Dubai Marathon 2009 Part II

I did it! I have achieved what what I have set to do. I completed the marathon the whole 42km 195m in 5 hours 33 mins (From the Starting Mat to the Finishing Mat tracked by the Mika chip tied on my shoe) or 5 hours 38 mins (From the gun fire to the Finishing Mat). The difference was because I started at the back of the eager swarm of runners. We started at 6:40 AM when the temperature was around 16 degrees Celsius. I had to take a leak before the race and the queue was too long. This is something the organizer of the World's Richest Marathon has to improve. The following are the phases that I had gone through to complete the race.





1-25Km
I ran like a stallion. I was in the middle of the pack. My breathing was good and my pace was consistent. It rained in my 7Km. The rain was refreshing. Running in the rain was awesome. Later the winner for last year and this year Dubai Marathon, Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia, who clocked 2 hours 5 mins, commented that the rain has slowed him down and thus causing him to miss breaking the new world record and getting the US$ 1 million jackpot.



26-32Km
I started to feel some sensation on my left thigh and then my right thigh started to complain. I had to walk and run, walk and run so that I could control the ache. My breathing was still good, my body temperature was OK but my thighs had started to fail me. They started to ache and get heaty. I told myself, "kan bagus kalau ade air-cond kat peha" as I thought of Eja's line in Sepi. My pace started to become irregular and slower. The weather has been very kind to us. The sun only started to sting in my 30Km. Other runners started to overtake me. I was devastated and started cursing all the oily and salty stuffs I had been consuming of late.




33-41Km
I started to realize if I kept on running I would get a serious cramp on my thigh muscles and would be picked up by the ambulance by the road side and my hope to complete the race would be shattered. I told myself that I have to change my plan. I started brisk walking, meaning my thighs remained straight and the muscles remained relaxed. I timed my brisk walking, it took me 7 minutes of brisk walking like lipas kudung to complete 1 km. I made simple calculations and I was convinced that I would still meet my personal target by just brisk walking till the end. So I did just that in a very unfashionable way to complete the race.




The last 1 km
There were so many photographers taking photo shoots at the runners nearing the finishing mat. Realizing that I wasn't technically running, I decided to switch my brisk walking to muster a little run to the finishing mat while I was photographed by many. So I did it, running and walking and running again till the end. Having completed the race within 6 hours, I was given a medal straight away after passing through the finishing mat.

The long queue to pee before the race

The start - when it was dark and cold

The results available online right after the race as it is supported by an efficient tracking mechanism

I could have made a better time. I am embarrassed that some old runners, overweight runners and even a blind lady runner (accompanied by a running guide) were all ahead of me. This proves that anyone can complete a marathon. Where there is a will, there is a way. Right now I am looking for ways to get recuperated soon enough since I have to get to work tomorrow.