Category: RaceReport

 

 

 

 

 

 Hat Yai International Marathon 2015 (HYIM)

 by Thomas Eng  

MR25 members had participated in Thailand Hat Yai International Marathon 2015 on 24 May 2015. A total of 14 members took part in either the 10km or half marathon. Here is short post-race review of HYIM.

23 May 11am – Members gathered at the Singapore Changi Airport terminal 2 at 1:30 pm for the flight to Hat Yai. At about 3 pm we reached Hat Yai airport and proceeded to the hotel followed by the race venue for the on-site registration. (HYIM allows runners to register the day before race day for all categories). Registration fee for HM is 350 baht (~SGD 14), you will get the bib number and a colorful T-shirt which is typical to most Thai races and on top of it free condom. There were many sport apparels on sales and you will definitely grab one or two items as the quality was good and cheaply priced, example a pair of shorts for about 100-200 baht.

After the race registration and shopping around for sport apparels, we went on for dinner at a local restaurant for the usual ritual before a race – carbo-loading!!! The Thai food was yummy but we had to eat selectively as we have a race tomorrow. By 9pm, we are back to the hotel to have an early night for preparation on tomorrow morning race.

24 May Race Day 4am – We woke up and took a simple breakfast prior to the race. 4.30am proceeded to the race venue and arrived at about 5am. Once arrived you will see they had displayed the entire trophies on the table for all the categories. Categorized into 5 years age gap, each category had ten trophies to be won. You can imagine how many trophies are there!!!  MR25 had group photo before the flag off. The flag off time for HM is 5.30am while 10km is 6.00am. An interesting start off 10 minutes before the flag off, the music band performers will lead the runners from the stadium to starting point and all the runners followed behind.

5.30am sharp HM was flagged off.  Just about 1km into the race, I was separated from mass crowd of runners as the participation rate was low. I was just following the leading group along the road and seize the opportunities to overtake runners and follow the next leading group. Till the HM turning point then I realized there were just only few runners in front of me and I had to run alone. I felt relaxed, my pace remained steady and I managed to hold the pace (4.05 min/km) till the finishing point. I clocked 1 hour 26 minutes at the finishing line and surprisingly came in 1st position in my category. Other MR25 folks had done a great race too at this HYIM, we managed to get three champions, two 2nd runner-up and two top ten position. Well done and 3 cheers for MR25 team.

 

The prize presentation in Hat Yai was somehow different from what you know in Singapore. Basically all top ten finishers of your category will gather around and inform the emcee to proceed to podium for prize presentation. Prize presentation was not in sequence of any particular category and they do not check your identity as they only recognized the winner’s tag  that was distributed when you crossed the finishing line.  While going up to the stage to receive your trophy you have to pay respect to the portrait of Queen of Thailand, as for Thailand Royal family commands a lot of respect from the commoners.

Assessment of the race – The weather was fine but at felt a bit warm. Road condition was 90% flat and if you are “lucky” you could step on some cow shit at certain part of the road. Water point was sufficient throughout at every 3-5km and there was one fruit station. The road is a simple big loop covering a part of town and a village, thus not much marshals were required. The overall race experience was good and we are having a fun for this HYIM.

At 11am, our members had claimed the prizes and we went back to hotel by “TUTU” service, a special local transport service that bring the visitors around the town and charges 20 baths per head count. After the hard race, now it is time to relax, some of us went to famous Thai massage and charges only about 650 baht per 2 hours. It is an awesome experience for me.

 

 

4pm, we took an opportunity to visit the floating market where you can see the locals selling the foodstuffs on the boats. They are mostly Thai Muslim, you can buy whatever you want to eat and the prices are about 20 to 30 baht per item. There was a small market beside the floating market where you will find cloths, handy crafts, foods etc…

6pm, we came back to the hotel and prepared for dinner. We brought along the red wine that we got at Singapore Changi Airport.

 

We also bought a birthday cake to celebrate a member’s birthday, Uncle Lim. Congrats to him as he is one of the member that brought back the champion for his age category of 65 to 69. After the dinner, we enjoyed the wine session at Sakura Hotel karaoke lodge……MR25 not only produced great runners we have great singers too. Both Daniel Gan and Matthew sang along and everyone was enjoying until 12 midnight. Fortunately no one was drunk and we went back hotel to….….Zzzzzz

25 May 7.30am – since the check-out time was 12pm, we took another opportunity to walk around the town and bought some souvenirs. We visited the Thailand famous kitchen products “Zebra” brand and the price was almost half of it you buy in Singapore. Along the way bought some local traditional foods like dried longan, nuts and some tonic.

