Junior Spartan Race 2015

With limited obstacle races available for both adults and children, we welcomed the inaugural Spartan Race to the racing calendar. Started in 2010 in the United States it was quickly franchised internationally finally reaching the shores of Singapore this November.

Our Little Leaguers Trinity, Justin and Leo had their first taste of an obstacle race in May when they completed the 1.5km and 3km Energizer Obstacle Race. Six months on and they were super excited about another opportunity to climb, crawl and run their way through another course. This time they were joined by siblings Emmanuel and Stephanie and our littlest princess, 4 years old Michaela.

Split into age categories Justin at 8 years had to complete the full 1km course. Trini, Emmanuel and Stephanie were in the 5-7 category who completed the 1km as well but not the full course. They raced the 0.5km course by completing it twice. Michaela and Leo at under 5 were joined by their mummies, Angela and Michelle (the only category that made parent participation compulsory) to complete the 0.5km course.

All the kids were in the morning sessions, taking off at 20min intervals in their age specific category. Michaela and Leo were first off the ranks. A bit of mayhem ensued with large numbers of children and parents tackling the obstacles when somewhere along the way a parent was injured falling off an obstacle. We couldn’t understand why the parents had to participate in the obstacles given that they were designed for children’s sizes and not adults.

   

 

Whatever injury was sustained by the adult, it took a while to get him off the field thereby delaying the following waves by 15 min. The 5-7 age category had parent participation as optional but given what happened with the previous category, that option was scrapped. All along my daughter thought one of us will join and in the last minute we had to explain that she was doing this race by herself making her a little scared at first.

Couldn’t miss her in this field of orange.

As John and I made our way to the side of the course to get a better view of our girl we were grateful she chose not to wear the race tee as she was easy to spot in the distance and easy to follow on the course. She was doing remarkably well in conquering the obstacles, grinning ear to ear.

The course started off with quite a lengthy prone crawl exercise, followed by a couple of A-frames and then onto climbing cargo-nets. The next three obstacles consisted of “Over-Under-Through” series of obstacles in which the kids had to first climb over a wall, then under a wall, then through a square hole placed in a wall finishing off with a final sprint.

Justin’s course was slightly different in that he had a couple of extra obstacles after his prone crawl exercise and longer distance to run. He had to carry a sandbag for a distance, followed by another prone crawl through what might have looked like a black tunnel. Whilst the sandbag obstacle tired him out somewhat, just like any kid who loves crawling about once he resurfaced from his tunnel he was off and running at full speed again.

   

   

  

Within a couple of hours they were all done. With finisher medals in hand, it was time for some much needed lunch and then off to collect the Santa Run for Wishes race pack.

 

As adults we can be more judgmental about the disorganisation of an event such as the mess up with the scheduled waves, race tees for the kids missing and inappropriate location for the race pack collection. The tees had to be collected on race day waiting in appallingly long lines in the rain. However, as Michelle put it the kids had a lot of fun with it and whilst a bit messy and disorganised she would let them do it again. I happen to concur. Hopefully by next year the event organiser will have ironed out the kinks for a smoother operation.

Trinity also wanted to capture the essence of her race in writing and have it published like her mummy. So below is her take on her experience, in her own words (except mummy fixing spelling/grammar errors).

My Spartan Story

It was today, November the 15th.

I was the only purple tee kid there. I loved the Spartan race because of the obstacles. You had to crawl under ropes and you had to climb over a fence and over spider ropes. You also had to climb over a straight fence, then through a window then crawl under another fence. You had to do two laps of this race in my group to get your medal.

After the race we had lunch, got some ice cream and then came home.

Trini and Justin

Top 10 Running Series #8 – Green Corridor

I may sound like an eager-beaver or seem like a kid in a candy store but I’ve waited eight months to do even a small portion of the Green Corridor.

Initially registered for the 2015 Green Corridor race, it took place a week after my nasty ankle injury during the Urbanathlon and with that I figured I have to wait another 12 months till the next Green Corridor official race.

Thankfully for one reason or another Team Costa Green Corridor run kept being rescheduled and just as well given how keen I’ve been to run this area but unable to for months due to my ankle rehabilitation.

Keen and willing I joined the usual suspects, Chris, David, John and Michelle along with newbies Angela, Cindy and Sven.

It was tough matching this kind of enthusiasm.

Starting off at the Silat Walk entrance the group quickly broke off into groups with relative running skills. Group 1 consisted of Chris, David, Michelle and Sven. As 5/km pacers they took off and left the rest of us in the dust. Angela and Cindy were Group 2, who maintained a casual and easy pace, whilst John and I walked a couple of kilometers till he found an exit and left to meet us at the end.

Left on my own with a camera is never a good thing. Just like Fort Canning, I was easily distracted by my surroundings and instead of focusing on running it was always “just one more pic”.

