Urbanathlon Obstacle Race [14km / 9 Obstacles]

Whilst the 2015 Urbanathlon didn't end well for me, what with a fractured talus bone and torn ligament 200m from the finish line, it didn't deter me from returning in 2016.

Right up till the last obstacle, I was having a ball with John keeping me company throughout it all. The injury was just sheer bad luck for me, that took several months of healing, followed by endless physio sessions. However, it took me no time to register again for the 2016 edition, and with the usual level of excitement we joined the Urbanathletes for another round of climbing, running, crawling and everything else in between.

Somewhere in my cleverness I suggested we take a seat instead of wait near the pen not thinking how many athletes have joined the event and how many waves will take-off before we get our turn. We ended up in wave 13 and started 33min after gun time. We won't be doing that again.

Starting-off pretty well we reached the Tanjong Rhu condos to be met with our first obstacle. A 6' foot wall, followed by a sloped wall, followed by what had to be an 8' foot tall wall.

The distances between each wall were quite narrow. We had to ask others to move out of the way so we could get off the top of the first and second walls. It also diminished the momentum needed to sprint up the wall. Given that John had to hoist me over the first one and pulled up the second, when I saw the third one, I just said "no way, see you around the corner".

  

 

Sporting a bicep tendon injury from a gym workout limited my ability to rely on my upper body for this obstacle and the forthcoming ones.

As we rounded Tanjong Rhu, I expected to run towards the Marina Barrage but the route was altered from 2015 and found ourselves beneath Benjamin Sheares Bridge for Obstacle 2: Side Walk. Reasonably easy at the start once I hosted myself up. With each section the setup changed and became more reliant on core strength and balance. The last section had my hands and feet only a mere 20cm apart making my body top heavy. I was quite worried that I would topple over and land on my head. So, I tightened my body, hung on for dear life and crawled to the end.

   

John being naturally athletic found it easier and figured walking as if on a balance beam would be quicker and easier than my approach not realising how wobbly the frame was.

  

From here we had to climb 5 storeys of stairs onto the bridge. I absolutely hate stairs as I inevitably end up completely out of breath. It was worth it though just to absorb the views of Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, Marina Barrage, Singapore Flyer and the bay area.

Descending the bridge we came across Obstacle 3: Swinging Fortunes. They were swinging alright. Climbing up on the truss and swinging like a monkey was definitely not for most girls. Fully reliant on upper body strength, I took one look at it and said to John, "I'll be on the other side taking photos". He made this obstacle look easy although he said it was tough holding onto the thin rods. Even with gym gloves the rods were slippery.

  

And then there were some more stairs and incline running on Bayfront Bridge towards Marina Bay Sands promenade. From here it was km after km of running with no further obstacles for about 4km. Not particularly interesting and by the time I reached the 8km mark I've had enough. With my energy bank emptied we ended up walking actually I think more like trudging.

We ended up so slow that when I wanted to give way to a cyclist to pass us he said "It's Ok, I'm the tail cyclist". With shock-horror on my face intermingled with amusement I asked "What?! Are you saying we are the last ones?", "Yes" he replied. Well I've never brought up the rear in a race before.

 

An I had enough moment

The upside to being at the end is that you get the obstacles all to yourself. It was like our own private playground. By this time we just chose to have fun and maybe even pass the two participants strolling before us and then we won't be last anymore.

   

   

   

When we reached Obstacle 7: The Network we caught up to a few other racers. This one was my favourite last year and again this year. Having fun on these wobbly ropes was quickly altered when I had to climb even more stairs around 13km mark. By this stage I promptly sat down and cursed and somewhere along the way I heard John babbling something about a Vertical Challenge race. I think I sneered at him as I hauled myself up and realised that clearly my legs need strengthening. Maybe I should start with the stairs in my condo. I've got 30 floors to work with. I'll think about it.

   

Perhaps my least favorite was Obstacle 8: Metcon Madness with its 4 stations of cross-fit exercises. I didn't find it interesting. I can go to the gym for these exercises rather than pay for it in an obstacle race. I hope it won't be there in the 2017 edition.

   

  

As we reached the last obstacle, the Flying Fox, we were given the option to skip it which we did for several reasons. One, we didn't want to wait 20min in the blazing sun for our turn; two, holding onto a rope with an injured arm was not a good idea; and three, mostly we just didn't want to get soaked landing in a pool of water especially since the Singha beer tent was beckoning. We had our priorities straight.

Since we couldn't enjoy the after race offerings last year, we made sure we did so this year sweaty rather than wet.

After a measly 2:50hrs (yeah super slow right?) we reached the end and I'm happy to say injury free. We met some nice blokes from the UK and Canada as we huddled under the umbrella in the Singha beer enclosure. We downed a couple of cans before breakfast and had a great yarn.

   

Overall, another nice event and we'll be back for 2017. Hopefully, stronger and fitter this time. You could say we are hooked.

Cheers.

Another ParkRun

After a couple of dodgy races, I was in need of a short run under racing conditions and when you have a few friends joining it makes it so much more appealing.

Whilst not a fan of early mornings it's hard to say no to a ParkRun when it's just down the road from home.

