The Human Spirit

Looking back at the string of events that took place from preparing to finishing the marathon, I seriously had no idea, no clue what I was getting myself into. How far is 21.1km? Really? All I had in mind was to complete a marathon this year and to me, the full marathon(42km) was like a 500 pounds gorilla in his boxing pants waiting to pin me down. Okay, so I went for the 250 pounds gorilla. And I thought he was little. 113.39kg. Come on. How wrong can I get.

Very wrong. 21.1km to a under-trained runner is like putting a little boy in an obstacle course with guns and massive explosions and a footballer.

Here's a walk through for the day.

Collected my race pack the day before. Didn't sleep too well that night.

6.10am.
I didn't had breakfast. Error 1
I didn't bring my bottle to rehydrate in the morning. Error 2.
Had to stay focused.

I ran 12km straight. Once I hit the 12km mark. My chest was heavy, I was very very cold. I felt as though I was having a terrible fever and I'm out of juice. It was so horrible I had to slap myself to keep up. Finally slowed down to catch my breath.

Look who's boss for the day.

Morning sun.

Massive elevation. Stamina killer.

By this time, my legs felt like they were from a different entity and not the body. I knew very well I've over worked my legs and the pain was crazy when I tried to run a little bit faster. I could feel 6 blisters on my toes rubbing off my skin. Every step got heavier. My heart was beating hard. On the bright side, the chill went away.

Met my secondary school history teacher. Mr Cha.

I come to really witness the human spirit that was evident on everyone's faces. The uncles, aunties and the people who pushed through. When I was at the finishing line looking pass the full marathon runners, boy was it inspiring. The pain and the joy in split seconds, the fulfillment, the endurance and the pride knowing that the battle is won. I had conquered my race and it was real tough. These people fought twice my battle and beat the 500 pounds gorilla.

It was that moment I finally understand what the human spirit is all about. How humans are able to stretch their capacity and finish the race. Their drive, their belief, their never say die spirit stated on their eyes. It made my eyes wet witnessing such an extraordinary feat.

This was the day I saw true optimism, true hope and despair. I felt truly alive.


As for me, I only had few things in mind when I was running.

1. Never look back.
2. Never stop.
3. Just keep going.
4. This is a race between me and myself.
5. Finish what was started.
6. There's a finishing line and it's sweet.

Lessons learnt
1. Girls can run.
2. Old uncles can REALLY run.
3. Old aunties can run.
4. Give support. We don't get much support needed here.
5. You want to taste the best Whooper? Go run 21.1km and head to Burger King :]

But one of the biggest lesson learnt is this. It's okay to be unproven and untested. If I would have known how far 21.1km was, I might have opted for a shorter route like the 5 or 10 km. The experts would have suggested me the 10km because it would suit me perfectly given my training track record. What came really sweet was after I've completed the 21.1km. I really finished it. I'm proud of myself for finishing what that was seem impossible a few years back. It is proven now that hey! it is possible.

Another thing is, you know what really scares people away. It's not this. It's those races where no one for sure know where the finshing line is even so, the possibilty of even finishing it. There's no pavement, there are no signs, no crowds, absolute zero certainty. But what you have is yourself, your set of belief and values and that's the true race we're all in.


My bib with the results;

Name:	PANG JUN YONG PHILIP (MAS)
Net Start:	06:13:52	Category:	Half Marathon 21km
Net Time:	02:51:38	Position:	1422
Finish Timing:	02:52:29.16

How it's like to cross the finishing line. Here's the vid;




And you want to know what unproven really means? I told my friend I may only finish the race after 7 hours or more. Traffic will then resume operation and I'll be running with cars. We even delayed our movie (transformers 2 - absolute rubbish) at pavillion to 8.30pm! Just in case I'm still out in roads of KL running like a lost kid. I'm so glad I could clock in before the 3 hour mark. I really am.

What a run !