New aniMILES runners...

I had plans for a Pengarang trip on Sunday morning with a group of old friends...so decided to do the aniMILES route with a couple of SgRunners. A number of them were running this route for the first time, and were excited to go all the way to the zoo. We picked up Hophling omn the way as he was running along Bishan Park from his home. PassionRunner, Rory, Prata and stardust were already at the LPR carpark when DO and I arrived at 5.45am.

We gathered as Raven, Cheow12 and RealRunner joined in. RR gave a brief of the route as Passion, Rory, Prata Hophling and stardust were first-timers. My plan was to do an easy 24km as part of tapering for Chiangmai Marathon in end December. My legs muscles were still feeling tight as we trotted off at 6am for a slow, easy start. Chatted briefly with almost everyone as we ran along the familiar OUTR...I did feel the strains coming from the various bends, but the air was real cool and nice.

I was happy to stay in mid-pack and just followed the front-runners. As we exited from OUTR onto Upper Thomson Road, the front group got futher ahead, while Hophling was escorting the 2 gals, Rory and Passion. We saw Ultraman doing the final stretch of his run (he started earlier) and gave a wave of acknowledgement. Heard that kk also ran earlier but did not spot him. The pavements were slippery as we turned into Mandai road...hmm, didn't see that many cyclists along this normally busy road this morning. I ran along most of the way with Cheow12, DO, Hophling in sight. With 2km to go before the turn to the zoo, spotted Passion...she was taking a breather as she prepared to go the longer 27km route with Rory, stardust and Prata.

I hit my U-turn point in 1hr7min....quite slow, but I was happy to be taking it easy. On the way back, pointed out to Passion the entrance to the zoo, and the 4 of us (Cheow12, Hophling, DO and myself) proceeded non-stop all the way back to the LPR end-point. Cheow12 and Hophling was running just beside me all the way, as we gingerly moved over the very slippery surface. When we hit OUTR again, I was still feeling ok, other than a slight tiredness in my left leg...spotted a Mobil Marathon runner (wow, he must have ran that marathon 10+ years back), and followed his very consistent pace. I trailed him all the way along OUTR, with Cheow12 closely behind. We even had a mini pacing race along the Casuarina stretch...it was quite fun. Reached the end in 2hr12min, meaning a -ve split of 1hr5min for the return leg.

Hophling and DO soon came back...then stardust gliding back very smoothly in 2hr15min for his 27km...wow, fast guy. Prata came back shortly after his 27km too. RealRunner was impressive as he came back a few minutes after, completing a massive 30km. Wow, so I was part of Team Slackers...hehe. We waited and chatted for a bit, before deciding to drive along the final stretch to cheer the final group of Raven, Rory and Passion. We even sent 2 fast runners, stardust and Prata to escort the lady back....all captured nicely on my camera phone :). It was an enjoyable morning run for all, and as I was rushing home, could not have brekky with all...let's do it at the next aniMILES run lah!

Distance: 24km__Time: 2hr12min__Pace: Not Calculated Yet