Running in Washington (2019)

My Running Video - Vacation Running @ Sydney 2014

I tried capturing this running video with my POV camera while running from Four Seasons Hotel to the famous Sydney Opera House and back.

Sydney 5km Run from Simon Leng on Vimeo.

Note: The video is not fantastic and I had issues with stabilisation as this was the first time I recorded a first person video during a run. If you have any knowledge or recommendations to help me improve my running motion recordings, do feel free to comment in this post. Your help will be very much appreciated. :)

Introduction

I love to run but I am not built to run. I had dreamt of participating in overseas road run events despite my usual lousy timings. I started my first Full Marathon race in year 2007 and had "attained" timings ranging from 5:24hr to 6:45hr. With such timings, I would have difficulties passing the more stringent cut-off times in overseas races. I could only dream....

As I watched my wife deteriorating with her illness, it taught me one important lesson - that we should accomplish dreams when we are still able and fit. Hence, I decided to start chasing my dream. The first step - by participating in the Gold Coast Airport Marathon (GCAM) 2014!

Objectives

I had set 2 objectives for GCAM 2014. These objectives governed my training/game plan for the marathon. My objectives were :

1. To better my Personal Best timing by 30 mins (i.e. 5hr completion).
2. To enjoy a cooling 42km route that's supposed to be relatively flat and scenic.

Accomplishments

At the end of the marathon, I was happy to have achieved the 2 objectives that I set before the run.

1. I completed the run with a net timing of 4:17h. Comparing this to my PB attained in Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2013 (5:24h), I had bettered it by a good 1hr 7mins!!! This result actually exceeded my targeted 30 minutes....phew!
   
   
2. The weather was generally COLD-COOL-CHILL during the different phases of the run. The Full Marathon race started off at an estimated 6 degree celsius in the early morning and progressed to about 18 degree celsius by noon. This cool temperature was perfect for running as I need not waste too much energy to cool my body during the run. The volunteers and race marshals were very friendly and enthusiastic. Many were serving drinks and cheering us at the same time. As we were running through the residential estates, we saw many residents lining along the roadsides to cheer passionately for the runners (the kids even lined up by the side to give us High-5s !). It was a total family affair to not only participate, but to cheer! This was extremely exhilarating and motivating! I was recharged every time I ran past these enthusiastic supporters....and Yes! I achieved my objective to enjoy the race! 

Of course my finishing net time of 4:17:10hr was still a far cry compared to the many faster runners. I deem it a successful run so long as my 2 objectives were met.

Succes Factor 1 - Conditioning

I did a total of 5 condition runs through out our stay in Australia. Two runs were done in Sydney which was super windy and much colder than in Gold Coast. 3 were done in Gold Coast : 

• A reconnaissance walk from Surfers Paradise to race start point at BroadWater Parkland (9km). 
• A 10km run along the beach at Surfers Paradise 3 days before race. 
• The last one was the 10km Southern Cross University 10km Run that I accompanied my wife a day before the Full Marathon. 

All these runs helped me to condition myself against the terrain and weather for the actual Full Marathon race.

Succes Factor 2 - Dedicated On-site Support

There are always uncertainties when running in a foreign land. My uncertainties were minimised as my sidekick a.k.a wife was on-site to provide me with seamless logistics support despite the fact that she was feeling unwell after her own 10km run. She had a swollen arm (swelled so badly that she could not even remove her watch from her wrist) and running fever that morning. 

Upon her insistence, we went to the race precinct together. The temperature was a tad too cold that morning. The event emcee was announcing that it was at 6 degree celsius feeling like 2 degree celsius over the PA system. 

As my wife was my mobile porter for the day, I was able to wear my windbreaker and gloves to block the wind chill till the last minute before I deposited them with her (instead of baggage deposit counters). Also, I was able to change my running gear from minimalist mode to 'warm' mode at the very last moment. 

(Left: Before Race, Center: Minimalist Mode, Right:Warm Mode)

Personal Race Data

Conclusion

It had been a satisfying and fulfilling experience to run the Gold Coast Airport Marathon 2014. I will definitely miss the generally flat and scenic terrain, coupled with a positive running ambience aroused by the organiser, runners, volunteers and cheer groups. And, the crazy cheers coming from my wife at few distance markers. I had to admire her stamina to catch me at different points of the route!

Would I join GCAM 2015? Who knows? I am certainly tempted....

GCAM 14 (Part 7A) : Technical Analysis for the Full Marathon Run - 9 Jul 14

Source :

• http://tiktok.biz/goldcoastmarathon/2014
• http://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/enter/

Background

The 36th Gold Coast Airport Marathon (42km) 2014 was held on 6 Jul (Sunday). It claims to have a route that is fast, flat, scenic and with technical excellence. With such claims, it attracts increasing interests amongst Singaporeans year after year, making it one of the most popular runs away from home.

Team Singapore taking a finishing shot after the Full Marathon (Source : RunSociety Facebook Page)

Statistics by Gun Times

5,617 people participated in the full marathon with a total of 4,924 participants having completed the race within the cut-off time of 6:30 min. 

A total of 3,247 (out of 3,709) male runners and 1,677 (out of 1908) female runners completed. Unfortunately,  693 runners (462 male & 231 female) were disqualified due to DNS( Did Not Start) / DNF (Did Not Finish). 

The average finisher time range was in the range of 4:00h to 4:30h ( i.e. Average Finish Times is 4:17:43 h).

