Punggol Active Passion Run

The Punggol Active Passion Run, or Punggol Waterway as it is more commonly known, was held successfully this morning. With a affordable registration fee of $25 for the 10km competitive run and $20 for the 5km run, runners turned up in big numbers to pound the pavement while enjoying the breeze of Punggol Waterway.

There was a late change to the route for the 10km run, with the organizers heeding advice from the Land Transport Authority and Traffic Police. Some members of the forum on sgrunners.com welcomed this new change as they found the new map easier to understand in comparison to the older one.

Personally it didn't matter much to me as I have not ran at punggol before, so I was looking forward to running in a new location.













For this run, there were about 8 freaks attending it, a small but strong force of demons!

The early birds

The run flagged off at 7.30am sharp, near the start line, I saw many familiar faces like Ganesh from Sundown and Vasant from IMD, just to name a few. Halim advised me to start off slightly faster than targeted pace as the running route would get quite narrow after the first 1km or so. And so we both started off at a fast pace, then once we were in Punggol Waterway, we settled in at our target pace. My goal was to get a Sub 50, my first Sub 50, and I wanted to do this run for Nur. 

Halim and Me at the start of the race

The first 3km or so, I was maintaining a steady 5.00 pace, only off by a few seconds. Around the 3km mark, I got a shock. They were giving out bottled unchilled NeWater at the Hydration Points. I didn't take it as I knew it would be time consuming to actually open up the bottles and stop running to drink from it. Halim running fast and soon he was out of my sight, I was sure he could get a Sub 50 if he maintained that pace. 

At the U Turn Point, Hamrit overtook me. Although he was still nursing his injuries, he was flying. He picked up his pace at about the 4.8km mark for a strong finish. He even overtook Halim with 2km to go! Way to go bro Hamrit! 

As for myself it was a mental struggle, as each distance marker passed by, my pace was decreasing. I didn't stop running for the first 8km, but I could feel some muscle fatigue in my legs, I didn't bring my legs up towards my butt to get a proper stride, was landing heavily too. Have to work on that, it always happens when I feel tired. But of course, all I needed was a look at my right wrist.. seeing the three letter word there kept me going.

The last hydration served HTWO. HTWO in bottles which were not chilled. What was the point of serving HTWO at almost the end of the race? You won't be able to replenish the sodium and carbohydrates in time, at there was less than 2km to go. I ended up only drinking 1/3 of the bottle. I remember I threw away the bottle just in time when I saw the lens of this photographer, Mr. Low Khia Khing. 

The familiar expression

At the 8km mark, checking against my watch, I lost hopes of doing a Sub 50. I passed the 8km marker at around 42 minutes, I just picked up the pace for a strong finish. When we exited from Punggol Waterway, a short but winding uphill stretch awaited us. After emerging, I saw the finish line up ahead. It seemed too near. I checked against my watch and it showed 49 minutes, I thought to myself that there was still a chance, so I sprinted towards the end, clocking an unofficial time of about 49:46. I looked up to the sky and smiled.

Halim's Garmin showed that the distance was about 9.8km, not a full 10km, didn't exactly feel like one either but it's alright. I know where I must work on to improve for the next run! Hamrit and Halim both got Sub 50 timings. All the freaks who attended the event broke their Personal Best timings. My Dad also got a personal best of 1:09:36! Kudos to all!

We just PB-ed!

The event in general was decent, they handled the narrow running route and late change of route well. They could have improved on the hydration points, which I hope they will change next year. Well done Punggol Runners for organizing the first ever Punggol Waterway Run! 

Tomorrow, I will be leaving to Kuala Lumpur for a retreat with my mates, will try to hit the gym and at least go for a short run when I'm there. 

My next run will be the Half Marathon at Standard Chartered KL Marathon on 24th June. 

Kick ASSphalt!

God Loved Her More..

Towards the end of my previous post, I said that I had a very great piece of news to share with you. Man.. This is so self-contradictory.

