Prelude to Singapore International Marathon (SIM) 2006

Note: The next posting is on Tuesday 5 December. Have a pleasant holiday or week-end.

In three days’ time, we will be running in a world-class event – Singapore International Marathon (SIM) on 3 December 2006. This event attracts a record number of participants – 28,000 runners – and well surpassing last year’s mark. Just after two months of opening for registration, the window was abruptly closed as the number was fast approaching threshold limit of maintaining proper crowd control.

Quite a number of the runners were pleasantly surprised (for those who have registered), or shock (for those who have not registered) with the overwhelming responses. The organizer of SIM was most considerate to extend another 50 numbers to Pacesetters members but without the special discount. How I wish such hot response were happening here in our turf – the mediocre KLIM (Kuala Lumpur International Marathon). Nevertheless, nothing is impossible to improve the situation.

Maiden Attempt

This time, there were six runners – 3 guys and 3 girls – in my group in attempting their maiden full marathon. Talk about group motivation: I presume it started with a girl runner who has decided that it is time to upgrade to run a full marathon. She in turn invited her friends and it spread like wild fire. I remember one of them said, “Just run only, die die lah.” I remember reading one article that says: when we need more challenges in life, then run a full marathon.

With months of preparation and dutifully follow the training schedule for long runs, I presume the scenario is quite different now. Though the fear factor is there, the situation is manageable. Too much test run is incomplete; let’s try it in a real marathon race.

While there is limit to our physical capabilities, the mental power is boundless. During the moments of adversities, the encouragement or the presence of running friends would charge runners up for the necessary fuel to the finishing line.

Sub-4 Hours

As for me, when I run a marathon, I always set my goal to repeat my timing of sub-4 hours which I gloriously did it in 2004 SIM for 3 hours 51 minutes. Goal setting is the strongest force for human motivation; set a goal and make it come true. Aim high, and if I don’t succeed, I hope I would not be too far off target.

Coincidently, my best timing was achieved when the cheerleading teams in SIM 2004 were keenly competing for the best cheerleading title. When I passed the cheerleading groups, automatically, I was charged up by their roar and motivational quotes, and ran faster. Interestingly, my timing was slower in subsequent marathons in the absence of cheerleading teams.

The Journey

The mode of travelling to Singapore by runners is varied: by Pacesetters coaches, by Friday 10:30 p.m. south-bound train, by Friday mid-night TransNational bus, by car-pooling and by MAS flight. But the objectives are similar: let’s have lots of funs running the marathon and complete the race.

To the seasoned runners: wishing you a good run and achieve your objective that you have set mentally. To the maiden-attempt runners: wishing you a pleasant run in crossing the finishing line. It takes a lot of courage to be standing tall at the starting line in a full marathon race. Enjoy the feeling of elation and satisfaction when completing the race.

Passion --> Energy

One person that I would like to praise is the photographer of Pacesetters Club, Chan Wing Kai. He shows renewed enthusiasm in taking photos for the Club: 19 November in Ipoh Cross-country race; a week later he flew to Bangkok International Marathon; third consecutive Sundays, to Singapore International Marathon.

Contrary to most runners’ perception, all photographic equipment and expenses are self-financed. Yeah, passion fuels energy in sustaining our endeavour. So, when you see a Club photographer in action, raise your hands or jump up and down (beware of muscle cramp), attract his attention and give your best smile, will ya?

Written By KC

The Line-up (of runners that I know)

Full marathon

KC (Penguin-1)

Tony (Penguin-3)

Steven (Penguin-5)

Chiam (Penguin-8)

Jason Chin (Penguin-12)

Chin YH -- maiden attempt

Leslie Yee - maiden attempt

Foong Weng Horn - maiden attempt

Lim Fang Woei

Ngae MY

WENG

Chong Yin Fook

Yan Tuck Wing

MoCheng - maiden attempt

Maryann - maiden attempt

Ong Siok Bee - maiden attempt

Chantelle

Vivian Ngok

Lim Peck Yah

Lynn Choo

Half Marathon

Eric Teo (Penguin-10)

Marvin Lau

Ong Siok Leng

YeohSC

Josie Yap

Moira Toh

Yee Hua

Comment by MoCheng, who is attempting her maiden full marathon in SIM:

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With the countdown to Singapore marathon, I am excited amid worry and anxiety. I have completed only one 30km training run. However, I am not sure whether I have done enough training but my coach is very optimistic and positive.

