Inter Constituency Road Race 2009

The Inter-Constituency Road Race for this year and finally after running in it twice I managed to siam this year. This is just a short 4 - 5km run but have to run at high intensity which is not for old fogey like me who can just trot around the Bedok Reservoir where it was held. M was not so lucky though. She got drafted in last minute when the Team Captain couldn't find a third lady runner and approached me for help. I of course promised to help and assured him if I can't find somebody M will run so she kena stuck. I so kind and helpful hor.

Anyway, I turned up as usual to give support to the team and M. I am bemused at the elaborate actions the organiser took to prevent cheating. First, all runners have to exchange their i/c for the number tag. Then they were supposed to gather in a competitor tent where another official will issue a non-removable paper wrist band (the type one get at theme park) but not before the runners verify with him/her their name and i/c number. Geez, what are they so afraid of? It's not like they are giving cash prizes. In fact, the top 5 individual runners in the 3 categories only get a medal. The team winner do get some cash but I understand it is pretty miserable too so why the kiasuness? As this is an official sanctioned event by the PA and all the team managers and team captains are RC members, I doubt they will dare to 'import foreign talents'. What if they lose their PBM if they get caught?

Another interesting thing they did was to announce that each team can only send 2 runners to the front of the start line. I suppose the intention is good - to avoid the usual problem of crowding but there were less than a thousand participants so what was the problem?

Anyway, back to the race. The team with the younger runners usually win and Bishan East CSC came in first. I suppose with their home ground being Macritchie Reservoir, they can't really lose. The young turks all came in under 2o mins with the winner coming in 14mins+. [clap hand].

Our team captain came in 2nd in the Veteran category in 2007 but opted to run in the Open last year and was unplaced. How to fight with the youngster? This year he switched back to the veteran and yah came in first in a time of 16mins. [clap loud loud].
M also did a personal best despite having to work in the morning and complaining of the heat. [big hug and smack,,,,]

Good friend, Azreen representing Pasir Ris East or is it North's team came in the top 5 and so he too walked away with a medal and cash! [cheers]

More photos here