Mizuno Wave Run 2009

This was my second attempt at the Mizuno Wave Run. However, this year's race was nothing like last year's. For one thing, the location was different. Last year, the race was held at Tampines (Temasek Polytechnic) while this year, the event was held at Ang Mo Kio/Yio Chu Kang area (Nanyang Polytechnic). This year's race also featured a new distance. It was a 10 mile (16 km) race. Interesting.

Like the Mizuno Mt Faber Run, the runners disobeyed traffic rules and decided to run on the road even though there was no road closure. I was sure some motorists were not too pleased.

The route itself was not easy. There were plenty of slopes to conquer (the one outside St Nics was challenging). This was especially so when many of us deviated from the actual route (I think) and ran up Old Upper Thomson Road rather than the flatter Upper Thomson Road. It was really as case of blind leading the blind. I just assumed that it was the correct route when I saw everyone was running up that road. There were no marshals in sight. It was only after the U-Turn that I realised that some runners were running along Upper Thomson Road. Seeing that caused me to wonder if I had indeed taken the wrong route. Anyway, the "wrong" route was enjoyable for me as it was a more scenic and enjoyable route. My Garmin GPS watch recorded a distance of 16.93 km (shown below), which sought of confirmed that I took a longer route.

As a whole, it was a fun experience with a few small complaints. I felt that it was a waste for the water points to give out bottles of water when cups of water would suffice. At many water points, they ran out of cups for the isotonic drinks. Also, runners had to make many stops at major road junctions which disrupted our pace and rhythm. Other than that, it was a fun race.

Next race, The North Face 100: 50 km Duo. Really looking forward to this one!