The Green Corridor was my first trail run and I found myself in two minds. One that it was fun, interesting, challenging and on the other, tough on the legs, not sure I like it, why did I think this was fun? The challenge was more because I had to watch my ankle that is about 80% repaired or maybe it was those really thin trails gouged into the earth by bicycles. Either way, I remained on the fence on whether I liked running trail or not.

I did however sign up my family for the 5km Compressport Rail Corridor race and it’s a great way to get my 7 years old kid to experience the corridor whilst getting a shiny medal at the end. John and I are also committed to the 10.5km Green Corridor. How could we not; it’s the Grand Finale and the face of the Green Corridor will be forever altered once the Murnane pipeline has been constructed.

What I enjoyed the most during this run was my green surroundings. Best described as “a mix of secondary forest, grasslands and small scale farms, interspersed with railway bridges, preserved railway stations, canals, streams and marshland”, this thin rugged piece of land runs North to South right through the heart of Singapore for a total of 24km.

It’s quiet, it’s green, it’s lonely whilst all along I am running alongside a major road on one side and HDB flats on the other. Yet you think you are in the wilderness. A very green one.

I was utterly surprised when I came across the first lot of graffiti in Singapore. Then Angela informed me that there are designated and approved areas for graffiti. Well that explains a lot.

I also recall walking beneath a low slung overhead road-bridge. It was so dark, I thought “no way would I trek through here on my own if I were anywhere else in the world”. That says a lot about the safety of this country and why I love raising my girl here.

The route that led us to breakfast was 6km long, of which I ran 4km on my own. Angela and Cindy waited for me at the end and together we found our way to Baker & Cook near Holland Village for a feast. The rest of the gang was so fast, they added another 4km to their route and still managed to get to breakfast before us.

This run was like a taster and I envision one day in the not too distant future trekking the full length of the Corridor with my brother. He needs to make a quick trip just for this, well before mid-next year anyway.

Cheers.

Great Eastern Women’s Run 2015 – 10th Year Anniversary

From humble beginnings of a mere 3,000 participants, the 2015 Great Eastern Women’s Run (GEWR) celebrates its 10th year anniversary with a participation of 17,000 women. One of the largest races in Singapore it draws women young and old, local and foreign across three major categories: half marathon, 10km and 5km.

My debut in the GEWR was in 2014 as a running greenhorn with only three months experience under my belt. Whilst I completed a 10km run back then, this year I settled on 5km as I continue to heal my fractured ankle that happened way back in March.

Joined by friends from the Team Costa group we were grateful the haze has abated so that we may have a good and enjoyable race. Given nearly two months of air pollution and limited outdoor training opportunities, quite surprisingly multiple personal bests have been accomplished.

  

With a familiar route and a sea of red tees, Michelle, Lisa, Caitriona and Avni tackled the 10km route, departing the Flyer past the F1 Pit onto Nicoll Hwy, returning via Republic Boulevard to finish off at The Float.

Michelle knocked off a minute from last year’s GEWR race to finish off in 54.53min and in 39th place. Those bi-weekly 50km cycling outings are definitely paying off. For Caitriona, this is her first GEWR but when compared to her 2014 SCMS race, she shaved off 9min on her 10km. Lisa is no stranger to GEWR having completed 5km last year, however, she is a total newbie to 10km distances and she marked that well with GEWR’s 10th anniversary, finishing very well at 1:09hrs. Lastly, Avni is no stranger to races or long distances. With legs of steel and sheer determination she crossed the finish line in 58:48min.

 

 

Photo credit: Running Shots (thanks guys always doing a great job)

Forty minutes later the second half of the Team Costa ladies were flagged off for the 5km category. Vika and I were joined by Angela, Wizzy and Kate who are new to GEWR. I lost sight of Vika after a couple of hundred metres and not surprisingly she finished ahead of the rest of us in 32min.

 

Angela did quite well given that she’s never run in any SG event before. It’s not easy handling the humidity here, so she did quite well for someone who hasn’t trained and still managed to finish off in 36min.

Wizzy and I maintained the same pace for the first couple of kilometers until her fitness outdid mine and the gap between us just kept widening. After the 3rd km I didn’t see her in the crowd anymore. With a finished time of 36.34min, I was only half a minute behind her. It was a good yardstick for me. I’ll be chasing you again Wizzy.

With regular 6km jaunts to our local mall, Kate is a solid walker with GEWR being her first exposure to a racing event. Whilst walking alone can be calming and solitary, I think Kate enjoyed the atmosphere and camaraderie of the group and overall event.

 

To celebrate a race well done we met up with friends at Cafe Melba for a seriously good breakfast and some great company.

My staunch supporters

Team Costa feasting

In overall, GEWR was a great event, well priced at $31, with tonnes of goodies in this year’s race pack and a nice gold finisher medal commemorating their 10th anniversary. Thanks GEWR and see you next year.

Race pack goodies