Track at Aberdeen

First of all, I apologize to the loyal readers who are not as much into running but this post would probably be the most insignificant one for a long long time. I happened to have my camera the other day at speed training so I took a few shots of the track at Aberdeen where I spend my Tuesday nights running around. Literally. Once spring arrives and it is still light when I get there you will see that the track is surrounded by mountains. A beautiful setting.

... and the homestretch:

Macau Marathon - 12/7/2008

So here I am again, about a week too late but the race report from the Macau Marathon finally is here.

Needless to mention that due to my laziness I missed the early-bird registration at the end of October and ended up paying twice as much for the race as I could have, had I registered a few days before. In either case, the HKD 600 entry fee (about CAD 90) was still about 100 times as much as this race was worth… More on that later…

We boarded a ferry from Hong Kong Central to take over to Macau which is also a Special Administrative Region of China and is a former Portuguese colony (‘till 1999). The ferry takes about an hour and is quite comfortable. Upon arrival we walked around the downtown area where the Portuguese influence is clearly visible. Some buildings and storefronts are very reminiscent of Mediterranean Europe. Once again, preparing for Santa’s arrival in 25C weather is not quite what I am used to… After walking around for the entire afternoon, sightseeing around old town and visiting some casinos we retired early to get ready for the 4am wakeup call…

Next morning came rather soon; I took a cab to Macau Stadium where the race started promptly at 6am. I hooked up with fellow AVOHK member Tom Booth who was aiming to run his very first marathon under the magical 3-hour mark. Our projected pace was similar so we stuck together. The mass start included the marathoners, half-marathoners and the mini-marathoners (5km). There was no seeding, no corral system so 30 minute 5km runners ended up in the first row… Argh… After going through the first 5km a bit slow we settled into a decent pace that would allow us to recover the minute and a half we lost due to slower runners in front of us. Running on smaller access roads in the dark was a bit unusual. Once the mini-marathoners turned back to the stadium, the field thinned out a little which was even better after the half-marathoners departed the course at 21km. The course was made up of one loop of 21 kms that the full-marathoners had to run twice.

During the second loop the field thinned out. The sun was fully up and shining brightly and we were still hitting our 4:13min/km pace. After crossing the Ponte de Sai Van for the third time at 30 km I could have used a sport drink but there was NONE around since organizers only offered water and wet sponges to the runners. I never thought a marathon existed these days that did not provide the runners replenishment such as Gatorade, Powerade or such drinks. At 33km Tom and I separated and I pushed the last 9 km or so a bit harder and after going off-course for about 60 meters total, out of anger I was able to run a handful of kilometers in 3m 30sec, a sub 2:30 marathon pace.

Runners had to run an unexpected circle around the block before entering the stadium for the final 300 meters. The lap around the stadium was reminiscent of the marathon finish in Amsterdam. I crossed the finish line in 2:55:37, a great time for a challenging training run.

4 bananas, 2.5 liters of water and 3 Kit Kat bars later I found a way to the baggage check area and managed to change out of my sweaty running gear. Since it was still only 9:30 am, we headed back to the hotel, cleaned up a bit and enjoyed a delicious Portuguese meal on a sunny patio. We grab a few more Portuguese egg tarts, pork chop buns and an extra large bubble tea before heading back to Hong Kong late in the afternoon.

Click here for pictures...

Happy Valley

Earlier this week - on Wednesday to be precise - I finally had a chance and a legit reason to head out to the Causeway Bay area and experience what is known as a Hong Kong institution, the racetrack at Happy Valley. Being the only legit form of gambling in the region, the only track on Hong Kong island draws thousands to watch and bet on horses in one of the 10 races run on each Wednesday night.

Too bad and a bit embarrassing that it took a co-worker from NY to visit the Hong Kong office for me to head to this venue which I regularly pass on a daily basis.

The setting (Happy Valley) can be described as picturesque. Virtually the entire area was built around the Racetrack that held its first race in December 1846 (and I thought the Boston Marathon had some history).  Residential buildings overlook the racetrack and many tenants actually hold dinner parties on a Wednesday so the races can be viewed from their balconies. Note: an 800 sq foot apartment with a balcony overlooking the racetrack could cost as much as CAD 8000/month. Not cheap... 

The crowd at the racetrack is quite mixed:

People that go there to bet

People that go there to hang out

Usually the first group includes the locals and long time Hong Kong island residents that can be seen holding multiple tickets hedging their bets with another one, it is almost a science. The second group is what people call here 'expats' that treat an outing at the racetrack as a social event. They are frequently seen yelling at the horses on the homestretch so they can win enough to be able to buy another pint of Heineken. The contrast in the crowd is quite unique.

I placed a bet only once and ended up winning enough to have a wonton soup with rice noodles for dinner which by the way only cost about CAD 3.50. Entry fee to the facility is a very modest HKD 10 which translates into CAD 1.50 and a pint of Heineken only cost HKD 30 (about CAD 5).

Click here for pictures...   ... and here for a short video.

PS: During this past week I have received many kind comments from my "loyal blog readers" encouraging me to write and post pictures/videos. I am glad that there is a following, after all that is the purpose of this blog.  :)

UNICEF Hong Kong Disneyland Half-Marathon

Well, it's finally done!