Well, this was the good news I was referring too,

Joint statement by Ms Rima McDonald and Ms Mariani Ismail on Little Nur’s Heart Fund: We did not know Little Nur’s family previously, but we were moved by this little girl’s plight to start a private online donation drive. When we started the drive on 25th May 2012, our goal was to raise US$200,000 (about S$240,000) for her heart transplant operation. Within a week, many Singaporeans came forward to help. The collection exceeded S$300,000 by 2nd June 2012 (5pm). We thank everyone, including the media and all the volunteers, for their support. Little Nur’s plight has now caught the attention of some charitable organisations which would like to assist Little Nur’s family. We are confident they can do a better job to help Little Nur. All private donations have been and are still with Little Nur’s parents, Norleen Osman and Mohd Ghazali. They are looking after the fund. Please feel free to address all concerns and issues to them directly at 91825754 or via their email at littlenurheartfund@gmail.com or kyla_08@live.com.sg. Norleen can also be reached through her facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/wynn.kyla Our private fundraising campaign’s objective has been met and therefore has ended today, 3rd June 2012. It is time for us to focus back on our families and our work.

And a comment by her on the same post..

She has all the help she needs now because we've all spread news about her plight all over the web and her need for funding... AND NO ONE is claiming victory! it is an announcement to end the donation drive that we all have been working on... More importantly, WE, STRANGERS, did all we could for her in the best way we know how... my question now to you is... have you? if you did, good for you, welcome to the club! - Rima McDonald
Alhamdullilah.. it's all in god's hands now :-)

Indeed it is in God's Hands, and this morning at 3:50am we found out God had a different plan in mind for Little Nur. Nur passed away this morning, the sister/daughter we all never had returned to god. I am not sure about the cause of her passing, will update on that if more information will be released soon. God loved the little fighter more.

I just didn't get it, the 'WHYs?!' were popping up all over my mind. It was unfair, just plain unfair. But everything had a reason, right? I tried to find a reason for this, it was so close to being one of humanity's greatest victories, uniting for  a new heart, and then there was this abrupt ending. 

I couldn't make sense of it, after a couple of hours, trying to digest what happened, I thought maybe it was just an example by that God wanted to show us. He wanted to remind us of the power of humanity, and that all of us had so much in common. Nur wasn't related to us in anyway, but still we all came together to help her. And word of Nur, spread around quickly, and made its way to many ears, all due to the effort everyone put it. 

You see, God has his reasoning for everything, some reasons will be too complex for us to even understand, we may not have the capacity to look at the bigger picture. But now, I hope to make some sense of this, and interpret this in my point of view..

God wanted to show us, that behind our branded clothing, and beneath our elephant-thick skin, we all had the same crimson red blood flowing inside. And we should help one another when in need, despite any differences that might seem to exist.

Why create a wall when there isn't one? 

Before money existed, our economy was based on the exchange of good deeds. An example would be the Tarahumaras, they don't have any form of currency, and they are the happiest beings on this planet. All these things are getting us nowhere. 

We have no excuse not to help one another. 

“Save yourself from the (Hell) Fire even with half a date (to be given in charity). And if you do not find, then with a good pleasant word.” – Collected by Al-Bukhari

Maybe, Nur was the single greatest example of our time. There is still hope for Humanity. Do not feel sad for Nur, her suffering has ended, and she is in a much happier place now. I do hope that everyone realizes this, I know it's easier said than done. Instead of mourning her death, we must celebrate her life.

When she suffered, even though we think we aren't related in any way, we still felt her pain. This effort for Nur, made us not see the 'insignificant' things, like skin colour, socio-economic background, we came together despite the many factors that might serve as a barrier. Nur taught us many things if we just think about it, we all made use of the networks we had, the specific skillset that god has granted us, to help Nur. There are a million things we can take away from this. Thank you God for sending Nur to this earth for a short period of 4 years, but even after 400 years, she will never be forgotten. 

Look around you, when you see the people in Africa, or even the homeless at the bus stops near your house, remember what you did for Nur. You can do something, to help him or her. And you will. 

I was reading through the comments on Nur's page. And I am disgusted to see a few souls asking about what will happen to the money. You gave the money to charity and out of sincerity, don't expect it back. You will get something in return, what is it, will be based on God's plans for you. Maybe, we can all unite to raise money for heart transplant research in Singapore, so no one will go through what Little Nur did. Please, come to your senses guys. And see what is really important. It's not worth it to get angry over this.

