Singapore Marathon: Route - Part 6

Please click here to view Part 1 of 168 photos by courtesy of Weng. He ran the full marathon with his camera.

Please click here for Part 2 - 163 photos.

To ensure that the camera setting was set correctly, he even tested it a few weeks before the race while having his training run from Bukit Aman to Sri Hartamas.

Tomorrow, more photos from Pacesetters Club photographer, Chan Wing Kai. To capture the precious moments for the Pacesetters runners, he travelled all the way to Singapore to witness this great running event.

Jason Chin P12, Weng, Mohan, Tan Siew Ping (a Pacesetters runner who works in Shanghai)

Yeah, Nothing is impossible - BRAVO to the maiden marathon runners!

Tony P3, Heng, ..., Chooi Wan, MoCheng, Janet Tan, ChongYF

Ben, Tony, ChongYF, AB Tan, Rustam, TeyET

Raymond Hee (L2), TeyET (R1) and friends

Yeah! It is fun running in this marathon

Water stations are located 1.5km apart

Sunrise illuminating the Eyes of Singapore

The excitment of running a marathon

Rustam, Vice-President of Pacesetters Club

The Esplanade (with the spiky edges, some call it the Durian)

The Antenaa stretch of the route

Lots of water stations and water supply

Yes! Never give up!

One of the attractions of Singapore Marathon - the cheerleading teams

Aisey, they even have live band at the park. Play the song, "The Long Run" by the Eagles or "Born To Run" by Bruce Springsteen, will ya?

Point of turning

Approaching the finishing line - 75 meters to go!

Crossing the finishing in style

Posted by KC

Singapore Marathon: Pre-Race - Part 5

The journey continues... for a mega and much talked about Singapore marathon, even the postings span into second week.

Please click here to view 176 photo by courtesy of Hon You and Jason Lee (album 6 of 6).

Here are the photos taken on pre-race day (Saturday 1 December 2007). Lead by Steven Penguin-5, the runners boarded a mid-night bus and arrived in Singapore at 6:00 a.m. They went straight to Peninsular-Excelsior Hotel, and later went to collect their bibs in the afternoon.

Participation in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 (SCSM or SIM) would not be complete without having to visit the Orchard Road in the evening. They did and they were mesmerized by the beautiful decorative lightings in celebrating the coming Christmas.

Please click here to view 81 photos by Weng
Please click here to view 106 photos by Hon You / Jason Lee

Tomorrow, Weng will take you on a tour of the route of Singapore Marathon with photos taken by him.

Steven P5 and Kelvin - with long list of bus tickets


Going camping? Steven, Josie, Angie Ng, Chee Sum.


Arriving at Peninsular-Excelsior Hotel

Collection of bibs

At the fortune fountain

Raymond, May Sun, Ay Chewn, EngCM, Boon Lian, Josie

Beautifully decorated Orchard Road


Posted by KC

Singapore Marathon - Part 4

Nikon D80 Album 4 of 6... Please click here to view 174 photos by courtesy of Hon You and Jason Lee.

Nikon D80 Album 5 of 6... please click here to view 175 photos.

I shall stop and resume posting on Sunday evening. The followings are still outstanding:

1. Chan Wing Kai's photo album

2. Weng's photo album (who ran his marathon with a camera)

3. Interesting shots

4. Album 6.

My First Marathon

Written by Josie

“Should I eat it or give it away?” I asked myself after getting a banana at the 30km mark. Yeah, I am the lady runner KC mentioned with the banana…….:-) [Scroll down the web pages to locate the funny story in Part 1 of Singapore Marathon] or click here.

I started my run very slowly and cautiously as I didn’t know whether I could last the distance beyond 24km. Why 24km? That’s right. 24km was the furthest distance I’ve ever done in my so-called training for this marathon and also the furthest that I have ever run. I felt a great sense of jubilation as I passed by 20km, 24km, 26km then 30km mark. It was just too good to be true as I still feel comfortable and enjoying the run looking at the scenery, people in the park and all the cheerleaders’ teams.

(L-R) Mike, Jason Lee, Jason Chin, ChinYH, Steven, Boon Lian, Josie, Chee Sum, Angie Ng.

After consuming three packets of power gel and one power bar, the banana that I received at the 30km mark did not look appealing to me. Nevertheless, I took it just the same from the volunteer just in case I need extra energy. You can call it “kiasu’’ attitude…haha.

