A Good Day to Run: 2XU 12 KM

The Bliss of Having Good Friends With the Same Hobby

I think I need to do some justices to my 2XU 12 KM run held on 10 April 2011. Afterall, I did spend some time working hard to improve my speed. The focus of 2XU is speed. One of the main problem that I met when I was running in last year Standard Chartered half marathon was my speed. It was too slow and I found it difficult to endure the heavy pounding of my legs for nearly 3 hrs. Hence, the goal is to improve my speed to around 2.5 hrs for the coming sundown half marathon. In this regard, I think I am on track.

Perhaps one of the main reason I am able to run faster is because of the weather. The race started at around 7 am but we actually started the race at around 7.15 am. Somehow we always never able to come on time on race day. Last year, it was me who was late for Standard Chartered, this time it was Shen Tat. Regardless, I am glad that we are still running as a gang. It is so difficult for friends to have common interest. Within around 10 minutes after our run have started, Wee Yeh was nowhere in sights. This good friend of mine is amazing. Just 10 months ago, he was the slowest among us. Today, he run like a horse. Shen Tat (the slower horse but nonetheless still a horse) accompanied me for quite a distance. He claimed that he will speed up once he reached the 10 km mark. He lied cause it only happened around 11 km.

Great Scenery Around Marine Bay

I wasn’t too sure if I will like the route of this organized run initially. The experiences of Standard Chartered badly organized route at the 16 km mark still lingered. But to my pleasant surprise, the route for 2XU was really well-planned. There was very little road closure. If there was, it was only one lane. Most of the route was near trees and parks. Hence, there were many shelters even when it rains. And it really did rain at around the 5 km mark. Besides the shelters, the water points were aplenty and I couldn’t stop myself from not going for a drink at every stop especially when they have around 3 points where they gave out energy drinks instead of plain water.

By the time we hit the 8 km mark, we had went one round of the ‘marine bay reservoir’ (hmmm, not too sure if I got the name correct). It was at that point that I decided to speed up a little since the Marine Bay Sands was in sights. Somehow the sight of a casino excited me. At the 9 km mark, I lost sight of Shen Tat. It was only at around the 10 km mark that Shen Tat and Wee Yeh suddenly reappeared. I was surprised to see Wee Yeh. Cos’ I thought he was way ahead of me. He told me that he had completed the race and came back to run with us. I was touched by it. The happiness was short-lived. Later, I realized that he actually stopped to take photos and I had run past him as a result. Liar!

A funny but determined look after bracing through the rain

Near the final 1 KM, Shen Tat suddenly speed up. Not wanting to be the last to complete the race, I speed up too and all three of us dashed past the finish line almost together. My final 2XU 12 KM run timing is 1 hrs 30 minutes 56 seconds (see official timing here under Jenson Goh). Consider my 21 KM timing of 3 hours 9 minutes, I think there is an improvement in timing. I am happy with the result. Especially so because my timing was the same as Shen Tat and one second faster than Wee Yeh. It was the joke of the day about Wee Yeh who started first but ended up losing to the both of us in timing.

I look forward for my next half marathon, Sundown with my two pals again.

Advertisement