Cutues Runners

Standard Chartered Full Marathon 2007

2007-12-02T17:17:00.004+08:00

The gleaming marathoners (juz 4 of us this year!)

The Gleaming Marathoners' Formation

Slow-mo waiting for marathon to kick off...

CuTues and Chris!

Our Marathon Angels in Yellow!

The Kenyan Champs

Our Yellow Angels setting up the cheering booth

Cheering wand blesses passing-by runners

The full glory of the Angels and the CuTues Banner!!!

Theng on forward lookout for CuTues members. Other remain in the back line, cheering.

The first CuTues marathoner checks in, Wan Chee!

Additions to the cheering gang, Desmond and family!

Wan Chee points to the future marathoner of our group.

Shinwe checks in with a victory pose.

Cheering winged angels.

Pit stop patchwork in progress!!! Impressive!

Cheering continues...

Des checks in to pitstop, to the warm knee massage by Jia Hui !

Standard group pose for all runners!

Cheering shifts to the beach front.

More TLC at 2nd pitstop

Do we look tired?

Yes, we made it!!!!!

A bright ending to our 2007 running endeavours. Check us out next year!!!

Run #8 - 25km Tanjong Pagar to East Coast

2007-11-18T17:00:00.013+08:00

our last practice run for 07!

a quick photobreak at Merdeka Bridge

an empty stadium stretch at 8am

back view of the lone runner

coincident shot of a runner and a cyclist.

Wan Chee at the Fort Rd junction, looking fresh!

Our waterbreak at East Coast

Look at the sky behind us. Morning view at the remote eastern end of East Coast.

Toilet near the Zone G of East Coast.

Wan Chee posterized.

Happy breakfasters at Macs!

A deserving bus trip home after run.

a spanking-new bus 196!

Run #7 - 25.2km Yio Chu Kang MRT to Woodlands MRT

2007-11-11T22:08:00.000+08:00

This time, running commentary by Wan Chee :)

"In spite of the wonderful weather brought on by SW and his sunblock combi, I found this to be a very challenging run. The run started off well but Jiahui felt the strain of her yet to be totally recovered ligament shortly before we reached the first drink stop.

She perserved till we reach Seletar camp where she decided not to aggrevate the condition any further and left us to complete the distance. From there, we ran through the seletar camp and through the wretched/killer stretch of the dam... but this time, it was a breeze since the skies were overcast.

We all ran quite well until we hit our next drink stop...at Yishun , near khabtib bongsu. For me, the next half of the distance was a struggle.....cant explain why my legs felt heavy . The last stretch was really challenging and we reached woodlands at 7pm where we rewarded ourselves with Iced Milo and 100+

enjoy the pics .."

Our running route map

We met 330pm at Yio Chu Kang MRT.

Running group of the day.. at bus stop outside Seletar Camp.

The remaining warriors continuing on Seletar Camp.. after JH left us to nurse her leg.

Taking our 2nd waterpoint break at Blk 285, Yishun Ave 6.

Des with a tired look.

( more pics coming soon... )

Wan Chee 's Birthday Celebration

2007-11-07T21:26:00.000+08:00

We had an Italian-style birthday celebration at Porta Porta. Italian food, nice wine and rich chocolate cake. Followed by a drinking session at WP's place :P. Bon appetito fantastico.

Run #6 - 22.5km Tampines MRT to Toa Payoh MRT

2007-11-04T08:14:00.000+08:00

Yes, a quantum leap in our training distance :). This one promises to be one of the toughest route we will try this year. Think - the endless-looking, nothingness 7km of Tampines Road. :) Here is the running commentary :

Our running route map

We met at Tampines at 330pm this time - this is a longer distance and we sure dun want to end too late :).

Warmups at Tampines. I wondered what the pair was doing with an umbrella under the MRT track beams.

We cut from Tampines to Pasir Ris, running for 6km, before hitting our first waterpoint at Esso petrol station (always grateful for the petrol stations).

We also took the time to do some posing at the Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park - get some light moods on before embarking on the fearful 7km Tampines Road stretch. You can see that we are holding H2O bottles for hydration measures.

What are these (!?) doing in a wafer park ?

We entered the Old Tampines Road stretch.. treacherous ain't it ? We have vehicles roaring right by us, see the picture with JH.

We continued out from Old Tampines Road into Tampines Road. Nothing much to comment here, cos it really is a stretch of nothingness. :)

As tough as the route sounded, these guys looked pretty easy and happy!

Finally, civilization is in sight.

We reached out 2nd restpoint at Kovan.

Water break at kopi tiam, and warming up for the last stretch of run from Kovan to Toa Payoh :).

Finally, we landed at Toa Payoh Sports Stadium for warm-downs. End of run!

Another successfully completed run. Thoroughly enjoyed this one - the challenges, the sights and of course, the Company :). Marvel at our color combination ;-).

Run #5 - 19km Jurong East MRT to Ang Mo Kio MRT

2007-10-28T08:00:00.000+08:00

After a week break due to the Great Eastern Women's Race, we are back to resume our long-distance training runs. Our photo-journey :

Our running route map

We met 4pm at Jurong East MRT and ran along Boon Lay Way down towards Clementi MRT, past Dover MRT and slipped into Buona Vista - a distance of 7km before we hit our first waterpoint at the Esso Petrol Station along Holland Road. The weather was fabulous; it was drizzling really fine rain. Running felt cool and effortless.

Our waterpoint stop at Esso, Holland Road. After the break, we turned into Farrer Road and headed down Lornie Road towards MacRitchie for our next water stop at the Shell Petrl Station.

Waterpoint at Shell along Lornie Road. As you can see, the sky is getting dark...

We continued along Braddell Road, past Bishan and finally ending at our end-point, AMK HUB.

Des coming in the final stretch.. still going on strong ?

What do we earn for rewards ? 5 cups of watermelon juices for 3 of us :).

Great Eastern Ladies Run 10km

2007-10-21T08:37:00.000+08:00

This week, we took a break off long-distance training, as our ladies prepare to compete in the GE Ladies Run.

Our Ladies Team strolling towards the start point in the bright morning light.

Posing at the start line.

Hmm.. i guess we can guess who will finish first place from the start line positions ? ;-)

The race begins!

View of the finish line. It's already 8 minutes and no one has returned yet.

To the finish ... the crossing sprints!

Our finishers!

Yes, indeed.

Symbolic recognition of personal endeavour :).

Cutues at the Docent Bash 2007

2007-10-20T09:18:00.000+08:00

Cutues and the Halloween Night

2007-10-19T09:09:00.000+08:00

It's Halloween at the Night Safari, and we are there to gate crash the party!

But before that... we had a fantastic feast of sting ray, naan and chicken wings at the Ulu Ulu Restaurant to fill our tummies.

Wan Chee befriended Count Dracula.

Us at the Night Safari Ranger Station.

Us with the Halloween Skeleton,

and five ways to torture a skeleton below.

Run #4 - 16km Bishan MRT to Bottletree Khatib

2007-10-13T22:59:00.000+08:00

Run #4 - we maintained the distance of 16km, as most of us didn't complete the 17km the week earlier. For the first time in our running history, we ventured into Upper Peirce Reservoir. I love that place. So, here's the recall reel:

Our running map.

Us doing warmups opposite Bishan MRT.

Our first leg took us 6.5km across Bishan Park into Thomson and finally reaching the entry point to Upper Peirce Reservoir.

We entered Old Upper Thomson Road which is this long and winding road leading to the entrance of Upper Peirce Reservoir. According to some, our Singapore Grand Prix in the 1960s used to take place along Old Upper Thomson Road.

We finally reached the Upper Peirce Reservoir after several up/down hill runs and encountering different families of macaques. Nice view of the reservoir, isn't it ?

We exited the reservoir and headed towards Sembawang for our drink stop.

Finally, we finished the 16km run at the Bottle Tree Village (Yishun). Thanks to the fabulous weather, one of our easiest and coolest run! :)

Some park info for your reference.

