Standard Chartered Marathon Registration and a debate to remember

Today there was school as usual. But the highlight of the day was the debate during english period. I was on the team participating the debate today. Of course i knewthat it would be exciting.

The topic was " national service should be made compulsory for everyone, inclusive of women." Do you agree?

I was in the proposition with Joel, liming and nicholas. How to go against the opposition? I think they had the easier task. Joel and i were able to rebuttle point for point. I became the best speaker for the debate and surprisingly our team won! Out of a posssible 60 marks I scored 55. Thank you Mrs Ng!

Wouldn't it be good if girls could do N.S.? It would make our lives much easier but i think it is just wishful thinking...

Today was the event launch of the singapore standard chartered marathon at Raffles Place. It is exactly 131 days to the event. At the event launch 500 goodie bags were given out for sign -ups. So i signed up for the 10k. Well this is the only race i can run. To run the half marathon i must be 17. To run the full marathon i must be 18...

Even my sister liked the recyclable bag. Looks better than the one many people wanted to buy in Hong Kong and created a stampede for ( the one marked i am not a plastic bag from anya hindmarch) ... And now the singapore outlet will not be selling it... Why the hooha over a bag??

In my goodie bag there was

1. recyclable bag

2. sports water bottle

3. bottle of glucosaimine tablets from Nature's Way

4. berocca sample

5. can of 100 plus

6. muscle deep heating rub (3 pieces)

7.Standard Chartered marathon Note pad and post it stickers

I am looking forward to run in this marathon. It is first class ( world class) !!!

Mizuno Wave Run 10km at Bedok Reservoir

This morning was the Mizuno Wave Run. When I woke up at 6 am it was raining. So i stayed in bed longer. I arrived at the starting point at Temasek Polytechnic Sport s Complex at 7.10 am. It was where the run was held.

This is a banner regarding the run they displayed outside Bedok Reservoir Park .

This is Bedok Reservoir, the ending point of the run. Actually i did not know that ending point had changed. Orginally the starting and end point was Temasek Polytechnic sports complex but later the ending point was changed to Bedok Reservoir near the toilets. The photo was taken as i was leaving the park @9.40 am. At that time the weather was much better and the sun had come out.

The scene at 7.10 am at the sports stadium at Temasek Polytechnic. At the time there was still a slight drizzle and there was a massive jam to enter the polytechnic.

The scen at 7.25 am. The runners had to run thru' the arch to start the race. The sky still looked dark and overcast. This is a section of the crowd. There were 7,000 runners at the starting line. Wow!

My number tag. :) There was a baggage tag, a goodie bag tag. Also a lucky draw tag.

The race was supposed to start at 7.30 am. However, because of the rain, the start time was delayed.

Anyway a bus came in at 7.35 am escorted by the police car ( below). A gourp of people got down the bus. They were the Aljunied GRC MPs and grassroots leaders. The lady waving is MP Cynthia Phua. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr George Yeo also came. On his left was Mdm Lim Hwee Hua. On her left was the MP and Mayor of Northeast CDC Abdul Rasheed. I think MP Yeo Guat Kwang also came.

The flag off was done by the MPs by blowing their horns, and away we went! The ground was wet and slippery after the rain earlier. Luckily the rain had stopped. But the sky was still cloudy.

I ran past the stadium grandstand and then we ran out of the stadium. There was a backgate behind the stadium which was opened . It was the link to Bedok reservoir. Oh boy! It was crowded getting into Bedok reservoir. The linkway was so narrow. I spent my time just walking as all the runners in front of me was squeezing through the gate too. The footpath was so narrow. How to run fast? It was only at Bedok reservoir (see above) that i was able to run. We ran almost one round around Bedok Reservoir, then we left it and ran out of the resevoir onto the road and to run past the polytechnic. We were not allowed to run on the road, just the pavement as there were cars. The road was not closed. When i tried to overtake on the road, a traffic policeman told me to return to the pavement. ! How to run like that? We then ran the whole length of the polytechnic. We then turned back into the reservoir at the pumping station. Still another 3 km. My shoes were already so muddy because the ground was wet.

A beautiful scene of the reservoir. It looked so calm and peaceful.

The ending point was supposed to be the mizuno ballon arch. Or was it? When i ran past the arch i slowed down to a walk as i thought i had finished. Then i found out the finishing point was some 50m away at the clock timer. Or was it at the 'finish ' banner further down? So confusing. Later the organisers took away the timer and announced the finish was the mizuno ballon arch. The finish banner was for the aljunied grc jogathon. So the MPs attended two events in one day?And was that why the finish point was shifted from temasek polytechnic to bedok reservoir?

