Marathon from a spectator's perspective

Today was my very first time going to a marathon event as a spectator. I wanted to race this event very very badly, but the Zulu training is just too packed with physical activities. To keep myself in good form for Zulu, I had to skip this event. 

It felt really good to be surrounded by highly enthusiastic runners despite having to wake up at 3am to attend.  I had a few short chats with friends whom I bumped into before the gun goes off. I was looking at the elite runners' running techniques and race gear, I wonder how they do it without getting everything perfect. Are they denying the science behind those race equipment? They don't wear Newton shoes, no calf guard, no compression socks, no fuel belt, no GPS. Yet they can be so competitive! I wonder if they even know about  sport science, or may be, they're really born to run. 

I anticipated a few friends' arrival, so I had to get myself a good position to snap some decent finishing picture. The security guy chased me out a few times because I went into the barricaded area, initially he talked to me nicely. Come the third time, he started raising his voice which annoyed me despite I knew that he was just doing his job. At the finishing line, all kinds of runners' emotions can be seen, that's why I wanted to be there! All this while I raced emotionally, crossing the finishing line feeling touched and sometimes I cried. I think that emotion when crossing the finishing line portrays your true character. 

As a spectator, I don't quite like that crying-at-the-finishing-line scene. In my humble opinion, it makes this sport look torturous. Imagine 10k over runners cross the finishing line crying and sobbing like a big baby? You get what I mean? =p Will crying make you run faster? This sport should be healthy, fun and enjoyable! Anyway, it is still up to u how u look at it. I realized over the years, I did contribute to make this sport look torturous =p I'm sorry and I'm changing for the better from today onwards. I have to give this credit to a friend who told me that racing emotionally doesn't look pleasant at all. 

I walked around with a 2ndSkin dry fit shirt, I overheard people said "UPNM was too fast and invincible, they got first for the university category! We were racing for number 2 and 3.". Hehehe I smiled happily when I heard that, they must have not noticed that I'm a UPNM cadet. Congratulations to my team for winning the 10km race despite lack of training! 

So proud to see this! =)