It was the final test for all Nighthawks....beat the sunrise at The Sundown Marathon 2011. There were more than 300 RSVPs to come to the New Balance-FatBird Hospitality tent to meet with the Sundown Pacers, Nighthawk trainees, FatBird Runners and friends of Team FatBird. On the night, there were many more that eventually turned up to visit, rest, catch-up and just gathered around for photo shots.
Because a large crowd (more than 25000 runners) was to be expected at the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC), many of us went down earlier to secure a smoother access and parking places nearer to the start point. There was a hive of activity at the FatBird Hospitality as the runners streamed in and the Half-Marathoners were getting ready for their race. The 10km runners from new Balance and a few from TFB also just came back, many of them did very well indeed.After a photo shot of the Half-Marathon group at 7:30pm to much fanfare, the Pacers led the
Nighthawks and runners to the start line. The Full Marathoners started streaming in by 8:00pm, but many were stuck the the huge traffic jam into the CEC. Our Pacers and runners had to alight quite far away, but fortunately most made it for the 10pm start. The Full Marathon Group proceeded to the startline at 9:30pm, with the Pacers moving forward to the front. There was a nice introduction to the Pacers by the MCs, and we were even invited on the walkway to strut our stuff and show off the sexy 
legs....haha.We were already perspiring and some drenched in that humid weather. There was nary a sign of wind, and some of us could already feel our body temperatures rising. Because we have had a
number of night training runs, most of us were not fazed by the challenges that laid ahead. However, the humid weather did get to many of the runners who felt 'faint' and some even threw up due to the nauseating heat. The Pacers kept to their race plans and it was heartening to see many Sundowners running along in tandem, quietly supporting and giving encouragement to the pace groupings. By the halfway mark, the pack thinned out as expected, with some falling back because of the onset of cramps and heat exhaustion.
We doused ourselves with water to cool the 'frying' brains at many of the hydration points. The pace did slow slightly between the 20-30km mark, fortunately we had already factored that into our Optimal Pace Plan (with provision for positive splits and slight drifting off in the second half of the race). There were shouts and applause of encouragement whenever the pace groups pass one another on different side of the ECP pathways. The heat got so unbearable at one point some entertained thoughts of giving up and registering a DNFs (Did Not Finish). It was the motivation from the groups-in-motion and spirit of the marathon that kept us going. Even if it meant having to slow down, we plodded on with just one target ahead - the end point, which will qualify us to enter the Hall Of Fame as a Sundowner.
Sundown Pacers finishing on the mark
We are happy to report the tremendous success of the 35 Sundown Pacers (Ambassadors) in bringing all the runners in their respective pace groups in the Half and Full Marathon categoies across the finish line on target times, with a differential of 3-5min to ensure a broad range of Sundowners fulfill their planned timings. The NightHawks had an exceptional outing with many scoring Personal Bests and accomplishing their maiden Full and Half Marathons. All these would not have been possible without the dedication of the Team FatBird trainers and running guides, the training and precision of The Sundown Pacers, and the unwavering commitment and dogged determination of the NightHawks.We would like to thank the strong faith and support from New Balance Singapore for Operation NightHawk 2011, and the opportunity and vote of confidence by the Sundown Organizer in appointing Team FatBird as the training partner for Sundown Ambassadors. PEN!
The NightHawks Have Emerged To Beat The Sunrise.
The Team FatBird Sundown Pacers Have Delivered The Promise - Follow Our Pace, Win Your Race!
Facebook Photos from David Ong, Azhar, Sam Chong, Tan Kim Lai, JacQ Foo, BTing, AC Leong, Tey, Mohan, Cindy Loo,
Sundown Official Photos PART1, PART2, PART3,
RunPix RESULTS
.
No comments:
Post a Comment