VIRUS ALERT!!!: National Vertical Marathon

HS: I wanted to blog about this event 2 days ago but I was so caught up with a never ending flow of projects that I only have time to blog today. 2 days ago, I took part in the National Vertical Marathon organized by NTU. It was a climb from the ground floor of Republic Plaza to the top, which is 60 storeys. On that day, I woke up at 4:30am because it's an outside event so I cannot be late. I left the house at 5:30am and waited for the MRT train till 6am. I reached Raffles MRT station at 6:34am which means I was 4 minutes late. I met my friends and we registered. My number was M287. We were scheduled to start at 8am while the earlier ones went first. They can't have a large number of people clog up the staircase, can they? We had a briefing until 8:30am. Oh! By the way, never drink Berroca. I learnt that the hard way that day. It was sponsored. It actually makes your pee turn green. We then went to the building's ground floor and deposited our bags. When the giant clock read 8:40:30, we were a go. We jogged up the first few storeys but after the 4th floor, I think, you can actually start to feel the strain in your legs muscles. There was supposed to be a water point at the 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th storeys and a toilet point at the 14th, 23rd, 32nd and the rest I forgot. But our first water point was at the 14th and I did not remember seeing any toilet points too. Luckily my bladder was already empty. I stopped at the 14th to take a drink and I forgot that in a marathon, you can take your drink with you while you ran. So i stupidly drank slowly then continue. By the 2nd water point, I swear I was suffering like hell. I took the drink and continued my way up. By the 30th+ storey, I was on the verge of giving up. I was the third in my group of 6 people. Another 3 joined the race a little later. By the 4th water point, I don't have the energy or thirst to drink anymore so I poured the cold water on myself to wake myself up and at the same time, force myself to work harder. I thought that if I can reach the halfway point, I can definitely do the other half. At the 40th+, I started to get dizzy but I ignored the feeling and kept climbing. At the 50th+, a few levels started to consist of 2 storeys! That means you need to climb 2 storeys worth of stairs to reach the next level. I started to see the growing level number as motivation. Another 10 storeys! Another 5 storeys! By the 58th storey, I started to pick up the pace but slowed down again when I found out that 58th storey doesn't exist for another level! 59th storey, CHIONG!!! And BANG!!! I reached the top, out of breath and with jelly legs. I swore I perspired like I was living in India wearing a fur coat sitting in front of the fireplace drinking hotsauce. No offense. Wanted to get a drink, but I suddenly felt dizzy again. My other 3 friends made it too. We then waited for another 2 friends then took an express elevator down to the ground floor. We collected our bags and went back to the event area and literally collapsed in the middle of the street. Damn tired. My chocolate bar also melted while waiting for me. Some friends and I finally mustered enough energy to go grab goodie bags. Inside was 2 T-shirts (Official T-shirt and the "FREE SIZE" T-shirt), Friscbee, Lots of Eng Wah Movie coupons, a Gatsby Deordorant, a pair of GP AA batteries, an official collar badge, an outdated magazine and some other vouchers and advertisements. Paid $20 admission fee for this...quite worth it. Tried archery at the mini games then went for breakfast with my friends at Macdonalds which was 2 storeys and we had to take the stairs... T.T Maybe next year, I might want to participate again...