The North Face 100. 100KM Duo Open Category

heys!

here’s my race report!(:

http://baldwinchoy.wordpress.com/

if you just want the results!

TNF Result (Baldwin & Lucas)

Salomon X-Trail Run is back!!!

Race Details

Date: 18 October 2009
Venue: Tampines Mountain Biking Trail
Distance: 10km
Race Start Time: 0730 hrs

Race Pack Collection

Date: 10 & 11 October 2009
Venue: Marina Square Shopping Mall, Linkbridge Atrium, Level 2
Time: 11am to 8pm

Race Fee: $38

World of sports members/ passion card holders are entitled to 10% discount off registration fee

Yongqiang:)

http://salomonx-trailrun.com/

Yellow Ribbons, the Prison and the Run

Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2009
10 KM
Changi Village to Changi Prison Complex
06 Sep 09

My time: 52 mins. My excuse: still recovering from the ligament injury.

Organized by CARE network, which helps in the rehabilitation of ex-offenders, the inaugural Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2009 was attended by about 6000 runners on Sunday, 6 Sep 09. The competitive 10 KM route started at Changi Village, going through smaller roads within the Loyang and Selarang Camp outskirts, before ending at a huge, empty field within the walls of the Changi Prison Complex. A 5.8 KM fun-run took place concurrently.

This run is probably one of the best organized runs this year. In theory, the organizers got everything right: good publicity (you’ve all seen the posters at the bus-stops), an enjoyable route, affordable sign-up prices, a reasonably nice-looking running singlet and worth-it freebies from the sponsors. The vouchers in the goodie bag are pretty substantial (Andersens’ ice cream, Café Galilee, some local attractions etc). These, plus the fact that this run is the only run so far to serve you food upon finishing, makes it really worth the time and effort on a cold, wet Sunday morning – considering I didn’t win anything.

While the route cannot be described as punishing (at least no cross-terrain or crazy hills), there were some points where the up-slopes were a bit steep. Locating water-points after these slopes was a good tactic other organisers might want to consider. Also, a rather rag-tag – but very loud –bunch of cheerleaders seemed to be stationed at every major turn.

Mok, Patrick and I were the only cross-country team people running. No guesses who won. Patrick came in 10^th and won $100, I think. Their exact timings can be confirmed with them. I took a leisurely jog and tried not to compete with all the people who sprinted at the first 5 KM. Many of them died at the final up-slope before the last stretch inside Changi Prison complex. Generally speaking, there was some grass to run on, and apart from the sudden downpour an hour after the event ended, I didn’t feel very uncomfortable. I’m also quite glad that I didn’t spend too much money on transport. (Most runs on early Sunday morning require you to get to the venue in a taxi if you want to take your spot at the starting line, but the area is accessible enough for SBS buses).

That being said, however, I was discussing with Patrick that the rationale behind this run leaves me thinking. Doubtless every runner’s participation raises funds, support and awareness to programmes which helping ex-offenders & rehabilitated drug addicts. But the manner in which these goals were shown seems a bit questionable. Firstly, while prisoners performing music to keep the runners’ entertained after the run seems quite innocent, it suggests showcasing them to an approving audience. And, some runners were also wondering – why end the run inside Changi prison? Interesting thing I realised: the inmates can be heard, but you don’t see them. It gave me the feeling the place was like an exhibit.

Just some things to think about. My views, of course. But a good run makes you think too. And then helps you study later.

______
Shelter

Run for Hope 2009

Hey guys! This is a meaningful event which I hope (pun not intended) will interest you. =]

About Run for Hope

In its 17th year, Run For Hope is an annual campaign organized by The Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts (The Regent and The Four Seasons Hotels in Singapore) in Singapore to support cancer research benefiting the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS).

In Singapore, cancer accounts for approximately one in three deaths.

Funds and donations from the run will go towards implementing and sustaining cancer research at NCCS.

Run details

Location: Angsana Green at East Coast Park (Beside East Coast Lagoon food village, Carpark E2)

Time: 0745 10km flagoff, 0800 4km flagoff

Registration fee: $30 till 31 Aug, $35 till 16 Oct

Race pack includes an Asics running tee and other goodies.

