The first time I took up the challenge, it was a distance of 10km that took place 2 years ago.

For the second attempt into the marathon, a distance of 42km which I have no idea what kind of torture would I face throughout the race.

Standard Chartered Marathon 2009 (on 6th December 2009) was the challenge of the year for me. With no trainings or mental preparation, I decided to sign up the highest obstacle that was offered to a contestant; the 42km full marathon.

The furthest I've tried running was 25km. What problems would I faced? I dont train much and the most I've ran for the past months is the 2.4km IPPT. Hence, on that day, I found out how tough it was.

Running at the 4km mark, I sprained my left ankle badly but I persevered. I continued to push myself until the 28km mark, which my ankle had gave way. Cramps are forcing me to give up but I pushed on. Plenty of bananas and energy bars are avaliable but I decide to complete the race without these substances consumed. Using my own ability and determination to complete the race was the aim of this marathon to me. I ended up walking all the way back to the finishing line, completing the race with a total timing of 5 hours 18 minutes. Cool!

I end up spending another $46 on the chinese physican straight after the race to fix back the damaged ligament that I'm suffering. Overall, an expensive race but the satisfaction level is high! I've conquered 42km and what could be next? Ironman marathon; a distance of approximately 70km? Maybe...

At the end of the day, these are the stats that I got from the marathon website. Credits to them.

Name: NICHOLAS TEO WEI TECK
Event: Full Marathon
Bib/Div: 32993 / M2024
Time: 5h:40m:8s (gun) / 5h:18m:54s (net)

10km (01:21:32) 21km (02:39:53) 30km (03:41:39) 32.5km (04:00:34) 42km (05:40:08)

Result in Entire Field: 5571st place (8687 finishers behind. About 39% of finishers ahead)

Result in Gender (Men): 4849th place (7238 finishers behind. About 40% of finishers ahead)

** Ranking : 4850
** Singapore Ranking: 3688