Shape and Men's Health run 2010

Shape & Men's Health run 2010 @ Putrajaya, Malaysia, Total distance=12.3 km
Putrajaya- The run flagged off at 8pm and my wife and I were in the "cage" at 7:45 pm waiting. It was humid and stuffy but since we were not in the front line, it was still bearable.
The first 2km to nearest water station.- Everyone was running fast right after the "gun" . I was really slow, plodding at a mere slow pace. Yet, I had to slow down even more to conserve energy. Skipped the first water station (I'm getting less dependent on water now).
3km to 10 km- Here's where the mid-race fun starts, runners that passed me earlier were now facing massive 35m elevations (not much) because of Wawasan bridge and Perdana Bridge, Putrajaya is relatively flat so it's still not as bad as other races. I kept pacing but by this time the other DJ runners were out of view. I had increased speed by 5 km mark. However, I felt the distance markers were 200m off-target. Left and right were runners and some heavy breathing veteran runners (uncle). I tried to make sure he is ok before running a little faster. By 7km, I found a lady pacer that had wonderful speeds, I decided to follow her. She gave me 1km of pacing and then stopped to walk. I had to leave to find another runner because it is now difficult to maintain pace, I was 10% off the target pace but I could recapture lost time at down-hills. @ 8km, I took my first drink, i was already thirsty then, but I lost 2 mins. The water helped. I got back into running, I passed some muscular guys that slowed at 9km, by 10km, I had to increase speed once again to meet my target time of 74 mins.
10km to finish: As much as I wanted to slow down, my time did not allow me, so I've not stopped so far, I did not want to destroy that. Skipped my last water station as well (that took a lot of calculations in my head). Surrounding me are mostly guy runners, many are now walking. I tapped one dude, to encourage him to move on. He gave me a smile. No pretty ladies runner to help pace me back, means no adrenaline feed. I tried to listen to any form of drums or music (normally signalling the race is ending) but today all was quiet. The race organizers should had made more noise. I'm now at maximum pace, but not sprinting. I can see the finish line and the bright lights. I pushed a little more like a crazy runner. Lots of people were at the sides looking, perhaps waiting for their friends/family. I clocked my time at 75 mins (1 min off target).
No medals (75 limited medals) but got a cert. Average pace was 6.05 mins/km. Distance was a bit longer at 12.4km (I can accept that). Met other DJ runners and they all did well. My wife did well too. Congratulations. Then, we went to take photos and big smiles were etched on our faces. It was a rewarding run. Aim for medal next year instead.