I ran the Standard Chartered (Half) Marathon last Sunday. More like walk. A long, painful walk. My decision to sign up for the half marathon because I knew for certain I do not have enough bandwith to run the full monty with the demands of my day job. It turned out that I do not even have the time to even put in the mileage for 21km. So I showed up that morning with the aim of just completing the race in the same time when I did my first half marathon 2 years ago.

The plan was to run at a manageable pace with Lotfi, my old family friend who apparently got inspired to run by me. She has improved leaps and bounds since she started earlier this year too. I struggled in the first 3km - read 3. We walked and restarted again after a while. We started to chat to take the mind off the humid weather that morning. We walked again and a big dude passed by us. I told Lotfi that he was my yardstick. If he can beat me to finish line - I'm screwed. (He didn't, of course - I overtook him at the last 5km). Lotfi also spotted a similar big dudette whom she made her yardstick. So the deal was whatever happens, they cannot be ahead of us. We shuffled ahead of them again until we had a reasonable lead. Took a breather at a water station and the cheeky dudette sneaked ahead of us. Lotfi was poised not to let her go. I told her to leave me as I was obviously dragging her back. She darted ahead. I went to run-walk mode, still trying to make sense of it all. At the halfway mark, every part of my body was resisting. It did not matter if I had ran 2 full marathons before. If you were not prepared before a race then you will suffer. I was. But having ran 2 full marathons will also make you harder in the head. Call it willpower, mental strength, peserverence, persistency or just bloody ego - your legs will soldier on beyond the pain treshold. Run, walk or crawl - whatever it takes to reach the finish line. I knew this race route well enough that I was a little bit discracted by the Nasi Kandar Ibrahmsha joint on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, 500m from the finish. I run to eat. Everyone knows that. I had a pleasant surprise of having my good friend Rafai (with Suzie and Abby) who waited (patiently) for me. Rafai then ran with me through to the finish line. I hope he will enter a race of any distance one fine day so I can run with him all the way :)

I have always appreciated my friends who would run with me in the final kilometres of any race I participated. It can get pretty lonely and looney being a regular rear ender of a race. I've never really thanked all of them, so here goes: Ishsal, Zabrina & Julie - KL (Half) Marathon 2009. Rafiq Khan (Upiq) and Adeline Lee - PD Triathlon 2009. Senn Lai - who stood by my side the entire 42km - Singapore Marathon 2009. Kash Kashiri - KL Marathon 2010. Speaking of Kash, I would like to pay tribute to this amazing woman whom I am proud to call a friend. Kash is not your average working mom. She had ran multiple marathons and 2 Ultramarathons. The 84km Sundown Marathon 2010 and very recently, the 100km Ultramarathon in Singapore. You can read her account here. Kash is one of my running inspirations. She's one of the reasons I keep running. Kash, the Malaysian Singaporean will be leaving this land she calls home for 5 years back to Singapore. She's a tough kooky and I know she'll be back someday :)

This 21km took more toll and pain from the two previous 42km. Perhaps it's time to make some much needed shifts to get things back in order and happier. Recently my brother in law, Wak passed away from a heart attack. It was a shocking news to all of us. Wak was the most generous person I knew in the family. Infact, he reminded me a lot of my late father in law. They both had similar personalities. Simple and likeable people. Wak was the kind of person who would go about doing his own things, minding his own business. He had a construction company. He was always into building things. A smart and a resourceful man he was. I was told that he would normally work late into the night and wake up at ridiculously early hours in the morning. He wasn't big but he was a smoker for as long as I can remember him. Despite all that, Wak chose to celebrate every moment of his life, held closely with his loved ones. Farewell Wak. You will be missed dearly.

Wak's sudden demise reminded me of how fragile any of us can be. Most of us get high aiming for a faster marathon while gunning for that top level spot in our corporate day job. For some of us, we move along at our own pace and sometimes still struggling to find relevance in what we do. There is a place for everyone in Paradise as someone commented on my Facebook status. But more importantly - you have to strive to sleep enough, eat well, workout more, work smart and Godwilling you'll be healthier and happier. And that is not an overrated phrase either.

See you at the next race ;)