A 15min ride to Fort Road was a good muscle warm-up.  I was joined by Lisa and 70+ other keen runners.

We flagged off at 7.30am and being mindful of my pace, I let the super speedies stampede off into the sunrise.

Having not run for a couple of weeks I wasn't sure how I'd go. My previous ParkRun (#2) I managed 6.30/km pace and was hoping to maintain it for another round.

Every so often I'd check my watch as I found myself working hard cardiovasculary whilst my legs were doing just fine.  I was surprised to note that I was floating between 6.05 and 6.15/km.

Each time I tried to slow down to catch my breath and slow my heart rate, I found it difficult to accomplish.  My legs wanted to go, go, go, my heart was saying, stop, stop, stop.  Like a pendulum my brain would swing between 'go' and 'stop', then another voice would creep in "c'mon you're doing good, I think you can reach a new personal best (PB)", whilst Fergilicious is belting out her music in my ears but I can't really hear her anymore because the other voices have commandeered my mental space.

Grateful to see the halfway mark with Wizzy and Michelle (volunteering this time) cheering me on, I hear "go Lisa go" and I know she's not too far behind.

Michelle & Wizzy volunteering

As I trudged on, the mental debate was reaching new heights.  By this time I knew I could reach a new PB or darn close so even more talking was taking place.

Some distraction came when I mossied up to a group of lads running and stuck beside them for several hundred meters.

One of them realised I was struggling and that I might be part of the ParkRun mob.  He broke away from the boys to be my pacer, encouraging, prodding, pushing and sticking beside me all the way to the end.  I was extremely grateful.  How wonderful to have a complete stranger to step up to help because he wanted to, not because he had to.  There are some truly wonderful people in this country.

I knew Lisa was nearby I just didn't realise
how closely behind me she was.

Shortly after I reached home my results blinged through my email.  I shaved off 1.38min from my previous run and reached a new pace of 6.16/km.  As my third ParkRun, things are looking up as I'm trending faster.  Here's to getting to 30min soon.

Till the next time.

Yep time out, catching my breath.

Marina Wet ‘n Wild and Safari Zoo Run 2016 [5km]

Having experienced a great deal of fun at both of these races in 2015, with a great deal of excitement on my daughter’s part, the family returned for the 2016 editions. Here’s a quick recap:

Marina Wet ‘n Wild

Held once again at the Gardens by the Bay East gunslingers Dodge this Trini, Quickdraw Silv and Johnny the Kid were each lock and loaded with two custom designed green and orange shabbily squirting water pistols. Undeterred by the wet weather the posse returned to the scene of the previous year’s gunslinging showdown.

This year the 5km route was a circuit around the Marina Bay Golf Course as opposed to last year’s 2 x 2.5km loop. Being untimed last year we only completed one loop which was more than enough given the starting and stopping and shooting and refilling. However, having one complete loop this time made it more interesting although more tiring especially being rained on but no less fun.

Also, this year the run was tied in with the Marina Run races as opposed to last year being an event on its own on a separate day. The family activities that provided so much fun last year and made the event memorable were missing this year.

We had a great time because we always do whatever race we engage in with our kid but there’s not much drawback given the changes in their organisation and reduction of after race activities. Remains to be seen whether we’ll be back for the third year.

   

   

   

  

Safari Zoo Run 2016

This might have been the call of the “Wildest Tribes” but fluoro orange tees?? We were like running targets for the animals or maybe we scared the daylights out of them with the brightness of the colour. Perhaps the reason we saw less of the nocturnal creatures this time round (besides the fact that they are nocturnal).

This year’s route was in the opposite direction to last year running through the Zoo first and then connecting to the Night Safari.

I was quite impressed with the three water station on the route. Besides hydrating regularly they were perfect opportunities for my kid to stop and rest.

The baby giraffe distraction was Trini’s highlight, since giraffes are her favorite animals. Mine was the majestic Asian elephant and playful orangutan youngsters hanging on the vines.

We were fascinated by the beautiful white lions restlessly prowling in their den and my favorite white tiger duo resting on a rocky outcrop in perfect view to all visitors.

Trini found the zoo hills a little hard but she always managed to summon extra energy when daddy would challenge her to a sprint to either a water station or the next KM marking. The sprinting games gave us the motivation we needed to pick up the pace and finish 5.3km in 43 min. An improvement of seven minutes from last year.

We were satisfied with the generous offerings of bananas and sports drinks. The tribal inspired finisher medals were another fun design and we think we like these better than last year’s.

One element I was disappointed in was the limited goodies in the race packs. Last year we paid $38 each and besides the tee and medal we also received a small towel in our race pack (RRP in the zoo is $10). A useful item we still use today. This year we paid $48 each. Besides not finding our registration at race collection time, the pack consisted of tee and a bunch of useless vouchers that just end up in the bin. This voucher usage seems to be a common theme this year as we noted after five collected race packs thus far.

We are uncertain if we’ll join next year’s zoo race. It’ll largely depend on the price and value of pack and perhaps my daughter’s big pleading eyes.

   

   

   

   

   

Cheers