Ben.

NUS Cross Country, For the Love of Running.

Your Elbow is Your Greatest Weapon

Saucony 100-Plus Passion Run 2009
0700 hrs, 24 May (Sunday)
East Coast Park

There are 2 good things about East Coast Park: the very relaxing seaview (a sea breeze is a bonus) & the people. And there are 2 bad things about East Coast Park: the inaccesibility & the people.

Sunday’s Saucony 100-Plus Passion Run was filled with people. An unbroken snake of red track vests and wriggling legs from Macdonalds at one end to Bedok jetty at the other. Sometimes the crowd seemed so thick & neverending all those poor kids coming to East Coast Park to use the beach to play beach soccer on a Sunday morning must have kena stunned, at not being able to get across the crowd in the first place. 10,000 people, according to the radio DJ at the flag-off, had signed up. But from the amount of people waiting for the fun run to begin after the competitive segment was over, the crowd seemed greater than that.

With people, come certain problems. For those running the 10 KM competitive race route & who were NOT fast enough to outrun the crowd from the previous flag-off, they had to endure an entire 7.5 KM stretch of running on the sidelines, bursting in between couples going at jogging pace & worse of all, putting up with barricades of recreational runners who slowed down to refresh themselves at the drinking points. They had to, literally, fight and maintain a constant pace, battling with both stamina & elbows as weapons. When the courteous “excuse me” got nowhere, then they elbowed their way into the clear.

I think this run, despite the seaview (and sea breeze) taught me how to be polite, how to squeeze through human gaps about 30 cm x 30 cm, how to dodge people at high speed & last of all, when I had to force my way through, how to apologize. It also taught me patience: accept that other runners are not going all out, & so appreciate them for their leisurely pace on a very good Sunday morning (the weather was pretty cool!) The greatest moment, ironically, came not at the finishing line, or the last 100 metre sprint, but at the turning point where I stepped out of the 15 KM running crowd & for the first time in the race, an empty path with Alan and 1 other racer in front opened up till the finishing line.

The suggestion to PA & the race organizers should be verrry obvious: allow the 10 KM runners to go earlier. Or at least let both start-off at the same time. It makes no sense to burden 10 KM competitors by giving them extra obstacles which runners like the Gurkhas simply elbowed aside. Also, it seems a bit pointless to have race marshals which are sitting down reading. I won’t say it was a letdown, but definitely the race can be improved

All this gave some runners a bad mood. Some didn’t like getting elbowed. Some didn’t like being blocked. All this culminated in an ugly display of cars horning at the each other at the E2 carpark when I passed by post-race. 2 drivers (runners,  too)were going at each other in public, while the auxillary police stood by watching.

Suburban Run – 15 Mar 09

Firstly, ups to Patrick, Azrul, Guo Cheng, Alan Sim, Michelle & Benedict, who all probably finished with much better timings than me (in that order?) at Sunday’s Suburban Run. I would like to compare all our results in a nice table, but unfortunately the organizers choose to use this format to display our results.

Secondly, I just realised I won’t have any pictures to document Patrick’s stunning, powerful, absolutely amazing (no sarcasm intended) first place-finish in the 10 KM Individual Men’s Team category. (Actually, to tell you the truth, he was behind some runners, but they all were running for their teams, so Patrick ended up coming in first!) And of course, extra credit for not knowing he came in first until the prize was actually presented to him.

Thirdly, I would’ve liked to say that after my slow jog around Sengkang/ Punggol I felt that I had overcome a bad injury; I would’ve liked to say that 48++ minutes of painstakingly watching every single NUS cross-country runner speed past me was worth it because I’m one step closer to recovering. But, unfortunately, the recovery process will take longer than that. Heh. So I will confine myself to running the great green grass of the SRC until further notice.

 

 

 

 

Response from the site admin. :

The photos for the Suburban Run is already out! Do check it at the URL :
http://www.snapshots.com.sg/en-US/race/viewrace/id-22

 

Cheers.

