The second day of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) weekend took place today, with the Half Marathon [21.1km] and the Full Marathon [42.195km] both beginning from 4.30am from the Formula One Pit Building.

Yesterday, the Kids Dash, 5km National Steps Challenge and the 10km Race had taken place, in a first-of-its-kind move by the event organisers IRONMAN Asia to split the event into a two-day format in a bid to alleviate congestion issues.

Click here to view the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2018 PHOTOS.

Participated In The Full Marathon

I took part in the Full Marathon [42.195km] category. So I knew that this meant I had a very long morning ahead of me.

I had two hours of sleep the night before and I was up at about 2am this morning for my last-minute race preparations, before then heading down to the race site, reaching the venue at roughly 3.30am. This gave me ample time to catch my breath before the 4.30am flag-off.

Earlier in the morning, I saw some flashes of lightning and this made me worried, if it would affect the upcoming race, but fortunately the lightning threat appeared to clear up by the time I had stepped out of the house.

Catching Up With Running Buddies

While I was waiting to enter my race pen, I caught up with some of my running buddies whom I train with at COACHED – a heart-rate based training programme for runners and triathletes. 

Some of the group were in high spirits about the race ahead, but others were a bit nervous about what the next few hours would bring.

Toilets

Personally, I didn’t use the rest room before the start, but other runners who did, remarked that there could have been more portable toilets available.

Said Krongtong Sripruitkiat, 45, an environmental engineer, “I felt there were not enough toilets at the start. I had to wait for 25 minutes to use one.”

Entering Race Pen

I entered my race pen at 4am.

From that point on, I was basically waiting to begin running. I couldn’t really see what was going on in the front, but I could hear the emcee speaking clearly so I more or less knew what was happening.

It would have been nice if the organisers could have installed large screens at the start point so that runners in the later waves could see what was happening at the front of the starting line.

The wheelchair marathoners had been flagged off at 4.28am and this was followed by the elite runners at 4.30am.

Flagging Off

My wave had been flagged off at 4.46am.

Starting in waves was good, rather than having a single flag-off because this helps to prevents congestion and bottlenecks along the route. This is the standard practice in most big-city marathons around the world.

Knowing that I had not trained as much as I would have liked for this race, I began running at a very conservative pace, mindful not to go out too quickly, trying not to get absorbed in the hype and adrenaline of the fast marathon start.

A new race route introduced this year, SCSM 2018 took us through the sights and sounds of the iconic Singapore city spanning the Eastern and Western coasts of the island.

This year’s route definitely showcased much more of Singapore and what the city is all about, compared to previous editions of SCSM, which had featured long stretches of East Coast Park. 

First Few Kilometres 

To begin with, the first few kilometres took us through the city centre and the central business district. 

At this early stage of the run, it was not hot as the sun had not come out yet, but I could already feel the tropical humidity sapping into my bones so I knew that I was in for a long and arduous journey ahead.

Nonetheless, even though it was dark in the beginning, it seemed to be illuminated quite well with street lights and other forms of lighting, so there were no tripping hazards during my run.

But my Garmin had also decided to play up at this stage, possibly because I was running through a heavily built-up urban area, and as a result it became quite hard for me to pace myself properly. 

For instance, I noted that my GPS was fluctuating from 4 mins/km pace at its fastest, to a walking pace of 12 mins/km at the slowest. I was running quite consistently so I knew that my pace was definitely not fluctuating by this much.

Running West Coast Highway

From the Central Business District, we ran along Anson Road and Keppel Road en route to the West Coast Highway. This was the first time that the SCSM was including the West Coast as part of the Marathon race route so it was quite refreshing.

But at the same time, it was rather depressing too, because when I was running towards West Coast, I could see elite runners all already running back from the other side of the u-turn, so I had to psych myself up to keep on going.

The West Coast Highway was also the first slope along the route but to me, this felt quite okay and did not pose any serious obstacles to me, because I was running up the slope when my legs were feeling relatively fresh. After all we had not reached the halfway point yet and thanks to my conservative and slow pace, I still felt good.

Fortunately for me, we did not run up Mount Faber, though, because conquering the slopes there are rather tough, based on my running experiences in the area.

I have to admit that running along the highway was quite boring, though, and that there was not really much scenery to see there.

