I've Done it!

Yay! 2nd December 2007, Mr Genki had completed the Standard Chartered 2007 42.195km marathon. Very much of a personal achievement for himself.

Mr Genki was so full of anxiety about the race the night before. So much so that he didn't really sleep a wink. As such, he decided that there was not much point committing himself to the bed being unable to get into trance-like state. So, he threw himself onto the sofa in the living room and, Gunners here we go!

Gunners brightens his day with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa. Soon after, he noticed that it's already 3:30am and he has to go meet Zhi Xian, Wei Jie, Chin Leong and Kian Hong for the conquest of our lives, 42.195km.

Clock reads 5:30am and off we go at the flag off point as we embark in this seemingly endless run. Naive as we are, we thought that completing the race with slow jog pace seem very much possible. How mistaken had we got.

The first 21km was very much achieveable with slow jog. Oh, and along the way, we spotted spiderman! Well, that was actually someone in the spiderman suit. Guess there aren't too many tall buildings to go along wing the route, so the "Web-Swinging(or Web-Slinging)" Spidey had to very much commit himself to the ground. =) That was so fun and interesting. I wonder if he completed the race. Let's hope that he does so.

Oh yes, back to the 21km point. Half the race was completed till then but we still had a lot to do. And, so have to keep running. And I really mean KEEP RUNNING! As much as I thought, the turning point should be nearby as I could see people running in the oncoming direction already. So I kept running. Well, apparently, that turning point was at the 26km mark and that part of the race seemed endless to me.

Though I wasn't breathless after the turning point, my body, especially my legs were reaching it's limit. Fatigue is kicking in. I had to tell myself (time and again) I had made it to the other side of the road and the finishing line is ahead. Very much ahead. Thanks to the Power Gel provided somewhere after the turning point, I was able to top up the energy level for myself to carry on. I am somewhere because I really cannot be bothered where. All I cared was the number that indicates my progress at every kilometre mark and the drink station.

By then, the sun is scorchingly hot. So, I had to get water from the drink station and pour it over myself. Along the way I had multiple cramps on my thighs and had to walk intermittently. So, I had to rub my thighs with deep head rub whenever it's available. I was in such a huge mess, but I had to press on, since the only way is AHEAD.

And of course, even before the 21km halfway point, I was running with a head. Then as I cross 33km mark, a familiar voice called out to me. Oh, it's Chandra. My Word. What coincidence to have met your JC Classmate in this humongous sea of people. Since then we proceeded with two heads ahead, still walking intermittently.

33km and we were left with less than 2 digits worth (in terms of kilometres) of distance to go! However, with all the conditions we had and intermittent walking, it's inevitable that we took longer than the first part of the race with the same distance.

38km! And I had to go ahead alone again. 4.195km away from the finishing line. Fatigue at it's highest level. It's all in the mind! Keeping running was the only thing to do!

And yes! There we are! The finishing line is within visible range already! But the numbers on the progress indicator actually got bigger, but in terms of metres! 100m, 75m, 50m, 25m and... I MADE IT!

So much effort and so much sweat. I was so touched. I've completed a marathon! Albeit my legs felt so stiff that every that I took after the race hurts. I wanna hug someone! Maybe my bolster... =)