REAL Run Roundup

Went for my yearly REAL Run, it’s so far the only run which I have participated in for the last 4 years straight. Twine running the 10K and twice including this year running the 15K. This will be my 6th event for the year. was suppose to stop at 6 but then I added in the Tour de Trail run recently which will take my tally for runs this year to 7. The final one will be in the year end Standard Chartered event. As usual the REAL run was held at the Changi Exhibition Centre. I bought my $3 bus ticket to get that. (Its one of the things I like about this run they have island wide pickup service) It’s also the run where you get your goodie bag on the day itself and not before. As with my other runs this year, I have my number tag capture.

I took the 5.15am shuttle to get there. Arrived around 6pm which gave me enough time to change, deposit my bag and warm up. The race started at 7am, It was not a very hot day, a little cloudy but still humid. The flag off was done at 7am sharp which was great as did not have to wait around too long. I did the 15K last year in a net time of 1hr 53 mins. I knew I could better this time this year. It started off a little more crowded than usual but I think there were same number of runners but it felt more crowded. Ran through the bush before going onto the road stage. The 9K mark came up for me on the hour. Which was a 6 to 7 min per kilo pace. A little fast actually but it felt good once I hit the 5K mark and was running quite well. Then it really started to get crowded as the 10 and 15K runners converged onto the path and beach. Most people start walking once they hit the beach as the sand is not something that is easy to run on. I plodded on in the sand. Alas my race basically ended at the 12.5K mark just as I was hitting the road after the beach. I think the run on the beach put too much strain on the legs. I felt my right calf muscle pull once, 2 steps later it pull again and that was when I decided to stop and walk. The last 2.5K was the longest ever. With walks and slow jogs as I did not want the leg to lock up on me, definitely did not want to arrive at the end in an ambulance. I did managed to get to the end and as I was approaching the last 100m I could see the clock at 1hr 59mins and 30secs, put on a little faster jog and I think I managed to just get under 2hrs. Not one of my best runs but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I really like this year’s medal as it’s gold in colour. They gave out the same T-Shirt and Bag which is normal every year. Just colour changes only. Now its to prep for the year end Marathon.