Nike Human Race 2009

Race Report by FatBird Anthony
Field Photos by FatBird DO
Racers & Runners from Nike, Team FatBird, Sunbirds, SgRunners

FatBird Runners @ Human Race: Birds Fly, Human Race!

It was a humid morning as me and DO slow jogged from Suntec City to The Singapore Flyer/F1 Pit Stop for the Nike Human Race 10km race, The Day The World Runs. Team FatBird has provided run marshalling and pacing for the 3 training sessions to prepare runners for this race, and this morning, we were to take it easy and just soak in the atmosphere, and let the good organizers plan everything.

It was evident from Race Pack Collection that the organization for this year’s Human Race was going to be good, and I was most happy to be participating as I had to miss the inaugural version last year. After catching up with familiar faces, I lined up by 6:50am, and inched my way to about 10m from the start. I could see the elites and partners, and of course Team FatBird members DO, YN, Spencer, Terry, Keonz and a few Team FatBird Runners nearer to the front.

After a rousing warm-up session by the electrifying band, we were flagged off at 7.20am. The route was spacious, and soon I was running quite freely at about 4:20min/km pace...oops, a tad too fast for me....tried to slow down a little. A few overtook me as I was happily drafting off someone in front. I could see Spencer slightly ahead in a very good form. YN, Terry, DO and the rest were always around. Nike's Yian Soon was up ahead too. At the U-turn in the Kallang area, I cheered for a few familiar faces like Vivian, Ronnie, Sumiko who were always in the front pack. I was reminding myself not to push too hard, and using my breathing as a gauge. As we entered into the Kallang Theatre area, I could see Ben, Scott and a mini bunch moving at break-neck pace J. The sun was out and the humidity was near unbearable. I steadied to a 4:30min/km pace.

As we came out from the PA side, I waved at DO, who took a nice photo. I could see Eric in front, and decided to chase after him a little. There were a few others who were running close-by, and we could all feel our bodies being drained by the heat trapped in that red T-Shirt. Out of the PA, it was near to the 7km mark, and we faced that familiar slope which always appear at SCSM and AHM...hehe. Because of the heat, I did not skip any water stations at all, save for the final one where we had to climb the slope. I felt it too bothersome to go all the way left. MR25 Stephen Lim was there, and he was generous with his ‘clicks’ of the pro camera he wielded.

A young guy was pacing and ‘pushing’ up that final slope, as both of us went for it. Once we reached the top, I just let it flow. I could see the front runners slowing a little as I inched forward. When I saw the 9km mark, I felt it was a tad too early. Still it was good news. My Garmin showed 39min+ at that point, as I rounded the turn into the F1 Pit area. I could hear announcements from the MC, and the 500m mark was clearly visible. At 42min+, I increased the pace hoping to record sub 45min. The final 400m was so long and straight, but I was motivated by the celebrations of sounds and music at the finish line. I just focused on the timer, and crossed the finish in 44:45, made sub-45min....distance recorded on my Garmin was 9.93km though.

Keonz (39min), Spencer (43min), Han (43min) were already there as we exchanged greetings. Vivian came for a chat, whilst Ronnie was solidly fast at 38min. Then Terry came in 48min, followed by YN in 49 min (with a position finish), and then more FatBirds, Sunbirds and SgRunners arrived. We had a good time taking group photos, munching on ice-cream, clutching onto the finisher’s wrist-band and boxes of nutritional snack bars. The sea of Red just made recognizing people so difficult, but still we managed to get quite a large gathering at our spot.

A Flock Of Happy Birds & Human :)

As we had to rush down to The NorthFace 100 locality to support our Team FatBird Athletes and friends participating, we left the F1 Pit at 8.45am. Team FatBird Runners achieved many PBs, and were very satisfied with the 10km outing. The organization of the event was great, and goodies galore. There were no fuss about distance markers nor drinks stations...everything went smoothly. One up for Nike and the organizers of The Human Race 2009. We shall be back in 2010. Birds Fly, Human Race!