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Running a marathon is very much a mental game, as I was told: You can, if you think you can. On race day, I hope I am energized and feeling terrific in overcoming obstacles (leg pain or muscle cramp) beyond 30km mark. Since I am going into uncharted water, I shall expect the unexpected.

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Are there any handsome guy cheerleaders in SIM to give me a boost in my energy level when the going gets tough (and the tough goes running marathon)?

Comment by Leslie Yee. He is running his first full marathon:

My training is Okay so far but may not be enough to run a satisfactory marathon. It’s my first – and maybe the last – so my training schedule was just meeting the minimum requirement of running mileage.

In preparation before training run or running any race, eating banana or PowerBar is something I always do to provide the necessary energy. So it will be the same formula during competition. My last race was running Bidor Half marathon a few weeks ago. During the tapering week, I have been sleeping at 10pm and waking up at 6am to do short jogs -- what a super healthy lifestyle.

I am feeling well-prepared mentally and physically. Since there are many factors that affect performance and timing, I will do my best on race day.

I'm targeting to complete in 5 hours. My strategy is to run at slower pace for 15km and then run slightly faster for next 15km and then maintain my steady speed till crossing the finishing line.

Fight or Flight?

By Moira Toh. She lives in Penang.

This is a short tale of how the mind controls the body...

I love running in this little quiet loop/trail just off the normal route in the Penang Botanical Gardens. It is a short loop/trail that evokes warm memories of a time not so long ago when I was a kid (OK OK quite some time ago…..) and this loop/trail leads to a small lily pond before looping out again to the normal route of the gardens. I still have black and white photos of my family and I in front of this (recently improved and “manicured”) lily pond.

This is me after my last saturday long run - I am standing on the little bridge that links the loop.

I therefore cannot resist running into this short (about 300 metres) loop/trail each time I am running in the gardens. It is quiet, full of trees and plants (think of all the oxygen!) that cover off almost all sunlight and you reach a lily pond – what a sight! And the trail leading up to the lily pond is on a small hill so it is a great workout for the quads! The only problem with this short loop/trail is that it is VERY QUIET and can become VERY DARK at sunset…..

This is part of the short loop/trail. My friend Hooi Fang is running down towards the end of the loop where it meets the normal route of the Penang Botanical Gardens.

A few days ago, I decided to run into this little loop/trail at about 7.15pm in the evening, there was still a little sunlight so it was fine. About 10 mins later I decided to run into this loop/trail again and suddenly it struck me it was kinda DARK and creepy, actually REALLY, REALLY DARK. Instantly, weird and scary thoughts started creeping into my mind, what if there is a stalker? What if there are weird people and attackers waiting for me?? Without realizing it, I started to run really really fast and pant really, really loudly and even started praying!! I even thought of how loud to scream if the inevitable happened!!!!

My friend Hooi Fang and I infront of the lily pond in the middle of the loop.

Boy was I relived to see some fellow runners (one friendly one even “warned” me that it was way too dark to run in the little loop/trail) and the street lights that lighted the gardens at the end of the little loop/trail. One quick glance at my watch and I realized I was running at 4 mins per km!! Had my body primped itself for “flight”??? Or was it ready for a “fight”???? All I can say is that I am glad I neither had to take flight or had to fight and know now that our bodies will react to what our mind thinks and will take care to be safe rather than to be sorry next time!!!

After the adrenalin pumping moment as aforesaid, yours truly was on hyper-mood the whole night long and could hardly sleep!! Was it endorphins high or adrenalin high?

Happy running!

Moira Toh

23.11.2006

The Making of ...

Please click here to view 50 photos taken by KC and WENG. This third and final album contains photos with cameramen in action. Yeah, finally, Jason Lee and I were appearing in the photos together with the models.

The guy in sunglasses is Leslie Yee. He helped to declare "Take 3" after we NG twice.

By KC

Photo Shoot of Great Eastern - Pacesetters 30km Course

Please click here to view 40 selected photos taken by Jason Lee on the 2007 GE-Pacesetters 30km course.
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Please click here to view 58 photos taken by KC with closer look at the models.

At around 8.00 a.m., all except two runners were at the Bukit Aman car park. Jessbird, Maryann, Jason and Lai went for their usual morning run just in time for the photo shoot. I was impressed when I say Maryann was running at fast speed to the Bukit Aman car park as she was slightly late.

