Run Baby Run — The 10km Milestone & 800m Kids Dash

I never understood why people would wake up in the still of the night to go running until I started participating in my first 5km run!

After my 5km triumph virgin is run last year, I ambitiously aimed for 10km this year. I knew I will lose momentum if I do not take action. So, when the opportunity came about to sign up for the NTUC Income Run 350, I jumped on the bandwagon without realizing that my flag off time would be at 6:30 AM!! Or that I have to wake up at the godforsaken hour of 5am to get ready for the run! This is just pure madness!!!

But having committed myself, I couldn’t well back down, especially when I had also signed up the kids for the 800m Kids Dash later in the morning, at a sane hour of 9am. I think my kids must also be swearing at me for making them wake up so early ON A SUNDAY MORNING to go running!!!!

I lay in bed, contemplating: To Run or Not To Run…

Well, curse the whole parental role model for the kids’ concept — obviously, I got up and went running!

Everything looks and feels different in the dark of the night. Almost like a carnival party. Except this was a healthy, sober, exuberant party, with none of the insanity and chaos associated with the clubbing and alcohol from my much younger days.

Arriving on-site, I looked around to meet up with my running companions and was quite tickled by the sight of the runners queuing for the toilets before flag off.

Flag Off

I thank my lucky stars that two fellow mom bloggers from the SMB group — Angela from Growinghearts123 and Hui Ing from Inspirations joined me in the 10km run. Click on their links to read about their running journey. As we were punctual, we were in the second wave to be flagged off. That’s the three of us in the left corner at the start pen – hey! I’m getting the runners’ terms!

The Run

By the second kilometer, my companions and I separated due to our different running pace. Mine was a lot slower, and I had pre-empted my companions to run ahead of me.  With Katey Perry’s ROAR and Vanessa Mae’s rock and roll violin ensemble  (music downloaded by my son the night before) to accompany me, I kept going…

I walked when I got breathless; ran when I got my second wind. And just kept repeating the cycle.

I was grateful to see runners of all ages, sizes, and health. And even more, so that I was not the only one walking the kilometers.

I saw a father-daughter duo running. They stopped several times on account of the daughter’s leg (at one point, she had a ribbon tied around her knee). What I found fascinating was that the father was patient, tender, and encouraging to his teenage daughter, even coaching her from time to time. I lost them somewhere after the fourth kilometer.

Then, there was an old uncle who must be in his late 60s. He kept an even pace jogging slowly. Obviously, I will pass him several times. But I noticed that he always caught up with me, and always running at that even-paced jog. WOW!

And then there was this uncle (the one in orange in the picture below) — he must be in his 70s or early 80s! He was running with two much younger family members and they stopped at significant milestones to snap selfies together. CUTE!! 

These individuals inspire me and kept me going during the run.

Beauty and Inspirations 

It was a beautiful day to run! I saw a beautiful red sun rise and paused to admire it. I captured it with my Samsung mobile phone, but the photo probably does not do it justice.  The sun reminded me of the heat that follows and pushed me to make the kilometres before the scorching heat makes it harder to run.

Always the consummate Blogger, I took pictures along the way so I could write this post, like this sign that spoke of the humble beginnings of a garden city. It reminded me of LKY – his passing still fresh in my memories.

Seasoned runners say that running clears their minds. I believe it because as I walked and ran the 10 kilometers, my thoughts cleared and a new post was inspired. Read about these inspired reflections in this post — 10 Reasons Parents should Run 10km.

Although I could not feel my legs at the end of my 10km run, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. And I am very satisfied that I met my goals with plenty of time to spare before the Kids Dash!:

1. I did not faint
2. I did not finish last.
3. I completed it in under 2 hours!

800m Kids Dash

The kids were excited to put on their race-Tees and run in their first race. Not knowing what to expect, they decided to cover all bases!

Here they are doing a serious stretch; and a not-so-serious one before their first run!

The 800m dash was really “easy-peasy” for the kids. My son, following his advice to me: “Just don’t come in last mom!” actually came in fifth; while my little girl raced ahead of me to the finishing line!

At the end of it all, everyone had fun. Everyone went home with a medal! Hurray for all runners!!

 Thank you again to NTUC Income Run 350 for including us in this stellar event!

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