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.

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

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

On Sat, 5 Dec 2009 an article appeared in the ST beside Mok’s picture. It was written by triathlete Jeannete Wang, and titled “Plodders have place in Marathons” (I have the article if you want to read it). The basic gist of her commentary is that sportsmen should not look down on people who walk during races because people have many reasons for running. As long as they train and they are exercising their right to partake in a healthy lifestyle (a “selfless” reason), she says, then walkers have a place in marathons.

I disagree.

(It’s interesting how this article discusses an event – the marathon – as if it has become the next Singapore pastime. It correctly recognizes something we always complain about: walkers at races. Some of us probably remember Passion Run this year. Walkers were quite annoying for me during last year’s Stan Chart. As the article implies, Singaporeans are participating in more races. But someone needs to really ask the question: so what if more Singaporeans are participating? Are they really running? Or just going for a morning run with some freebies?)

That aside, I do agree on the basic principle of the article. Everyone has a reason for running. Can’t disagree with that.

I don’t agree with the tone & the idea that if you’ve trained for a run, you’re running for the right reason. These are assumptions which, I suppose, come from an elite athlete’s point of view. We have this condescending mentality that everyone else around us during a race – the walkers, those uncles at the starting line – have all trained, but they’re y’know, just-not-very-de-good-enough for us elite athletes. I’m guilty of this bad attitude too.

But when the writer of the article disses people who run because they want to walk and then wear the finishers’ shirt, she forgets – just like all of us – that when you run for achievement, it’s still a selfish reason. Whether or not you complete a marathon in six hours or in two, fixation on achievement still makes it selfish.

But I prefer to talk less, do more. I’m not writing a commentary here. Just a short reminder to all, that what you want to achieve is purely your own. But being part of a team is  much more valuable than that shiny piece of metal or good electronic timing. So we help each other improve.

I don’t like running marathons anyway.

—-
shelter
(Disclaimer: views expressed here are all the author’s own, & don’t reflect that of the team or the organization)

After an intense month of competitions in October with SUNIG and IVP, November feels less hectic. For me, circuit training and fartlek feels different and fun.

Our November Babies

Yesterday, we celebrated the November babies’ birthdays. Mich, Kenny, Steven, Chun Meng, Mel Tan and Tricia. It was rather crazy since Jackie and I tried to sing the birthday song while skipping. We failed miserably. Lol.

Jackie and Mel's Birthday Skip Routine

It’s nice sometimes knowing that we always have something to look forward to at training- the fun and laughter, the friends and last but not least, the rewarding workouts

Our Happy Birthday Girls

Stay tuned as Cross Country continues its many exciting activities…

Posted by:

Melvin (Oi Roy! Upload the photos please

Hey all!

Just in case you wanna try your hand at baking… these are the recipes for Apple Crumble and Lemon Meringue Pie (kenny ur request!) we had at our lovely baking session last week!

Apple Crumble

1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c coarsely or finely chopped walnuts
1/3 c sugar (white or slightly golden)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cinnamon (not mandatory)
1/4 c or 65g butter, cut into smaller pieces
4 granny smith apples, sliced
1/4 c sugar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Place the flour, 1/3c sugar and butter into a bowl. Cut the butter in the flour and sugar till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add in the vanilla essence and chopped walnuts and mix around a bit. In an approximately 8 inch pan, put apples at the base, sprinkle 1/4c sugar and cinnamon over the apples. Spread the crumble mixture evenly over the apples.

Bake in oven for about 40 to 50 mins or until browned (depending on how powerful your oven is).

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Lemon Meringue Pie

Tart Crust:

175g butter
75g castor sugar
215g plain flour
40g cornflour

Mix all the above ingredients together until well combined. Press them into little pastry moulds. Try to make the pastry bases as thin as possible because they tend to rise quite a fair bit when baked. Create little holes in them with the fork and bake the pastry bases for about 35 to 40 minutes at 180 degrees C.

Lemon Curd:

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten

To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.

Meringue:

4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar

To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.

Bake 10 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

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Tiong Bahru Challenge (5Km run + 30 Storey Vertical Climb) – 13th Dec 2009

http://one.pa.gov.sg…t=14503409&CWT=

MR25 Ultra Marathon 2009 – 27th Dec 2009

Entry Fee:
MR25 Members: Free
Non-Members: $30 (Early Bird – Entry received by 13 December 2009) $35 (Late Entry including on race day)

Registration and Cash Payment is accepted at MR25 Time Trial (on 4 & 18 Oct, 13 Dec) and Progressive Run (on 1 Nov)
For Overseas Participants ONLY: Cash Payment will be accepted on race day itself. Entry fee will depend on when the Organiser received the registration.

If you have any queries related to this event, please write to ultramarathon@mr25.org.sg

For more details and to download registration form: http://www.mr25.org.sg/?p=391

Men’s Health Urbanathlon 2010 – 31st Jan 2010

Date: Jan 31, 2010 (Sun)
Time: 7am-11am
Route: Marina Promenade
Distance: Approx. 12.5km, with 7 obstacles
Fee: $128 per participant

http://urbanathlon.menshealth.com.sg/

Safari Zoo Run 2010 – 6th Feb 2010

Date: 6th Feb 2010 (Saturday)
Flag off time: 1600 hrs (Adults in Fun Run)
Start point: Coach bay between Singapore Zoo and Night Safari
End point: Singapore Zoo
Categories: Fun Run (6.2 km) for Adults and Kids (3 to 12 years old) & Competitive Run (3.2km) for Kids only (10 to 12 years old)
Registration Fee: Fun Run Adults ($38), Kids ($18) & Competitive Kids ($25)

Official website: http://www.safarizoorun.com.sg/

Yongqiang

For those interested, there will be a run called The Aviation Run taking place on Saturday, 21 Nov 2009. More details at the following website:

http://www.aviationrun.com/

No registration fee needed. The run is for charity so just donate. Race includes 5K & 10K categories. The route is roughly the same as the New Balance RealRun route (at Changi Exhibition Centre), minus the beach run.

But do consider the date. Since 21 Nov is the very first day of our exams, I won’t be running. So this run is for all those who either have late papers. Or have no exams.

——–
shelter

heys!

here’s my race report!(:

http://baldwinchoy.wordpress.com/

if you just want the results!

TNF Result (Baldwin & Lucas)

For the rest of the photos, click here.
Ben. =]

NUS Cross Country, For the Love of Running.