The models: Jason Chin, Jessbird Yip, Miss Lai, Eric Teo, Maryann, and Yee Hua.

Weng and Jason Lee were there. When we were ready to go, we have a group photo shoot at the Bukit Aman car park. I invited one senior EXCO to join the model runners and he humbly said: "I was not dressed for the occasion."

Weng was driving a Toyota Unser, big enough to ferry nine people. The first stop was at Jalan Parliament, a fairly busy road next to Padang Merbuk. Immediately, I recognized the toughness of the job. I have to discuss with Jason Lee, the photographer, very quickly for the best angle and also taking into consideration where the direction of the sun was so that the subjects are not in backlight condition.

After the location has been decided, I have to run back to the runners (as the runners and Jason Lee were far apart) to inform them of the formation of running; whether to run fast or slow; whether to smile or to wave their hands. The first scene was NG (no good) a few times. Going through the first scene, I was sweating already. When it was done, Weng ferried all of us to the next location.

There were many roads where there were hardly any vehicles; the runners were able to run abreast occupying the whole road. Overall, most scenes were NG a few times, and the runners were required to repeat running.

While we were at the pit stop at Petronas petrol station in Sri Hartamas, Vivian, OngSiokBee and Leslie drove their cars to witness the photo shoot; instead, we invited them to be in the photos with the model runners for a photo.

After many scenes later, I began to feel the tiredness and I actually cut short a few of the scenes which I planned earlier.

It was really fun and I believe all the nine members were having good times together for a common objective.

The entire photo shoot session took us three hours. We were really happy when finish shooting a scene and we shout in Cantonese: “sow kung” (job is done), similar to those feeling of production crew of Hong Kong movies.

This is only the beginning: we hope to capture different occasions showing different distance of running route, eg. Pacesetters 20km Run, 15km Run and 10km Run.

I will be making three photo albums: (1) emphasizing the course with runners in smaller size, (2) emphasizing the runners, (3) the making of type.

By KC

Photo Shoot of Great Eastern 30km

With concurrence from Pacesetters Club Exco, we will go ahead with photos shoot detailing the course for 2007 Great Eastern - Pacesetters 30km run (on 21 January 2007).

I actually got the idea from Kuching Marathon (held in March 2006). An improved version is to include runners in action while showing the course. The photos are useful for non-local runners in deciding whether to enroll in the run after viewing the photos of scenic course via Internet.

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I have identified the following model runners (all the leng chai and leng lui) for photos shoot this Sunday 8:00 a.m., 26 November. We will drive cars along the 30km route and take photos at the scenic locations. So, if you are running within the vicinity, you are most welcome in supporting us.

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Project Code: 2007GE30
Producer: Not available since it is self-financing
Models (guys): Jason Chin, Eric Teo, Wong Jin Hun
Models (gals): Chantelle, Maryann, Yee Hua, Sheryl
Photographer: Jason Lee
Equipment: Nikon D70s dSLR
Ke-le-fe: Yours Truly (cum Transport Manager, stand-in crew, self-proclaim Director)

I have identified the following scenic locations for photos shoot:

1. Start: Road adjacent to Padang Merbuk, Jalan Parliament
2. Uphill slope
3. Belvedere Condominium
4. Tijian 2 Condominium, Jalan Langgak Tunku
5. Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan
6. Shopping Complex, Jalan Sri Hartamas
7. Petronas, Sri Hartamas
8. Return Journey: Uphill run at Jalan Dalaman Tunku
9. Small Round-about, Persiaran Tunku
10. Wisma Tani, Jalan Sultan Salahuddin
11. Junction of Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin
12. National Monument
13. Lake Garden

To add variety, the runners will run in following formation: V-shape, In-line, abreast, double-pack, random arrangement, etc.

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To Lensa Malaysia photography friends, if you are interested to join in the photo shoot, kindly give me a call at 012- 266 8166.

By KC

Awesome View of Everest

Please click at the link below to view the spectacular and magnificent photos of Mount Everest. The following three photos were extracted from the said web site.

http://www.project-himalaya.com/
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Click "Photos and Diaries", then click at the links and enjoy the photos. Make sure your jaws don't drop in amazement.

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Press F11 key for full scree; press F11 again to return to standard view.