Jia Hui's treat at Hua Zhu

2007-10-12T08:54:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Jia Hui's first ( or rather second ) job since graduation with a nice dinner at Hua Zhu :), courtesy, of course, of Jia Hui.

Hee, looks like a family photo.

Look the dishes. Can't remember the dish names, but they are all nice!

Crabs and our lovely Treater

Our table group is too big, so we need to take photos in parts. But check out those huge buns.. :)~~~

Run #3 - 17km Chua Chu Kang MRT - Bukit Batok MRT

2007-10-06T22:44:00.000+08:00

For Run #3, we increased our distance to 17km. We had wanted to warm up properly at Chua Chu Kang, but a threatening drizzle got us on our quick feet.

We ran along Chua Chu Kang Ave 4 until we hit Sungei Tengah road. Along the way, we saw several farms like Qian Hu as well as the Home Team Academy and Tengah Airbase. The route wasn't always smooth, there are some treacherous stretch with no pavement so we precariously shared the roads with heavy dump trucks.

That's us after a gruelling 6.8km Tengah stretch. Getting thirsty.. but expecting no water supply until the 10km mark.

We left Tengah Road and ran along Jln Bahar, past NTU, past PIE, until the petrol station at the end of Jln Boon Lay. We finally got our drink. Man, this is the furthest water point we've had.

We took shelter at the bus-stop to wait for the rain to pass. JH had a fall, so exited the run at the 11km bus-stop point. Des took the opportunity to detour home at the 13km mark. So, leaving WP and me to finish the remaining route. Well, it's still 17km completed for us. :)

Run #2 - 15.5km Mandai Zoo to Kranji Dam Loop

2007-09-30T22:22:00.000+08:00

Run #2 would of course be more challenging at 15.5km. We were to meet at the Zoo for our run at 4pm. Let the pictures do the recalling :).

Our running route map

Fabulous group shot, isn't it ? Run #2 might be the only run where we have our full strength ! :)

Warmups at the Singapore Zoo. Why is JH so far away from us ?

The first leg of our route takes us from Mandai Zoo to along Mandai Zoo and all the way to the bus-stop outside the Kranji War Cemetary. That's our group pose at the bus-stop.

Well, let's just say we enjoy posing.

We turned left from Woodlands Road into the deep of Kranji Road. Life would have been very hard if not for A.J. MART ! :)

WP at A.J. MART posing with our Water of Life.

Finally, we reached our mid-point, Kranji Reservoir. We still look fresh ! WP looked happy and in pain (stitches) at the same time.

We took a long and tiring run along Sungei Kadut, stopping for a break along the railway track. Fortunately, no train passed by when JH manhandled the levers. :)

So what do you know ? We completed run #2 - all 15.5km of it. Yay!!

More 100plus, enjoying our liquid rewards at Des's office.

Run #1 - 14km Bukit Batok MRT to MacRitchie

2007-09-23T22:07:00.000+08:00

We started out long run #1 with a 14km route from Bukit Batok MRT to MacRitchie. Pretty easy route. Check out our photo route below : :)

Our running route map

We met at Bukit Batok at 4pm. Any later and we will end the jog in the late evening.

We ran from Bukit Batok to Bukit Timah road, stopping at the petrol station for our ONLY waterpoint before venturing into Rifle Range Road to reach MacRitchie. No more hydration from here onwards.

Taking a breather at the bridge overlooking BKE. This bridge links the Rifle Range Road to the MacRitchie Nature Reserve. Hmm, did i say we bumped into Sim Wong Hoo here ?

Runners unfazed by the run, still having energy to pose.

We went through the rocky up-and-down terrain of the MacRitchie Reserve before emerging out in the fresh open of the golf course. That's 2 of us in the far distance. Can you tell who ?

Poses at the 12km mark. We have reached MacRitchie Reservoir

Finally, end point. We completed our first Training Run. We were sooooo thirsty.. the 100plus tasted so sweet. :)

Japanese Party (01 Sep 07)

2007-09-01T22:05:00.000+08:00

To celebrate our hard-ran AHM race, we decided to reward ourselves with a massive indulgence of Japanese food with a Jap-themed party :). Also, to celebrate the birthdays of our 3 c.u.tues - ks, jh and sw. Check out our photo story:

Look at the sumptuous spread of sashimi and sushi. Ordered from Sushi Tei. Notice, also, the Sake on far-right-top. :P~~

Our Jap-dressed Kunoichis

Dinner just got started.

Our dinner group pose

The really beautiful birthday cake

The Birthday C.u.tues!

Fun while cutting the cake. The cake was probably too tough for the plastic knife.

ah, nice jelly as dessert :)

Army Half-Marathon 2007

2007-08-26T21:00:00.000+08:00

For the first time, the Singapore Bay Run ( also known as the Sheares Bridge Run and the Army Half-Marathon AHM ) will end at the newly constructed National Day Grandstand and Floating Platform by the Bay. As expected, we took part :).

We 'bunked over' at WP's place so that we can make it for the starting time 0545AM(!) . The run was pretty well organized, except for the finishing point. 1000 perspiring warm bodies in the enclosed, dark shelter of the grandstand was really stifling and suffocating. Lucky we didn't faint from the accumulated stench. :P

We slept over at WP's, woke up at 4:15am (!), washed up, and began to put on our running attire for the race :).

Departing from WP's place - the Cutues runners at the lift!

Sleepy eyes at the lift...

The Cutues runners finally appear on the scene...

Our pre-run warm-up shot

The 19km mark running shot

Cutues at the Finish Line

Shot with Singapore Flyer in the background

Shot with Fantastic Singapore Towering Skyline!

Our Hard-Earned Medals!

Relaxing at the Esplanade Park after the run

Having our sumptuous brunch at Wiener Kaffeehaus at Bukit Pasoh

The night before AHM ...

2007-08-25T08:57:00.000+08:00

What do we do before our runs ? Our tattooing ritual, introduced by WC. Check out our process of tattooing on the night before the Army Half-Marathon ...

Our Tattooing Equipment

Professional Tattooist at Work (as good as those in Miami Ink)

Showing off all our tattoos

Our well-drawn tattoos in full glory!

The number tag craze! :)

Des's Twin Dragons Tattoo!

Herbal Theme Party

2007-08-09T08:25:00.000+08:00

.. National Day! A party of healthy herbalized food. Thanks to Kang Shua for offering his place, the dinner was sumptuous. Check it out below:

Sumptuous, enticing and healthy, isn't it ?

All the happy diners

A nice cake dessert

Kang Shua cutting the cake

Our Hosts for the Party

Finally, capping the night, with a uniquely Cutues presentation

Cutues goes to Ipoh Part 1

2007-07-01T23:12:00.000+08:00

Clocking our first International Group Run, we took part in the Ipoh International 21km Run. This was the first time we had travelled as a group to take part in a run. We had as much fun as we possibly could find in Ipoh :).

Basically, when you think of Ipoh, it will be imageries of local Ipoh food - Ipoh hor fun, ngar choi gai (bean sprout chicken) and lots and lots of dim sum. Which was what we had on the grand day before the run. Let the pictures do the talking. :)

The Cutues team in Sri Maju

Sleepy eyes transit at the 2nd Link

We finally reached Ipoh at 530am in the morning..7 hours ride.

Hanging out at the Ipoh Bus Station's only bench :).

Hunger forces us to attack Hang Keong Dim Sum Cafe at 630am

Pau order

Hungry... waiting for orders to arrive

At 0800am, we managed to drag our dim-summed and sleepy bodies to check in at Excelsior Hotel. Ah, finally can take a quick nap :).

Cutues goes to Ipoh Part 2

2007-07-01T22:35:00.000+08:00

So, we napped for about 1 hour at our hotel rooms before picking our tired bodies to proceed towards the race registration point to pick up our race tags.

At the race tag collection point

Checking out the route

Showing off our race t-shirts outside the tag collection tents

By 10am, we were already hungry for dim sum again (!). This time, we picked our target carefully - the Yoke Fook Moon Hong Kong Dim Sum Restoran.

