The last time I ran at MacRitchie was about a year ago, commuting by foot from my Choa Chu Kang home to my workplace in Toa Payoh.
This morning, I was back at the reservoir for the Force of Nature Ultra 12km trail race. (The other categories were 64km and 23km.)
By the way, I gotta say the event T-shirt is rather ugly because of the random yellow streaks and circles.
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The start line was at Dairy Farm, exact same place as the On The Hills 10k race a month earlier. But unlike that race, it didn't rain this morning.
First flag-off was at 7am.
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I started out surprisingly stronger than at the On The Hills 10k race, but would finish much more poorly.
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This was where my shoes got muddy:
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Taking the Rifle Range Flyover over the BKE:
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I found it amusing that right after the sign that says "Stop feeding the monkeys", there was a guy feeding the runners.
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Another guy feeding the monkeys, I mean runners:
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Nearby, the first and, as I discovered later, the only water point on the 12km route:
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Crossing the brook:
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I saw a woman running the wrong way and wanted to go after her to tell her, but I wasn't sure if she was part of the race. She later overtook me, so I guess she was part of the race and must have realised she missed the turn. There seriously needed to be more race marshals to guide runners.
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Damn the uphill climb:
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I used to run at MacRitchie on weekday afternoons when there was hardly people, so I was surprised to see so many trail runners (who weren't part of the race), running groups, hikers and students this morning. It got a little squeezy on the narrower parts of the route.
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Out of the woods at last:
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It was another long kilomtre to the finish line.
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Water, bananas, apples and more at the finish line:
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Having used to run this route on my own once a week only a couple of years ago, I hadn't expect it to be so hard for me this time.
It appears those days of me running to work are truly over.
EARLIER: On The Hils 10k: The umbrella run
This morning, I was back at the reservoir for the Force of Nature Ultra 12km trail race. (The other categories were 64km and 23km.)
By the way, I gotta say the event T-shirt is rather ugly because of the random yellow streaks and circles.
The start line was at Dairy Farm, exact same place as the On The Hills 10k race a month earlier. But unlike that race, it didn't rain this morning.
First flag-off was at 7am.
I started out surprisingly stronger than at the On The Hills 10k race, but would finish much more poorly.
This was where my shoes got muddy:
Taking the Rifle Range Flyover over the BKE:
I found it amusing that right after the sign that says "Stop feeding the monkeys", there was a guy feeding the runners.
Another guy feeding the monkeys, I mean runners:
Nearby, the first and, as I discovered later, the only water point on the 12km route:
Crossing the brook:
I saw a woman running the wrong way and wanted to go after her to tell her, but I wasn't sure if she was part of the race. She later overtook me, so I guess she was part of the race and must have realised she missed the turn. There seriously needed to be more race marshals to guide runners.
Damn the uphill climb:
I used to run at MacRitchie on weekday afternoons when there was hardly people, so I was surprised to see so many trail runners (who weren't part of the race), running groups, hikers and students this morning. It got a little squeezy on the narrower parts of the route.
Out of the woods at last:
It was another long kilomtre to the finish line.
Water, bananas, apples and more at the finish line:
Having used to run this route on my own once a week only a couple of years ago, I hadn't expect it to be so hard for me this time.
It appears those days of me running to work are truly over.
EARLIER: On The Hils 10k: The umbrella run