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Imagine that the Magnificent Seven Pacesetters runners were to continue their journey at Kalapathar trek. They would eventually reach the Base Camps of Everest; further up, the Summit.

Special thanks to Wendy Tan (please click here) for providing the Project Himalaya URL link. She has scaled the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters), Kalapathar, a few overseas treks and recently, trekked in Ladakh, India. Her favourite day-trip trekking ground is Klang Gate Ridge -- making and sipping coffee while admiring the scenic view at the peak.

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By KC

Everest Kalapathar Trekking Trip - Part 2

Please click here to view Part 2 (final) of photo album which contains 273 photos of the incredible trekking trip. On 29 September 2006, seven Pacesetters runners went for a 2-week trekking trip to Everest Kalapathar. They were: Francis Toh, Tsu King Poo, Kho, Tammy Lim, Connie Tan, Teresa Goh, Chris Low.

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The Everest Kalapathar trek offers an enduring experience of natural beauty, geological magnificence with the breathtaking views of Everest.

Interestingly, the magnificent peak of Mount Everest is only visible at certain point of Kalapathar treks. All climbers to Mount Everest will have to pass by the Everest Kalapathar trek en route to the Everest Base Camps. The photos give a distorted perspective that strip Mount Everest of its imposing and magnificient height. From where they stood, Mount Everest is about 10km away.

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All photos are by courtesy of Tsu King Poo and the other members of the trekking trip.

We shall plan for a trekking trip. So, are you convinced to trek there next year?

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As I understand from TanAB, a Pacesetter runner who trekked in Kilimanjaro (in Africa) and Kalapathar before, he said the best time to go to Kalapathar is in April and October. The sky in October is most clear (as in the photos above).

By KC

Planning a Weekend Get Away at Sungai Pelek

Work is in progress to plan a weekend get away at my hometown, Sungai Pelek. Sungai Pelek is about 86 km from Kuala Lumpur neighbouring Sepang town or KLIA. Looking at the following photos, the Penguin Runners were all fired up wanted to run there.

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Of course, traveling that takes about one hour must be accompanied by gastronomical delight featuring the renowned local cuisine. The icing on the cake is that there is a beach where we can relax and admire the beautiful sunset.

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Here is the plan:

a) Arrive at Sungai Pelek at 4pm, Saturday

b) Go for a 15km run. I am currently charting out for a scenic and lesser traffic course to the beach.

c) Relax, unwind and enjoy the beautiful sunset at the beach

d) Run back to my parents' weekend house which is about 3km away from the beach. Take bath.

e) Adjourn to nearby famous seafood restaurant for good food, and the price is very reasonable.

We will let you know once we have decided the date. Are you interested to join us?

All photos by courtesy of Jason Chin (penguin-12). The model admiring the setting sun ... eh...

By Chee Wee

Penguin-11

The Last 20km Long Run - 19 Nov

Arriving at Bukit Aman car park this morning at 5:30 a.m., I met CT Hoo who commented that there would be fewer runners this morning. A quick glance at the car park under the well-lit street lights, and I noticed the less than normal cars there. It was understandable as there are two running events going on this morning: Selayang 10km run (in Selangor state) and Ipoh 12km Cross-country (in Perak).

This will be the last 20km long run and tapering to 10km next week. Singapore International Marathon is only two weeks away on 3 December. However, Bangkok International Marathon will be this Sunday, 26 November. I heard from PK Chan that there are about 30 Pacesetters runners taking part in Bangkok marathon.

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File pix taken at KLCC.

For those who are running Bangkok marathon, wishing you a good run and an enjoyable holidays. Oh yeah, not forgetting the shopping too.

There were six of us running in the pack this morning: PK Chan, Weng, LimFW, Jason Chin, ChinYH and I. PK turned into double-hill route (10km) while we continued our journey en route to Sri Hartamas for the 20km training run.

Though it has been raining every afternoon or evening since 21 October, it is always fine weather in the morning which is superb for running. Since we have completed the necessary long runs, it does not matter much if the weather decided to change course and rain in the morning.

Jason Chin (Penguin-12) and ChinYH were running 30km again this morning. They definitely exceed requirements by running 30km on a few consecutive Sundays. Besides, they are fast runners. ChinYH is attempting his maiden full marathon in Singapore. From his training track record with multiple 30km long runs, looks like he can achieve a sub-four hours.

