วิ่งไม่หยุด: Nike+ Human Race 10K

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Nike+ Human Race 10K

Activities/Actions:
Ran the 1oK; started around 6a

Stat:

Detailed results -- 30-39 men group

My first 10K record: 47:41 minutes (it should have been ~46 minutes, I think);
the 471th place overall and the 122th place in age group of 30-39 year old men.

There were the total of 10,859 finisher this morning (I guess that the course was closed after 2 hours).

Course condition:

The course was very crowded as I started in the back of the line. Also, I was stopped twice for two traffic lights to let cars passing. Disappointed! What a wonderful course! The weather was alright, though.

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)
Physically 4
Mentally 5
About my nutrition 4
About my sleep 3

How hard did I work? 8
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:

Running up and down the pavement and trying to not hit other fellow runners created a challenge for this 10K race. I did the former for almost the first half of the distance and the latter for the whole course. We started to run about 10 mins after the gun fire. Yu-Hsiang, who has organized the registration process, brought the time chips for us couple minutes before 6a. One time chip was not taken because of one of Wayne's friends was still in bed. So, we had 11 people including Laura. For most of us this was the first running race or the first 10K race. Once the bags were stored and the chips were tired up, we slowly walked with the moving red shirt crowd.

It was quite quiet in the middle of the course--no music or cheering crowd. There were, however, 2-3 people dressing in a costume holding a mile post at every kilometer. TV crews and camera men were spotted at several places. Wayne said that his dad spotted him on TV. :-)

President Ma Ying-jeou gave a speech and with Deputy Mayor Wu Ching-ji of Taipei City fired the gun. Ma said that because of his busy schedule he had not run for a long time and was happy to join this race (did he finish the race?).

After being stopped twice to let cars passing, I reached my 10K mark at Dajia Riverside Park. It was fun! After browsing around, JJ called to gather at Mile post 11.5 KM behind the stage. Laura got a bit hurt so JJ left to take care of her. After we all showed up, we explored the fest (which did not have much). There were long lines everywhere--No food either. :( Yu-Hsiang, Yi-Chiao and other left earlier, while I was with Wayne and the gang before we walked back to get on MRT to get my bike left at Taipei City Hall Station this morning (the bike got a warning ticket--"No parking more than 30 days; otherwise it will be removed!"). After arriving home and taking a shower, I was ready to the next adventure this afternoon--Hike Ci-Qing Mountain!

The top finishers for both males and females were Taiwanese Olympian Athletes (30:35 and 36:06 minutes, respectively).

The organizer, Chinese Taipei Road Running Association, charged NT$100 a bag to store our belonging, but this bag can be used at any race organized by them.

Photos:
Some were taken by Yu-Hsiang (Y-H).