Ay Chwen, Yee Hua, Yen Er, Angie Ng, Josie, Chee Sum

Holding the banana took my mind of the scorching heat from the sun for a while. I even passed by a sweet little girl accompanied by her father, holding out two little cute bananas (pisang emas) for runners who passed by. As I was getting impatient running and holding the banana for a few km, I suddenly realized how absent-minded I was because I was wearing a Pacesetter pouch, now emptied of any contents. It was a relief as I chuck the banana in the pouch thinking how silly I would have looked if I were to hold the banana all the way to the finishing line in my debut marathon! I suppose that’s what running under the hot blazing sun could do to a runner – the inability to think straight.At Orchard Road on the eve of marathon

Tiredness began to take over after 34km. The intense heat from the sun made matter worst. Even male runners could be seen rubbing sun block lotion on their shoulders to avoid getting sun burn. I kept telling myself that as long as I kept on going, the finishing line will soon be in sight.

Pretty girls and new car

Words cannot describe the feeling when I approached the 150m mark from the finishing line. A feeling of total exhilaration came over me and I dashed all the way to the finishing line. I’ve done it!

(L-R) Jason Lee, YH Chin, Mike, Jason Chin, Raymond, Weng, Chee Sum
(Front) Steven P5, May Sun, Josie, EngCM, Boon Lian, Ay Chwen, Angie Ng.
The 15 of them went in a group

As I sat down to rest after taking my finisher medal and T-shirt, I was overcome with emotions. Tears blurred my vision for a few seconds. It was hard to believe that I’ve managed to survive my first full marathon attempt without any cramps, knee pain or black toes like I did during my trainings and half marathon runs. And I did it in 5 hr 47m 42s.

Written by Josie

Note by KC: Well done, Josie! Congratulation to you for completing your maiden marathon. As they say, if you have the courage to complete a marathon, you will have the determination to take on challenges in life.

Singapore Marathon: Macho Guys - Part 3

Nikon D80 Album 2 of 6 ... please click here to view 172 photos by courtesy of Hon You / Jason Lee. Scroll down the posting to have a glimse of the photographers.
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Ablum 3 of 6... please click here to view 173 photos.

The theme for this posting is on macho guys. Looks like there are many many macho and handsome guys running in this Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 (SCSM or SIM).
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For runners, looks like it is very "in" to have some tattoos on the body. Other than the running vest and shorts, there is vast space for selection and to highlight. There is one 'ang mor' lady runner even tattoo her leg in the Kuantan TC Run a few months ago.

Here are my selection:

Is he Aaron Kwok? The Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong

Light-weight category

Wow! He is muscular
The Komando Runner with fusion of masculinity, fashion and style: The contestant is the famous TeyET of Kuala Lumpur

Yeah! Well Done! He does look like one of the movie stars ... to support the Singapore marathon

Tastefully done tattoo

One of the fast runners... based on the sequence of his retuning to fininishing line




The two photos below are by courtesy of Tey ET (click here). Well, the photographers need another photographer to take their photos.
Hon You

Photographer turn Runner: Jason Lee (red) and his friend happily running in their first marathon. BRAVO!

Posted by KC

Singapore Marathon - MMR - Part 2

Credit goes to Hon You (the photographer) and Jason Lee (for the photographic equipment). BRAVO!

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Nikon D70s Album 2 of 2 - Plick here here to view 147 photos.

Nikon D80 Album 1 of 6 - Please click here to view 191 photos.

Written by MMR – from runner to MARATHONER!

Every marathoner has a story to tell and every story is unique and wonderful to the individual … and this is my little individual story…..

Sea of runners participating in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SIM) 2007

It all started with trembling hands and fingers 5 months ago in July 2007 when I clicked the category for “full marathon” in the Singapore Marathon website … “Just do it lah!” I thought to myself, I had deliberated on this decision for a few months prior to July and after reading and talking to many runners, decided to take the plunge and just do it!

I then downloaded a running program from Runnersworld.com that catered to the individual – it tailors to the runner’s current mileage and time goals and also to the intensity of the work out.

Yeah! Looking Good

Several months of disciplined training and always following the rule of thumb to never increase more than 10% each week and to cut down every 4th week and simply to just listening to one’s body and its reaction to all the added stress of training (rest and relax and cut down whenever necessary), I was READY for my maiden marathon!!

