Driving on the ECP, both Leng and I could see dark angry clouds in the distance at the same spot as we wanted to be – Bedok Reservoir. Not a good sign. Since we had entered as a team, we should show our presence and not let each other down.
The heaven opened the moment we arrived, we ducked for cover under one of the two tents which were specially put up for the event. The rain came down fast and furious, with thunder roaring and lighting striking every few seconds. The Under 14, 15, 16 categories had started. We were pretty confident that the rest of the race would be cancelled.
Our third team-mate, Madelaine, finally arrived with her husband, Martin. I must admit it was so “cold” and we huddled together in the small space to keep ourselves warm, trying to stay as dry as possible.
After half an hour of standing around not knowing what was going on, a voice was heard over the loud hailer. It was an announcement to let the participants know that a decision would be made in an hour’s time as to whether the race would go on. Patiently we all waited, with less than 15 minutes later we received the good news that the Under 17 would begin at 1630, followed by the Ladies Open. At that moment, the rain became a drizzle with occasional sound of thunder in the background. Mad panic, we quickly went for a short warm up, even squeezed in a photo session of the team with our MR photographer, Steve Choo, before we were called to the start.
Looking around, I realized I was surrounded by very young looking girls with a message clearly written on their faces.
“What is this “middle age woman” doing here; this is a serious race not a fun run”.
The whistle was blown at 16:45 to signal the start of our run with all these youngsters rushing off. The first few minutes I settled in to a comfortable pace, most probably around 15th position from the leader, who was so fast and had pulled away from the chasing group. We were told that it was 3.7k for the Ladies route, so I was expecting the turn around point to be soon, but it just went on and on and on.
When I made the U turn, I was on “Cloud 9” knowing that I was half way home. I took the opportunity to crank up my pace, reeled in several runners at that point. That had always been my style of racing; conservative start with a strong second half. I could hear the sound of cheering getting louder and clearer which was music to my ears, an indication that the finish was near. With a final push, I crossed the line.
Our ladies team came in 2nd. Good results for a team consisting of “mature” ladies. The Men’s team of Andrew Ngo, Ben Chua and Peng Tat, also did MR proud by coming in 3rd.
I would like to thank Steve, Vincent, Martin, Sumiko and the others who braved the storm to support us.