I took part in my first The North Face 100 run on Saturday and my first Chua Chu Kang Big Farm Walk & Run on Sunday.
It was also the first time I made the questionable decision of taking part in two runs in two consecutive days.
The North Face 100
One thing different about TNF100 for me is that it has a list of "compulsory race equipment" each runner is required to carry, most essentially a "hydration system". In other words, water bottles.
50km: 1.5 litre minimumI was running the 13km. So I found this Adidas bottle belt on sale at the Adidas outlet store in IMM.
25km: 1 litre minimum
13km: Half litre minimum
It was awkward running with three filled water bottles around your waist at first, but after a while, you don't notice them.
Although I've run at MacRitchie numerous times on my own, this would be the first time I took part in a big race there.
You can run around the reservoir clockwise or anti-clockwise. I find the latter to be slightly easier. Fortunately, the TNF100 13km course was anti-clockwise.
The flag-off time was 10am which was the latest I've started a morning race. But because MacRitchie has plenty of shade, the heat was not so bad, unlike the Green Corridor Run.
Into the woods.
Yes, that's the Singapore Blade Runner in front of me (above).
About 1km before the finish line, I saw a guy passed out on the ground getting attention.
This is how another runner described the incident on Facebook.
Hi guys - the race was hardToday but no surprise with training limited because of the Haze - the 25 was also quite a...
Posted by Wendy Riddell on Saturday, October 10, 2015
Luckily, it happened close to the finish line so help could get to the casualty more quickly.
I wanted to stop to take a picture, but didn't think it was appropriate.
So I just continued running.
At the finish line was the biggest spread of post-race refreshment I've ever seen. It could be because this was the first time I took part in an event where the longest distance is 50km.
There were bottles of Aquarius sports drink, bananas, pears, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and a variety of Subway sandwiches. Yes, Subway sandwiches - tuna, turkey, cold cuts and vegetarian.
I picked the turkey. And the chocolate ice-cream.
Hey, I'm in the top 25 per cent of my category. Not bad considering I didn't push myself that hard because I had another run the next morning.
Chua Chu Kang B.I.G. Farm Walk & Run
A very cheap community run. Only $10 (with Passion card) to register compared to the $75 (early bird rate) I paid for TNF100.
No bib. No timing chip. Just a singlet, a goodie bag and a finisher medal.
But since it was in my neighbourhood, I thought I should join it at least once.
I made the questionable decision to run from my home to the starting line, which added 3km to the 10km run - on top of the 13km I ran at MacRitchie less than 24 hours earlier.
I made it just in time for the flag-off at 7.30am.
Ooh, look at the fishies.
There's a reason it's called the B.I.G. Farm run.
After the U-turn around the 7km mark, someone ran up to me and grabbed me from behind. It turned out to be a secondary classmate I hadn't seen in years. He happened to be a volunteer road marshall for the run.
He said I should organise a mahjong session with our former classmates at my place soon. I said, "Fuck you."
I saw an ambulance but no casualties.
Without a timing chip to motivate me, I finished with a very lazy time of about 1 hour 19 minutes for the 10km.
It was interesting to run a new route. All the mass runs around the Marina Bay area were getting boring.
My next big race is the 10km Rail Corridor Run in January.
So I have a long time to recover from my "long" weekend.
