Jamessoh picked me up (THANKS James!!!!) at about 0710hrs after picking Lene (kops' colleague). First time meeting Lene and found out that she just moved back to SG few months back after being in Melbourne for most part of her adult life. While we were on our way to breakfast, Lene received an sms from her hubby (yeah! doing marathon and can still sms! *faint*) to watch out for the kenyans. What?!?! just an hour + into the race and the kenyans are reaching the 30km mark ???? Are they human ??? Anyway, we had our brekkie, bought some ice, drinks, bananas from the nearby market & Cheers before heading to ECP 30km support station.
When we reached the 30km mark at about 8:30am, there were already many people crossing the 24km mark. Saw Roonz cheering the runners on and I quickly checked with her who has passed the 24km mark, worried that I might have missed some of my dear friends especially those who have deposited their stuff with me for the 30km mark (aichai, roentgen, junie and andy - who was sick and requested for some water if i saw him). I crossed the small little grass patch to the other side of the road where the SGRunners have set up the 30km support station. It was a simple setup with a huge addidas board (talk about publicity) in front of the support table. All the essentials, the runners' personal stuff that they need when they reach the 30km mark have already been neatly arranged on the table. There were also deep heat spray, gel, water etc. All the rest of the supporters (FD, WHR, Alecchua, 4 VJC students hired by Adidas to help us with were already there cheering on the folks). James, whr & some of the guys helped to collect the remaining stuff (sponge, pails, cooler boxes, drinks, bananas etc.) from James car while the rest of us continued looking out for our runners & me - taking pics.
I was initially at the 24km mark (just right across from the 30km support station) to hopefully catch the SGRunners (so that I get to cheer them on twice - once at 24km, and the other at 30km and also to have a rough gauge of when they will reach the 30km mark). Saw Aichai, Andy, Ronnie & Shut (not in any order coz I can't remember liao :P) passed and all were looking good. Shut waved at me from afar to catch my attention so I was able to get a shot of him. Andy was looking a little worn, while Ronnie & Aichai were looking fresh and alert. The shuttling to and fro the 24km and 30km proved too much for my shins coz it was hurting with every step and everytime i found someone at 30km I got to dash back and it took a toll on my leg and I ended up limping badly (even james noticed ... this is bad!) So ended up I had to stay at the 30km mark and patiently wait for the runners.
I saw teelee passed, still looking fresh. I called out to him to cheer him on, he smiled happily, waved and continued along ....
There were MANY runners who seem to be in need of heat rub and our support station ended up giving away lots of heat rub gel (after exhausting our limited supply of heat rub). Two babes (whom I dunno them) at our support station were giving out biscuits & cereal bars and they were all cleaned out in no time! (Were they truly hungry ? or just attracted by the babes ? hahaha) The vjc kids were also very busy (and very dedicated!!) giving out water-filled sponges to cool off the runners and running about to collect back the sponges from the floor, re-filling the pails etc. THANKS vjc helpers! You guys & gals are GREAT! *thumbs up*
I was very happy when I finally saw my dear brother roentgen passed by at about 9:40am. Can't really miss the tall, super-bright orange guy running towards the support station, always with a ready-smile. I panicked momentarily when I thought I lost his e-gel (thought some supporter gave the e-gel away unknowingly) but thankfully it was just jitters which I recovered immediately and located the much needed e-gel for Roentgen :P Took a picture of Roentgen running past us (he actually had to do an about turn to simulate running past us again no thanks to my lousy camera that has a really slow reaction time :P). About 20mins later, saw this guy in cool shades & our HWA running T running towards me, was still trying to figure out who he is until I realised it was none other than TAZ di di!!! I was elated! and even more so when I found Junie jie right beside him! Very glad that Taz & Junie were running together this year!!! Both were looking happy & good, they look like they are just doing another one of their LSDs (good job people!!! *2 thumbs up*). They both gamely posed for a pic before heading off for the last stretch of the race. I even saw my ex-classmate! Wow! Later found out that it was a last minute decision to take part (in replacement of her colleague), so i wonder whether she trained for it. Amazing eh ?? But she was always atheletic and a runner, so I guess this isn't too big a challenge for her ?
By 1030+, the support station is bare of all essentials. Our food supply, deep heat rub, bananas have been completed wiped off and it was starting to rain. So we packed up and james sent the few of us supporters (alec, fd, lene, roonz, yidian - Shut's MHA) to the finishing line.Met many of the SGRunners, most of them already resting, some stretching & experiencing mild discomfort (cramps etc.) but everyone still generally ok, all in one piece (Well done, SGRunners!). Met Charmane & teelee, chatted a bit before I headed off to return my timing chip with James. Aichai & shut resting at the big tent, doing some stretching. Also met Kops & cosmic. Cosmic was rooted to the ground, all tired and washed out. He wasn't suffering from cramps but the lethargy in his legs have set in and he was not able to move his legs ... so kops was there advising him to walk around etc. I left the area to return to where the SGRunners were gathered (at the fountain) and met the striking-orange clad Roentgen nearby. We then joined loti at the esplanade underpass to cheer the rest of the runners. IMD & the Mrs-to-be were also there lending support. We managed to cheer Ripley, Miffy, Sotong & Cyberkinetics. Sotong was injured and we were all worried about him and were relieved when we saw this towering figure slowly but steadily walking towards us *clap clap clap*. Some of the SGRunner (bee and some others) quickly joined Sotong and accompanied him the rest of the 200m back to the finishing line. Well done people! :)
And FINALLY!! We managed to get a group picture taken of the GO THE EXTRA MILE for HWA Organising Committee !!!! SOOOO HAPPY!!! It has been my greatest greatest pleasure and honour to work with this team. Sadly 3 Dec also officially marks the end of the fund-raising event, but I have with me a lot of fond memories and great learning experiences thanks to this team. THANKS Aichai, Roentgen, Junie & Charlotte ! :)
And I also FINALLY got a picture taken with my dear brother, Roentgen! Woo Hoo!
.... and with .... IMD!!! Double Woooo Hoooo!! (pssst, kor2, SIAM !!!! :P)
The SGRunners gathered around and took a group picture before leaving for their well-deserved breakfast. This is in fact a pretty long post for someone who didn't even participate in the SCSM! *faint*
Anyway, well done to SGRunners! I'm so proud of all of you! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment