First Cross Country Run

Sunday, August 20, 2006



Bored with endless running around tracks, I signed up for the New Balance Real Run at Sentosa to see how far I can push my limit. With 6km on road, 1.6km on sand and 2.4km on trail, it was far more challenging than the 10km Standard Chartered Run. I was in awe of so many strong runners. One guy pushed past me and I noticed that he was wearing a South Park shirt. It read, "Oh man, you people suck!" I might consider getting one of those shirts once I manage to complete 10km in 40 minutes.

There were also slopes galore and I barely survived by the time we entered the beach. I never thought that I would come out alive after having to run speed walk trod on sand for the next couple of agonising minutes. It's already fortunate that I did not fall on my face.

And my runny nose did not help. I stuffed my shorts with lots of tissue paper just in case I had to drop out midway due to choking on mucus.


Pre-race warm up

By the time I passed the 8.8km mark, my stamina was nearly spent and I deteriorated into auto-pilot. Finally came those magical words, "500m left!" I just wanted to get it done and over with so I ran my heart out, tripping two runners along the way.

There was no shortage of toilets, and as the finishing line drew closer, a conversation was overheard.

"I can't! I can't! I got to go now!"
"What, are you crazy?! The finishing line is just over there, you can't go now."
"I'm about to explode... can't take it anymore. You go on ahead."

Talk about bad timing. Anyway, I completed the race in a little over an hour, which is not too shabby considering I walked the entire sand route.

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