KC my good friend had during my training period, religiously updated his blog with my trials and tribulations under the pseudonym of “MMR – Maiden Marathon Runner”. Writing about my training really helped me as I recorded what worked and did not work for me. It was also my hope that keeping a log would encourage other runners too.

Sure, doubts continued to play in my mind all through the training right up to the week before the marathon and even on the night before the marathon. The mind was simply saying “Are you really up to punishing yourself???” Thankfully, I had brought some of my favorite reading materials on running to calm myself down and I mentally rehearsed what to do in the morning and during the run and most importantly, problem solving whilst in the race.

At the start, I prayed for a safe race and BANG! We were off to loud music and my heart went BOOM! Remembering all the good advice from friends and materials, I intentionally slowed down at the beginning for the first 10km. When I saw all the male runners disappear into the bushes and behind the trees for the much needed “relief”, I wanted to jump off the beaten track and join them too but was a little too embarrassed to do so!!

Toh SL - going on strong and in cheerful mood
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Meeting friends along the way and seeing the elite athletes when they did their U – turns were the highlights of my run.

To assist my race strategy, I had written on my palm the estimated time period (based on my previous races) for the 10km, 16km, 21km, 32km and 42 km marks. I was 2 mins off schedule in the 10km and 16km marks but on time at the 21km mark. I was again off by 3 mins at the 32km mark but was not worried at all. I had decided earlier on to simply run my best, finish good and strong and enjoy the race, a decent timing would be a bonus!

At 36 km, I was beginning to tire and it was getting really hot and the nice scenery gave way to road works and really boring high rise buildings. All I really wanted to do at this point was to drink a lot of water and just roll over and sleep!! A fellow pacesetter ran past me and signaled me to push on and this was great encouragement.

I remembered to “call up” all my reserves to complete the race. Suddenly I heard rapturous sounds and claps and cheers and I realized I was near the end! My la-la team (cheerleading team) comprising of my dear friends and better half (all 6 of whom had earlier on successfully finished their half marathons and waited/returned to cheer me at the finish line) were at the 150 metres mark as planned and they were all screaming and cheering for me! A warm feeling of happiness and euphoria swept through me and I ran straight to the finish line!

4 energy gels, 2 mini sneakers (chocolate) bars, a race strategy that comprised of running and walking (as advocated by Olympian Jeff Galloway), 2 black toes, 5 shades darker from the hot sun, 4 hours 54 mins 59 secs later and I HAVE FINISHED MY MAIDEN MARATHON!!!!! Wow! The feeling is unbelievable as all marathoners know!! You are dead tired, about to collapse and sleep and smell like a tank of fishes but still you have the strength to smile and beam proudly and bend down eventhough your legs are stiff with lactic acid to unlace your shoes and remove the championship chip!!!

Eng CM, Josie, Yeoh AyChwen - proudly showing their well-deserved marathon medals

I attribute my successful completion of my maiden marathon to being consistent, following a good plan whilst being reasonable and able to adjust my running plan whenever needed to avoid injuries and burn out, eating right, planning right for the race and thinking positively and most importantly the encouragement of my fellow runners. I look forward to my next marathon next year!!!!!

Warmest wishes from MMR

Note by KC: Congratulation to MMR – the Maiden Marathon Runner! You have transformed to a full-fledged marathon now. So, instead of the letter “M” that stands for Maiden, the M is now stands for Majestic that you did it impresively in sub-5 hours.

Keep it up! It is the beginning of all other marathon races. Well Done!

There will be special posting for the macho guys. This macho guy with moustache, beard, and dressed in headscarf does look familiar. Can you recognize him... please click here.

SCSM 2007 - Part 1

Please click here to view 141 photos by courtesy of Hon You (the photographer) and Jason Lee (for the photographic equipment). Stay tune for many more photos.
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Note to bloggers: when you use the photos, please acknowledge the source:

a. the photographers (for going all the way to Singapore to take the photos)

b. yours truly (KC - for spending time processing them) and the KC&SR weblog
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The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 ("SCSM" or Singapore International Marathon, SIM) organized by Standard Chartered Bank must be one of the hottest races on earth not because of Singapore’s very close proximity to the Equator; but with almost 50,000 runners participating on Sunday morning, 2 December, the extra heat generated from those highly-charged runners would sure increase the temperature.