We have to stop being so materialistic. The world is in a mess right now, we can try to deny that by living in our own small 'happy' lives, but it's time to wake up, unite, and harness the true power of humanity. What a small group of people did for Nur, is just 5 seconds of the trailer. The main movie is yet to happen. 6 billion people, is a big number. We all have to believe that it is possible, and start working on it.

Greece, Global Warming, Inflation, the list goes on and on. We need to wake up, and focus on the significant things. Life is short, we must live it long. Maximize your impact on others; put their happiness and satisfaction before yours. 

Thank you, Nur. Your taught us a very valuable lesson, a harsh lesson. But it was needed.



Sorry for my limited vocabulary, but I do hope you understand what I am trying to say.. If I had offended anyone in this post, my sincere apologies.

RAN for Nur's New Heart

Yes, on the morning of 3rd June, we ran for Nur's New Heart in the most densely populated area of pavement pounders in Singapore. At about 8am, a small group of us, equipped with 'Golden Tickets' began our run from Carpark E2 at East Coast Park.

The small group with a big heart

Just before we started our run, Steven and Ramlan Ishak joined us. Steven is a very speedy runner I have met from IMD, usually kill myself trying to pace him. But he slowed down his pace by a lot to run and walk with us on that day, all for Nur. Thanks Steven! 

We started off at a slow and easy pace towards Bedok Jetty, along the way took many stops to talk to families and other people to share about what we were running for. Many people recognized Nur, probably due to the increased media exposure she got recently, and they were very interested in helping her. We gave away the golden tickets along the run too, we ran into Bedok Jetty also, as there were many people there. Along the way, we met a familiar friend, Ultrawomen Charlotte Teoh who was doing her LSDs there too. Charlotte has a very fun no frills running event coming up soon, it's called the Bunny Run. SBR, Ford Lim and many other running celebrities will be joining in the fun too. You can find out more about it here. 

The Golden Ticket

Then, we turned back towards Area C, we only covered the areas of East Coast Park where the most people were as to maximize the outreach. As I was running, someone took a sharp U-Turn and ran along side me. Looking to my right, I saw See Too! Was very happy to be running alongside him once again, he did  every good job and had fun at Sundown recently. He is a very good friend to run with. He thought we were starting at Carpark B2, but when he found out we were starting at E2, he started running towards the Food Center, in the hopes that we were running towards Fort Road, and we were. :-)

So we went ahead, and spoke to families, walkers, and people who were curious about the golden tickets.

After reaching Area C, we went into reverse gear and made our way back to the hut in front of Carpark E2 as we were running out of the slips too.

While we were running, the fantastic four of Ezan, Arafat, Min Paing and Valerie were also giving out flyers near the Food Center, alongside with the banner, informing the public that as they were speaking, a group of runners were running for her. Thanks for your great help volunteers! 

We ended of the run with smiles all around, and a great satisfaction in our hearts that we helped Nur and had great fun in the process too. 

Lenney with the banner. We have to constantly remind Lenney that his teeth won't fall out if he smiles!

After the run, the adults were having great laughs and banter, See Too was introduced to new friends too. See Too also shared with Arafat about his Atkin's Diet. The four students including myself, plunged into the sea straight away. 

We ended off a good run, with a good meal, at SBR's lobang makan house: Changi Airport Terminal 1 Canteen. All of us ate to our heart's content.

On that day, there were many other ongoing projects for Nur too, including a full concert in Bishan Park! Things seemed to be going in the right direction in the fundraising effort for Nur, and piece of very special news awaited us the following day which concerned Nur. I will share this great piece of News for you in my next post!

Run For A Reason 

MR25 Progressive Series 15km Results

MR25 just probably set the record for the longest time taken for race results to be posted online, almost one month. Just saying.

But personally, I'm fine with it, although I was a little impatient, but most of us knew our timings already, and the official results won't turn out much different. Maybe for those who want to check on their ranking, it had been a long wait, but nontheless, relying on it's kampung human 'timing chip' system which I have to admit is highly reliable, here are the results!

Allow me to list out the freaks in our Hall of Fame!

