Going Further than You Think You are Running

Akira SWIFT Road Relay Championships 2010
Sat, 6 Feb (1515 – 1730 hrs)
Bedok Reservoir

Phenomenon #1: So 30 of us arrived at Bedok Reservoir for the first road relay race of the year, on an afternoon made symbolic by a lack of clouds, an excess of sun and Ke Wen arriving late. A total of 3 guys’ teams (12 runners total) & 2 girls’ teams (8 runners in all) were due to make start the race with NUS colours. Most of the runners were making their, yes, debut appearances for the school. And this against a field of running clubs, JCs and seasoned secondary school runners.

The team gathering at Bedok Reservoir

Everyone's favourite bench

Logistically, we prepared for this race. Really. There was an ice-box, bananas & 100-plus. There was a guy with a computer helping us to double check the route (Patrick). And some of us had even psychologically prepared ourselves by coming 2 days earlier to do a recce of the route. But then all that went out the window when the official told us, while warming up, that the route had changed.

Eric's finishing line stride

Phenomenon #2: Have you ever felt that you are running very hard, but can’t seem to see/ find the finishing line? I do. Maybe it’s poor perception of distance or having no sense of length. But after forcing yourself through a winding path and a red-brick up-slope, followed by a returning route on sandy gravel, with the sun in your face, the route felt as if it was extending itself. Only when a measurement was made later did we all realise that a verrry small misjudgment had been made: the road relay distance was 4.5 km, not 3.3 km as advertised.

Phenomenon #3: Despite the miscalculations, the heat and the competition, the guys fought like bobcats, maintained their paces like falmingos and sprinted to the finishing line like armadillos.  Thanks to consistent encouragement from supporters, the guys’ chased the leaders, braved the route & ran a great race. Unfortunately, none of the guys’ teams finished top 5 on the podium.

Final Burst - Guo Chen gunning for the finish

(And even more unfortunately, the lack of medals didn’t do justice to Guo Chen, Steven, Yongqiang & Yi Qun – who ran amazing runs which kept us in suspense all the way. But at least one of guys did shake the GOH’s hand: Nic Tey is now the proud owner of an Akira radio-clock).

Phenomenon #4: Where the guys fell down, the girls stepped up. With their race delayed by 30 minutes, both girls’ teams averaged 20 mins on the 4.5 km route, outclassing almost all their opponents, and finishing both 2nd & 5th respectively. Cue applause & rrrrespect here. Especially from the guys (one of whom was cheering & shouted the wrong name). And credit to the team of Veronica, Zakiyah, Valerie & Cai Sang, who fought their way to 2nd place.

5th Place - Yohanna, Mei Hui, Li Xia, Huixiang

Definitely a memorable afternoon. I’ve learnt not to trust recce runs; I’ve learnt to listen to my emotions & feel the point where I know I’m running a longer distance than I should be (my knees are still hurting). Thanks to Jin Yang our post-race photo was taken amateurishly with the prize presentation in the background, and I will be cheering on CJC in the next race because they are cool (too!) On a race when nothing is as it seems, thanks to Melvin & Darren for their reliable support, Patrick for his attention to detail, Ben for his camera skills & Kelvin for filling my camera with  pictures of MR25 runners.

The Girls' teams completely owned the Guys'

NUS Cross-Country poses for a final photo

——-
shelter

Akira Swift Relay 2010

this is my first time writing on nusxcountry blog~ haha and on my first race representing NUS.

it had been a long time since i got that jittery feeling waiting at the starting line, and the thing i like about relay is that every runner is kind of staggered so there is a lot of breathing space while running, not running with a crowd or lagging behind one. its like own pace own target. yea but besides that, one of the most important motivation for me to join the race was because it was 3.3k. but apparently not, the organisers scammed us of the extra 1.something k. which makes me more nervous. ahaha. this is not the first time i’ve encountered some screw-ups at bedok reservoir, a few years back think it was 2008 i went for the mizuno wave run at bedok reservoir as well.. and nobody knew where the ending point was! everybody started wondering around and some people asked my bro and i if we knew where the ending point was… and some people who were in the 5km category ran 10km. ahahha but i must say that the terrain at bedok reservoir is nice to run, not very rocky.

