Siemens 10km Charity Run 2008

Calm before the start ...

Work is in progress to process photo albums by courtesy of Jason Lee; stay tuned… Photos shown here are taken by Jason Lee.


This morning, Sunday 6 July, I participated in the Siemens Charity Run 2008. The turnout was very good with about 3,000 runners at the starting point, Dataran Merdeka.
L-R: KC, Chiew Hong, ChinYH, Weng, Yee Choi

It is good to be back again running in races. It must have been more than two years since my last race. Let see… that has to be the Singapore International Marathon in 2006!
Aerobic session conducted by Fitness Concept

There was an aerobic session conducted by Fitness Concept at 7:00 a.m. before the start of the race. The three instructors demonstrated the flawless, fast-paced and energetic steps to the runners at the Padang. When some of the runners could not follow the rhythm, they performed their own stretching exercises, that included yours truly.
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Sea of runners

I met quite a number of runners: Chee Wee, Meng, Albert, Tey Eng Tiong, Peik Yah, TC, AB Tan, Ming, Tony Q, Josie Yap, Teresa, May Ching, Ben, Yee Hua, ChinYH, etc. Five of the ABC trekkers were there – PK Chan, Lok, Yee Choi, Chiew Hong and Weng. For Chiew Hong, he is determined to train in running to be able to take on the next Everest Base Camp trekking (October 2009).
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Go! Go! Go!

One advantage of running at Dataran Merdeka is that we are just a stone’s throw away from the clock tower. When the clock struck at 7:30 a.m., the race was flagged off. The organizer even engaged live band to lift up the mood of this event.

Since this is the first race, I just took it easy. For the first 3km, I just run in a very comfortable pace among the crowds. After the first 3km, I tried to increase the stride and pace a little, overtaking quite a number of the runners. With the superb cushioning from the Adidas Response CSH 16 running shoes, impact with the tarmac was the least of concern (as not to cause another heel injury).

So after the 6km, I tried to increase my pace a little more. Maybe it has been a long time that I did not push myself into that fast pace – my mind was willing but my body was not performing. I could not sustain the distance and I slowed down to a comfortable level again.
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Yours truly (KC)

The route: at the Bukit Tunku (Kenny Hill) area, basically, it is using the usual 7km route. The difference would be an extended run to Pertama Complex via Jalan Raja Laut and returned by Jalan TAR. It was such a fun stretch between Sogo and Dataran Merdeka: many cheerleading teams and groups playing drums and musical instruments were stationed there. With the loud sound and cheers, the mood of the entire stretch was lightened up by the cheerleading teams amplified by the echo from the building at both sides of the road.

Everything was perfect: the event was well organized with amble water stations – five of them; the route leading to Bukit Tunku was quiet and peaceful with no vehicle; the traffic was well managed by the policemen. Yes, that was one of the races that have cheerleading teams for the much needed energy boaster at the last 500 meters to the finishing line.
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Musical parade at the Padang that attracted much attention

Much to my surprise, my timing was 48 minutes. I would expect to exceed 50 minutes. Anyway, as most runners would agree, the distance was shorter than 10km. Since it is just a charity run, all runners accepted the outcome happily.
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Standing in the starting barricade waiting for the race to start; surrounded by the runners in jovial mood chatting with their friends; chatting with my fiends with the latest and interesting happenings; it is worth all the effort to wake up early on a Sunday morning to run in this race.


Written by KC