The wall menu at Yoke Fook Moon

Look at THAT amount of food. Are we here for a half-marathon eating fest ? :P

The waitress brought another massive round of dim sum for us! I mean, it will be rude to refuse ? :)~~~

Cutues goes to Ipoh Part 3

2007-07-01T22:18:00.000+08:00

Okay, so you may think, these runners must be stocking up for the half-marathon in the morning. Part of their standard pre-race carbo loading strategy. They will probably go on light diet in the afternoon and evening before the run. Haha, you cannot be more wrong! MORE FOOOD PLEASE!!

The highly recommended Onn Kee (TauGe Ayam) Restoran

Look at what we ordered - Bean Sprout Chicken!

Authentic Ipoh white chicken!

The signature bean sprouts dish

Let's tuck in. Hungry.. despite devouring two sessions of dim sum

See.. we are really hungry.. not a shred is left.

Sorry, we need tit bits for later consumption.

Cutues goes to Ipoh Part 4

2007-07-01T22:02:00.000+08:00

Well, this is it. Today's the big race - the Ipoh International 21km run. We are not exactly sure if we are ready - after downing 2 dim sum feasts and 1 beansprout chicken spread. But despite what you saw earlier, we are not here for a eating half-marathon; we are here for a running half-marathon :). So here we are, with photos as proof.

The Race T-shirt

As you can see, we are barely awake :)

Sleepy faces outside hotel run.. should we return to the comfort of the bed ?

Our standard warmup pose

The black bands prove that we actually began at the Start Point

The Ipoh 21km race route

Some Ipoh scenery to view during run

10Km mark

13km mark

Nice folks at race waterpoint

Mid-run rest pose.. no problem, we are still fresh ! :)

Finally, we completed the gruelling 21km run!

Finisher's certificate! :)

Gem's bruised knee

Cutues - The Finish Line Pose

We didn't run that day

2007-05-12T16:08:00.000+08:00

Well, i think it was a rainy tuesday or something.. that kind of cool evening that really relaxes your muscles.. and you think, hmm, maybe.. we should take a day off for our weekly tues run :P. And so, here we are at a Jap restaurant opp Chinatown Plaza.

Cast your envious eyes on the sashimi

And the Steamboat (what's its name in jap ?)

Happy Diners

Serene's Wedding

2007-05-05T15:47:00.000+08:00

Us at Serene's wedding at Chef Chan's :).

Cutues go to JBP

2007-04-06T15:38:00.000+08:00

It's running offseason. So, we went on a little excursion to Jurong Bird Park on Good Friday. Yes, took a long time to get this blog back at work again :P. Quite an eye-opener, considering most of us haven't visit the good ol park in a long while. Well, check out our photos :

First Run ( 01 Jan 2007 )

2007-01-02T22:24:00.000+08:00

We did something crazy, unthinkable, out-of-ordinary this year - we started 2007 with a First Midnight Run !! Right after we returned from the fireworks.

Four Not-so-sleepy Runners. The clock behind says "1:10am".

It was a 7.5km run from Tanjong Pagar to the new Marina South Pier and back. New Year revellers were still walking out from Marina South during our run, and we exchanged shouts of "Happy New Year" with fellow revellers as we ran. Somehow, i didn't feel anything amiss, despite not running at all since the marathon. In fact, the adrenalin flow was superbly high; our strides were energetic. :) Not sleepy at all!

It was a really high note to start the new year!

Marina South Pier	Artistic Pose at the Pier Building
Yep, we completed our 1st run 2007!	The midnight warm-down pose

New Year Eve Celebrations ( 31 Dec 2006 )

2007-01-02T19:43:00.000+08:00

Yes, indeed another feast that threatens to upload all those weight that we lost from the marathon. In this spread, we have (1) charsiew-sauced chicken drums, (2) blue potatoes, (3) gorgonzola/apricot cheese with focacia bread, (4) fish curry in hot bread, (5) special-GS mushrooms, (6) olive-tomatoes, (7) veggy salad, and (8) good wine! :) Wow... and we managed to finish all the food.. yum.

After dinner, we chatted till 11pm and then relocated to the construction zone en route Marina South for a far view of the fireworks.

Christmas Celebrations ( 23 Dec 2006 )

2007-01-02T18:19:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas 2006 ! Check out our wonderful preparations for X'mas - (1) pasta, (2) mussels, (3) baked pie, (4) turkey breast ham, (5) veggy salad, (6) cheese platter, (7) fruit cake, (8) crunchy hazelnut feulittin log cake and (9) lotsa wine ! Our dress & decor theme for the night was Gold, Silver and Blue. Lovely night of plentiful funky photos!

Early starters for Christmas Dinner

Christmas Logcake!	Who's that in red T ?
Group-squeeze @ the Gallery	Group-squeeze in the Restroom

Post-Marathon Dinner @ No Signboard ( 13 Dec 2006 )

2007-01-02T13:47:00.000+08:00

Our generous Datuk treated us to a sumptous dinner at No Signboard restaurant - an honoured action of our year-long bet for his marathon timing. The food spread was splendid, and a double celebration - it was also our Datuk's birthday :).

Of course, without fail, we have our next sporting runner pledging on the bet for 2007. Check out the photos :)...

Food Spread 1	Food Spread 2
Datuk's Birthday Cake!	A Cutues Photo
Flashback to Datuk's pledge 2006	LATEST Desmond's pledge 2007 :)

Standard Chartered Full Marathon (42.195km)

2006-12-04T13:26:00.000+08:00

Glorious Finishers!

CuTues team of Angels & Runners

( More photos below )

Finally. It was a good feeling to cross the finish line once again. As Marathon Finishers.

This year, there are 6 of us - Gim Sheng, Wan Chee, Weiping, Shinwe, Gemmie and Desmond. Congratulations to Gim Sheng and Desmond for completing their Maiden Marathon. No matter how you guys think you did, we are proud of you for just completing Number One. Wan Chee and Shinwe did their usual consistent act. Weiping and Gemmie improved their records by a leap from last year!

Running a marathon is always an endurance challenge for ordinary folks like us. When we first started running in 2003, we wondered how we could run a marathon with ease. It is inevitable for ordinary runners to experience struggle and suffering in a marathon, but what can we do to 'up' the ease and enjoyment as well ?

To ease up on the marathon, we have trained as best as we can to prepare and condition ourselves physically and mentally for the rigours. During the marathon, we do all the technical things - stretch at intervals to 'refresh' the legs to avoid cramps, consume isotonic drinks and energy gels to 'replenish' the energy to avoid the wall, and maintain good breathing/running pace to sustain the stamina. When all these are done, then we are left only with our personal willpower to complete the marathon successfully.

What makes the marathon enjoyable then ? For us, nothing beats having a good bunch of friends supporting and cheering us. It was touching to see Serene, Kat, Kangshua and See Hua at Marine Cove. haha. Thanks to our angels for their superb repertoire of COLD drinks, the medical-aid support and their *serious* angelic wings and halos!

Angels & Their Heavenly Equipment

Our 3 Angels

To be able to experience the luxury of a good rest-point in the 25km and 30km stages of the marathon, it added a memorable angle of enjoyment to the memories of endurance in a marathon.

Check out also our Angel's writing on her experience & observations in the marathon.

More Photos Below:

Tattoo fest on the night before marathon

Our Original Tattoo Man	Spiders & Scorpions	Wrist Tattoos
Tattoos intact after run

We woke up by 4:00am on race day. Our pre-run photos!

Our Tattoo-ed Ladies

Setting Off

Race Photos

wp with wings!	sw & wc arriving at 25km mark.
gm at 25km mark.	wp & zx at 25km mark.
des arriving at 25km mark.	sw & wc resting at 30km mark.

Post-run celebrations!

Finishers in the glowing Finisher-T	Relaxed Post-run Photo
Des popping the Victory Champagne !

