This past weekend was the China Coast Marathon/Half-Marathon organized by a local running club. The race took place on Sunday morning in the Sai Kung area of Hon Kong in the New Territories, about a 40 minute bus ride from Hong Kong island.
This course is known for its hilliness (is there such a word) but also based on the 'what goes up must come down' mindset - in reality - it is not that bad. This is unofficially the race that one can use to measure fitness before the main attraction (Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Marathon on Feb 8th) so I figured I would sign up to run it. The day before the race I did not run and it made me realize how addicted I have become to this activity. I didn't feel normal and could feel myself get fatter and fatter. OK, it's just an illusion but it is scary to think that not running can put me in such a mindset.
The race started at 8am but the morning was relatively chilly (again, HK standards a bit different). The race started out with a huge downhill for about 300 meters, it felt like we are running a 5km and not a half-marathon. It felt like falling out of a tree... After about 600 meters into the race, the first and possibly the biggest climb of the race was waiting for us. What a drag, it lasted almost 1.5 km. It reminded me of Cape Smokey at the Cabot trail race but it was a little shorter. Once we peaked this first hill the field got strung out a little and I found myself on my own until about the 5km mark when the leader of the Marathon joined me as he caught up to me from the back. He was a tourist runner from England, a very strong and accomplished race, capable of running sub 2:30 marathons. We ran together, he tucked in behind me for a while and in turn shared some gu and sports bars with me. We chatted a bit here and there so it was a tremendous help to have him around. He told me he felt the same...
After a few rolling mountains (not hills) we reach the turnaround point for the race which always gives a nice indication as to the field behind you. There were a handful of runners tailing us very closely. I know that in running your only inspiration is not to outdo others but to outdo yourself but we are human and we always want to finish as high in the standings as possible. (or is it just me?) Going backwards on the same course we had to navigate our way through the oncoming runners, course control and management was virtually non-existent. Strange. Just before the huge descent into the finish line (which an hour before was the start line) we had a short detour where I could make sure that with about 2 km to go I had a minute lead on the person behind me. After letting the wheels go on the massive downhill leading into the finish area I notice how a 7 minute climb in the beginning became a 2 minute downhill race at the end. It was a nice way to approach the finish area...
I finished in 1:17:16 (my own timing) which on this course I thought was a good result. The winner was 3 minutes off as well from his Disneyland half marathon time from a month-and-a-half ago and my time reflected the same discrepancy. After the race we chatted a little and he mentioned about the 150-160km weeks he has been doing so I didn't feel too bad about my 1:17 time after all.
After receiving a small trophy and a New Balance gift certificate, I made my way back home where I ended up taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. The course was tough and challenging and took its toll on me. All-in-all, a great day and a scenic race.
Pics to be found here
(Compliments of many unnamed photographers who willingly took pics of the race and posted them online for everyone to see. If I knew them, I would credit them. Thank you)
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