap was the most difficult part of the
race for him. He had chosen a run and walk strategy that worked well but
kept him longer on the road and thus got him wet when about nine hours after
the start the clouds broke. We both recover remarkably well, making sure to
walk a couple of k on the Sunday to burn up the lactic acid accumulated in
our muscles. The more worrisome sore points, for me a very tender left
achilles tendon, for Joe a swollen and stiff right ankle, are near normal on
Monday. On Tuesday afternoon we go out on one of our regular routes, a
gravel track around a school sports field, and beyond tiredness all is as
usual: so much for the marathon as the ultimate challenge. If in any way
possible we’ll be there again next year!
The men’s ultra was won by 30 year old Fabien William Raj in 7:37. Lua
Choon Huat came in second in 7:57, and I took another 25 minutes. The
women’s race was also without close battles for first, second and third
positions: national triathlete record holder Jeanette Wang coming in at
9:14, Yong Lai Chee 10 minutes later and second runner up Grace Chan in
9:30. All of us received substantial Adidas equipment sponsorships and the
winners an all-paid-for participation in the coming Berlin marathon.
Both the times and number of did-not-finish (113 of the 318 that started
dropped out) shows that what the region needs is more of these races. With
more experience at beyond marathon distances, experience that is necessary
to figure out all of those things that cannot be learned from a manual like
‘what pacing strategy works for me’, ‘how to refuel and re-hydrate during
the race’, etc., the regional talent can certainly improve on the times of
us virgin runners, and many more will be able to complete the run. I am
happy that Adrian’s team has plans for more ultra events in 2009. Anyone
else taking up the challenge? The
Sundown ultra proved
without any doubt that there is an enthusiastic community out there waiting
for your race to appear on the calendar!
A shorter Dutch report
is available on the Dutch ultrarunning
portal