Our Year-end Report Card

2006-11-29T23:45:00.000+08:00

Yes, the Event we have been training hard for is dawning upon us. 3 days more and we will soon know if the lean training schedule we have trained with is good enough.

We have not run as much this year as we had in previous years - in terms of training, the average mileage among us should be roughly as follows :

Date	Distance	Notes
36 wks	324km	8mthsx9km (short runs)
27 Aug	21km	AHM
17 Sep	11.6km	Train #1
24 Sep	16.6km	Train #2
01 Oct	14.6km	Train #3
08 Oct	19.0km	Train #4
15 Oct	00.0km	Bad haze!
22 Oct	00.0km	Bad haze!
29 Oct	10.0km	GE Women10K
04 Nov	15.0km	Train #5
11 Nov	100.0km	LTAW! (Train #6)
17 Nov	23.0km	Train #7
25 Nov	15.0km	Train #8
03 Dec	42.0km	Final Exam
TOTAL	611.8km

Well, looking back, although we had 2 weeks of bad haze, I thought it was still an amazing training effort for the group. Let's look forward to running a well-executed marathon this sunday!

Training Run #8 ( 25 Nov 2006 )

2006-11-26T10:44:00.000+08:00

Yes, this would be our final long run #8 for the year :

linked from sgroutes.blogspot.com

Warming Up.	Rest point at Labrador Park
More posing at Labrador Park	We finished training #8!

Training Run #7 ( 19 Nov 2006 )

2006-11-19T14:33:00.000+08:00

Our route for training run #7 :

linked from sgroutes.blogspot.com

Warming Up.

Drinks point at Indoor Stadium

Cutues @ 100km LTAW event ( 11-12 Nov 2006 )

2006-11-19T11:34:00.000+08:00

Yes, the 100km Let's Take A Walk was finally over. And we completed the entire walk in 31.50 hours. Kudos! Even we thought it was unbelievable...

Anyway, a blog version of the journey :-

Start Pt, SWAMI	CP1, Kranji War Memorial
CP2, Bukit Batok Hill	Hiding out from rain
CP3, Kent Ridge Hill	Bandaging up at Alexandra road shophouse!
CP4, Delta Sports Complex	CP5, Indoor Stadium
CP6, Bedok Reservoir	CP7, Serangoon Secondary School
CP8, Seletar Camp	Endpoint, SWAMI !

New Routes Home

2006-11-08T22:16:00.000+08:00

Our list of route maps moved to sgroutes.blogspot.com . Check it out.

Training #6 - Cutues goes for 100KM

2006-11-08T00:45:00.000+08:00

Yes, we are going for the 100KM Raleigh walk this saturday to sunday (nov 11-12). The walk starts 7am (Sat) at the SWAMI home ( a nursing home for the aged and aged sick ), goes around the island and ends on Sun at SWAMI home, latest by 4pm.

We haven't been training much for the walk, nor for our run. So we are gonna try to make it. More information on checkpoints and routes can be obtained at http://www.raleigh.org.sg/letstakeawalk/walkinfo.html. The overall map looks like this :

( image is linked to raleigh.org.sg print version of the route )

Our recommended packing list includes:

small backpack to contain things

essentials - cash, handphones

F&B - water, energy bars, snacks, etc

rain cover - poncho/raincoat/umbrella

basic first aid - first aid, vaselin, insect repellent, muscle rub

protection - cap/hat/sunglasses/sun block

1 x bicycle blinking light per pax ( + spare batteries )

1 x torchlight per pax

footwear - shoes+socks or sandals+socks

spares - t-shirt, shorts, socks, towels

optionals - knee/ankle guards, pens, papers, small radio/mp3, fan, powder

Wish us luck! LOTS of it !

Training Run #5 redux ( 04 Nov 2006 )

2006-11-03T00:40:00.000+08:00

Well, the Marina South stretch is always a good location to do long runs. After all, we needed to 'rehearse' the starting leg of the Standard Chartered marathon. Other than the distracting but nice smell of bbq food, the rest of the route was focused, shady and peaceful. We didn't take our first drink until we reached the Singapore Conference Hall.

Click on the route below to enlarge :

After drinks, we took a slight detour to run via People's Park Complex to reach Havelock road. The human and vehicle traffic was quite hectic. But once we crossed over to Havelock road, it was a peaceful smooth route all the way from Havelock road to Alexandra road to Lower Delta Road. Due to fatigue and a little haze, we took a shortcut by turning into Bukit Merah road to reach the Blair shophouses. The overall shortened distance should be around 15-16km.

After that, the party began ! :). Two photos below :

Our 3 Heroines

2006-11-02T13:15:00.000+08:00

Kudos to our Great Eastern Women 10K finishers ! :)

The Last Mile of Training

2006-10-26T20:58:00.000+08:00

I think/hope the haze is gone for good. Caught a clear view of the Singapore River today. Picture-perfect. Haven't remembered this view since a long time.

Oke, distractions aside, let's focus on what's left of the time and try to 'redeem' some fitness and health back. :P I am thinking of this schedule below in the coming weeks *behold* :

Weekend

Run

Distance

29 Oct 06

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Great Eastern Women

10Km

05 Nov 06

'Get-back-our-fitness' Group Run

from WP's Home

21km

11 Nov 06
12 Nov 06

Let's Take a Walk III

100km

19 Nov 06

Last Long Group Run

24km

26 Nov 06

Scale-Down Group Run

15km

03 Dec 06

Final Year Exams

42km

Answer to the 1-Year-old G.S.T(reat) Question Unveiled !

Great Eastern Women 10K

2006-10-26T01:07:00.000+08:00

The date is this Sunday, 29 October. Our ladies will be taking part in the competitive 10km run! Come down and cheer for 'em.

Starting time for 10km run: 7:30am

Start Point: The Esplanade Bridge

End Point: The Padang

Training Run #5 and #6

2006-10-26T00:56:00.000+08:00

Well, well, the weather hadn't been kind to us lately. We missed group runs #5 and #6 due to the 100-psi haze that shrouded Singapore. It would have been hazardous to run outdoors for 3 hours - the soot that I wiped from my car's windscreen a day after carwash is totally *black* :O !

We also tried replacing our 'Tues'day group run with the gym run, thanks to Wan Chee. Gym run was quite alright, although it is difficult to be excited with running at the treadmill continuously for 1 hour, particularly because the view never changes. In fact, I think 1 hour is quite the mental max ( at least mine ) for continuous treadmill run.

Well, hope everyone will keep up the running stamina and fitness with their own training though. Let's hope to get back to our regular group sessions and that it won't be too late by then!

Training Run #5 ( 15 Oct 2006 missed )

2006-10-14T11:49:00.000+08:00

Unfortunately, we missed the planned run below due to the 100+ PSI Haze. Will we be on track for our marathon preparation ?

Click on the maps below to enlarge : ( looks like Blogger has a image-width limit. )

Training Run #4 ( 8 Oct 2006 )

2006-10-05T01:56:00.000+08:00

Thanks to our lucky stars, the haze diminished on sunday - and we were able to run ! Click on the route below to see where we ran :

We started at around 3:50pm. The 5.71km leg from Yio Chu Kang MRT to the main gate of Seletar Camp was quite easy - the trees along the YCK road shaded our run. We had our first drink point at the 7-11 along the Jalan Kayu food stretch.

The exploration started when we entered the Seletar Camp. It was a quiet route, with rows of colonial-type bungalows flanking the sides of the route. As we ran, different breeds of dogs barked - spaniels, terriers, labradors and others. One of the home owners, alerted by the barking, screamed jokingly to us "Run faster !"

As we broke out of the housing area into the green fields, we were greeted by planes that took off from the Seletar airbase nearby. Such was a view rarely seen in urban Singapore. We exited the camp from the West Gate and headed towards Checkpoint 4 at the Seletar Dam.

Another magnificent view of serenity - still water on one side defended by the rock dam from the Straits of Johor. We cleared the 800m long dam, took some photos mid-way and plodded thirstily towards our 2nd drinkpoint along Yishun Ave 11 (Blk 419).

