My second Public Service Run

I decided to join this Public Service Run since there was a planned BBQ nearby. The food was the main draw, and I might as well go for a workout before the makan :). I signed up for the 10km Men's Open as I wanted a longer distance, and I was not keen on doing something like 5.6km.

I parked at Clearwater Condo, and made a short walk through Bedok Reservoir Park to Tampines Stadium. I wore my new Asics Gel Forrester Tri shoes just for the heck of it, and it really drew some attention...I saw the familiar faces of MR25, anf then proceeded to the SAFRA Running Club area. Collected my bib from Wong, and went about meeting up with friends...Ripley, Colleen, Shirleen, and many more. Edmund and David Shum from SAFRA Tampines were there too. So was Eric Koa, and a few fast runners from SAFRA TP. I was there to have a nice run.

While doing my warm up, met Cheow12, Hedgehog, igloo. The weather was warm, despite having some wind....maybe due to the blistering sun just before the run. The crowd this year was a lot less, with the Ghurkhas and Civil Defence people (possibly due to IMF duties) markedly absent. The Men's Open started after all the rest of the categories had gone ahead. I started off a little quick to get away from the initial crowd, and then settled to just follow Igloo from behind. I really hated to run on the gravel at Bedok Reservoir, as I don't get a good grip on that kind of surface. I ran mostly on the grassy patch, unless overtaking or cutting across to the other side of a bend. I did not get very good support on the grass path, and my ankles were sometimes wobbly. Nevertheless, I overtook quite a lot of people as I progressed through to the 5km mark, after having grabbed a bottle of water from the water point. I took about 23min to do the approx. 5km...hmm, pretty slow.

I began to speed up a little for the second loop around the 4.3km Bedok Reservoir, after dropping my marker card into the box. I was feeling the heat, and I slowed down at times to cool off a little. I felt alright for this second loop, and with about 3km to go, I moved up and overtook about 5 more people. I don't think there were people who overtook me at all...hmm, I must have started slow...haha. As I reached the point which I expected a turn, I did not see it...and it felt like the distance was longer. I asked someone if we had overshot the turning point...he was too tired to say anything, just gestured me that it was in front. I finally saw the turn, and made a dash for it. Overtook 2 more people in the end, and crossed the finish line in 46min55sec. The time was eerily exactly the same as last year's timing...hehe. My Polar stopwatch showed I did the first 5km in 22:45 and the second in 24:09...hmm, positive split, and not able to hold on to pace...must improve in this aspect.

I took 2 bottles of water and went around congratulating my fellow SAFRA Running mates. Also took some time to talk to MR25's LTH and Vincent. MR25 as usual swiped most of the top prizes. SAFRA MF did not too bad with 5 prizes. Bug did a monstrous 41min+ for a 11th position, and was just a few seconds after KCP. Teck Hou, Pre, Alan, Colleen and bbmon all did very well to win prizes. BBmon came in second in the Women's open, and I had a good talk about her new training with a national coach...she is enjoying her training, which I am happy for her. I did the same timing as last year 46min+....possibly my first 10km race this year...really very 'chuan'...cannot keep up with the young guys like Hedgehog and Igloo, who were in front of me. The Forrester Tri behaved well, and I found it to be light, though support wasn;t that ample for that kind of terrain. I was happy with its overall performance, despite not having been broken it at all. I proceeded back to Clearwater to meet my family and joined the rest for a nice evening of Poolside BBQ, along with some great wine and Bailey's Irish Cream..Yummy!

Distance Ran: 10km__Time Taken: 46min55sec__Pace: 4:42min/km