Annual School Cross Country 2007

Today was the school cross country. It was at Bedok Reservoir Park.

I woke up this morning very excited. Anyway I was there at 7.40am and did the warm-up.

We waited for the rest who were coming from school.

At 8.35 it was the teacher's race. Mr Yon came in first and Mr Ong came in second in Men (Open). Miss Tan Pei Shan was first in Women (Open). Congrrats to all these teachers in charge of our CCA cross country.

First the Boys C division ran first. Then Girls C Division. Then it was Boys B Division, my division. We started at 8.55.

I ran slowly in the beginning. Ray was in front of me and was breaking the crowd.After the the 2km mark I started running faster and pulled away from the pack.Many girls were blocking the way and I had to avoid them.

At the 3.5 km mark I only saw girls. So I started to speed up. I reached the bend just before the finishing line and heard a lot of shouting.

Everything was a blur then but I knew I had made it when I saw all the teachers at the finishing line...

Yes I came in first in a time of 18m. This is a personal best for me...

Sigh! Actually though I felt very happy that I won, it was also bittersweet.
Why? Because cross country CCA closed down last year under Mrs Ku. It was very terrible last year. I hated the school and what they were doing. I felt like quitting school and not run anymore...

In a way I am glad Mr Tong came. At first I thought he would not do anything or do little. But then he starte doing things. He found some 'B' boys for me to run with and then this term he opened up the CCA and there are now Sec 1 boys. He even let me start a blog to talk about our school cross country team. But the best thing happened at the school cross country today. He allowed me to take a picture with him wearing my gold medal. To me, it meant that the school recognised what I was doing. All the sweat, the tears, the pain is now worth it...Even if no other teacher in the school support me , only Mr Tong, to me that is enough...
I know that 18m at the National Inter-School Cross Country is very possible now...