Next stop, we jogged towards Checkpoint 5 - again, it helped that there were trees shading us throughout the run. Checkpoint 5 was another bunch of Kodak moments for us - we took several fun photos at the Khatib jetty.

The Jetty Sign

The Runners of Run 4

Our next stop was the hydration point at the Caltex station along Sembawang Road. Finally, with a final round of hydration, we ran out our last leg of the route towards the end point at Green Meadows/Teacher's Estate near the Upper Piece Reservoir. We ended our run around 6:50pm.

Our rewards : drinks and watermelon juices at the Sembawang Hills Food Centre ( pictures coming ).

Training Run #3 ( 1 Oct 2006 )

2006-09-26T08:14:00.000+08:00

Click on the route below to enlarge :

Training Run #2 ( 24 Sep 2006 )

2006-09-26T07:41:00.000+08:00

Can you guess which thigh belongs to who ? Oke, should be an easy one to spot:P.

Well, we met 3:30pm at Yew Tee MRT, did warmups and started off the run ard 3:50-ish. The 1st stretch from Yew Tee MRT to Kranji MRT was quite light - a quiet route with very low human traffic, except for 4-5 occasional workers cycling in the Sg. Kadut industrial estate. Because of the HOT weather, most of us were quite parched by the time we reached Kranji MRT. On the way between Kranji and Marsiling MRTs, the weather turned cooler. The route, however, took us up a challenging knoll slope before we reach our first waterpoint at Marsiling MRT. We also caught a glimpse of the jockey race at the SG Turf Club :).

Our 1st waterpoint was at the 6.6km mark. We continued on our run along Woodlands ave 1, a cool, tree-shaded route that didn't felt quite like 3.44km. It was then that we reached the toughest stretch of the route - *the Impossible Stretch of Nothingness* - a shadeless, really straight 2.4km route along Woodlands Ave 12 (see map).

Once we conquered that stretch by 'not seeing ahead anymore' (according to some), we struggled into our 2nd waterpoint at the 12.4km mark, followed by a relaxing, slower-paced jog down Sembawang Road to scenic Sembawang Park, where Kang Shua rescued us with his Hundred Pluses.

Check out the route below ( click to enlarge ) :

Run #2 runners

Happy runners :)

Training Run #1 ( 17 Sep 2006 )

2006-09-22T12:21:00.000+08:00

Our first run takes us to the familiar but refreshing route of Mandai. We met at 7am at the zoo despite the heavy torrential rain. It was a gloomy opening to our first training run - one that could threaten to weaken our will and cancel the run. Stomachs were growling, bodies were cold, breakfast was beckoning.

Fortunately, the test of our 'undying desire to run' was over. The rain stopped at 8am and we jumped on this 11.6km route.

Review: This was a fairly easy and scenic route, especially in the cool, misty morning. The running air was fresh and original. The normally hidden Lorong Lada Hitam loop was good to run and explore for the first time, showcasing Orchidville and a few workshops/farms. The only *hard* part in the route was the finish - running up 3 stretches of slopes along Mandai Lake Road on the way back to the zoo. We softened the agony by resting to take photographs along the picturesque and misty Seletar reservoir.

Start/end point	First Run team
Proof of Running This Route	Rest Point - Orchid Ville
Runners' Pose	Misty Seletar Reservoir

Steamboat Party ! ( 09 Sep 2006 )

2006-09-21T09:06:00.000+08:00

Well, it was supposed to be our FIRST Training Run on 10 Sep 2006. But I guess we had so much food and boardgames at Gem's Steamboat Party that we were too tired to go for an early morning run :P. We played these boardgames - Settlers, MAD Magazine and Beyond Balderdash.

The Steamboat Galore	More Galore Spead!
The Feasters!	Oke, we spared the chinchilla
The Serious and the Glum	Cheers. We were kidding ya!

Our First Race - AHM 2006

2006-08-27T17:38:00.000+08:00

It sure feels good ... to be back in action.

Running 21km for the first time this year sure was tiring, but it was a happy experience to be able to run with masses of runners again. Even as a race participant, I felt like a spectator - watching the swinging backs of runners in front, the perspiring presence of runners beside, and the rhythmic gasps of the runners behind. It was surreal to be in the thick of action once again, watching persevering bodies from the darkness of 6am to the lightness of 7+am.

It was a good, well-executed run - for everyone as well - a good measure of how much we need to prepare for the final goal of the year - the Standard Chartered Full Marathon.

Pictures ...

How fresh do we look now ?	Our Pre-run Binge	Banana and Drinks
Still fresh, aren't we ?	Tired legs at the Cenotaph	Smiles nonetheless.

Well, if you want to remember how we looked in AHM 2-0-0-5, just click here - ahm2005.

OUR New Chapter 2006 !

2006-08-26T12:51:00.000+08:00

From kayaking to biking to partying all year, I am glad to say - we are finally back for 2006 !

Our first race starts this sunday at the Army Half Marathon 2006. Let's try to shake off that rust and complete the arduous first race ! :)

Meanwhile, some flashbacks of fun ...

AUGUST - The LAT Event
It's JH's 21st!	The Birthday Gal
The LAT gang	GS - our leg-up man
What a spread - Malay kwei and Nasi Lemak!	The Tropical Food Spread - bagus!

JULY - No Signboard
Jean wishes to have the whole cake to herself.	The NO Signboard gang

JUNE - The MAD Hatters!!
The Cake of Gems	Our Hat Girl
Gemmie wishes to have the whole cake to herself.	The MAD Hatter gang

MAY - The Empress Soup!
The LittleStrong Cake!	Can't remember what they were trying to do
WP wants to murder the cake.	Is this a gorgeous side view of WP ?

MAY - The WHITE Party
Burning Delicacy!	Delicacy - Tomatoes and Wine
Delicacy - BBQ Egg Plants!	Delicacy - Peng Kang Fish!
Men-In-White	Can you spot the Man-In-Black ?!!
The Dashing White ....	The WHITE Party Gang with a RED LittleStrong

APRIL - The Bikers
Awesome Bikers	End Point of the Bike Course

MARCH - The Kayakers
Awesome Kayakers	Waiting for our Kayak instructor

The Cutues Circle: Close of a Chapter

2005-12-31T00:48:00.000+08:00

[sw] So this is it.

In a flash of four months, we have accomplished the Singapore Marathon 2005.

This year, Weiping and Gemmie successfully completed their first marathon :). It is amazingly heart-lifting to watch people, who claimed not to
have run more than 2.4km before, be able to will themselves to complete 42km and run down the finishing lane.

For the past 3 years, I have been amazed by our folks who have done this. No one has given up at the marathon so far. And no one has looked more joyous than our superb pair here in the midst of the marathon :).

Jia Hui has risen impressively to the challenge of her second marathon. At 4:42 hours, she has clocked in the fastest time of our group so far in 3 years. We are all really proud of her performance. Hee, I think she has the potential to do even better and am really looking forward to see her peak form in the years to come.

Wan Chee and Kang Shua are the stalwarts of the Cutues Runners. No one has trained and improved more diligently and consistently than both of them, which is why they have now run and first achieved the Grand Milestone of 1000 kilometers in 3 years. :) Proud of u guys !

As for me, I have only 'run' the marathon in spirit this year. Watching fellow runners as a marathon angel, I can feel in a familiar way the heart beat of each stride, the fatigue of the mind and the lactic of the muscles. Worry not, I will be back next year :).

So this is us - the indomitable Cutues runners.

Our ardent angels of 2005 - Serene, Juliana and Jean and the cool cheer banners ! :)

Running a marathon, whether quarter, half or full, is mostly an individual affair. Completing a marathon is an individual accomplishment.

That is just half our story :).

The other half of our experience is the 4 months of us training and improving together, encouraging and inspiring each other. Exploring different running trails, tasting different celebratory restaurants, sipping 100-plus thirst-quenchers together.

