Gold Coast 2011

date 30^th jun 2011…time 7.10am

6 of us finally embarked on a journey we’ve been planning for the past 6 months

gold coast airport marathon

the mood at the airport was jovial..almost..

we checked in as a group, and andy almost gave xu fu, the airline staff a hard time…

date 1^st jul 2011, touched down at gold coast airport and off we went to the convention centre

running pack collection…but wait…where is the running vest???

shock no.1: where is the running vest??

fact is there is none…hehe…too used to singapore marathon..

shock no.2: bok liong!! you are here too!!!

mistaken for my twin again..not once but twice at gold coast…small world indeed..

shock no.3: bananas...AUD$13.98 for a kilo...

we dunno what to say...

date 2^nd jul 2011…time 7am

wanted to do a fam run…familiarization to the morning cold

very cold indeed…we don our gear to get a feel of what to expect

cat went one step further..she did a full dress rehearsal

even down to the blister pad!!

andy did yoga, I led the morning run…all for scenes to be captured in our GCAM video…so fun

noon…pasta party

champions talk and saw many more foreign & local runners

pasta was nice..lots of pasta..

dinner…more pasta at vapiano..awesome pizza…fantastic ambience!!

date 3^rd jul 2011…race day

woke up at 4:15am, bus leaving 5.15am

reached start point 6am…VERY VERY COLD!!!

hide in macdonald’s, even did warm up there

met a few fellow Singaporeans at the start point…took some pictures as well

7.10am…and off we go…

ed was gone in a flash…yit kai followed closely

and then the rest as well…

cold…cold…but as we progress along…we felt good…the weather was in fact perfect for marathon

first turning point…burleigh heads..by now running alongside yit kai..felt very comfortable

 
saw hweechwee not long after the turning…followed by andy & cat

all running comfortably

lots of Japanese supporters along the way too ..shouting gambateh!!!

we were mistaken for Japanese too…gambateh!!!

talking while running with yit kai…run slower…let’s take some pictures!!!

hahaha…and we did

very low profile indeed...

even help a Japanese lady took a picture with the coast as backdrop

she gave us a cadbury caramel chocolate candy in return

flagging off

yit kai

my timing reference

such was the spirit along the way…you smile when running past a fellow runner

the crowd was awesome as well, shouting our names as we run past them, most offered drinks, fruits, 2 ladies were offering beer!!!

numerous cameramen along the way, let’s run slower so that they can capture our face

30k point…we stopped for another drink…time check 10mins inside the 4.45 pace…

I looked at yit kai and we exclaimed…we have a real good chance still…hahah so happy…

we decided to run “seriously”

4.42…and it was finally over…

yit kai came in at about 40 sec later

followed by hweechwee, then cat & andy…

all within 4.50

ed…4.10…amazing!!

hog's breathe

we had an awesome dinner at hog’s breathe…lots of food, and no pasta…so happy…

especially Emily who has to put up with our marathon diet for the past 2 days..

she was awesome…happily waiting while we slog it out on the road.

she was also our R&R manager…thank you!!

hweechwee, emily & cat

we came, we saw, we conquer

we came to have fun, but we got more

our PBs ( all of us! gambateh!!!), the cold weather, loads of photos (for ed and hweechwee)

the warmth of the goldcoast folks, new friends,

and most importantly,

the friendship bond we forged on this trip

we had a whale of a time, me definitely

thanks for taking a crazy idea seriously

it was fun putting this trip together…jolly good fun!