Saifu                          - Bib Number: 12, Timing: 2:02:49, Rank: 71
Ariffin Iskandar Sha   - Bib Number: 22, Timing: 1:27:26, Rank: 49
Lenney Leong            - Bib Number: 72, Timing: 2:21:13, Rank: 77
Tan Yew Meng          - Bib Number: 111, Timing: 1:06:33, Rank: 7
Asry Bin Kasim          - Bib Number: 112, Timing: 1:11:44, Rank: 20
Izhar Bin Mohamed    - Bib Number: 113, Timing: 1:37:19, Rank: 60
Rukhaizat Bin Rapsan - Bib Number: 114, Timing: 1:03:57, Rank: 4
Norhalim Bin Nordin  - Bib Number: 115, Timing: 1:40:55, Rank: 65
Abdul Halim               - Bib Number: 116, Timing: 1:46:44, Rank: 67
Chiang Meng Chai      - Bib Number: 208, Timing: 1:09:43. Rank: 14

That's all for results, give yourselves a big pat on the back! Many Freaks were not present that day, but they will make their comeback soon at the remaining two races.

The Freaks are giving all other runners a very good run for their money, both in the individual and team category.

The official pictures will be released on either the MR25 Website or Facebook Group soon. For now, we'll use a picture by Mr Ultraboy 315!

Lari Sama Demons

RUN for Nur's New Heart

Warmest greetings to all my friends,

This is a very urgent and important post, please pay close attention. It will only take a few minutes of your valuable time. 

Yestrday morning, at 10.30am, Shariff Abdullah (Singapore Blade Runner) accompanied by his team, visited a very special girl by the name of Adlea Ry'Kyla Muhammad Ghazali at KK Women's and Children's Hospital. Nur, as she is affectionately known as, is a four year old girl who has myocarditis - a rare heart condition. As a result, her kidneys have deteriorated and she has a bloated abdomen, which presses against other organs, causing breathlessness, severe pain and fever. News about Nur has been spreading through the internet like wildfire, but the donations don't seem to reflect the number of likes or shares. When Shariff Abduallah first came to know about this, he felt a deep connection to Nur's condition as his daughter suffers from a similar condition. He wants to do something more, as he understands the amount of pain that Nur and her mother, Norleen, are going through. He contacted his team, in hope to translate all of the support for Nur into action.

Shariff and his team approached Norleen, Nur's mother, to seek permission to hold a fund and awareness rasing run for Nur. We were only allowed to look at the beautiful young girl from behind a glass window as visitors might cause her to panic. As her mother walked towards the door to speak to us, she started screaming and reaching out her hand, crying out for her mother as she sensed that she was leaving her side. The mother, spoke to us, altough she managed to still muster up a smile on her face, the pain she was going through was clearly evdient.

Arafat Aziz, Shariff's Manager, explained to Norleen the purpose of the run and the fact that within the running community in Singapore, they have a big heart for Norleen, so it would be a good idea to do something more for little Nur, as a stong and united Singapore Running Community. Norleen was very grateful, she wished us all the best and thanked us profusely. In fact, she's the real hero, as a mother to stay by Nur's side and going through the painful journey with her. So, the team thanked Norleen, the team walked out of KKH with a purpose.

Is there still light at the end of the tunnel, yes there is. But this light, it is in our hands. The only hope for Nur, is a new heart. But there is no heart transplant programme for children as young as Nur in Singapore. So she has to go overseas for a heart transplant, and that comes with a hefty pricetag. According to Mdm Norleen, the doctors at KKH said that there is almost "no-hope" for Little Nur to survive. They said she has less than a month to live. Time is running out fast, it's time to act right now. Her life, is in our hands.

What Team SBR Plans to do:

We want to unite runners from all over the little red dot, we may be different in pace, style, appareal, but one thing that unites all runners alike is their heart of gold. Let us all run for a cause.

This Sunday (03/06/2012) at Angsana Green, East Coast Park, we will run for a reason, we will run for a new heart. We will be covering a distance of 10km, as a group. We want to show Norleen and Nur, that they are not alone, they will never be alone. Everyone of us are with them, through this journey. We just have to believe, and take action, and god willing Nur will get back up again.