And accomplishing as a team the final confidence to complete a race at the end of the 4 months. I think it is what makes running more fun, meaningful and engulfing than jogging alone in a park...

...Oke.. let's have a flashback to the Cutues class of 2004.

Also, our Celebration Dinner at Miramar Hotel, Ikoi Japanese Restaurant, on 6 Dec 05.

Gim Sheng's new-year resolutions.

Gastronomic rewards for all!

Training Run # 10 ( 13 Nov 2005 )

2005-11-21T10:27:00.000+08:00

[jh] Kang Shua, Wan Chee and I met at 330pm at Newton MRT as planned. The weather was blazing and I felt daunted.

We went along Novena, Thompson and Upper Pierce Road. It was such a relief when we finally get to our first H2O stop point, and at the point we were already feeling burnt out despite completing only 1/3 of the distance. However, we pushed on and the evironment took a change when we got to Upper Thomson Rd. It was quite wonderful to run under the shade of the big old trees and it made our run so much enjoyable. As we move along, we had an unexpected meetup with Serene and this marked our 1st picture of the day:

Wan Chee was ranting that perhaps we should mark that section of Upper Thompson down as one of our future mid length trainings. :)

Glam Girls In the Park.	Taking photos till late night :P
Touching the Tree of Life.	Sembawang Park Jetty.

The Usually Usual TUES - Run ( 8 Nov 2005 )

2005-11-14T21:15:00.000+08:00

[jh] Yesterday was Wan Chee's birthday! Therefore we had our usual Tuesday run, which was not so usual after all. Perhaps it was the knowing(except Wan Chee) of the after-run program that made all of us sped through our usual run and ended back at end point unusually fast. Phew! After our usual shower, we went for an unusual dinner.

Dinner was at Sploosh (Kaitlin's fabulous ice-cream shop), in line with celebrating Wan Chee's birthday. Yes, and she had an unusual bday cake which is made up of 10 different scoops of ice cream of 10 unusually interesting flavours! She had her usual birthday song and candle blowing, but recieved an unusual bday card (one of her best card ever), which needed to be done up with the usual meticulous processess by a professional designer.

So, it was a usual Tuesday with the unusuals going on.. ;)

All smiles for the happy occasion.

Ice-cream... Yum!

Training Run # 9 ( 6 Nov 2005 )

2005-11-14T20:37:00.000+08:00

[jh] Run #9 starts off from Choa Chu Kang Mrt Station. The weather is unkind during the initial part of the run, but we perserved along old Woodlands Road and till Kranji Mrt Station where we had a quick drink from the tap. The run went on to Marsiling and we had 100-plus to boost energy and to cool down. The route finally brought us to Sembawang Park and we filtered in through Andrew's Ave to get into the 'hidden' Bottle Tree Village. Wan Chee with her cold drinks, coupled with the view at the jetty made the sweat & exhaustion worth while. It is near duck when we reach the jetty and the sky is a mesmerizing sight. Of course, spirits were high as the reunion of us all (running or not) never fail to make all of us so glad at heart.

Natural Smiles Captured. Beautiful.
Standing Tall with Pride after a Triumphant Run.	Under the Bottle Tree.

After the fun photo taking session, as we walked to dinner, we talked about celebrating Wan Chee, Kang Shua and Shin We's 1000km mileage completed after Marathon 2005. :)

Dinner was at Buckaroo. It was an interesting place, and we had spicy chicken wings that can have spicy level from 1 till 10. We had level one. (well, we were trying it the 1st time...)

Training Run #8 ( 2 Nov 2005 )

2005-11-03T00:40:00.000+08:00

A Walk in the Park

[sw] As the Day of The Marathon drew near, we realised that long-distance training runs alone would not be sufficient to prepare us in peak form by 4th December.

To improve our performance significantly by 30-50%, we would need to intensify our training with another program - one designed to maximize cardiological exertion and hopefully instigate cellular expansion in respiratorial capacities i.e. Operation Deadwood.

We trained under the punishing hot sun of the morning, bringing down the green-haired behemoths with our bare hands, through carefully aimed chops and slices along the spotted faultlines of the girth. As a result, we were able to achieve clean cuts at the trunks.

Illusioning with the fallen tree.

The Tandem Technique.

For stronger strains of trees, we had to practise the Tandem Technique - where one will apply tremendous force (force from cardio exertion) at the base of the trunk, and the other will haul down the top end of the trunk (force from sudden respiratorial release). We managed to uproot several trees using this challenging co-ordination technique.

Indeed, it was an exhausting program, but exceedingly effective. In fact, we could even observe our 'orange' chakra lines being more pronounced, when we took a spectral shot of our shadows using Wanchee's camera. For interested parties, our 'deadwood works' can still be sighted in the peaceful park of Marina South - check it out :).

Observe our chakra silhouette.

Deadwood logging in progress.

Training Run #7 ( 30 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-31T22:37:00.000+08:00

Land of the Remembered

[sw]This week's run took us on a 12-km loop route between the Singapore Zoo and the Kranji War Memorial. :)

Entering the High Entrance of the Land.	The Peaceful Land.
The Four.	Official Halfmark Pose.
The Register.	Visitors of the Land.

Training Run #6 ( 23 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-25T11:44:00.000+08:00

Siege of the old war site

[wanchee] Sunday's run was a good one ..weather was truly in our favour, altho most of us blamed it for being too good at 6am when we had to drag ourselves out of bed. After Weiping's where-to-meet glitch, we finally started our sunday run from front of Choa Chu Kang Sports complex to Sungei Buloh.

Along the way we passed thr the Kranji camp , Sungei Kadut's sawmills and factories, NeoTiew Rd's koi farms and vegetable plots and to SungeiBuloh Nature Reserve to get hydration. We slipped into the Kranji Nature trail for our return journey and retraced our path all the way back to LimBang area.

According to our guru, we should have covered slightly above 18km.

Playground Formation #1	Playground Formation #2
Mid-run hike along Kranji mangrove trail	Returning to our endpoint at Yew Tee
Kranji Park sign

Training Run #5 ( 16 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-17T12:01:00.000+08:00

Serenity of the Dawn

[sw] Training run 5 takes us to the picturesque jetty of Yishun Park (Lower Seletar Reservoir). We ran a 15.3km loop route, from the entrance of the Singapore Zoological Gardens to the Jetty of Yishun Park (Lower Seletar Reservoir).

Our pre-run photo at the Zoo	Our official pose.
Tired runners at the Jetty (half-way point)	More tired looks ...
What r we doing !?!	Guess again ...
The Mighty Formation	When our powers combine ...
Finishing at the Zoo !	Frolicking at the Fountain :)

Edited from Delibs Vol 19, 2004 - Herd of the Racing Rangers?

2005-10-12T15:26:00.000+08:00

Care to rollick around the roads of Singapore with this bunch of dedicated runners?
Kang Shua (NS) did and recounts his sweet sweat-filled journeys...

It’s five thirty in the evening, and I am clearing my desk for the day even though there might be work left to be completed. Dragging my tired mortal body after a day of work, I make my way to the bus stop, heading towards town. This scene has been played out two to three times a week for the past two years. Sometimes, I wonder what makes me do this almost religiously. Where am I going? Iam going to meet up with a group of like-minded people, with a docent majority, for our evening run. What started out as a charity event, running at Terry Fox Run 2002, has now turned into a near cult-like activity for 10 people [Wan Chee (NS), Shin We (TT), Yen Ling (FF), Desmond (NS), Serene (AA), Juliana (NS), Davinder (ID), Jia Hui (TT) and other non-docents].

It started off when Wan Chee, Tong Jin, Juliana, and I attended the Terry Fox Run 2002. A few minutes after the start of the run, I looked to my side and said to Wan Chee, “Let’s run.” We managed to finish the 4km run without stopping. It was only after the run that I realised the ladies were not there to run but rather to walk. Feeling encouraged we decided there and then to run once a week. Along the way, we struggled, puffed, gasped, heaved… pounding over many parts of Singapore: MacRitchie, Pandan Valley, Clementi Woods, Mandai Road, Mount Faber, Sentosa, Marina South, East Coast, and lately Esplanade Promenade. This saw us conquering 5km, 8km, and later 10km, cumulating in December 2002, where we finished our first 10.5km quarter marathon.

