Sundown 2012- A blind mouse

Part of the race pack- Participant’s guide

Many people think that the 2012 Sundown Marathon has 2 categories- 21km (half), and 42km (full). Not surprising, as the name of the event is called Sundown Marathon 2012.

Of course BFF and I joined can’t never possibly join a half or a full marathon! Come on, let’s be real here people, we aren’t exactly the fit type. We joined the third, LESS muscle exerting category: the 10km! And thus, the title for this post is Sundown 2012, and not Sundown Marathon 2012. Then why ‘ a blind mouse’? Well, you have to read on. 😀

My last so-called 10km ‘race’ was about 7 months ago, where BFF and I took part in our very 1st run- The Nike Run. Check out my thoughts on that at  https://alldayeverydayness.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/striking-off-an-item-on-my-to-do-list-before-i-grow-old/

Being the 1st time taking part in a Sundown event, I thought the run would commence in the evening, and the participants wouldl run until the SUN goes DOWN- thus a SUNDOWN event right? Well, call me ignorant, but that’s how I interpreted it! How creative was I right? 😀

Most admin stuffs like registration, and checking out for updates when the event was nearing was entirely done by BFF. I’m the lazy kind who doesn’t like checking stuffs like that. Well, luckily I have her to do the ‘job’ for me! Hurray for that!<3

While many people trained hard or at least TRY to train for the ‘race’, BFF and I were, I like to believe, the slackest participants! We never really train for the event. For me, I would just jog once a week. And for BFF? Well, I think she will kill me if I would to tell you how she ‘trained’, so let’s just say we were pretty bad when it comes to training. ;D

The flag-off time for the 10km category was at 10.30pm on 26 May 2012. I’m not really comfortable jogging at night, especially if it’s an unfamiliar place. I don’t wear glasses when I jog, and I’m not comfortable having contact lenses on. So I pretty much a blind mouse when the sun goes down, and I’m not wearing my glasses.

From the time of flag-off, I was a semi-blind jogger, jogging in the city- on the roads of Singapore! Oh boy, how dangerous!

I could barely see what was ahead of me, when there were’t street lights. And even with street lights, I totally missed 7 of the signboards telling me how many kilometers me had run!

Not knowing the distance I had covered, whenever I felt like giving up and slowing down, I would always assumed that I was completing soon. And of course, my hopes collapsed after jogging an extra 5-10 more torturous minutes!

The only 2 signboards which I saw indicting the distance one has covered was the ‘8km’ and ‘9km’. I felt like I nearly died when I first saw the ‘8km’ signboard. My legs were killing me, especially the muscle on my left foot, and I still had 2km more!

Seriously, I had no idea how I even managed to complete this event. But I’m glad I did! I mean, those who completed get a medal! My very first outside-school-medal! Nice! 😀

And sharing the experience with BFF is one thing that will always be cherished!

My 1st finisher Medal!

My Run Score! Was slower as compared to my previous Nike Run.

Getting ready to board the shuttle service back home. It’s probably 40 minutes pass midnight!

Group Shot!