Bath Half Marathon 2009

Last updated: 18 March 2009

Today I ran the Bath Half Marathon.

I have spent too much for this race. The entrance fee was £32. Transportation to Bath was £49 by train. And shower facilities cost £1! I could fly to Rome and back with £80!

Bath is 185km or 1.5 hours away by train from London. That's probably the same distance from KL to Muar. I could have spent more had I stayed over night.

This is my second trip to Bath. So I didn't bother spending too much time there. It was just a day trip. More accurately, I was there for only 4 hours! A run "mercenary"?

Bath is hilly

There were 11,000 runners today. It was a nice half marathon. The weather was excellent with clear skies despite many runners complaining post-race that it was "frying"! I suspect it was around 18 deg C but the direct sunlight made it feel more. For me, I could run another loop with this kind of weather!

The crowd

River Avon

People do anything to enjoy the sun which is a scarce resource in this country

The route was scenic and hilly. This means the race wasn't the best place to achieve a PB. However, this was well compensated by a good distance of downhill run.

Start/Finish

Panorama shot of runners' village (click to enlarge)

It was a two-loop run around the city. So, there were plenty of opportunities to strategise my run and identify overtaking spots by the time I completed the first loop. Am sure others felt the same way!

Each loop was around 10.5km, probably less the first because the second loop ended with a long haul run down the finish line. The distance appeared to be accurate and consistent to the timed pace.

Despite all the talk about this hilly terrain, Bath was the place I smashed my previous PB.

My time: 1hr 35mins:46secs
First 10km: 47mins 47 secs
Overall position: 1082

First medal for 2009

Growing old

One particular photo that had a lasting impression on me was a comparison shot that I took with my former colleagues in my recent trip back to Malaysia.

The first photo was taken in 2006 when I returned from Japan.

I'm astonished so much have changed since then.

2006

2009

Diversity Week

In recognition of the diverse background of The "O", our office dedicated this week as the "Diversity Week".

Yesterday was fund raising for a nominated children's sports camp.

UK is a "charitable" country. Even when the economy has turned dire, the country continues to help unfortunate people and give them a second chance to live. This impresses me a lot, really. In fact, it is through the generosity of the British government that I am able to be educated in this country.

Staff in our office were asked to dress in their favourite sports attire. A majority of us wore football jerseys.

I formed the minority and it must be easy to guess mine.

I had a choice between a Singapore Marathon or the recently acquired 2008 Malaysia Triathlon Series tee. I would not allow myself to be insulted, so the choice was obvious!;)

Dr Hee must understand that I am grateful for his contribution to my attire too.

Earlier in the week we sent out a plea for cakes. We wanted people who can bake or buy cakes so we can sell them and raise money for the charity.

The reason we asked for cakes was because we knew they will sell. It is as easy to sell cakes here as it is to get Malaysians to go to Jusco and Isetan for the preview sales.

I volunteered to sell the cakes. Pitching for donations was much harder than I thought. And I couldn't book the time to a job number, so I must make up time for work afterwards.

Cakes under my charge

We didn't have enough cakes to sell. So we went to nearby Sainsbury's to buy more. In fact, the cakes were donated to us by colleagues who went to buy them. I have enjoyed a lot participating in a "business" where cost was zero.

Two containers full of money

We managed to sell all our cakes and collected two containers full of money! I also doubled as the "auditor" for our cash pot. In total, we collected £294.19.

Even though this may not be a lot of money to provide for a sports camp, I think that's a lot of money raised by just selling cakes!

We recommended £1 for a slice of cake but I don't remember selling 294 slices.

Some people paid into the pot without taking a piece and some paid in more than the recommendation. We had notes.

Today's event was equally interesting. We met up with a select group of paralympians to exchange ideas of The "O"; we presented about the work we're doing, where we're going and how different we would be this time.

Briefing to paralympians

They told us about their past experiences in Beijing and Athens. What worked, what didn't, what they'd like to see more or less and how we can build on our strengths.

It was an interesting exchange. The "O" is truly customised and made for sportspeople, rather than being pretentious of what we interpret an "O" to be.

Training for London Marathon 2

According to my 18-week marathon training programme, I was slated to run 26km yesterday.

Last week I did a 33km run and felt alright. So I thought I would repeat the same route.

Instead I did the same route plus a little more. Only thing, I didn't bother stopping by for groceries at Sainsbury's. I continued running home. I finished 36.82km.

Total time was 3hrs 20mins.

Now I am caught between being hopeful and hopeless of achieving a sub-4(hour) finish for the London Marathon.

Training for London Marathon

In the shower, the water trickled down from the hair to the lips. It was salty like seawater. Must be the salt from the sweat that has dried up or dust that have formed from the polluted air in London.

I have just completed a 33km run. I ran to Greenwich and from there, to Hampstead Heath and ended at Camden. That's from the southeast to the northwest of London.

This is one of the two/three long distance training that I will cover before I take on the 2009 London Marathon in April.

I'm lucky to win a ballot to run. This will be the second London Marathon for me.

The difference between training for this and the previous marathon is the advantage of running the route first. Since I am living in London, I get to run the route of the race.

If I get it right, I would have ran the "marathon" twice before the actual race. Will be good to familiarise the route in any way.

Unlike training in Malaysia, I put in some thought to my training route. I make sure the intended distance will end at a place where I can do my weekly grocery shopping afterwards. Killing two birds with one stone.

Today it ended in Camden's Sainsburys. I have intended to do a 30km run. However, when I mapped it up in the web, I have actually covered 33.03km.



That was unintended. I thought my 30km time has worsened but I was happy to know that I have actually finished more than I should in 3hrs 6mins.

I cannot tell non-runners about what I've done today. My housemates for example, think I am crazy. So they do not sympathise me when I come home with a limp. Running 33km is bad enough. They think packing a shopping itinerary afterwards is madness.

But I also have a training mantra. As long as people say that I am crazy, I am training right.