Akira Swift X-Country 2009 Post 2

Cornie:

“What??? You’re going to race on Saturday in SINGAPORE? Where it’s 30 plus and the humidity is the like at the steam sauna where we used to go during cold winters?” This is a common reaction of my friends back in Europe, if they get to know about my weekend plans. Racing over there is characterized by temperatures around 20 degrees, sometimes 25 which is already considered as hot. And humidity occurs rarely enough.

The weather conditions for Akira Swift X-Country Championships 2009 were close to European standards. We arrived at Bedok Reservoir around 3 pm when a thunderstorm started and it rained cats and dogs for nearly an hour. You couldn’t see the other side of the reservoir. We shared a small pavilion with 2 other groups and some secondary school girls screaming every other minute, no matter if there was a thunder or not. Kelvin tried really hard to get a team picture, Jackie zoomed through the rain and didn’t get cold, the rest of us chit chatted and tried stay as dry as possible with jackets, t- shirts and umbrellas. Almost impossible but true: I was cold for the first time during my “endless summer”!

When the rain finally stopped, we had a long warm up, jumping over and running through paddles and it reminded me of a typical spring/ fall jog in Europe. We didn’t have time for a long stretch because of the women’s open.

The men’s open happened some minutes afterwards. Melissa and I got ready and she stayed calm even though it was her first race for NUS! Helpful was the route briefing we received: “You run up, turn around and then come back.” Okay, we were off! Melissa and I started in the front and some JC girls overtook me, right in front was this sportive Asian German trio; three middle aged fit ladies enjoying running! It was a pleasure to see how much they were into running! I could feel, that I didn’t stretch properly, and at the little slope I heard Mr Quek’s voice in my head “knees up, knees up” which really helped and I overtook two girls. Then the turn came and we ran back, our shoes were soaked and then I saw the guys coming from the over side which motivated me extremely. On the last meters there was Ben screaming out our names, he was really busy taping and making pictures simultaneously! Then the race was already over! The guys did amazingly well and Melissa did a great job! Thanks, it was a great experience to run with all of you!

P.S. The reservoir looked so peaceful when we left like it was never touched by any thunder…

Akira Swift X-Country Championships 2009 (7th March 09)

Shortly after we arrived at Bedok Reservoir, it started pouring. We took shelter under one of the pavilions with Corne and Melissa shielding us valiantly with their umbrellas. The wind was pretty strong and there was some lightning and CHIJ girls screaming. My ears hurt.

Yet the rain did little to dampen our spirits. People got boisterous with Kelvin tussling with Patrick for a jacket. I guess in such fights, size matters. Kelvin looked really smug wearing a super tight fit size “M” IVP jacket. Meanwhile, Jackie ran around offering buddy hugs to keep everyone warm. GuoChen was visibly distraught.

In an act of extreme boredom, Kelvin borrowed Patrick’s camera and tried to get a group shot. We squeezed and huddled together under the small pavilion which we shared with 2 other schools. It took about 7 shots before we finally got the camera-shy Guochen in the photo.

After a long wait, the organizers announced that the race would go on at 4.30pm. We were all pumped up and ready to go. We did a longer warm-up than usual, splashing into puddles on the flooded tarmac path. I felt like a little kid hopping around and enjoying the feeling of getting drenched.

We got back to the pavilion, did a fast stretch near the start line before we were called up. The girls started first and 10min later we were off. Our team started strongly with Jayanta surging ahead to chase the top Swift runners. I was with Alan and Guocheng and we ran as a pack. It was comforting to see a swarm of red NUS singlets just in from of me with Jackie moving up near Jayanta.

Near the famous steep hill, I sped up a little and caught up with a few runners. As I ran, I remembered Mr Quek’s advice to target runners in front, one by one, and to steadily catch up with them. As I ran down the hill and got back onto the gravel path, I ran with a very fast Swift runner who really pushed me. Far ahead, I could see a really psychotic runner in a yellow singlet who had been charging like a bull since the start of the race. It was none other than the legendary former NUS captain and famously charming Peng Tat.

Near the finish line, I ran hard but was out-sprinted by the swift runner. I finished in a time of 18.02 for abt 5km. It was a good time and I was happy.