ok more about the race, by the time i started running, it felt that i wasnt exactly warmed up.. muscles like hardening… plus the fact that i was pretty tense made it worse. but the first half of the run was still enjoyable.. the mental part started coming in after the turn… personally i felt that the way back was really long, thought it would be equidistant before and after the turning point… so when i heard melvin says there are 800m more to go, i almost wanna peng san… and i decided to slow down to reserve some energy towards the back part and finish the race not crawling… another thing is that when i ran for almost 10mins from the turning point, i kept looking out for everybody who were waiting at the baggage area… but it just seemed that there were never ending bends and made me wonder how many more bends are there before i can see them! really heaved a sign of relief mixed with happiness when i saw you all!

in conclusion, i must say that this is a very exciting race for me, and im very happy to have completed it yay! good job to everybody that day who finished the race beautifully after the long wait and the long run. and thank you everybody for cheering! meant a lot to me towards the end especially!

huixiang

NUS Cross hunks spotted running around school on 21st Jan

On Thursday 21st Jan a bunch of NUS Cross guys led by captain Melvin and Vice-captain Jayanta decided to do a a male version of  ”The Champions”.  But there weren’t bikini babes striding down Orchard Road; in place were aunty-killer guys who decided to display their well-toned six-pec bods thanks to training to amused librarians, motorists and female students on buses!  Even the security guard at SRC came over to “check out”.  Newcomer Mei Hui wrote on my facebook wall  ”I enjoyed myself totally!”  Indeed it must have been memorable and very very privileged to be a girl in X ctry.

In this rare once-in-a-blue-moon sighting, it was the perfect advertising campaign for our CCA as we ran down Central Lib, to Biz, near West Coast and back again to SRC.  I am sure NUS Soccer guys must have done a double take when they realised that they lost the limelight to our guys on the pitch!  Training does give you abs and pecs.  PROVEN chop chop!!!

Races updated on Events page

Spotlight

Run 350 – The first and only mass run in Pulau Ubin

20th March 2010

Non competitive, for the awareness of the 350 movement

Organised by Young NTUC

$20 for NTUC members, $30 for non-members

Ben. =]

NUS Cross Country, For the Love of Running.

Favorite Route~ =]

Hey,

This is my favorite running route. =]

It goes from the back gate of PGP, down to Pasir Panjang Road, up the zigzag road (quite gentle up slope), passing NUH, Science, YIH, then climbing the steps to Engine and crossing the overhead bridge, then running down all the way to west coast Seng Siong for an apple and a bottle of Meiji milk. =]

Ben.

NUS Cross Country, For the Love of Running.

PAssion Run 2010

NUS X Country conquers Gunung Datuk

Having planned only one trip ‘overseas’ this whole holiday, I was really looking forward to my trekking trip with the cross team up Gunung Datuk despite my intense dislike for all things trekking and nature related.

Needless to say, trekking wayyyy exceeded my expectations. It was so much harder and ickier than I expected, having gone on only comfortable flat nature trails in Europe where the air is nice and cold and you can take funiculars or trains to get to the top. You don’t even have to break a sweat. Anyway, as I was saying, the climb up was ZOMG crazy! It involved climbing up big slippery steps of roots and stones at breakneck pace in extreme humidity ugh. I really thought I would fall and roll down the mountain and break my neck. Secondly there was all those creepy crawlies everywhere! Huge ants sitting on logs that we have to climb over, waiting for an opportunity to attack you; flying cockroach-like insects that terrorized me all though dinner. The cold hard ground that poked holes into every corner of my body. And the crazy howling wind, the stuff of scary movies, that made it almost impossible to sleep.

Nonetheless, I had an awesome time. Being new to the team, I only knew everyone on a superficial level before embarking on this trip. This trip allowed me to interact closely with my fellow team mates and brought me much closer to this amazing bunch of people. (:

I will always remember these memories of this trip: Boring train rides made entertaining by interesting accounts of a trip to kfc. Utterly random references to a fellow team mate in India.. Cries of refund anytime something doesn’t go our way. Gruesome storytellings of the murder of innocent villagers by crazy polar bears. Thanks guys! For the awesome two days.. (:

VaL (:

GC’s Awesome video! (You have to watch!)

all smiles.. but you don’t know what’s coming :P

nothing gets us down. :D

new cast for LOST – Gunung Datuk series

the girls (:

on the summit with the rovers (:

early morning sunrise watchers!

the boys (:

yay we’re on our way home! (:

December

a glimpse of what we covered

I asked Eric along for a short Genting trip with my parents and myself soon after the SCSM. Eric came along, leaving behind the heat, and also work on his Final Year Project in Singapore.
On previous trips to Genting, my dad and I had found a less trafficked stretch of road which seemed safe enough to run. This time, Eric joined me on our Run Away From Home. The first day we ran, it was at a time when the clouds were drifting in. Cold wind blowing, running through the mist, and the roads ahead invisible to us, the entire setting felt surreal.
True to our runner’s blood, every day we were there, we ran. The slopes wound around the mountains like a python’s coil around its prey. As I ascended the slopes, I could feel my strides shorten pathetically. Breathing felt especially exaggerated, probably due to the combination of slope and thin air. Still, the runs were thoroughly enjoyable.

winding road

that much closer to heaven

First World Hotel in the background

running form check 1

running form check 2

wow! running form looks like mok.

erm.... maybe not...

Many people gave us funny looks as these two jokers in running attire sauntered through the lobby as if they were in a beach resort instead of on a mountain more than 1800m above sea level. I dare not imagine what it would look like if the cross country team gathered in the lobby before heading out for a run. People might just start shedding their clothes. . . Hehe. (wishful thinking)

slopes...

and more slopes..

Back in Singapore:

As the ‘Wind blows’ over bright and sunny Singapore somewhere in Dunearn Gardens at Melissa Tan’s house, NUS Cross country celebrated Christmas with a potluck dinner. A glutinous treat for all indeed, with much laughter to accompany the food to exercise our stomach muscles. Endless taunts from our beloved Guo Chen eventually took its toll on us, and even our Captain, Melvin, felt he had had enough. He gave the Go Ahead for GC to be thrown into the swimming pool. So much for threatening to join the Dark Side (Biathlon). Surprisingly, Dex and David (from the Dark Side), played a pivotal role in lending more than one hand to fling GC into the pool.

The night was still young, and a group of us decided we have not had enough of each other’s company. We made our way down to Orchard and caught the 1215am movie, Sherlock Holmes. We can imagine a look of disapproval on Coach’s face if he were to know we were still up at such an unearthly hour.

finally, patrick's smile in a photo.

And as usual, our Malaysian import with a familiar resemblance to the donkey in the movie Shrek, did what he did best: sleep less, run more. After the movie, he had gone back to Hall, and he ran. That same morning, he ran again, accompanying Baldwin in his Macritchie Ultramarathon. Mileage for the day: 35km. Jackie, you are crazy.

the start of Guo Chen's memorable night

run more, sleep less: Jackie, my hero

December Updates

Our major race for Dec was the Standard Chartered Marathon. I’m proud to announce that we are now friends with the second fastest women’s team in Singapore. Well done girls! Our girls team consisted of Mel Tan, Mel Lim, Cai Sang, Zhiyun, Ang, Zakiyah, Hui Xiang.

In the mixed team category, we came up against many strong teams and we came in a credible fifth. The men’s team came in 7th. Guys, we gotta lose those exam bellies!

Special mention also goes to our marathon guys and girls like Steven, Pat, Dex, David, Tricia, Trixie and Valerie. We’re proud of you all for going the distance. All 42.196km of it.

The smiles after a rewarding run

Meanwhile on the 26th of Dec, our wonderful girls captains organised our Christmas bash/ potluck dinner. It was held at Mel Tan’s beautiful house at Newton and we had a ball of a time. Ameera brought delicious lasagne, Ben brought roast chicken, Eric brought a lovely log cake specially baked by his mum. I brought Kiddie Moshies ice cream. Woot.

Food aside, we played the game “blow wind blow”. Guochen was the biggest winner of the night, having gobbled 8 sotong balls for 8 forfeits. Meanwhile, Jayanta provided much laughs for standing up many times when he never had to. He mistook his own purple shirt for a red shirt. It was little surprise then that guochen and Jayanta were made to do a forfeit of 7 wonders of the world. Jayanta’s right hand to guochen’s ultra sensitive chest. Wicked!

More excitement ensued when we exchanged gifts. Ben really loved his cute cartoon cushion from Trixie while Tricia seemed rather amused by Jackie’s thoughtful gift of a gundam toy figurine!

X'mas Party at Mel Tan's House!

The highlight of the night came when our darling guochen was rewarded for his trash talking and tau poked plus dunked into the pool.

Guochen was our biggest winner of the night

Thanks everyone for coming down and making the party such a success.

Melvin

Pictures from Standard Charted and Christmas~