The Infinite World

Yuki Kawauchi achieved his 100th career sub 2:20 marathon at the 51st Hofu Yomiuri marathon on 20 Dec 2020, Sunday. He finished 2nd position with a time of 2:10:26. Congratulations to Yuki...!!!

I went to the start line of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on the evening of 30 Nov 2019 before 6pm. I was trying to be very cool about the whole event, I told myself to really take it easy. But, still I was feeling as always apprehensive about how my body is going to take the 5-6 hours of running and walking. I started really easy, I tried to run as normally as possible, no rush and keeping the mind clear. The first few km was slow as usual, with the large number of runners around. I reached the 5km mark in 31min44sec. Although it was evening time with no sunshine, it was hot and humid. The next 5km was completed in 32min13sec, about 29 sec slower than the first 5km. The route was boring, the section passing below the elevated highway next to the old railway station was a lousy one. It was even worst thereafter, as you run up another elevated highway. The 15km mark was after the turnaround from the highway section, which I reached in 1hour37min2sec. I was glad to pass ...

Yuki Kawauchi came in 1st at the Boston Marathon 2018, 16 April, in 2 hours 15minutes 58 seconds, the last Japanese man to win was in 1987, Toshihiko Seko. Amazing race for Yuki, the bad weather win it for him, as he is not afraid of the cold weather. He is really becoming a legend, his 79 sub 2:20 marathon! He breached a gap of over 90 secs and won by 2 minutes 25 seconds over Kenyan Geoffrey Kirui.

Training has not been going well for my marathon race on 4 Dec 2016, mileage is too low. I will definitely has to take it easy for the run, will hit the wall early. Just has to push on no matter what happen on the day itself. Will try to prep myself mentally to fight against my weak body and I am targeting to finish with 5 hours 15 minutes. I plan to run the 1st half much faster than the 2nd half, probably 2 hour 15 min vs 2 hour 45 min.

I actually had enough training based on my personal running history over the years. I am just a very ordinary runner who always dream of breaking 3 hours in the marathon. I took part in a total of 11 marathon but only 3 are under 5 hours. So you can tell I am a slow runner, who dream big. Prior to the race, I logged about five 3 hours run, and maybe about five 2 hours plus run and a series of other 10km or more runs. This year, I clocked 4 hours 59 min 27 sec, 12 min 1 sec slower than 2014. The main reason is because my body won the battle against my mind, I was so overwhelmed by the tiredness of the body and I walked a little too much. The fun part of the race is the last 10 km when your body is extremely tired and it's ready to just give up. This is when your mind take charge and start to remind you that you should not give up. Last year, the muscle cramp started around 26km of the race, this year managed to delay it until I reached 30km. From this point onwards, I had to ...

This year I reached the start point at about 4.30am with my cousin, we took the mrt train there. For the first time, I slept really well even though it was only 3 hours of sleep. I intended to be as relax as possible and I managed to do just that. I was feeling extremely relax and with my cousin's company, the waiting time passed very quickly. I did not try to move closer to the start line like what I did in previous year which I think save me a lot of trouble. The race started at 5 am sharp for the elite runners, I started in the second batch at about 5:04 am. As usual, it was a slow start. Covered the 1st km in 6:15, which was faster than I expected. But one thing to note is that only about 62 percent of the full marathon slots was filled, which was why I found that it felt less crowded when I was running. The second km was slower at 6:51 and passed through the only enclosed place on the route, it was the Fort Canning tunnel. The third km was clocked at 6:14 but from the ...

I registered for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 6 Dec 2015, Sunday. Last year, I clocked a personal best of 4 hours 47 minutes 26 seconds for the 42.195km. This year I am setting a target of 4 hours 30 minutes, which will translate to a average time of 6 minutes 23.93 seconds per km covered. Its not a fast time but it will take some consistent training starting now, the main aim will be to make sure the body can take the constant pounding over the 4 and a half hours.

There are a few bright spots and good results in the news for Singapore Running ! A 41 years old record was broken for the mens 10,000 m in June, 2014, Soh Rui Yong ran 31min15.95sec in Oregon, USA. He ran his maiden marathon in the US in 2hr26min01sec on the 7 Dec 2014 at the California International Marathon, the second fastest time ever by a Singaporean. Mok Yin Ren is another elite Singapore runner, he just arrived in the Boulder, Colorado, USA, a few days ago to train with Lee Troop, a Australian Olympian. Has is the SEA Games 2013 marathon gold medallist(2hr28min36sec), his personal best is 2hr26min30sec. Then there is Ashley Liew, who is also studying in the, US, who ran 2hr32min12sec in the New Orlean Rock and Roll Marathon on 25 Jan 2015. There are quite a few others who can run below 3 hours, Lim Thow Wee(2hr48min49sec), Fang JianYong(2hr38min40sec), Ning Wenlong(2hr53min57sec), just to name a few. Hopefully, with the SEA Games in Singapore, more Singapore a...

I woke up at 2.45am, in fact I did not even sleep for more than an hour. Had some bread and a cup of coffee and drink a cup of water as well. After washing up and changed, left the house at about 3.40 am. I slow jogged about 1km to the MRT station to take a train to the start point, special train service to town was available from about 3am. Reached the start point at about 4.23am and had to wait about 40 minutes for the race to begin. While waiting for the race to start, I felt very relax and calm although I did not put in the sufficient training needed. I just wanted to try my best to complete the run and I was quite confident that I could set a new personal best. The race finally started at 5.04 am, it took me about 3.5 minutes to pass the start point. As usual, the first km is always slow, with everyone trying to find a way out of the crowd. After the 2km mark, the crowd seemed to be spread out more and there was more room to run, from here on the run was smooth. The fi...