12pm, we checked out our hotel and our flight was at 2pm, reached Singapore about 4pm.

This trip has been a great experience to travel oversea for running, it was fun and enjoyed every bit of it with the remarkable MR25 members. Thanks for the organizing such a wonderful tour de race at Hat Yai Thailand.

Final Standing:

Team:

MR25 Team

Freedom Freaks 1

Team NUS Staff Runners

Freedom Freaks 2

Nuahz

Womens Open:

1. Renuka  Satianathan

2. Lily  McMyn

3. Fortuno,  Hester  Jean  Sabang

Mens Open:

1. Nuno  Delicado

2. Chee Evan

3. Tan  Yew  Meng

Mens Veteran:

Tony  Seakins

Neil  G  Anderson

Ralph  Gomarsall

Womens Veteran:

Pauline  Mulroy

Jet  Jon  Shepherd

Roda  Ramos

 

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Start Line

As the deafening sound of the horn blasted across the sea of runners,  runners in the sub-four hour pen fumbled to get a decent start.  For some unknown reason, the chain separating the recreational athletes and the elites was still in the midst of removal when the horn went. And as everyone in front seeminly took off with relative ease, I narrowly ‘escaped’ the suspended chain. ‘Heng arh’ I thought,  otherwise it would be my shortest marathon attempt ever.  And perhaps my last as well,  if I had tripped and trampled to my demise.

As in every distance race, there would always be people who would start their race as if they were robbers, only to slow down as fatigue catches up, and block the path of oncoming runners. Logically thinking, given the sheer distance of the marathon, one would not expect such nonsense. On the contrary, it seems that there are people who like to test their anaerobic capacities (and perhaps stupidity), with disregard to people who want to run a decent race. I, as with the majority, belong to the latter group.  I have to admit though, that temptation in the form of an elbow jab or clothesline would be nice, perhaps even euphoric, but being gracious is something that one should strive to be, aye? (Road(runner’s) rage?)

6th to 9th Kilometre

The average recreational marathoner consumes anything between three to x number of gels,  where n is defined as the maximum number of gels one can carry,  in addition to whatever amount one can take from the course (Soon, 2011). Joke aside,  most people would purchase specialised race belts which enable a runner to carry multiple gels,  hands-free of course. I,  on the other hand, prefer my ‘patented’ method of taping the gels to my body (think of it as a runner ‘terrorist’). It worked for me last year, and so I decided to stick with it,  albeit with some ‘improvements’ to the technique. I have to admit that taping something solid like tablet chews to the lower back was pretty much difficult and a failed attempt; the ziploc encased chews fell off during the warm up. Final inventory at the start line: Two gels taped to the body, another two in hand,  chews in the other hand.

Somewhere during the sixth kilometre, I felt the tape on the left side becoming a tad loose. Before I could remedy the situation, it fell off, giving off an unmistakable slap as it hit the ground. With three gels left, I was not too worried as I used three gels in the previous marathon. Another kilometre or two later, the tape on the right side began to peel off.  Instinctively, I ripped it off and held it in one hand, the remaining two gels and chews in the other. With three gels and chews in hand, I was pretty much safe from bonking (crashing into the proverbial wall). Or so I thought…

Approaching the 10th Kilometre

My marathon refuelling usually begins at the tenth kilometre mark with the consumption of a gel with water. And there was where problems started. As I discarded the emptied gel packet, the other two slipped out of the other hand on the downswing. Zero gels left by the tenth kilometre. If it is any time to panic, this would be a good time. To add on to my predicament, GI distress (stomach discomfort) set in a few minutes later. And at that moment, my 2008 marathon fiasco flashed through my mind (in short, the most expensive toilet break ever).

At this point in time, and considering the events of the past week, it almost seems that an unnatural force was trying to hold me back from running well.

1) Six days before the race, my Garmin watch failed me (reset button stuck inside watch body = design fail) and I had to find a replacement urgently. I managed to get a newer model the next day, though I was a little pissed at my predicament of paying for an overpriced but essential piece of equipment.

2) After figuring and testing it out, I realize that the accuracy of the speed and elevation profiles were extremely off. I ended up getting a replacement set from the service centre on the other side of the island, only to find out it turned out to be the same. (Note: GPS watches are accurate on straight road and big loops, but on track,  they become ridiculously inaccurate. Up to 15% off,  and imaginary hills.  But then again, my previous watch did not seem to have this problem.)