I finished the race in 49min, way off my personal best. At least it was still below 50min, i consoled myself.

Aunty Roda came in 6th. I was very happy for her. Uncle Kalai, Uncle Jo, Aunty Moy Hong and Aunty Josephine also ran.

The stage. The guy in purple tshirt is from aljunied grc. There was a long stream of people wearing purple tshirts yesterday.

The organisers, vgo corp distributors of mizuno products donated $30,000 to Aljunied GRC. This is the cheque. I think it was for the Bedok Reservoir Dragonboat Club.

Rows of Mizuno shoes for display only. No one was buying any. Wish i could own a mizuno wave shoe...

Another fringe activity. Selling plants ...

The queue for the goodie bag. This year everyone queued up in the same queue even though the sizes of the tshirts was s,m, l and xl. Even male and female were not separated.Very very long queue...

The baggage collection area was also chaotic and unclaimed bags were thrown on the muddy ground... I felt very sorry for those owners. With with already muddy shoes and clothes and a long queue for the goodie bag, i am sure the last thing the runners want is a muddy bag or worse lost bag.

In my goodie bag, there was

1.mizuno dry fit running vest

2..mizuno shoe bag(very nice and big - can put in 2 pairs of shoes)

3. true yoga class and gym membership 7 day trial

Till my next run!

Olympic Dream 2007 Ability Challenge 20 km

Today was the Olympic Dream 2007 Ability Challenge "Around the world in one day" held at Toa Payoh Stadium. The event was to raise funds for the Singapore participants of the Beijing 2008 parlympics. The challenge was to have as many people as possible run 100,000 laps around the stadium. For running 10 laps, a person was entitled to a certificate. For those who ran 50 laps (equivalent to 20 km) the prize was an exclusive medal. Of course I wanted it. But could I do it? I had never run 20 km before.But I wanted to try....

I woke up at 5.30 am this morning and reached Toa Payoh at 6.40. It was still very dark when i arrived... The scene outside Toa Payoh stadium when i arrived.

I met up with my club members before the race. Here is a photo of us before the race. This phot was taken at the Toa payoh Sports Hall about 20m further down the road.Uncle Yeow, Aunty Wendy, Uncle Chua, Uncle Kalai, Aunty Cindy, Uncle Hei were there when i came. I was beginning to feel very excited.

At 7. 05 am all of us entered the stadium. We caught up with Uncle Malik, Uncle Han Wee, Aunty Roda, Aunty Josephine, Uncle Tan... A photo of us just before we started at 7.30.

The guest of honour (GOH)was Parlimentary Secretary,MCYS, Teo Ser Luck.He came in at 7 am

and there was a dance segment. Then it was time for the flag off by the (GOH). At the same time it was the start of the 12 hour record continuous relay run by JJC and ACJC. Till 7.30 pm

There were also wheelchair racing.

But what made me very happy that day was that when we started running, i found Mr Teo Ser Luck running beside me. (below) He was surprised to find a young boy running so he started asking questions like how old i was, my name, what school i was studying, the club i was in. He then told me that he had been running since he was a young boy too. I really enjoyed running beside him. He also has no airs about him. I ran something like 7 ? laps with him before he left. At every 100m there wwere students cheering him on. It was thrilling. Wish he didn't have to leave so early. He seems a nice guy.

The time was now after 9 am and it was getting really hot. The weather was fine and i was sweating profusely . But I still had not achieved the required 50 laps. i wanted to quit after 24 laps (= 24 rubberbands, one given for every lap run)but the thought of my club members getting the medal ( plus my cjc running mates who also came running - Rueben, Yong Chao, Calvin, Nicholas and Clement)made me push on. But i was feeling very tired...

But i finally made it. At that time it was almost 10 am. I had been running for more than 2 hours. Oh dear!! How to run the Army Half Marathon next month ?

For my hard work i was rewarded with this certificate. I had made it! ! I filled up a form with my particulars and the organisers said that they would mail the medal to me. I am looking forward to receiving it. The organisers also gave away many bottles of NEWATER and raisins from the sponsors.

This is the offical brochure. I enjoyed myself but i was very tired. It is not easy to run round and round the stadium. For long distances, i would like to run on the road. But this project was for charity so i don't mind. Hopefully not too soon again in the near future. ..

I learnt that most of it was mental and i am glad that i was able to represent my club for a charitable cause. All the best to our paralympians for Bejing 2008 paralympics. I am sure you will do our country proud!!