Overall, it was quite good. The boy’s team came in 2^nd in the open category. Corne did a fantastic run and it was a credible debut race for Melissa which she agreed had been great fun. Nick Teh also did a spirited run with a nice sprint down the final straight. This braveheart moment was captured on Benedict’s handycam. (Hey Ben, rmb to add in the “Chariots of Fire” music.)

Well done everyone! We will aim to do better at the next race and…track season : )

Run Paradise! Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2007 (Part 2)

Mr T was quite nice but he kept trying to get us to go for the transvestite show and pursuading us to tell him what time we will be done shopping so that he can fetch us back. By the time we reached Patong, it started to rain a little so we quickly reached for shelter at the mega mall. We shopped a little, and went to eat at the food court. I thought it was kinda interesting that all the bowls were square shaped, which, IMO weren’t really the best design for bowls. The food was cheap so we had the luxury to eat alot more. Lulu, Angela and I started off with some beef noodle. It wasn’t too bad, but they did go overboard with the amount of salt used. Shihan, who was determined to save her stomach for road- side stalls, ordered a papaya salad which had some thai spices in it.

 The papaya salad!

For our second round of ordering, I officially started my pasta ritual by ordering an extra large portion of spagetti. Lulu the copycat ordered some pasta also. Angela who has been thinking about tom yam all day finally settled with that. We also ordered banana and orange shakes but they tasted really weird. I had to force it down my throat.

After eating we continued to shop and find the new balance shop to redeem our vouchers. We walked and walked and walked AND WALKED and we still couldn’t see any sign of new balance. We tried to ask for directions but everyone didn’t really seem to know where it was. Angela and I became super distracted by the Dairy Queen booth(S) in the midst of our crazy walking that we succumbed to the temptation and ordered an amazing green tea with almond ice cream. Heavenly. We were kind enough to offer to some lulu but he dismissed us and said something about us regretting on race day when he performs better. Well, knowing how insecure lulu always has been, he finally ate some ice cream after realising it will be even more embarrassing for him if he didn’t eat the ice cream and still come in behind us. =)

Well we finally gave up looking for the store when we realised that it might not be opened in the first place since a more careful study of the brochure they gave us said that the store was “coming soon”. Felt kind of cheated. Next, we went to carrefour to do some grocery shopping for our breakfast and pre-race meal. I immediately head for the pasta section and bought some pasta sauce and pasta (broken angel to be specific since the instructions say that it would cook in 3 minutes). The others went for bread instead. We made our purchases, dropped by starbucks for some caffiene boost, and left the mall to hang out along the roads lined with small little make-shift stalls. It was still drizzling when we got onto the road, so we were kept busy trying to dodge for as much cover from the rain as possible. Many of the food stalls were selling sticks of meat and seafood, which they will barbeque for you on the spot. Shihan finally got to settle her craving for the road-side food which got me a little jealous because my stomach was already occupied with salty-beef-noodles-microwaved-spagetti-weird-tasting-banana-milkshake. Besides the food stalls, there was also loads of small night market vendors selling clothes, fake prada and gucci and small little souvenirs. I initially had some things in mind that I wanted to buy, but due to the overwhelming number of stalls selling the exact same goods, I must have forgotten all about them as I left the place empty handed. We stocked up on water and more snacks at the convenience store before heading back in a taxi.

Run Paradise! Luguna Phuket International Marathon 2007 (Part 1)

The Luguna Phuket International Marathon was held on 17th July 2007, right in the heart of one of Thailand’s natural treasure, the beautiful island of Phuket. Phuket is home to some of the world’s most famous beaches and is a popular tourist destination for tourists from all over the world. As we all can remember, Phuket was one of the many areas to be badly hit by the terrible tsunami in 2004. The people have come a long way ever since to rebuild their lives, and hence the Phuket Marathon was started in 2006 with the main intention of celebrating how the island and its inhabitants are quickly springing back to life and looking ahead to a fresh new beginning!

Lu Feng, Shihan, Angela and I were the four super privileged NUS cross country runners to be part of this meaningful experience. Being very poor students as we are, the school has very kindly sponsored us 50% of the trip. Hooray!

