CCK B.I.G Farm Walk & Run 2013

It's been long since I woke up that early for a marathon.My last marathon is probably the failed Kranji Countryside Run due to the heavy downpour. Ever since the haze, I've been constantly reminding myself to always be thankful for the good air condition and weather.

This is our official first run together since we didn't run at all during the Kranji Countryside Run.

We had previously met some difficulties while signing up for CCK B.I.G Farm Walk & Run but it was sorted out. We registered it at Nanyang CC and they have provided us shuttle service from Nanyang CC to the race location. Having said that, we only paid $8 for everything.

Other than shuttle service, participants were given a event t-shirt and also a finisher medal when you complete the 8km. There's mainly 3 categories, 8km run, 3km walk and kids dash.

The Nanyang CC lady called me twice(because I was still sleeping and my phone was far away when I sleep) when the t-shirts are ready for collection. It was 1 week before the actual race. We have asked her to reserve size S for us when we registered. I'm glad that she followed up with us and kept the shirts for us. It was on a first come first serve basis though, there weren't much S size being allocated to Nanyang CC. Got to collect it early.

The 8km runners were given a bib to differentiate us from the 3km walkers.

The bib and the event tee. 

On the race day, Derp and I took a bus to Nanyang CC which was 3-4 bus stops away from my house at atound 6:30am. The shuttle bus depart at 6:45am. The race start at 7:50am.

Actually, we could have went there by ourselves and probably sleep in a little longer. Can't believe that we went to the race with only 5 hours of sleep. We were home pretty late the previous day because we were settling our house renovation stuff. We managed to wake up and reached the race site at 7:15-7:20am. Super duper early.

Since we were there early, time to take photos!

The balloons are quite pretty isn't it? Definitely makes the whole run more fun and the 'carnival' feel is in the air.

Before the flag off! Forcing myself to stay awake because I was really sleepy before the flag off.

One of the problem I met early morning before the race start: there isn't any water point near the starting point. So I told Derp, I don't want to talk to him liao, if not I'll be very thirsty. LOL.

The race started at 8:00am. The flag off done by Minister of Health, Mr Gan Kim Yong.

The 1st water point was my motivation as I was really thirsty. There were 2000 runners for the 8km category and 2 flag off timing for the 8km runners. We were among those who went off first but however, we encountered the first bottleneck within less than 100m away from the starting line. Half of the road was further divided into another half, making the route narrower. The second bottleneck came shortly after, all this happened before the 1st waterpoint which is the 3km mark.

My mood was lifted after getting my water. I remembered I was similing to Derp and tell him "Let's go go go!".  There were around 2-3 slopes before reaching the first waterpoint, and another 1-2 slopes after the first waterpoint. I wasn't used to the slopes because my normal training route was not filled with slopes. I'm glad I managed to make it, only probably at the last slope I can't help but to stop and walk up the slope instead. I don't wish to waste my energy by cheonging up the slopes since I've got a few km left.

It was the first time a marathon was held along brickland road. No one knows there's such beautiful farms in Singapore. We passed by many fish farms and plants nursery. It was a quiet road with fresh air though the sun was scorching hot. We were pretty thankful to our caps and at the same time, enjoying the greenery.

Upon reaching the 2nd waterpoint, I know we are almost there! :):):) It's just another 2km more. I probably stopped around 2-3 times throughout my entire run for a 30 seconds break to catch some breadth. After the 2nd waterpoint, the running route was pretty less congested. The human jam came at the last 200 metres or so when our route merge with those of the 3km walk. The volunteers did their best to asked the 3km walkers to keep to their lane so ask not to jam up the 8km runner route. I was pretty thankful for that.

At about 50 metres to the ending point, we were asked to stopped before the traffic junction as the road was not closed. If this was a competitive run, I would have felt zzz. We got our medal upon passing the finishing line and also the fun pack(goodie bag).

We took a total of 1 hour to complete this marathon. Logically, we have actually completed it in less than a hour. I was happily telling Derp I managed to run throughout and never give up! #achievementunlocked I've been training to run long distance without much stopping and even if I stop, I'm able to pick myself up again and run at a steady pace. What matters most is finishing it!

They have actually provided us with free mr bean's soya milk, but the queue was super long. Hence, we didn't queue up for it. I was expecting at least a cold isotonic drink like 100 plus. I was happily motivating Derp and myself about it, but it turn out there isn't any! :( we were pretty disappointed about it. But I'm in no position to complain much since the race is a heavily subsided race.

We collected our bags from the baggage deposit, took some photos and we left to had breakfast at CCK Lot 1's Mcdonalds. We managed to squeeze up bus 300 before the crowd gets bigger.

Our fuel after the run 

Although there was some minor hiccups, but it was overall an enjoyable race. This is definitely something which is pretty new and refreshing, to be able to race through this farm routes.  Having  to say that, how often do we have marathon which run through the nature rather than the usual sky scrappers in Singapore. :)

I' m looking forward to my next marathon, GE2013!

8km done! #Achievementunlocked

Our first official marathon! Pics credit to Running Shots :)