3) And perhaps the most debilitating event was running a fever on Friday evening. A fever 36 hours before a race. Much of it subsided by Saturday morning, though my entire body felt very stiff, pretty much felt like I got run over by a train. How I managed to feel alright by race day morning is nothing short of a miracle. Very thankful for that.

Pitch-dark

Devathas, Chee Yong and I ran as a pack for much of the race, hovering about a sub four-minute pace (per kilometre, not miles!). We turned into the long and surprisingly dark stretch of East Coast Park. So dark as though in an abyss. The reality of slipping or running into a lamp post was quite real,  given the wet road conditions and sharp turns. What was even more aggravating was that some of the volunteers (bicycling) nearly collided into us. Too much excitement in the first hour I would say.

Still battling the effects of GI distress, maintaining a constant pace was a challenge. It was not until the halfway point that I began to ease up. 1:24 at the halfway point. Not too bad given that my PB was about 30 seconds faster. The possibility of a sub 2:50 seemed doable, but in the event that I bonked or have a cramp pretty much spells the end of it, and a possible DNF.

Breaking Point

En-route exiting ECP was perhaps one of the more pleasant experiences of the race.  Seeing the mid-packers coming in, and a couple of familiar faces helped to alleviate the monotony of pounding our feet against brick and tarmac. But perhaps the highlight here was when we overtook last year’s runner up Ashley. Crossing my fingers,  I waited for a response as we went past him. I did not dare turn around to see, lest I jinx the moment. After what seemingly felt like forever, nothing. No response. Within the pack, two of us were in contention for a podium finish. Mok Ying Ren, who was different class of athlete, was minutes ahead of us.

As we exited East Coast Park, I decided to consume the chews for what I hoped to be an energy boost. On the contrary, I ended up choking and had to spit it out. In retrospect, it was an avertable mistake. I had only tried the chew once before the race,  and it was just a sample taste and not during a training run.  The same can be said for the gel; tried a new brand of gel once only on a easy run.

The final blow came when a stitch struck a couple of minutes after spitting out the expresso chalk concoction. I gradually succumbed to the pain, no longer able to keep the pace, watching in despair as Chee Yong and Devathas plodded away.

Bridging the Gap

Over the next two kilometres, the stitch eventually subsided. I was at least half a minute, or perhaps even a full minute behind them. With the legs already beaten up, the probability of catching up seemed ever so low. Mustering whatever strength left, I managed to cruise just under four minute pace, hoping still that I could somehow pull off a sub 2:50.

Approaching the Marina Barrage, I caught sight of Chee Yong, Devathas, and a middle-aged man running as a pack, hundred odd metres away. They seemed to have slowed down quite a bit, but given my current pace there was still much work to be done.

Within the next three kilometres, I managed to narrow the gap to about sixty metres.  Like a predator stalking its prey, I was cautious not to make any sudden noises,  lest they sense my presence and take off again. At the base of Singapore’s very own ‘Heartbreak Hill’ (the infamous Sheares’ Bridge), the gap had narrowed down to about thirty metres. The trio ahead seemed to have slowed down even more,  perhaps to conserve strength for the remaining few kilometres, or warding off possibility of cramping. ‘This is it. This is my chance.’ Speed was never my fortè, but I was fairly resilient on hills. With whatever strength left I had, I upped my effort on the slope.

Attempting a ‘Wesley Korir’

A few metres away from the trio as we neared the crest, I threw the hammer down. Eyes closed, arms pumping and head arched back, I launched mysef forward, probably looking like a deranged maniac. By the time I had reached the crest,  I had passed the trio. The cohesiveness of the pack began to break, as they responded to my surge. Trying to fend off a counter attack and to increase whatever minor lead I had, I accelerated on the descent.

Hanging On

However, my lead was short lived. Chee Yong, formerly a middle distance track athlete, had the speed reserve to respond. I could hear his footsteps behind me as he gave chase down the slope. By the time I hit the flat section, he was already twenty metres ahead of me. Trying to launch another attack was impossible; the surge on the uphill had began to take its toll. I could feel the lactate pooling in the hamstrings. Fearing that I would jinx the moment, I dared not look behind.

With the cumulative fatigue, the final kilometres felt excruciatingly long. Pounding my way towards the Esplanade, I found myself running alongside the runners from the half marathon. Weaving past them was akin to fire movement in the jungle, or taking evasive maneuvers in an aerial dogfight. With my head tilted and arms flailing (Zatopek-esque, perhaps even uglier), I sped round the final bend and down the final straight. ‘2:49:3X’. Crossing the finish line in disbelief, I checked the distance registered on my watch. ‘It’s official. PB-ed’.