Today, it was time for the 15km Progressive Run.
With the closure of a section of the SICC Golf course, routes for recent MR runs had to be modified. Hence, this was a new 15km course as compared to previous years. A 5km loop around Lornie would be proceeded by a 10km out-and-back portion along the Northern route.
The Northern route is tough.
Upon flag-off, I settled to what felt pretty comfortable for a 15km race. Naturally, I found myself perhaps closer to 20th place. Nonetheless I knew that with time, I would catch up to a substantial number of participants.
The initial 5km was pretty manageable. It did feel appropriate for a 15km effort. However, this race of 15km has a pretty challenging final 10km. I repeated reminded myself to go easy, particularly on the uphills, lest I found myself crawling up hills towards the end of the race.
Having overtaken about 10 runners, I caught up with a few more by the time I reached Ranger station. The route took us further out by a few hundred, before we would make a U-turn. Along these few hundred, the returning runners passed me.
As I write this in retrospect, the leader at that point of the race was actually a Commonwealth Games Marathon participant! Ben Moreau boasts amazing PBs, way better than any Singaporean can manage at this moment. Talk about a 28:40 10km or 2:15:52 full marathon!
As I made the U-turn, I was some distance apart from Chuan Heng. He stopped for a quick drink and I caught up beside him, though I was content to follow his lead.
To be continued~
Photo credits: Chan Chai Hui
