The Island Ocean Marathon (IOM) is one of those marathons that I have been quite excited about since the day I heard about it. Many runners consider this a ‘fun run’ marathon because it doesn’t have any official timing, cut off time, placing or even prizes. You can run or walk your way to the finish as long as you complete the 42km. When you put the words ‘fun’ and ‘marathon’ together, I’m in. And you wonder, how many people are as crazy as me who treated marathons as fun runs. Well I can tell you a lot! Among my running buddies, I count 11 marathon first timers who decided to join the run. And I’m glad they took that step to complete their marathon journey.
I woke up at 2.30 am in the morning, had breakfast (a heavy one) and was at the starting line by 4. There were plenty of excitement among my running friends and I observed some nervy faces among the first timers. Took this chance to wish the newbies best of luck and be prepared to be marathoners in a few hours. The organizers of IOM dedicated the race to the victims and people of Boston and held a 1 minute silence to remember them, which I thought was very considerate of them. No matter that Boston is half way across the world, their pain are felt by us in Malaysia too.
Moving towards the starting line
The race flagged off at 4.30am. Renee, Hong Lan, Hong Chew (the 3 marathon sisters), Kelly, Yik Yee, Alvin Yap, and myself have decided to run together all the way. The moment we left the starting line, we’re greeted by a steep hill. Running with fresh legs, we charged up the hill and entered into Cenang beach at 3km. Cenang beach was unique because this is the first time in all 3 marathons that I actually ran across sandy terrain. The first sensation when I hit the sands was of pure joy due to the soft landing. But slowly it turned into quite a difficult obstacle, because of the poorly lit beach and soft terrain didn’t help with foot landing.
Running on the beach you say? I did it 🙂
For some reason I felt that it was quite humid that day. The same sensation was felt while I was running Penang Bridge last year. Probably its just the affect of running in an island. Sweating profusely, I decided I’ve got to pay extra attention to my hydration to avoid cramps.
The 11km point was where things started to get interesting. The faster runners were already looping back on the other side of the road, and we started to keep an eye for our friends. Zijill, Tea Chua and Yew Khuay were of course leading the pack being the faster runners in my running group. Looping back we heard sounds of whistling and cheering, a sound familiar to most marathoners these days. The sound can only come from the one and only Mohan! A legendary figure himself, he has recently completed his 200th marathon and yet always very down to earth and friendly. Of course we traded cheers when we passed by Mohan.
Being mad as usual
At 16km we bumped into Kevin and Sunny. They looked like they’re struggling for some reason and we got them to run with us. The view from 16-18km was spectacular. On our left were vast paddy fields with a beautiful sunrise as the backdrop. Little did we know what was about to greet us. At 18km, we hit the first of what I call the ‘hell route’ – rolling hills that we have to endure the entire way. At this point, I also felt a little niggling pain at my left knee (IT band area). Worrying thoughts came to my mind because I’ve struggled through IT band pain during my very first half marathon.
Stopping after bumping into Sunny (most left) and Kevin (2nd from left)
One of those beautiful sunrise views
The sun started to rise while we’re running at 20km. The photographers among us took magnificent pictures of us running with the first dawn of light from the sun. For me, this point signifies where the real challenge of IOM begins: the heat. The run from 23km to 26km was probably the best I’ve had through the entire marathon. Yik Yee and myself somehow found ourselves in front of the pack and started pacing each other. Nothing was communicated between us, but we knew instinctively that we’re pushing one another to go faster to the next water station.
First glimpse of the risen sun.
After 26km, I knew my IT band was a goner. Every step and movement on my left knee was excruciating. I had to stop every 500 meters to massage my knee. My only thought at that time was the water station at 29km. Farah has told us in advance that she’ll be manning that station AND she’s got something special for us. Arriving at 29km, I finally knew what the ‘special something’ was. COCONUTS! They’re serving coconuts at this water station. Tey, the faithful photographer with his camera, was there too and we end up having a great time and took plenty of photos.
Memorable shot of the 29km coconut water station
After that water station, I was reduced to walking. Each step was a sharp pain and laborious to me due to the scorching heat from the sun and somehow, a foul stench along the road that we could never identify. Alvin Yap volunteered to accompany me. Before the group left me, I managed a glimpse at the leader of the pack and saw Hong Chew among them. She’s improved a lot since the time I saw her in Singapore. Just goes to prove that with proper training, you’ll improve in leaps and bounds within a short while. Deep inside I knew she was attempting her PB. I prayed that it will come true for her and continued with a smile knowing she’ll do it.
At around 34km we stumbled upon Meng Yong and I decided to tag along with him. We walked along 34 – 36km and talked about many things: running, work, life, things we do, injuries. At 36km, we decided that we should at least try jogging a little so we could avoid further exposure to the sun (it was 10am, and blazing hot at the time). I jogged along until 40km when I saw up ahead, Hong Lan who was also walking. I quickly approached her and offered to buy her a Coke from a nearby food stall. Further up ahead, Kelvin Ng and his team of supporters were there offering more Coke to runners. We refilled our Coke and Kelvin gave me the warmest hug I’ve ever received during a marathon. I told him “next year I’ll be back, and no walking the next time around”, a promise I intend to keep.
Coke in a marathon. Now who says running can’t be a party?
Hong Lan and I continued our journey until we met another walker Hafiz, who was also wearing the same bright yellow shoes as mine. We walked together, 3 of us to the finish line. As we entered into the final km, there were 2 surprises waiting for us. One was Zijill standing by the roadside with an umbrella in the scorching heat cheering for us. Was quite touched as this was the second time she’s done that alone in the past 2 weeks (first was during Malaysia Women Marathon). The second surprise came when we were offered ice cream and pudding as we approach the finishing line. The taste of ice cream in that heat can only be described with one word: heavenly.
Before finishing, I heard Yew Khuay shouting “lai liao, lai liao” (In English: They’re here! They’re here!). And this was followed by a loud applause and cheer by all my running buddies. I was so touched at that point because I thought everyone would’ve left (because of the heat) but they were there still waiting for us.
Finishing in style
I’m just really thankful that I could finish my 3rd marathon (somewhat in style despite the pain). I finished with a timing of 6:39:15 (slightly slower than my targetted 6 – 6:30 hour finishing pace). 2 marathons done for the year and 10 more to go. Let’s hope my leg recovers in time for Borneo International Marathon on the 4th of May (another 2 weeks time).
Island Ocean Marathon finisher tee and medal
Special congratulations to Kevin Ong, Sunny Chong, Isaac Osman, Wei Min, Ann Ric, Rachel, Annie Low, Cheryl Tham, Vinny, Safwan, Sharon (and any friends that I missed out) for completing their virgin full marathons in style despite the difficult terrain and heat 🙂 Thanks to Farah, Kelvin, and all the volunteers at IOM for their selfless sacrifice and encouraging words during the run. Also sincere thanks to my running buddies who ran with me today. I promise I’ll finish our next ‘fun run’ full marathon together!
What Run? 
