Sundown Ultra Marathon 2009

The Sundown 84km Ultra Marathon 2009 was held this year on Saturday, the 30th May at Changi Point.

Exactly how long is 84km? It’s about the distance you run along the Pan-Island Expressway, Singapore’s longest road, starting from Changi Airport all the way to Tuas. And then back again.

Exactly how painful is 84km? Well, I was told that out of 500 runners who registered, barely half made it through the finish line – either due to injury, sheer exhaustion or just the lack of will to see it through.

So knowing the inevitable pain and injuries that we are about to suffer, why are some of us still crazy enough to do it?

Ultra Marathons measure the strength of your will.

One day, like every father in the world, I want to tell my kids that nothing is impossible if they put their minds to it. But knowing how smart kids are going to be in the future, they will most probably ask, “But daddy, how do you know? What impossible thing have you done?”

That is when I will show them this.



And tell them the story of how that night on the 30th May; their old daddy popped his knee at kilometre 21. It felt like someone screwed in a rusty 6-inch nail through my knee-cap. But I still persisted throughout the night to complete the race despite the painful affliction. If I want to teach my kids that the power of the human will can overcome anything, I better have enough material to walk the talk.

Ultra Marathons let you meet extraordinary people.

Like Mohan and Debra. They saw me running and limping badly in the last 40 kilometres of the race and decided that we band together and motivate each other all the way to the finish line. They were just as injured and exhausted as I was but their spirits never once failed. Debra even grabbed my arm during those steep slopes to make sure that my knees did not totally give way and never left my side during those final 40 kilometres. Extraordinary people like these can only come by during extraordinary events. I look forward to our gathering soon.

Ultra Marathons reveal your friends from your “friends”.

Friends will motivate, encourage and congratulate through or upon the completion of your endeavours. “Friends” will find an excuse to jab in negative remarks and the slightest opportunity to do so. I thank God that running has made it so easy to spot them.

To read more about the night I ran in Sundown 09, do proceed to my runs.