The Milk Run 2005

The M.I.L.K. (Mainly I Love Kids) is a community project run, to help kids stay off the streets and engage in healthy lifestyles. It is a sort of Charity event, and I will be running the 10km stretch along Singapore River/Esplanade in about 2 hours time. I have collected the goodie bag, which comprised of a too-small t-shirt, and a hanky.

I hope to meet some of my running kakis and friends who will be taking part as well. Quite a number of events today, with the Ipoh Run, the Osim Trialthlon and the MR25 Progressive Run happening this morning. I targeted to do the run in under 48min, if the route is relatively flat and well guided. However, since it is a 3pm run, and if the sun is hot, timings may suffer. Well, lets see what happens.

I reached the Zouk start point at about 2.15pm, after having had some problems looking for the place and for a parking lot at Great World City. A large crowd of prople, including many students were already basking in the festivities. Beverly and I quickly checked in our bags, and went for a light warm up. We subsequently met Colleen and Andre, who were already there.

Milk Run 2005: Andre, Ronald & Anthony

The competitive 10km race started at 3.30pm. The route was narrow, and for the first 2-3 minutes, I was jogging slowly, and trying to get ahead of those who were taking their time, especially the students. When I finally got through, I realized that I haven't started my Polar stop watch. That was already about 4min into the run. I then started to time from there, and moved ahead. I met up with Goola on the run, and also ran alongside David Ong (MR25 friend) for a while. About 3km into the race, I ran past a TP runner, Yen San. I was not surprised to see her in front of such races. She is a very strong runner. All this time, I was looking out for another lady runner, the Filipina, her name is something like Rhoda. I recognize that her pace is always very good, and I decided to try to follow her. We ran along the Singapore River, and then into Esplanade. I felt good, though the sun was very hot. I was wearing the cap provided by the organizers, and I planned to throw it away if it gets too warm for me.

With 500m to the mid-point, I saw the lead runner running towards me. As usual, it was Elangovan. As we moved nearer the mid point, there were more runners running back. And then I met Sukaimi aka TLR. TLR shouted my name, and I waved back. I stopped for 30sec near the mid-point to drink, and then on the return, I could see Colleen, then Andre, and finally my dear wife, Beverly. Beverly looked OK, and exclaimed that she could do with some rain. From then on, I upped the pace and overtook a few of the guys in front, as I could see Rhoda drawing further away. As we run back past Esplanade, a huge crowd had gathered to watch the Dragon Boat competition by the Singapore River, and they choked up all the walking spaces. I had to squeeze past many of them, interspersed by screams by the organizers of 'Runners Coming, Keep Clear!'. It was great to pass this point, and as we moved on, an official mentioned that 'Only 2km to go'. At this point, we faced a bunch of 5km runners walking and blocking the route, and matters were made worse with the wet ground. I was wearing my Asics DS Trainer, and it felt slippery. I had to run slower to avoid slipping, for about 200m. Then I could see the marker for 500m only. I was pretty drained by then, and I could see Rhoda upped her pace. She is really one strong cookie. I could hear screams in the distance, welcoming the returning runners. I overtook about another 8 runners on the way, and was a bit amused to see some people actually walking (when they were so close to the finish?). I crossed the finish line, and immediately grabbed a 100plus and some bananas. Great stuff, and good replenishments. I overheard people say the weather was terrible.

Milk Run 2005: Beverly & Anthony after the 10km Competitive Race

I walked around a bit, and then met Sukaimi and his friends. We took a quick photo. I later found that TLR came back in 44min, and I estimated myself to have done 46min. After a while, I bumped into Ronald (The SAFRA TP Runner). Ronald had done the Osim Triathlon in the morning, and was there to cheer his friends. He told me my timing was about 45min+, since he was timing for Rhoda as well. She was ahead of me by maybe 30sec. I probably will take 46min, until the official timing is given by the organizers. Yikes! Official Results released 2 days later showed I clocked 48min15sec...Well...Beverly actually did not bad - 1hr 08min 14sec. I grabbed a few bananas, and later met up with Beverly, Andre, Ronald, Goola. Goola mentioned that she had won a prize for the the Corporate Race she was representing. Well done, Goola. We had a few group photos, checked the lucky draw results, took more fruits, and headed for home.

Distance Ran:10km___Time:48min___Pace:4:50min/km
Average HR:N/A____Max HR:N/A____KCal:700 est.