Even the runners were real hot! Many were seen running bare top (guys only). Even the thin running vests were considered hindering the smooth perspiration, and thus unnecessary. With the hotness, not surprised that we saw sweat turned into oil.
The super fast Kenyan runners who dominated the top positions of SIM, years after years.

Even the photographers from Pacesetters Club were also influenced by the heat, busy clicking away. I have with me now almost 2,000 photos taken by Jason Lee, Hon You, Weng! And I have not received those from Chan Wing Kai yet.
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Let me share with you three humorous stories happily told to me by the runners:

Story # 1
One of the lady marathon runners in this group, after receiving a banana at around 30km mark, was actually grabbing the big banana and ran until she almost crossed the finishing line in her maiden marathon run. BRAVO! It is good to hear that a new runner crossed the finishing line, no matter what they were holding. It is obviously safe to hold something in hand as the proverb says, " A bird in hand is worth two in the ..."

I would think that the big banana would resembled the baton as in track and field events – holding it actually boosted the confident level and visualizing the euphoric moment of sure crossing the finishing line. Next time, we have to inform the new marathon runners that the banana was supposed to be eaten.
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Story # 2
One of the guy runners in this group encountered leg muscle pain. The pain was quite serious as there were multiple cramps starting from the groin, down to the thighs and to the legs muscles. So, when he saw the Aid Station, he happily asked the pretty girl manning the station to spray the anti-muscle cramp ointment for him. She agreed, but not the groin area. So, he took the spray and sprayed himself. Obviously, his hands were shaking due to the running and the spray got in contact with the "very sensitive part". I could imagine that would fire him up, nullified all cramps and charged ahead.
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Story # 3
Another guy runners in this group encountered leg muscle pain also. So he ran pass the Aid Station and decided to get a little Deep Heat ointment/cream to ease the pain. Usually, the girls at the Aid Station were wearing gloves so that they could squeeze the creams on their hands and the runners would just do a hand-shake and transferred the cream. Wow! That was really a genius idea for swift transmission task. So this runner just shook hand with one of the girls. Touching her gentle hands, he felt that this girl was not wearing a glove. And there was no cream been transferred too. Then he realized that the girl wanted to hand him the Deep Heat cream by not using the standard protocol transferring method.

Written by KC

With chilly red hot running vests

Written by KC

SDTMC Toastmasters

While waiting for the exciting photos and stories from the photographers and runners going to Singapore International Marathon on Sunday 2 December, let me introduce another discipline to you. This time, one does not need to move the legs (or hands) much, as in running, cycling or trekking. You just have to move your mouth only – in public speaking.
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Installation ceremony for Club Officers

Two Saturdays ago, Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club, Kuala Lumpur (“SDTMC”; formerly known as Institute Bank-Bank Malaysia Toastmasters Club – for bankers) celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Coincided on the same evening, the Club officiated the Club Officers Installation for the in-coming EXCO 2007/2008.

Please click here to take a glimpse of the happenings on that evening, with photos taken by yours truly. Other than the solemnity of the occasion, it was also an evening of camaraderie, fun and games.

Miss Yap - sworn in as one of the EXCO

When one achieved 10 assignment speeches, a speaker is awarded the title, CTM that stands for Competent Toastmaster, which we also call it “Can Talk Much” since one would have acquired the license to talk a lot after overcoming stage-fright, butterflies in the stomach, etc.

Applause with approval from the members

SDTMC produces numerous distinguished speakers who are now embarking on the journey as trainers, consultants, international comedian, etc. If you are interested to improve on your public speaking skills, contact me or the SDTMC EXCO for more details. The URL link of SDTMC is located at the left sidebar of this weblog.

Let us drink a toast to the Club

Being one of the past club presidents of SDTMC, I am now taking on a different role as the webmaster of the Club. That sound familiar, right? I am also the webmaster of the most talked about Pacesetters Athletic Club Malaysia (among runners), besides maintaining my own weblog, KC&SR.

Good camaraderie

As you can see, I spent much of my leisure time on the two “…ters” – the toastmasters and pacesetters. In the morning, running around as in pacesetters; in the evening, attending club meetings as in toastmasters. What a unique way to live life - stretching my limbs and brain.

Written by KC