Shin We joined us in the second quarter of 2003, where he stepped into the shoes of our coach, mentor and motivator, bringing with him the scientific way of training, such as running mileage and proper nutrition. Moreover, with Yen Ling as our latest member, she brought to the team her experience as a competitive runner. If she is a jaguar, we are tortoises. Again, we “punished” our legs, pounding all over Singapore, feeling ecstatic. It is almost a dedication to running. Why? I do not have the answer; perhaps, it is the endorphins making us happy. As we laboured on to our next aim, the Marathon 2003, I was frustrated that I couldn’t seem to improve. I was not
satisfied with my pace, distance and form as a runner. Our running mates were always there to encourage and spur me on, telling me it is important to understand that where one starts is not nearly as important as the direction one is heading. So there we were telling ourselves that we would participate in the Marathon 2003. I am careful to say, “participating” because our aim was to complete the course using a run and walk method. Still, standing at a starting line, 42km from a finishing line is an allegory of life. If one keeps moving forward, pressing on, putting one foot in front of the other, one will see it through to the end. However, it has not always been that way. For much of my life, I only know what I could not do; I was never the athletic kind. I always tried to do some sports, did them well enough to enjoy it only, which give me the motivation to get better. Then, it is a matter of time before I got frustrated by my own inability to perform better before giving up totally. This is why I believe in the power of perspiration and not inspiration per se. Inspiration works for a short period of time, but to make any change that lasts a lifetime one will need an enormous amount of dedication.

Some think that I am a disciplined person because I have trained for so many runs. On the contrary, really, it is nonsense and I think I am about the least disciplined person I have ever known. The never-say-die spirit that emanates from fellow runners keeps me going. Knowing that a breakthrough is always possible gives hope. When you step out your door today, ponder if today's the day, allowing yourself to look for, listen out for and feel the small improvements that occur so often in the first few months of running. I am determined not to give up. This evening I WILL RUN!!!

P/S: With the Marathon 2004 coming, you will see us dashing all over Singapore
three times a week.

[yks] As of now, Oct 2005, we have three more docents joining our regular runs... Weiping, Gemmie and Gimsheng.

Inspiration for us!

2005-10-11T11:32:00.000+08:00

I met Paul in the gym yesterday..u know..the guy returned from running in the Sahara Desert over a 5 day period...he came in 20th position out of the 100 odd participants. The orgainsers invited him to participate in the year end Antartica race!! He may go for it but right now he's training for the Sg Marathon. Well, why train when he can run 40km per day for 4 days and ending with a 80 km run on the last day? Bearing in mind he has to carry his own rations and water during the race, I really think I am looking at a superfit humnan....or maybe a superhuman.
In any case, he mentioned that we can run together sometime.....I really think not but if anyone wants this challenge, I'd be glad to be the facilitator! Think his long distance routes are usually 30+km..ie from MacRitchie to zoo and back.
He's aiming to do the Sg Marathon in 3.5hrs or under - which I think he's just being humble ....maybe should pitch him against Chris huh?
[wanchee}

Wonderful Sunday

2005-10-10T11:09:00.000+08:00

[JH] Guys, I enjoyed yesterday a lot. Scenary was so beautiful and it was so sweet of Shinwe to plant drinks for us. Doing funny poses, going on a farm tour and baking muffins together arent things we could do everyday. It was one of the weekends that I managed to escape from the inane routine of life.. frankly, I was extremely sad that the day had to come to an end..

Route Breakdown for Training #4 ( 9 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-09T21:42:00.000+08:00

[sw] Well, our route breakdown for this run :

Rivervale Link - Sengkang East Rd to Jalan Kayu Junction	3.5 km
Junction to Seletar Camp (Picadilly Circus)	1.63 km
Circus to West Camp Exit	1.63 km
Exit to Seletar Dam	2.25 km
Dam back to West Camp Exit	2.25 km
West Camp Exit to Picadilly Circus to Jalan Kayu Prata Shop	1.8 km
Total	13.06 km

Training Run #4 ( 9 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-09T13:58:00.000+08:00

[yks] Runners: Wanchee, Jean, Jiahui, Shinwe, Yuanjin & myself.

We started with an excellent weather condition. It appears that its going to rain with dark cloud overhanging in the horizon.

With gentle cool breeze blowing, we ran along a straight road from Jean's place all the way till we hit Jalan Kayu. There isn't much scenery along this stretch of the road except for the non-descript HDB flats and a beautiful river with mangrove on its sides.

It feels strange to me that i'm running along Jalan Kayu. I never run along this stretch, it feels so familiar and yet so strange. Likewise, for Seletar Camp, so surreal, an environment that i grew up with and yet so unfamiliar. Indeed, it was a refresher for my memories. Charming British place/streets' names, Piccadilly Cirrus, ... black and white former British Officers' residences ... long and winding roads, rolling hills ... One can guess that the British troops were thinking of home - Mother England...

The vista opens to a golf course and Lower Seletar Resevoir after we leave the camp behind. Shinwe did a magic act when he appeared with bottles of 100plus after dashing into the rocks ... those running behind him perhaps will think that he's answering the call of nature. Nice... beautiful...scenic place for our in-between run breaks. We had three unexpected guests too... three White Bellied Sea Eagles and a flattened snake that Jean found.

After our run, we stopped by a Prata shop. NO it is not the famous Prata shop.

[sw] To add on :) - thanks to Yenn Giin for his treat of ice-cold teh and milo 'dinosaurs'.

We also trekked into the deeps of Seletar West Farmway 1. Thanks to Kang Shua, we were able to visit the Straits Aquarium. ( We have been waiting for this moment for 2 years :P ). Really an eye-opener into the world of beautiful Discuses and Bettas !

After the excursion, we bussed back to Jean's place and had a filling spread of Jean's Fried Rice, Apple Muffins and Spicy Pappadums for our gastronomic exercise. And not to mention, a game of mahjong to round up our mental exercise :P. Really enjoyable day!

Looking positive about our future :-).	Runners @ Seletar Dam !
The Runners @ Seletar Airbase!	Our Endpoint at Jalan Kayu
Funny Poses @ Jalan Kayu	The Head
The Tri 'Medusa' Head	2 Heads
The Straits Aquarium

2nd link pics ( 2 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-03T11:01:00.000+08:00

aiyah! cant understand why the first round didnt appear with the blog.
but here they are ..if they are.(2nd time trying to upload 5 pcs!! )
okay...after half an hour....the second try was successful but can't understand how come the pictures are in the wrong sequence.
think more than necessary brain cells died this morning! wanchee

The Logo	The Route
Our Ritualistic Pre-run Photo	The Finishers !
Our Celebratory Milo Champagne!	Johor-style ice milo! Bagus!

2nd Link Run ( 2 Oct 2005 )

2005-10-03T10:35:00.000+08:00

Date : 2nd Oct

Time : 6am

Who's in it? : Shinwe(2nd run) , JiaHui (maiden run), Wanchee(veteran!!)

Review: (wanchee) No fun getting up at 3 in the morning but bonus was that Shinwe braved the sleepiness to fetch both of us to Tuas Bus Interchange. Arrived there to catch 3rd last bus to the Toll Plaza.

There was a holding area where all runners must assemble and held till 5 mins before the run. then the whole group would run en mass for 300 or so metres to the start line where an official flagged off the race after some official photos were taken.
The traffic was stopped for the flagoff and it was such a wonderful experience to run down the the highway ..in the dark cool morning air sans noise, pollution and traffic. This bliss , however lasted a good 15 mins before we can hear the scrambler bikes tear towards us with vengence! Arrghhhhhh!!! the monoxide. We all need to detox after this run!! Then, there was silence and the wonderful experience came back....after 5 minutes of bliss, the nightmare of bikes restarted....