Mist Tunnels

But the organisers had installed mist tunnels here, in an attempt to keep runners cool.

Unfortunately, I felt that running through the mist tunnels did not really help to wet me and cool my body down though.

Rene Fosdel, 49, IT consultant, agreed. He said, “The mist stations could have been better. I barely got wet running through them.”

These Mist Tunnels continued to be featured at a couple of other locations along the route, too.

Aid Stations Were Excellent

 

But what was good though, was that the event organisers had also stocked the aid stations along this part of the route with gels and bananas, in addition to the usual water and 100PLUS isotonic drink.

Gels and bananas for runners were available too, at two other locations along the Marathon route.

The bananas were served whole and with the skin intact, rather than being peeled and sliced up – the latter would definitely have been easier to handle for runners.

Apart from bananas, I was also secretly hoping for other sources of energy, such as chocolates or gummy bears along the Marathon race route, but I didn’t see any.

But I noted that the tables for the aid stations at the race this year were a lot longer than usual, which is good, because it reduces congestion and overcrowding around the drink stations, especially in the early stages of the race.

Agreed Rene, “There was plenty of water and isotonic at the aid stations and they were also spaced out quite well so I did not feel as though I still needed anything as I was running.” 

It was also good that the volunteers at the aid stations were on hand to pass runners the cups of drink rather than having us pick it up ourselves from the tables, too, as this is less disruptive to running rhythm.

Said Brent White, 45, a House Husband, “The hydration station were really nice and good, with lots of cold water. I thought the people at the stations were very friendly, too.”

I was on the highway when I saw the sunrise and I thought that it was quite beautiful, capturing a photo of it for memory’s sake.

Reaching Halfway Point

When we exited West Coast Highway, we ran back through the Central Business District, and then at 19km, the Half Marathon runners ran towards the Float @ Marina Bay, the designated end point of the race, whereas the Full Marathon runners would continue on towards the East.

The sign pointing to the diversion in routes for the Half and the Full Marathon was quite large, clear and easy to read, which was a good thing.

My running coach, Ben Pulham from COACHED, had also stationed himself at this 19km point to cheer on runners and it was good to see him there to wish me luck when I passed by. 

I have been training under Ben’s programme for a while now and this has been valuable in helping me to improve my personal best times in running.

But it was depressing to see that the Half Marathon runners were ending their race, whereas I still had another 23km to go.

Signages And Markings

At every 5km during the Marathon race course, there were large kilometre markings which bore the race time on it, so that runners could keep track of how long they had been running for, as well as their pace. 

I thought this was quite helpful and I used these to help me to gauge my pace when my Garmin failed me.

Race Cut-Off Times 

As well, the cut-off times were advertised to runners at the designated markers that would serve as the cut-off points. 

I was not in danger of missing out on the cut-offs myself as I had gauged my pace well, but I had later heard from runners that these cut-offs had been enforced more strictly this year, with runners not being allowed to go on if they missed a cut-off, for safety reasons. 

The public roads needed to be opened up by a certain timing, after all.

Entertainment Points 

There were supposed to be more than 30 entertainment points along the Marathon route, too, but these had felt like a bit of a letdown to me. 

While I thought that some of the music stations had been quite loud and the energy coming from them were vibrant, I barely noticed the other entertainment points.

Sun Coming Out

Shortly after I had crossed the halfway mark of the Marathon, the sun began to come out, and this made running the Marathon feel a lot more difficult than ever, because I would now be grappling with heat as well as humidity. 

Added Brent, “For me, the biggest challenge of the Marathon this morning was the heat.”

So as a result, my pace had slowed slightly but I still managed to maintain a slow jog, as we headed past the Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay and the East Coast Park areas.

But the further I went, the more the race was beginning to feel like a death march as the heat continued to seeped into my bones.

I admit that I did contemplate giving up and calling it a day when the sun was out in full force, but I told myself that I still had time, and so I should just continue putting one foot in front of another and keep on moving.

I also tried to distract myself with my favourite music, which was playing out of the Plantronics BackBeat FIT 2100 earphones that I was wearing.

But the run was made worse by the fact that the areas where we ran through had no shade at all, so this meant that we were at the complete mercy of the elements as we continued running.

