Marathon hours

I felt fine at the starting point. I overrated my body fitness. I went fast and smooth for almost 10km. Keat Song caught up with me, "Good job JacQ, consistent pace". I started to suffer from this point onwards. I couldn't breathe properly and my chest felt tight. I decided to stop and walk. Aileen and everyone overtook me.

My morale dipped. I kept telling myself I was stronger than this and I just needed to keep going. I went slow and my breathing recovered. There were slopes after slopes. Undulating course. Joanne caught up with me too. She was fast. I was afraid to push so I stayed slow. At 22km to 23km, I picked up my speed. I started to overtake others.

I saw Joanne, Aileen and Ryan. I ran with Ryan for a distance and went ahead. The shin started to weaken. I stopped and brisk walked. The expressway was long and merciless. I kept talking to God. At 30km, I did 3 hours 30 minutes. I knew my timing was off so I just aimed for a safe completion.

The last 10km was a pain. A man told me I was only 2km away from the finishing line. I thought it was true. I went a bit faster. I kept running but I couldn't hear the music. Then, I saw the distance marker said '42km - 4km to go'. Bleh. Nonetheless, I could only keep running.

We had to make a loop. Everyone must be cursing inside. All were quiet. Finally, I saw the finishing board. It was such a relief. The marathon felt so long and it was thus far one of the toughest ones.

I went back to the stage to meet the rest. I was so happy to see Jacky, Vincent and Gary. I survived the marathon not with a good timing but still thankful. I could not ask for more. If only I was in the correct category, I would have brought home some cash. Hee.

Thank you, God.

Run: 42km