At last, managed to clock a 30.68 km run this morning with the help of my running buddy at East Coast park. Started out at 5:08am, it was a slow run for the first 19.43km, averaging approximately 7min per km.  We just take it easy and at a very controlled pace. Started at Ford road car park and turned back only at the NSRCC back to the start point, 19.43 km in 2:15:55. The aim is to run at a relax pace and clocked in the mileage, which we achieved. From the 20km onwards, managed to maintain a pace of below 6min per km till the end of the run. I was quite sceptical of whether I would be able to maintain a constant pace initially, but as I passed from 20 to 21 to 22 to 23 km, my legs and body seems to holdup well. From there, I felt comfortable running at an average pace of about 5:45 per km, I was able to even increase my pace slightly over the rest of run, achieving a peak of 5:36 per km. Today's run seems to indicate that my overall fitness has improved quite a bit, and I can...

The weather has been rather wet due to rain these last few days, so had to do some of my running in the gym. Yesterday evening was cool after the rain had stopped, went for a 20km run to a park and back, in 2 hour 3min 19sec, averaging 6:09 per km. Started out at about 6pm, was feeling rather lethargic for the first 4-5 km, but managed to get a good  rhythm once I entered the running path at the park. Just to relax and run easy between 5.30 to 5.50 per km pace. I was not able to sustain it for long but just tried my best not to let the pace drop too much from the 6min per km. I just push on despite the feeling of tiredness creeping in and keep my momentum. I know if slow down too much, the flow will be gone. I just let the momentum carried me through as I covered more ground. I think this is a good strategy, although my fitness level is still far from ideal, as I managed to complete the 20 km run in just over 2 hours. Today, one thing to note is that I did consumed 2 gels...

Started my run this morning at about 8.05am, a little late though. Standard Chartered Marathon is less 50 days away, so I must at least do a long way every week till race day. My target today is to put in at least a 100 min of running, I covered 17.21 km in 1hr49min11sec. Ideally, I should be running at least 20km in about 2 hours, but I fall short today. I just want to run with a relax mind today and covered some distance. I managed to do just what I wanted to and hopefully I can do a few more long runs in the coming few weeks. I want to try to at least do one 30km run before the actual race on the 7 Dec 2014 Sunday.

Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya crossed the line in 2hr4min11sec, 6 seconds off his personal best. Rita Jeptoo also from Kenya won the women race in 2hr24min35sec. Singapore Ashley Liew finished in 2hr35min39sec, if this is indeed official, he improved his personal best by 1 sec. Congratulations to Ashley !

The lead group went through 20km in 58min 58sec.

The Chicago Marathon, 12 Oct 2014 Sunday, the lead runner passed 15km mark in 44min13sec.

Mahboob Ali Hasan from Bahrain came in 1st in 2hr12min38sec just a few minutes ago, Kohei Matsumura from Japan came in 2nd, one sec behind in 2hr12min39sec and Yuki Kawauchi, also from Japan, came in 3rd in 2hr12min42sec. It was a very close run, the 1st 3 runners finishing within a space of 4 seconds in a 42.195km run. Another impressive run from Yuki Kawauchi, an amateur runner with a regular job as a civil servant in a Japanese school.

Did 8.2km run today in 48min6.8sec, averaging 5:52 per km. Not a bad run for me, but I need to start my run earlier as my night vision is not too good. The run become erratic once you are not sure what or where you stepping on. Need to be more patience as well, tend to rush my run. 

I registered for the SCB full marathon today, it will be on 7 Dec 2014 Sunday. I have about 5 months to put in some serious training, hope to at least achieve a PB of under 4hr 30min. Need to really put in some long slow run to build up my stamina. Have to do at least four 30km run 2 week before the actual race day. Will try my best to keep my body weight to 62kg or less, to achieve my PB.

I tried my best to keep pushing my body to go beyond its limit, which I find interesting and challenging. I did minimum training, so my body suffered quite badly during the later part of the run. But what I found surprising was that when I put in a short burst for a short stretch of say 200-300m, I actually find it easier then to slow jog. I kept doing so from about 27km onwards until the end of the run. I would say I put in at least 75 percent effort for this run, next time I must try to at least put in 90 percent effort. Overcoming the most difficult part of the race when you body is giving up, is also the most satisfying. I need to push my body more to cut down the time wasted walking, could cut my timing further.

Finished Sundown Marathon on 1 Jun 2014 Sunday just before 5am, in a clock time of 5hr24min53sec. (official time:5hr16min53sec) I started in the 2nd wave which had a delay of at least 5min after the first wave. My Garmin stopped recording at 41.68km at 5hr8min plus to a flat battery, fried the battery due to charging directly via the wall socket. I had to pull my best effort to achieve this timing, due to my minimum training. It was really a torturing journey when your body has already given up and you have to rely on your mind to tell body to go on. But it was a great experience, especially running in the rain, indeed I run better during the 5km stretch. I could feel my core muscle feeling really sore, have to really build up my core. I tried out a new method for myself during this race, I run fast after each walk break, as I really cannot bring myself to slow jog when the body is really sore. It seems to work for me, as my timing was ok despite minimum training.