48th National Interschool Track and Field Championships

This week was the 48th National Interschool Track and Field Championships held at Choa Chu Kang Stadium. It takes about 40m to reach there by car. Yes, it's far!



I had signed up to represent the school for 800m and 1500m. The 4 heats for the 800m 'b' boys was on monday at 3.35 pm. I arrived at 2 pm to warm up . I met up with my cjc running mates. Three of them Kubo, Timothy, and Reuben were also running in the 800 'A' boys. Kubo and Timothy qualified for the finals .Congrats!!



When the time for my race came, i was excited. Would i do better than last year? I hoped to do better. There were 18 boys in my heat, i was in lane 15. There was a starter's gun and away we ran. It was not easy to run against top runners and the other athletes. I came in at 2m 29s, not very good i must say. However it is a PB over last year's timing of 2m 36s.



The 1500m on wednesay was later in the afternoon. I was in the last of 4 heats which started at 4.55 pm. After monday, I just paced myself to better my PB. I ran the race in 5m 14s and it was a PB. I did not qualify for the finals for both my events but i did PB's for both.



Just looking forward to my next race!!

Sacuony 100 Plus Passion Run

This morning was the Saucony 100 Plus Passion Run held at East Coast Park. It began at 7.30 am. The guest of honour was MP Fatima Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC. The special guest was Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong.

This is a view of the stage before the prize presentation ceremony.

I reached East Coast Park about 7.20 am. Then i met up with a few of my CJC running mates and we did our warm up together at the beach. The sea is less than 50m away. Our race was the competitive boy's junior below 19 years and the distance was 5 km.

This is a view of the finishing point . The start point is just behind. All runners had to run on the running track first then u turn and run on the bicycle track which was side by side. We had to step on the mat to start as we were using championchips. At the 2.5km mark which was at McDonald's we u- turned and there was a mat. Finally when we reached the finishing line, there were two mats. The official then requested we return our championchips...

This was taken just after the finishing point. Many runners just sat on the grass and rested. Cups of 100 Plus (the main title sponsor) were given out.

The Saucony Booth....

The goodie bag collection area...

The man holding the banner is none other than Senior Minister. MP Lateef is on his right. The banner holds all the sponsors' signatures... Can you spot SM's signature? (Hint: It is just above the lowest man's head on the banner)

These are the winners in my category. Congrats to Calvin, Reuben and Jackie for being in the top 10. Recognise the 5th guy from the left? Yes, he is none other than Mok Ying Ren... so far on e of the best runners below 19 in Singapore. Any race for boys below 19 he will always be first...

A photo for keepsake.... I did not dare to run very fast as the Nationals (800m ) is tomorrow. I did the 5km in 25 min.... Aunty Roda was 3rd in her race and Uncle Kalai was 6th. Congrats!

Aunty Josephine, Uncle Hafiz and Uncle Tan also ran in the 10 km race.

This is my Saucony t-shirt.

In my goodie bag there was:

1. a specially designed drawstring bag

2. A Passion white colour bathtowel

3. Filliz Pasta

4. A DIS Paper fan

5. COmplimentary Tan from Fabulous Tan

6.Get Active Get Healthy booklet from Health Promotion Board

7. 30% discount voucher from Saucony

8. Ricola sweet

9. Protect yourself and your family from Dengue booklet from National Environmental Agency

10. 15% discount voucher from Polar Heart Rate Monitors

All this plus the satisfaction of running a race cost only $12. I really enjoyed myself today.

Till my next run tomorrow...

Running on Sunday with memories of the Penang Bridge Marathon

This morning i woke up early as i wanted to go running with my club. The destination was MacRitchie Reservoir. I was there at 6.55 am . Today Uncle Chua and his sister came, Uncle Tan, Uncle Hei, Uncle Jo and his wife. Dr Bala and Mr Krishnan came after we started running at 7.20 am.



i ran with Uncle Chua and Uncle Hei, two 4.8 km rounds the reservoir as they did not want to try the senior route. I ran slower than them after the first round and did not see them so I turned right and ran up the ranger station. I think i ran something like 11 or 12 km? All i know is that i ran for more than an hour...

I found a link to the bird eyes' views of the Penang Bridge Marathon in the early hours of the morning of 24 June . Click on the link below and you won't regret it... Makes me wish i was running on the penang bridge all over again... The experience is exhilirating... Thanks Runwitme and Waterman!!

http://cpwaterman.blogspot.com/2007/06/penang-bridge-marathon-2007.html