Pouring Water Over Ourselves

Fortunately though, there had been points to keep runners cool along the way. 

These were actually designed areas along the route where runners could pour ice-cold water over themselves in a bid to prevent their bodies from overheating and were one of the new additions that IRONMAN Asia had introduced to the SCSM, to keep runners cool in Singapore’s tropical weather.

Agreed Rene, “These water tossing stations were great. I really enjoyed them as they had helped tremendously with the heat.”

Heartbreak Bridge

I had been able to keep a slow jogging pace and starve off the impending cramp… until I reached Sheares Bridge at 38km. 

The moment that I saw this slope, I immediately lost all my motivation to keep running and my pace slowed to a walk as I headed up the bridge, as well as for the next few kilometres following that.

Sheares was easily the most challenging part of the whole race, because I was already feeling exhausted and my energy levels were drained, and now I had to conquer this slope. As a result, this bridge had never felt so steep in my life!

Said Rene, “It was cruel to put that slope at the end of the race. I ended walking up the slope. But then again, a marathon should not be easy, because you have to earn your medal.”

And agreed Hanna Lemmens, 40, Commercial Manager, “The last 3km uphill was a big challenge for me.”

Picking Up The Pace Again

I only managed to pick up my pace to a jog again in the final couple of kilometres of the Marathon because that was when a slight drizzle arrived. 

Somehow, at this point, it was still very hot and the sun was shining in full force, but at least the drizzle made the weather feel a bit more bearable.

I think that walking a little had also helped, because as I passed the 41km and the 42km marker, I started running again and managed to finish the race strong.

The last few hundred metres were particularly encouraging because there were a lot of people stationed here to cheer us on. These were mainly runners who had already completed the race, together with their loved ones. 

Some of my friends had recognised me, and they called out my name as they spotted me running past. And this was great motivation for me to launch into a final sprint to the finish even though my legs were already very heavy and feeling like lead by this point in time.

Finishing The Marathon 

After everything that I had been through in this race, I will admit that I had never been so happy to see the finish line in my life.

I ran through the finishing arch at The Float @ Marina Bay and a medal was put round my neck.

My Garmin had clocked a total distance of 44.16km when I had stopped it at the end of the Marathon.

Collecting Finisher Entitlements 

Unfortunately though, after the euphoria of crossing the finishing line, runners were forced to walk for at least one kilometre extra – to get back to the F1 Pit Building to collect our 42.195km finisher tees and race entitlements, which had included a wet towel, bottle of water, can of 100PLUS isotonic drink, a banana as well as a packet of potato chips.

This walk had felt particularly long and brutal to me. 

And it was because I had just completed a Full Marathon and my legs were not working any more. As such, I just wanted to sit down and have a well-earned rest… but now the event organisers were telling me to do some more walking, as though 42.195km had not been long enough?

Apparently the race village and the bag deposit where we would pick our bags up, were all located over at the F1 Pit Building. 

I had initially thought the post race village would have been at The Float @ Marina Bay, but instead, it had turned out that the organisers had other ideas in mind.

Resting My Legs

After the race and all of the extra walking, I felt too shagged to take a good look at exactly what the various booths on-site had to offer at the village, but I did notice that these had been put out by the race sponsors and some of the brands had included Seiko, Toyota, Active Tiger Balm and Jaybird.

Wanting to rest my weary legs, though, I took refuge in the tent belonging to Westin Hotels and Resorts, and simply rested there for a while in order to escape from the searing midday heat and recover my energy levels at the same time, until I finally felt like picking up my legs again to make a move to go home.

Well Organised SCSM

As a whole, I would say that the organisation of SCSM 2018 had been good and was definitely one of the best editions that I have taken part in, in terms of the logistics and athlete welfare.

Added Brent, “For sure, it was a well organised Marathon and everything went smoothly.”

Event Organisers Are Happy

The event organisers are pleased with the race too. 

Said Geoff Meyer, 50, Managing Director of IRONMAN Asia, “This year, we have made several improvements to deliver the best edition of SCSM yet. We have received positive feedback about the new route and features like the ice chips, additional road closures, hydration stations and the variety of entertainment points.”

He continued, “The team has already begun building on learnings from this year to enhance the race experience even further as we continue to work towards becoming one of the world’s greatest races.”

Winners Of SCSM 2018