United Airlines Guam Marathon 2019

Hafa Adai… Meaning hello in the local micronesian language in Guam.  To speak the truth, I had never thought of running this marathon.  The name Guam only came to my knowledge when I was studying in Japan and tons of Japanese love to go there during summer holidays, as well as holding their wedding ceremony.

GUAM

Well, Guam is an island about 3 hours plus away from Japan and Philippines.  Dominantly a US Armed forces base, there is a strong influence of US culture on the island.  The island is idyllic and not so populated, only about 160,000 mostly locals of Micronesian descent.  The island now mainly serves the US armed forces as a large logistic base and also tourism, centered at Tumon Bay.  Large hotel establishments are conglomerated along the bay with names like Hilton, Pacific Island Club, Dusit Thani etc.

In the beginning….

Coming here was never my plan.  Most of my friends will know that I like to plan my races in advance ( although in between I might sometimes add in extra races during the year).  After knowing a friend through drinking at the Takumi bar in Mandarin Oriental Orchard last year, the rest is history.  Turns out he works in Guam and has been there for 3 years.  He will be transferred back to Los Angeles, and this was when the poison came:” hey, why don’t you come to Guam ! Let’s do the marathon!”  It was the man’s first marathon.  I was worried as I am not sure, as Asians we are always very suspicious and thinking of the negative side of things.

But anyway, after a week we met, we both decided to give it a shot.  Signed up the race online for the cost of USD 100.  It is quite expensive but most Singapore races are almost that price now.

Official Website: https://unitedguammarathon.com/

The race is in its 7th year of organisation now.  There are FM, HM, 10km and 5km races available.  To speak the truth after running 40 plus road races ( FM), I feel all road races are more or less the same, but each and everyone has their unique highlights and depending on the country it is held at, there could be many differences.

For this race I would say the highlight is the beautiful beaches, the super flat and not confusing course, well organisation of the whole race with super helpful volunteers.  The race start and ending is at the beautiful Tumon bay beach area where you get many nice cameo shots of your finishing.

There are however some not too good points too ( in my own opinion).  The route can get really boring as you go on as it is straight and dark ( starting at 3am in the morning).  Guam is a Pacific Island, the weather is sunny, hot and humid.  Thus despite the good course, the heat can be a challenge for temperate country runners.

GETTING TO GUAM

My flight starts at Changi Airport where I had a big hoo haa for not applying the ESTA.  Despite being a VISA waiver country, I did not know that for us to visit USA we need the ESTA , Electronic System for Travel Authorization.  The cost of making one is about US$14, but you need to apply early ( 4 days to be safe) because now immediate approval is not available unless you pay a higher price for the ESTA.  Which I did as I was desperate, Philippine Airlines nearly refused me to go on board until I beg them to at least let me take my first leg to Manila.  It takes about 3hrs and 45 min for each leg.  Singapore to Manila and Manila to Guam.  I reached Guam about a day later.  It was not that bad because surprisingly Philippines Airlines was very hospitable and the food was really good.  I must say the staff are very attentive and helpful too.

ESTA WEBSITE

RACE PACK COLLECTION

The Pacific Island Club is one of the official organiser of the race.  Being one of the beach resorts on the bay of Tumon, this hotel has a full fledged water park for kids and many other beach activities.  The Race pack collection is held at the marquee here.  With runners mostly from Japan, they have a dedicated Japanese and overseas collection desk.  Each runner was given a bib, a timing chip to be tied on the shoe lace, Brouchures and an event tee.  The quality of the tee shirt is very good and dri fit.  However, for me even though I took XS size tee, it was still quite loose for me.  The items were all put inside a transparent drawstring bag, which also act as a Bag drop bag.  Runners were given stickers of the running bib number to paste on the drawstring bag if they would like to bag drop.

At the race pack collection expo, there were many vendors selling sporting goods, the official Guam marathon merchandise, sporting activities services such as physiotherapies and stuff.  Of course there were also many banners for you to take photo with.

RACE ITSELF

I was staying at the Hilton Tasi Club with club facilities, it was really great.  Not only was it near to start and finish line, the hotel services was superb and the Club rooms has food ( breakfast and cocktail).  Suddenly I felt I was right to stay here because there is really nothing much to do in the town, mainly shopping and eating, and it is quite expensive to get to town using local transport.  The view of the bay from the hotel is impeccable too and its swimming pools are fantastic.

For FM, it starts at 3 am , I made my way down to the start line with Jaime at 2plus which was early. There were hydration point and toilet facilities at the start line.  Before the start there was also some fire dance performance too.  Runners will pass a multi coloured light Archway before getting into the route.  The whole route is easy to remember , after turning out from the start, there were 2 uphills and its straight all the way to the Port where you make a turn and further up to the Naval base for one more U turn.  The rest will be back.

Along the way , there were sign boards telling runners the distances , it was clear and visible, you could never get lost.  Water points were well replenished with Gatorade and Plain water.  Some stations have cold sponge to cool you down.  Gummi bears, banana and fruits also.  Around the 34km, there was this special coconut delight called Apigigi given out, it was delicious, I regretted not taking more.

There were not many photographers, only at the start uphill and at the finishing, but being quite dark, the photos might not turn out that clear also.  Jaime was saying we were lucky as the weather in Guam can be really unpredictable with sudden flash floods just like Singapore.

As usual, my speed start to slow down at 32km… Till one point it was 6:25 min/km around 35km and on.  Points I felt that the race was quite mental because of the flatness.  But somehow the lucky thing was that the sun comes up pretty early, around 5 plus am I could see the break of dawn , and by the last leg it was quite bright.  Some how the break of darkness do make people happy.

FINISHING

I finished the race about an hour earlier than Jaime, after I crossed the line, there were many volunteers around to make sure you are okay.  Medal collection was at the back with the beach towels, beach mats, hydration and replenishment.  You can also print out your results on the spot.  By the time the FM runners come back, a lot of the other categories have already finished their races, making it less crowded.  There were only about 500 plus FM runners making it a breeze to run all along without the squeeze.

There is a beach party by the bay with the sandy beach as back drop for all to pose with their hard earned medals.  The finisher tee is not provided, but you can purchase them at the race expo( which I did not as I felt it was too expensive and it did not carry my size).  Food trucks were around and there were also banana and fruits for finishers.  A band also entertained the crowd as you laze around the area with your beach mat.

I turned around to find Jaime worried that he might have cramps and stuff, despite the cramped right leg, he managed to finish it in a decent timing.  And for me a little surprise of coming in as second in my age category despite a not ideal timing.

Overall, I will recommend this race although it might cost a bit but it was really relaxing to be here.  The post race may not be like Thailand that great but, if you are willing to stay in a better hotel it is equally nice and relaxing too.  Maybe, I will come back for their 10 years anniversary :0