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Logo of the 2005 SBR & AHM : Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon
The 2005 SBR and Army Half-Half Marathon
What a blasting day i had today. Woke up early in the morning for the Army Half Marathon. Wore my Guards running attire and my dad was so kind to fetch me down to the Padang whereby i joined my Comrades in arms to run for our formation. There were people from other Formations walking around, the OCS people in their gaudy and rather ugly Purple overalls and the SISPEC people in the army PT vest attire carrying the SISPEC flag. Of course you'll expect the other formations like Commandos, Armour, Combat Engin etc to be there.
But Guards was big and well, the 3 Guards people were basically warming up as one big unit, leaving us 1 Guards people by the side.
Buggarts.
And so the run started, more like a slow walk for the first few hundred meters due to the mass of people starting off at one go. Then the pace finally took off and we were soon running. I ran with 3 other cadres of mine, Eric, Yi Ru and Ihsan. We found a good pace and tried to consistently hold on to it for the semi-long route ahead. We ran up and pass Benjamin Sheares bridge, passing by the CBD in the process, then we turn out at Kallang Indoor Stadium, then National Stadium, finally as we neared Kallang Basin, we took a further run down towards Marina Promenade. Whereby we ran the outskirts of the Singapore River towards the Esplanade and finally turning out along Nicoll Highway to end at the Padang.
Running in twos and in a cube, we kept in pace, the sound from our shoes pounding the ground in unison must have left a rather "whoa" impression in the people that ran beside us. Wearing our white and Maroon Guards running attire, could feel "wind" behind us somehow lah. Hehehe, we are afterall, Elite Warriors
And as i ran past OCS cadets, i cannot help but feel a sense of pride and achievement. Soem were visibly struggling, i mean, some only....others took it well i guess.
Our pace must have been quite fierce as we were soon somewhere near the front. Of course i nearly died along the way, but the 4 of us kept encouraging eachother. A very good experience i'll say. As we neared our end point, under the Benjamin Sheares bridge, just 2 km to the finishing line, the 3 Guards people once again wanted to wayang, so they gathered all the Guardsmen, be it 1 or 3 Guards, to run as a formation. so we broke our momentum to wait for the rest....and the thing was, cause 1 Guards started a lil late and we were in front, we waited too long, by then the 3 Guards people were almost all there and they started off. Damn buggarts, they spoiled my run with my 3 cadres, we didnt have to stop, they made it seem like a guilt trip if you didn't. So we did. But in that time i managed to catch up with Andre who is in OCS. =)
So i completed the last 2 km with much difficulty, my legs having rested a lil too long, my thighs were cramping and it became a real struggle, but after about 300 plus meters, my legs were warmed up sufficiently to dash the last 1.5km through to the finsihing line. Great running in wearing the Guards name on my chest.
Guards! Woohaha! Really dashed in to finish strong. A Photographer even took a picture of me running in. =P Heehee....
I enjoyed the run tremedously, cause first of all, the route was very good, scenic with nice breeze along the way, being able to run side by side with my fellow cadres added the "OOOOoommmph" factor for today's run, and best of all, being able to run wearing the Guards attire made the run even more meaningful for me. But essentially, what made it all the more better was because i pushed myself hard for today's run and i know i did my best, so when i ran pass the finshing line just in front of the Padang, i felt wonderful
I do not confess to be a good or strong runner, i did struggle during the run, stopping a couple of times to walk a lil to ctach up on air or to drink water. But the fact that i started off the run without thinking of chao-kenging or slacking i felt, proved my commitment to want to better my fitness level. I'm still slow as compared to many of my cadres, but i'm willing to try and be faster by pushing myself harder and longer. Something which i did today thanks to the help and encouragment of my 3 fellow running cadres.
Guards! Hooah!
At the carnival, i bought 2 Guards iron on patches and a Combat Engineer one for my brother, he was somehow very happy about it. =P
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Though it was only 12Km and not 21Km (making it a Half-Half Marathon), it was still a great feeling because i felt i exceeded myself today by pushing myself hard during the run to keep pace with Eric and Yi Ru who are essentially, very good runners. But still, the highlight of the day apart form the run was catching up with alot of my friends who are in different formations, met Sean, Tze Qin, lots of them. Went back with Sean and we talked about our different army lives so far, he is an Armour Engineer Specialist, so he is a tankie commander while i'm a Guardsman to be. Interesting how the army allows you to take different paths.
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Reached home at around lunch time, had my Subway sandwich, watched Hamburger Hill then unwittingly fell alseep. till now. Lol, tiring day, but overall a good day as well.
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Arrgh, i wanted to call her in the evening to wish her luck for her prelims tomorrow, but i was asleep! I pray that her paper tomorrow will go smoothly.
=)
Oh well, booking in tomorrow for the another week of training in 1 Guards, its getting tougher from now on, we're having PT mroe regularly now and i'll expect us to be running 15km this week. Timed of course. My legs are tired and painful, but i always believe, it is only with Pain that we are able to feel alive and know that we are alive.
Once again, GUARDS! HOOAH!
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..:: Semper Paratus, Sine Mora ::..