Running in race where there is such wide open spaces between runners with no bottlenecks to be found is really beyond description.

The minus points about this race? well there were fewer than 5 water points and no isotonic rehydration at all. But the sun was kind and stay real soft till almost 9 when it reinstated itself in the skies above.

Shinwe kindly carried my digicam so that we could have pics like these ;-P
Ladies must run the 21km race cos your chance of getting a medal and a hamper is really high .
So shall all the gals sign up for the next 21km 2nd link run?

The ice cold Milo was the highlight of our return. There was an unending supply of it as well as 100+ and bottled water. There were much freebies to be had but, well we arent the greedy sort...so we just went for the liquids.

Training Run #2 ( 25 Sep 2005 )

2005-09-26T20:48:00.000+08:00

[sw] Training run #2 takes us to Singapore's first reservoir, the MacRitchie reservoir/park. It is the 'sacred birthplace' of many joggers, runners and racers, including myself.

The evening weather was perfect - bright and sunny, and yet cooling under the canopies of the MacRitchie guardian trees. We conquered the 2.5km undulating Lornie trail with relative ease. Golf Link was even easier, flat and meandering between the golf slopes and the reservoir. We also sighted occasional terrapins cheering us on and the applauding rear of what-could-be-a-fishing-eagle.

The Sime trail was slightly tougher - an entire trail of hard-jutting rocks that threaten to twist an ankle or fracture a knee *exaggerating :P* Finally, we rounded up the run with a less exciting route along Upper Thomson road until we reached the Long House food center, where we warmed down.

Well, it was another good practice run. No, in fact, it was more than that. This MacRitchie route had a special flavour to it. Two years ago, WC, KS and myself ran this same route when we trained for our first marathon, and it took a lot out of us then. This time, the run felt cruisingly easier - we have gotten stronger than we were before. It was a dejavu-type run with which we were able to measure ourselves and definably acknowledge our progress.

Our route distance for this run is 10km.

Johor 2nd Link Run (akan datang)

2005-09-26T17:13:00.000+08:00

Participants for 21km are Shinwe, Jiahui& myself .
For the 10km - only GimSheng .
The Johor people made a concession for GS cos there is actually no 10km run for the open section. It's avail only for the veterans. For leisure run, it's but 5km.
Everyone else has to do 21km! Since GS gave me specific instructions to register only for the 10km, I bargained with the registration lady and got him a special status ;%)
So there !
I should like to bring my handy digicam to the run but am unsure if it's gonna be safe to leave it with the bag deposit. I'll see if Ling Hoong's father is running..if he is, then LH maybe there with his camera !
(wanchee)

Training Run #1 ( 17 Sep 2005 )

2005-09-22T22:33:00.000+08:00

[sw] Well, while we do our 7km-ers in town weekly, this was to be our first (warm-up) training run as a prelude to the Marathorn *ouch*. It was an easy run, under the friendly evening sun - taking us from Newton MRT right to the heart of the Singapore Botanics Gardens.

My favourite part of the run was The End, where we warmed down at the Symphony Lake. It was nice to catch people resting, lazing and deactivating in various forms in the surrounding greenery. An old lady lying on a mat and reading a book to her partner, friends chatting and gathered along the grass slopes, dogs walking their human companions - scenes of different symphonies composed around the harmony of the lake ...

Well, our route breakdown for this run :

Newton MRT - end of Balmoral Plaza	0.75 km
Bukit Timah Road	1.625 km
Evans Road to Visitor Center	0.875 km
Botanics Garden Loop	3.75 km
Total	7.0 km

p.s.: we had thirst-quenching Evian drinks, courtesy of Gim Sheng.

sherathOn fUn (17 Sept 2005)

2005-09-21T23:35:00.000+08:00

.gimsheng with his sexy legs.	.gimsheng strikes again.
.twins. or not?	.seemed great fun. doesnt shinwe think so?

Post Run Dinner, Tsubaki (13 Sept 2005)

2005-09-21T02:23:00.000+08:00

[jh] It's time to celebrate, especially when we are all triumphant of the Army Half Marathon. From the pictures, its obvious that we simply enjoyed ourselves. Laughed quite a hard bit, in fact.

.the full force. look at the food. yum.	.we look happy, dont we? hee. ^_^
.gim sHeng getting ready for his feat. watch out for it.	.here he is, swallowing hard, getting D temaki down.
.he is absolutely defeated. nice try though.	.introducing the next feat. soba slurping!
.our 3 lovely contestants.	.our best slurper = weiping. yeah!

Army Half-Marathon ( 11 Sep 2005 )

2005-09-18T23:15:00.000+08:00

[sw] Our first 21km of the year. Notice any difference between our photos before and after the half-marathon ?

[before]

[after]

Well, it was a gruelling 21 ;-), cos we had a bash the night before. Us on the bollywood-themed docent bash on Sep 10 :).

[bashers]

Mizuno Wave Run ( 4 Sep 2005 )

2005-09-18T20:35:00.000+08:00

[sw] It's a 9.x km run in the heartland of Singapore, starting and finishing at the Kovan Hub. Well, we looked fine, don't we ? It is hard to tell from the picture that we had a midnight 'party' and slept really late the night before ;-). Thanks to Jean for hosting us at her place !

.here are the finishers. =)	.with the giant mizuno shoes.
gimsheng's D stAr!	.now its jeAn. hEhE.
.kang shua.shOcked gimSheng.WeiPing says yEah.	.tired weiping.happy eveyOnE.

New Balance Real Run ( 28 Aug 2005 )

2005-09-17T09:13:00.000+08:00

[sw] Yes, the annual torture of the Sentosa all-terrain run - the New Balance Real Run 2005. Distance ~ about 10km of road-beach-trail. Check out the route and our group picture below.

Another beginning of our running journal

2005-09-17T09:07:00.000+08:00

[sw] Well, our annual challenge of the marathon looms ahead - for most of us, it's the 2nd or 3rd marathon, and for our few, the FIRST :). So, let's try to journal our runs so that we can recollect how tough training has been when the final ordeal is over :P.

Standard Chartered Marathon 2004

2004-12-05T23:08:00.000+08:00

Here we are, trying to complete our 2nd full marathon. Although it's a 2nd time, the experience is still fresh and different. It was inspiring to see the whole class of Cutues runners persevering to complete the full marathon. So now we have 9 Cutues full marathoners!

The scorpion tattoo.

We now sport tattoos for our marathon.

Glad finishers :)

Finish line pose 1

Finish line pose 2

2nd Link Run 2004

2004-10-14T22:53:00.000+08:00

We gamely signed up for the 10km 2nd Link run. For 2004, the 2nd Link run was organized by the Singapore Sports Council. It's a run alternately organized by Johor and Singapore. We prefer the Johor version as it is longer at 21km and well, it's 'overseas'. But anyways, this year, we took part to try out the Singapore version.

A collage of Cutues runners. Photos taken using a handphone :).

AHM 2004

2004-09-03T22:59:00.000+08:00

Our Cutues class grew in 2004. So the whole gang signed up for the Army Half-Marathon 2004 to help the new runners get a taste of what to expect for the full marathon :). Here we are - everyone completed the run.

Our First Marathon

2003-12-07T22:40:00.000+08:00

Our maiden marathon - well, at the start of 2003, we never thought we would be going for 42.2km. But well, life's just like that, bit by bit it surprises you. We read up books at the library and concocted our first training program. Not a Kenyan-grade program, but enough to let us all complete our first marathon without suffering too much :).

Our training run with well-known local runner Rameshon

C.u.tues runners - class of 2003

Nike Real Run 2003

2003-09-08T22:48:00.000+08:00

As part of our training towards the full marathon, we took part in our first all-terrain Nike Real Run 2003. Was a gruelling one for the start of our running 'career' - as it involved running on both the road and the sand in Sentosa.

Nike Real Run runners