There was a slight problem here. When I met Jason Chin at the Bukit Aman car park, immediately, he told me that he tripped and twisted his leg while running near the Wilayah Mosque area. There was pain near his knee area that hampered movement. Luckily at that moment, Coach Chan Chee Seng (organizer for Triathlon in Malaysia) was passing by overseeing and coaching another group of runners. So Jason Chin went back to Bukit Aman car park in Coach Chan’s van.

We wish Jason Chin a speedy recovery in time for the Singapore International marathon. Together with ChinYH, they have been training really hard for this event.

The Course for 2007 GE 30km Run

While working on the web pages of Great Eastern 2007 30km event for publishing in Pacesetters Club Web site, I realized that the Club does not have photos of the course. I actually got the idea when we signed up for Kuching Marathon in March this year. To cater for non-local runners, they actually drove around the course taking photos in a Mercedes Benz car (recognizable by the 3-Star emblem at the bonnet of the car).

I spoke to the Club President at the Bukit Aman this morning. If the Club agrees, we can then invite a few leng chai and leng lui (handsome guys and pretty gals) runners as models while conducting photo shoots for the course. For obvious reason, I would be the cameraman. Who should be the models? What do you think?

Stay tune for Everest Kalapathar Part 2 photos – almost ready.

By KC

Trekking at Klang Gate

Please click here to view photos taken by KC. The album also contains photos taken by Wendy Tan on different trekking trip.

Date: Wednesday 25 October 2006, Second day of Hari Raya Puasa holiday.
Time: 7:15 a.m. For three hours.
Location: Empangan Klang Gate – Behind Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur.

I pulled the rope to examine its tensile strength. It was tied to the upper rock of 15 feet high. I knew my life depended on it when I must climb up the rock to continue trekking. Looking sideway and downward, I could imagine what was going to happen to me if the rope were to snap or if I were to lose my grip – fell and bounced off the cliff.

I would be like RAMBO as in the movie jumping out of a helicopter high up in sky and using tress as a cushion for his landing in his escape. I would, in this case, plunge down the cliff with bushes as cushion, and the outcome would definitely different from movie.

This photo was taken by Wendy in 2005. Notice the bird in the sky, the white dam and the ridge on the right.

The Ascent

Initially, I thought that Klang Gate is a hill in Klang, Selangor. To my surprise, it is located at Taman Melawati area. At 7:15 a.m. the Team Lead for this trekking trip, Wendy Tan, decided to start the journey. She has been trekking to Klang Gate numerous times. With absentees, there were only four of us: Wendy, Dr. Wong, Dr. Liew and I – for my maiden climb there.

The trail at the starting area was narrow with yellow earth-based path but comfortably for trekkers moving in single file. The ground was slightly wet. The surrounding was full of secondary forest type of vegetation. Along the trail, there were many clearings for trekkers to rest and to admire the surroundings.

I realized that the ascent was tough. Slopes are steep and dangerous. At the rocky areas, a person has to climb vertically upward for about 20 feet making use of all four limbs – with both hands gripping to the rock to maintain balance – posture similar to Spiderman in climbing action. Since I am tall, there was slight advantage as I could stretch my legs for extended length of landing area on the rocks.

The ascent consists of climbing up rocks and then descended for connecting pass to another rock platform. It was just like journey of life: in the process of struggling, we have the ups and downs.

I was sweating profusely amid the climbing actions and my T-shirt was all drenched. I could see droplets of sweats formed on Wendy’s face too. In running, cooling mechanism set in when movement of air is generated during running action, never mind if there is no breeze. Over here, the cooling was solely dependant on body’s internal cooling system.

Judging from the amount of sweat, it was indeed another good form of exercise. However, with the tough and risky terrain, a person has to be fit and with strong limbs. Another important consideration was not afraid of height as there were many occasions that we were actually standing quite close to cliffs.

The View

The view up there was scenic. Looking downwards, there was a lake on the left of the hill, and civilization – Taman Melawati and Kuala Lumpur – on the right. The experience up there was just like in Genting Highland with lots of fresh air, dense and white clouds partially covering the other peaks and the surrounding lower areas.

At about 8:00 a.m., the formation of the clouds at the peaks opposite was like stream of water overflowing and caressing big rocks. From a distance, we could see the top part of KLCC Twin Towers and Kuala Lumpur Tower with lower segment being covered by clouds.