** 15th July **

As we were supposed to be at the airport at some super early timing, Angela and I stayed over at Shihan’s place. We played with Shihan’s obese cat for a while and tried to catch a little nap before the setting off. We called for a cab and met Lu Feng at the airport. As we were taking the budget airline, we had to wait for our flight at the new budget terminal. The new terminal is really small and simple, but I think thats what we get for dirt cheap air tickets! While in the plane, Lu Feng commented that the clouds looked like cotton wool or something really strange of that sort. (He insisted that I put it here so dont ask me why he thinks this is worthy of mention). Anyways, the flight was only one and a half hours and before we knew it, we had already arrived at Phuket!

The 1st thing that greeted us once we exited the airport was a horde of taxi touts who advertised their services for 500 Baht. We decided that it was a rip off and went to the metered taxi stand to get a cab. And it so happened that the name of our driver was Mr Suryia, lolz.

We took a metered cab to our accomodation, the Amora Beach Resort, which was located 3km from the race site. The total fare was only 390 Baht, a far cry from the price of the touts. When we reached Amora Beach Resort, we had some issues to settle with the hotel stuff due to some poor correspondence between Lu Feng and the hotel booking agent prior to the trip. Thankfully, we still managed to get our room, minus the extra bed that we intended to have. And kudoes to the front desk stuff who were very patient and understanding, despite the difficulties we had in communication.

As I wasn’t planning to be in the same bed as Lu Feng, we settled the problem by bringing down the top mattress of the bed. We then went through the ceremony of splitting pillows and blankets until we were both satisfied. We went to check out our surroundings. There was a good view of the swimming pool from our balcony. Overall, the resort was pretty empty as it was the off-peak season. Our hotel was also just next to Bang Tao Beach, the largest and one of the quietest beaches of Phuket .

We took a short nap and headed off to find Laguna Beach Resort to collect our race pack. Lufeng, who holds the self belief that he is an excellent navigator, took the lead to bring us to Laguna. We walked along Bang Tao beach which looked really amazing. The sand was powdery white and stretched for almost 9km. As it was the monsoon season, the tides were big and a sight to behold. The beach was practically undisturbed. There were only a handfull of tourists lazing around, soaking in the morning sun and sea breeze. Lu Feng’s keen sense of direction led us through some uneven, rocky terrain. After 20mins and many small obstacles, we finally reached Laguna Beach Resort.

Laguna was much larger and grander than our small, humble Amora. There was also alot more tourists there and also way more facilities than at our resort. At the race pack collection hall, we started to check out our competition on the board of participants. Didn’t recognise anyone. The staff, like everyone else in Thailand, were really friendly and accommodating. Our race pack consisted of the haversackish bag, a sleeveless running shirt, time chip, race tag, some rub-on cream and a 500 baht new balance voucher.

We met Steph Cox, who introduced us to her new magazine, Asiarunner. Angela bought a copy of it and I thought it was pretty interesting. The magazine is all about the running scene in Asia, with highlights of the major running events taking place in major cities including Singapore, Hong Kong and China. There are also healthy asian recipes you can whip up and the usual daily digest of running tips. As the magazine is still in its initial stages, there are only 4 issues a year and I think you can find out more about the magazine at www.asiarunner.com. Anyways Steph welcome us to send in articles and photos of running events that we take part in. So whether you are a media whore or just a really nice person, start sending in those pictures and essays! I think it will be pretty cool if anyone of us appear in an international magazine.

After collecting our race pack, we had our lunch in this small restaurant right next to the sea. Its built above the sand with wooden stilts so it brings us really close to the waters. We had our authentic Thai meal beside the panoramic view of the Andaman Sea and its crashing waves. There were 7-8 waiters standing around, gyrating to the groove of the Thai music from the local radio channel. We thought it was silly but went ahead to stuff our hungry faces with pineapple rice.

After the meal, we went back to our hotel to rest and freshen up before beginning our leisurely exploration of Phuket. We decided to head to Patong Beach. WE got a private taxi to send us to Patong for 500 Baht. Our driver was this Indian Gentlemen called Mr T. His English was not too bad and he did tell us the various interesting things we can do at Patong. We dropped at Jungceylon, Phuket’s newest shopping mall, to shop, have dinner and to redeem our new balance voucher. (To be continued)