SAFRA Mt. Faber Running Club

Its been a few months since I came up to Telok Blangah Hills (TBH). Tue evening saw a large turnout of about 50 at MF. Bev was there too, along with WK (her colleague), the German couple, the new gals, many more new runners. All were looking to try out the legendary 1km hill reps on top of Telok Blangah hills.

We took a 1km slow jog to the carpark on top of TBH. Trainers Ong and Jimmy gave a brief about runners doing their own pace, with those who were more experienced doing a 5min lap as guide. It was reported that just 2 days back, another runner died while running along MacRitchie. All were advised to bodysense and stop when necessary.

In Bev's words, we were like a bunch of animals, running at varying paces, especially when the deers, horses and cheetahs just come leaping, galloping and zooming past us from behind....haha. I finished the first lap in 4:12min. The newcomers took a reserved stance as they tested the route. Soon everyone got into their paces...I did the rest of the laps in an average of 4:13, within the 4:30 I set for myself. As always, Ronnie and Trevor were always overtaking me at the tail end, with the occasional Wong and Thomas running alongside. Peter was also doing very well, maintaining quite good pacing. The new gals were powerful too...all with good potential, and will do well if they keep up the training at MF. Julie was a spped monster up the slopes, and she is really the most improved rookie at MF for 2007. Bev and WK did well to do all the remaining 4 laps within 5min. With the cheers and encouragement, all throroughly enjoyed the short, but furious session.

All gathered and took a cool-down walk down the slope of TBH, chatting and discussing about upcoming training sessions. The atmosphere was really nice, and I believed all the new runners enjoyed the team spirit and the relaxed atmosphere. We settled down to a nice stretching session by Julie, took 100plus drinks, while 18 handpicked regular runners received their nice adidas shirt, sponsored by Alan Chao, with the support of cm and the committee. Many of recepients were new runners, but they were dedicated and regular at trainings, and has shown marked improvements. The adidas tops were uniquely designed, with each person getting a different design and colour...and of course, I too got one of those adidas shirts lah...nice :).

All the runners get their reward of a 100plus drink, contributed by those who have kindly re-contributed their fee rebates of major Singapore races to a common 'drinks fund'...thats the kind of generous, caring and sharing atmosphere at SAFRA MF Running that have me staying with the Club for about 3 years, joining in most of the training sessions, and recommending many friends to the training and social runs.