After a heavy downpour the night before, we knew for sure that this time, it was cloud or mist and not haze. It is indeed good to have these basic elements back. With the clear blue sky, it reminded me of a famous slogan when Patrick Teoh, a DJ in the English radio station long time ago, greeted his listeners: “Blue skies and everything nice”. Yeah, the clear blue skies are back and the rain dispelled the haze blues.

The Ridge

I learned that we were trekking up a ridge and not a hill. A ridge is a long, narrow piece of raised land which aptly described the terrain. The rock is actually quartz. The lake is the Klang Valley reservoir created by building a dam with the quartz ridge as part of the retaining wall.

Compare with Gunung Datuk (in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan) and Gunung Irau (in Cameron Highland) that I have trekked before, this ridge is 10 times tougher with many almost vertical slope. What I saw was rocks, stones, pebbles and sand. However, a few of the flat clearings were consisted of yellow earth.

I began to understand better that the rock-based hills always come with steep slope whereas those earth-based hills are gradual in nature and is easier to trek.


Dangerous Spots

There were a few dangerous spots. It was dangerous as there was only a little flat land next to the cliff. The fear of falling down the big rocks and then bounced off the cliff made the climb unsafe. There were three perilous spots only passable with the help of ropes.

Another tricky spot that required a person to hug the 3-feet-wide rock with two hands grapping the sides with little platform to maneuver the body. That was also another delicate moment as mistake could cause a trekker dearly for another extra 20 feet of fall.

While descending a big rock with slight curvature in contour, I could not see where my left foot was landing. I kept stretching my left leg down but still could not get a landing area. That was a tricky moment and I could look like a Spiderman froze in action. I have no choice but to call our heroine, Wendy, for help to give instruction as to where the landing area was.


Wendy Café Peak

While resting at the peak, Wendy started to unpacked her backpack. She brought along a mini gas stove, mini kettle and started boiling water. She was most kind to make Overtine, White Coffee with those 3-in-1 sachets and offered us the drinks.

Making drink, drinking it while relaxing and admiring the view was indeed a simple way of enjoying life. It tasted exceptionally good after all the hard work of carrying the utensil, water and material and making it up at the peak. In appreciation of her effort, we decided to call it Wendy Café Peak.

When we enjoyed our hot dinks, Dr. Liew’s mobile phone rang. He was on-call for duty on the festive holidays, and was called back to hospital to treat a patient. Dr. Wong said that he had left his handphone in the car; when he returned, he told us that there were six missed calls.

The Descent

We started our descent at around 9:00 a.m. On the way down, we met a few groups of youngsters trekking up the ridge. Since there was not much shade, it could be hot in the late morning.

I realized that I was slow; possibly I was cautious with those tricky steps at the rocks. I required to process and decide whether it was my left or right foot to land, and then what was next. I was amusing myself with the analogy I that was just like the computer playing chess game in advanced difficulty mode. The move is only confirmed after waiting a few seconds but we know the processor is hard at work with the indicator light blinking.

Quartz and Gold

As I learned later, Klang Gate has the longest vein of quartz. Most large quartz ridges have rich deposits of gold. In fact, gold is usually associated with quartz, and most of the gold mining activities in the world focus on quartz ridges.

In the 1950s, the British had studied this quartz ridge and they were disappointed that it contained zero gold deposits. It was a blessing in disguise: for if the Klang Gate ridge has gold deposits, it would have been mined by the British long time ago. We would not be climbing this hill, and the Klang Valley reservoir and landscape would look different.

As one lady avid trekker commented, “I would not want to go back there again. Trekking up this ridge is not only tough but dangerous. I would prefer trekking one which is tough but not dangerous.”

For those who love rock climbing sports, this ridge, in my opinion, is an excellent training ground.

Conclusion

When I was descending from peak, I thought to myself that it was the first and the last attempt in climbing up that tough and dangerous terrain. However, it was just like running my maiden marathon – the negative thought would soon fade away after a few days’ rest. I am now looking forward to the next challenge at Klang Gate again. With the scenic view, fresh air and relaxing at Wendy Café’ Peak, it was worth all the effort and risk.

By KC

Chin Woo Biathlon

By Eric Teo (penguin-10)

With the Deeparaya holidays and not much running events during Puasa month, it was indeed welcoming news to know that the much awaited, once-a-year Chin Woo Biathlon is on. This year, it was brought forward two months early on 29 October 2006 compared to the previous year which was held just one week after the Singapore Marathon in December.