Earlier today (and a lot earlier today) I ran in the UNICEF Hong Kong Disneyland half-marathon. What a nice race but let's start from the very beginning - a very good place to start... ;)

The race started and finished at Disneyland (what a surprise) which is conveniently located about a good 30 minute bus ride from Central Hong Kong. So I had to board a bus at 5:10am (!!) at the North Point subway stop to make it to the start of the race by 5:45 - 5:50 or so. Unusually cold temperatures (14C) and a pitch black parking lot welcomed all the runners. The announcer mentioned over and over the fact that it is "extremely cold this morning" while I was warming up in my singlet. There were dozens and dozens of runners wearing gloves and hats.. Strange..

The race went off quite suddenly at 7am without any sort of a lead-up or music or public announcement. The field thinned out relatively early due to the huge access road on which we were running. I must admit that this race is probably as flat as it gets in Hong Kong even though we went over two overpasses twice and a tunnel under the highway once (by no means flat based on North American standards) Far from flat but not hilly at all.. The weather warmed up as soon as the sun rose...

A few runners took off from me and were about a minute ahead by the time we reached the 5 km mark while the closest competitor was about 30 seconds behind me by this time. 19 out of the 21km I ended up running having nobody to push me but myself. The race was quite scenic, winding its way on a bike path near the ocean shore towards the Airport and back to Sunny Bay towards Disneyland. I suspect this race would be called 'boring' by some runners in North America but it was quite a refreshment from the hilly city running that we are forced to do on a daily basis in Hong Kong. Hmmm, Martin Goodman trail, how much I miss Thee...

A really strange feeling happened at around 16km, the route entered a park reminiscent of the Mississauga half-marathon route. It meandered its way through this park for about 2 km then we got back on a thinner bike path that lead us back to Disneyland.

At 20 km, the route turns back into Disneyland where a huge statue of a surfing Mickey Mouse welcomed all the runners. Christmas songs blasting out of the speakers for the last 1.1km which is a bit strange since the sun was up by now and the temperatures reached 18-19C. Passing a few more statues of Disney characters we finally made the last turn the lead us into the finish area.

Not nearly 100% effort that resulted in a time with which I am very satisfied. I finished 5th overall with a Kenyan runner winning in 1:07 followed by the best half-marathoner in Hong Kong at 1:08. This race just confirms the fact that with hard work, results will follow. 2 more months 'till the Standard Chartered Int'l Marathon of Hong Kong and there is no reason to doubt that another PB will follow...

Friends / family

There has not been an update on this blog in about a week and a half but that does not mean life stopped in Hong Kong.

After a few months of living out of one suitcase my belongings from Canada finally arrived. Slowly but surely all is being unpacked and re-assembled but the one major addition to the apartment is still missing ---> INTERNET! Hopefully that would be sorted out shortly, I am in hunt for the fastest service so online radio, streaming videos and - most importantly - skype will be smooth as well. Once I am fully up and running you guys will know... :)

Speaking of running, it is going really well. Getting into very decent shape as the weather is cooling down. Nowadays it is about 22-23C during the day and not much cooler in the mornings. I started doing some core work as well in the gym, mostly focusing on the abs and lower back with minimal work on the upper body. I think I am seeing its dividends but the goal-race is still far far away. Next Sunday will be the Hong Kong Disneyland Unicef half-marathon, the flattest and potentially only PB course in Hong Kong. I will be certain to post the results here in a week's time. The week after that is the Macau Marathon which will be only a training run but the weekend there should be quite interesting.

This morning I spoke with many friends in Toronto as they all gathered for the end-of-year annual banquet for our running club (notice how I still say 'our' from HK). It made me realize how supportive and caring people are that I left behind in Toronto. Talking to them I realized how blessed I am to know them and to be able to name distance running as a common interest with all of them. I have always said that I have met some great people through running and this morning just proved me to be correct once again. I have always known them to be great individuals and great friends but reassurance every now and then (especially on the other side of this planet) is comforting. Guys, I hope to see all of you soon, maybe in the summer of 09?

Congratulations go out to Lynn and Roger for winning the "Runner of the Year" award for Longboat. There couldn't have been two better choices for the award after what they have done as running ambassadors and club members. Congrats guys! Let's postpone the celebrations 'till May 2010. I will make the restaurant booking as well. How does Durban sound..?

There is no new pictures to post but shortly I will have some new ones. In the meantime, I took this video about 2 months ago. It was taken just before a typhoon warning was hoisted and we were sent home from work. It is the actual view from my office. No, I do not have an office with a window, my desk just happens to be facing the window of the trade floor...




Oh yeah, one more thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! :)

A true local...

The day has finally arrived. On Thursday, November 12 I was returning home after a very tiring 18km run and as I was stretching while waiting for a green light to cross the street someone walked up to me and asked me for directions. This is not quite as big of a deal as it seems but being able to give precise directions to this pedestrian's choice of destination made me really feel like a local.. So when it comes to directions, I am 1 for 1.

Now that you guys wasted 2 minutes of your time reading this message, feel free to get back to whatever you might have been doing before this post....

Random Running Report

It has only been a few days since the last post so obviously not much has happened since then, except for the fact that I have registered for two great running events in late November and early December.

November 30 will be the date for the UNICEF Hong Kong Disneyland half-marathon which is by-far the flattest race in Hong Kong. It starts and finishes in Hong Kong Disneyland so it should be a fun race.

Click here for UNICEF Charity Run website


Last but not least, the following week is the Macau International Marathon which I will run as a training run. I was just desperate for a reason to go to Macau and this was it. A nice run, a fun race, good training and hopefully good food.

Click here for Macau International Marathon website

Race reports are sure to follow...