 

Statistics by Age Groups

Categorising the race results using age group reveals the following findings :

 

• Oldest age group completing the race was M75-79 and F65-69 (Note: 2 Male Runners in Age Group M75-79 were disqualified).
• Despite the cut-off timing of 6:30 (+10 min start line allowance), the total disqualification for the race was 12%. Majority of disqualifications came from M30-M34 (75 pax), M35-M39 (91 pax), M40-M44 (92 pax), F30-F34 (48 pax), F35-F39 (54 pax) and F40-F44 (39 pax).

 

 

 

I shared the technical data In this Part A of my post, stay tune for Part B on my personal account on the Full Marathon run and then Part C - my wife's perspective as a supporter and spectator. I hope this Part A to C coverage would give you more insights from this wonderful experience we had.

 

GCAM 14 (Part 6): Finishers of the Southern Cross University 10KM Run

To support my decision to run in this year's Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Rachel decided to sign up for the Southern Cross University 10km Run that would be held a day before the marathon (6 Jul 14).

Unlike Singapore's 10km races that are open to all participants (with a usual cut-off time of 2.5 hours), the Southern Cross University 10km Run had a strict cut off timing of 1hr 30min (with a maximum start off allowance of 10min). Failing to do so would get the participants disqualified.

This was indeed a challenge for Rachel as she had only started walking/running few months ago. Her personal best was 1hr 31min during the recent Pocari Sweat Run (8 June 2014). Moreover, she had been unwell for the past 3 months and had literally no trainings. Despite these challenges, she signed up for the event. 

As Rachel's husband, boyfriend and best-est friend, I was concerned about her medical conditions, her physical condition and the impact of a cool climate upon her. I ended up registering in the 10km category (in addition to my own Full Marathon) so that I could "escort" her and ensuring that her safety would not be compromised in any way.

On 4 Jul 14 (Fri), Rachel and I had finalised and inspected our running gears for the 10km run. We had an early night off. We even purchased doughnuts so that we could have them for breakfast before the run.

On 5 Jul 14 (Sat), we woke up early at about 4.00 a.m., washed up and departed to the race precinct. Before departing, I went out to the balcony to check on the weather and discovered that the floor was wet due to rain. This was not very good news as we were not prepared for a rainy overseas run - I was more worried that the wetness and coldness would impact Rachel's health condition.  In the end, we decided to bring along our windbreakers, ponchos and gloves as contingencies. 

We drove and arrived at the Australia Fair Shopping Mall at about 5.00 a.m. We were glad that it did not rain along the way and left our contingency gears in the car before proceeding to the race precinct. By then, the information booth and baggage deposit counters were already in full operations.  We were impressed! There were also sufficient toilets being deployed to ease the "pee/poo" crowd (i.e. toilets were deployed at recovery area and all pen-entry points). 

At about 6.10 a.m., the announcement was made for all of us to gather at our respective start zones (A to D). Rachel and I went to Zone D (for those intending to finish between 1 to 1:30hr) although she was being assigned to Zone A (We were puzzled why she was  assigned to Zone A despite her stating 1:30hr as her estimated completion time. We could only conclude that the organiser had put her in Zone A due to her medical conditions???).

At Zone D, we bumped into 2 very friendly Singaporean runners, Suqin and Irene who travelled to Gold Coast on their own to participate in the run. It was so nice to talk fellow Singaporeans!

At 6.30 a.m. sharp, the organiser flagged off the event. As we started in Zone D, we only managed to cross the start line after 5 minutes. Hence, we had exactly 1hr 35min to complete the run. Rachel started off running at a 7min/km pace. I was worried about her sustainability and kept telling her to slow down. She heeded my advice. I held her hand and we started a slow jog/walk at the cut-off pace of 9min/km. Like I always tell her, we were there to complete, not compete!

It was a joyful run. Along the way, we were motivated by the friendliness and encouragements given by the runners, the volunteers deployed at water points, the traffic control marshals and the musicians at various locations. It was amazing to see volunteers of all ages (ranging from young children to old grandparents) enthusiastically cheering the runners on. We chatted with many other runners, encouraging one another to the finish point. Somehow, Rachel managed to maintain the pace I set for her and we completed the run comfortably at the gun time of 1hr 32min (net time 1hr 26min 55 sec).

At the end point, it was really a pleasant surprise to see Suqin and Irene waiting for us despite their earlier finish. We were happy to make new friends. Rachel happily exchanged email addresses with our new found friends and we took many acomplishment photos for one another. Finisher T-shirts and Medals were also given to every runner who completed the run within the cut-off time.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable experience. It was an eye-opener to see such a professionally organised event, and with so much positive vibes. On a personal note, I am very PROUD that my wife had not only attempted the run but was able to complete it within the cut-off time. Congratulations and Well Done!

It will be my own Full Marathon race tomorrow. I am looking forward to another fantastic run. Until then, all the best to all FM runners!

GCAM 14 (Part 5): Race Number Collection + Sports & Leisure Expo Shopping

A race would be incomplete without a good race expo. Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (See Map) is where the participants would collect their race tags and also do some final shopping before their runs on Saturday/Sunday.

 

Few things to do at the expo and conventions :

• Shop for GCAM 2014 Shirts (from ASICs Booth).

 

 

 

 

 

• Sampling the GCAM isotonic drinks  (from Endura Booth).

 

• Last minute shopping for the race supplements and gears (Energy gels, Running Belts, Sunglasses etc).

• Attend the AirAsia Legends Lunch (on 5 July 12 noon). It is priced at A$50. This lunch features a sumptuous carbohydrate rich menu (i.e. assortment of international dishes, pasta, salad, breads and desserts) and one can expect motivational/educational presentations by  legendary runners (Singapore's legend - Dr. Mok Ying Ren will also be attending this session). We have to skip this lunch as we have a prior lunch appointment with a visiting friend.

Click here for the GCAM 2014 Race Guide and all the best to those who are running!