All the leng chai and leng lui: Chong Yin Fook, Yan Tuck Wing, Ong Siok Leng, Yeoh Siew Choong, Eric Teo, Heng Jim Peng.

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The race was organised by Chin Woo Athletic Association Selangor in their own swimming pool and limited to 100 participants only. Four categories of events: Kids (7-10 years), Teens (11-14 years), Opens (15-30 years & 31-40years), Veteran (41 & above).

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The race was to swim 800 meter & run 7km (for Teens, Open & Veteran category) whereas Kids category only requires to swim 300 meter & run 2km. We are to swim at the 25 meters length (the shorter side) pool which requires us to swim 32 laps, and two swimmers in one lane.

The race started at 0730am with Kids, Teens, Opens & then Veteran categories with interval time of 20 minutes in between to allow the category swimmer to finish their swim before the next category start off.

Each top 3 category was further presented with a nice crystal trophy.

In the running segment, the runners ran towards the main road and onto Jalan Maharajarela. The finish line was at the car park of Chin Woo Stadium.

That was the maiden attempt for Ong Siok Leng, Yeoh Siew Choong, Chong Yin Fook & Yan Tuck Wing; second race for Heng Jim Peng; third race for me.

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It was a pleasant outing for everyone as all did well within the qualifying time (ie 2 hours) to entitle them a nice crafted Chin Woo Biathlon Finisher medal. Overall, we were quite satisfied with the race.

By Eric Teo

Everest Kalapathar Trekking Trip - Part 1

First album is ready. Please click here to view 300 photos detailing the journey by following Pacesetters members from 29 September 2006: Francis Toh, Tsu King Poo, Kho, Connie Tan, Tammy Lim, Chris Low and Teresa.
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Comments by Connie Tan: Kalapathar is lovely for nature lover due to the beautiful scenery, mature walking path, lovely teahouses, great great Mount Everest view and the snowcap mountains. It is a paradise and a good place to relax your mind and soul.
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Work is still in progress to work on second album which contains another 300 photos. The second album shows glimpse of the manificent Mount Everest. Stay tune ...
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Well, fellow runners, shall we trek there next year? Bring along running shoes, maybe we can do a 10km run there also. How about that?

By KC

Photo Excerpt of SJ 10km Run

The following photos were selected from the photo albums taken by Chan Wing Kai, Jason Lee and KC during Subang Jaya 10km run on Sunday, 5 November 2006.

Please click here to view a total of 400 photos taken by them.








By KC

Pacesetters 30km Practice Run

Please click here to view photos taken by KC and Weng.

Runners were pleasantly surprised to know that the RM3 registration fee was waived as the breakfast and drinks were sponsored by Nike. The process of registration was merely just written down own name and a PowerBar was immediately dished out. As one runner asked, what if the repeatable process was done a few times, that would able to receive a few PowerBars. Good (or bad?) thinking.

The turn out was good. There were many runners present for the 30km training run in preparation for Singapore International Marathon (3 December 06) or Bangkok Marathon (one week earlier).

At about 5:15 a.m., a special aerobic workout instructor from Nike led the warm-up and stretching exercises. As I could see, he emphasized on stretching the legs. In my opinion, that was a correct way; forget about exercising the neck and hands.

There was a short briefing by Rustam, an Exco member. He emphasize that it was only a practice run and not competitive in nature. He also stressed on the importance of safety of runners when crossing the busy Jalan Duta highway.

At 5:30 a.m., the practice run was flagged off. It was a superb morning for running as after the previous day's heavy rain, the air was cool and fresh. There were little white clouds up in the sky illuminated by the available light.

As usual, there were two water stations strategically located at Government Office and Sri Hartamas points. The course between these two water stations was like international water with many runners plying around this area. We were happily exchanging pleasantries when meeting our running friends in the opposite direction.

Due to different speed, my other usual running buddies were dispersed. I was glad to meet Kenny Tan at the 16km mark. I realized that our running speed was quite similar, and we exchanged many news and stories on running. We actually chatted all the way till finishing point. That helped to make the run easier and pleasant.

Back at Bukit Aman, most runners were enjoying themselves with the light breakfast sponsored by Nike amid talking to their friends. There was a short briefing by Nike and most runners were listening attentively.

Well, count down to Singapore marathon: 3 weeks' time.

By KC