At East Coast Park as the group is running, we need a team of youths, to give out flyers to spread the word about Nur. Please do step forward and contribute a few hours of your time, you might be the reason that Nur lives to see another day. Interested Volunteers please contact Ariffin Sha at 90908905

This is the link to the Facebook Event Page of the run: http://www.facebook.com/events/127731540697208/

TO MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION:

If you would like to use online payment system (debit/credit cards -- visa/mastercard/amex/discover) please go here >http://littlenurheartfund.chipin.com/

If you prefer to use bank to bank transfer (ibanking) or cash deposits, please deposit your donation to >

POSB SAVINGS: 247-587-853(This is a joint account of Nur's parents for the purpose of collecting public's monies for Little Nur's Heart Fund. The same account is being used to collect monies from other charity bodies/organizations/individual donors).

For cheque can be mailed to :NORLEEN BINTE OSMAN. Blk 406, Ang Mo kio Ave 10. #10-727 Spore (560406).

For donation by hand : KKH WOMENS AND CHILDRENS HOSPITAL. WARD 65 BED 2.

Here is the latest update on the status of the online donation drive..

Allow me to explain some of the reasons behind this run.

1) Why this Sunday? Isn't it too much of a rush? Time is not on our side, it is running out very fast. It's now or never. Altough the run is this Sunday, the online donations will be open till 8 June. The other methods of donations will still be open after that date. The $200,000 stated in the online donation website is just a small fraction of the total amount needed for the Heart Transplant.

2) Why 10km? Originally we planned to do a special 4-hour endurance challenge, but then we decided not to. The reason was simple, this is not about one man's struggle, altough we might not be able to ever understand what Nur was going through, we have got to let Nur and Norleen know that they are not alone, they will never be alone in this fight. It's about all of us coming together to let Nur have a new heart. 

Let me paint a picture for you, the more people run (donate), the shorter the distance become. One lonely person's stuggle will be changed into millions doing a small part to help this beautiful young lady.

Come on guys, we both know clicking the like button and then ignoring this post isn't going to change anything. Please, let's put our negligance aside and act now. What if it happens to one of our own family members? We might never know. Whether Nur survives or not, we will do our absolute best, the rest is in God's hands. I do not know if we will succeed or not, but we will do our best. It's the least we can do as a runner and a fellow member of the muslim community.

Share this to every single soul you know, tag everyone, spread the word fast, the clock is ticking.

You can donate, or run with us this Sunday too, if you are a non-runner help out in giving out the flyers. 

Thank you so much for reading this, miracles are just a translation of hardwork. Let's all make a miracle happen.

Isn't she beautiful?

Sundown Marathon (Almost Over)

It's isn't over just yet. Ezan, Shariff's swimming coach fetched me after I had collected the Medal and then I went to change into my slippers. My journey was done, but many of the people out there were still going through their journeys. Arafat, Ezan, Leeza and I went to Nicoll Highway, sat on top of the railings and started cheering all the runners on! The cheering was very memorable and certainly every time I run past that place again, it will bring back great memories.

Ezan, Leeza, Arafat, Me, My Dad (Ali), Khadeeja and Shariff! :-)

Leeza, was banging on the railings loudly, bringing up the mood. Arafat, Ezan and I were screaming out hearts out, motivating every single runner that runs past, offered high-fives too! :-)
We shouted phrases like "You can do it, and you will do it!" "You're a CHAMPION!" "100m more to go" and some 'personalized' messages too. It was all great fun, losing our voices was certainly a good trade for all the smiling faces and the new-found energy the runners felt.
I was joking with Arafat telling him that she should give out name cards instead of high-fives,

Haha, after about 20 minutes of trio screamo. The skies opened up it's mouth too, but I guess it was drooling a little too much. Sundown marathon officially became the Raindown Marathon, I feared the safety of the runners as there was lighting present, but I was very sure it was going to take much more than lighting to stop these zombified pavement pounders! At about 3.50, my father arrived, he suffered from some cramps and was forced to walk most of the way. I know he can do much better, but I guess everyone of us has a bad day once in a while, something that can't be helped at times. But I'm sure he'll bounce back! I'm proud of him!

We saw the top 3 men and women finishing the marathon too, there was one Sub 3 from the Masters Division too, highly impressive! Then as we reached the saturation point, it was time for us to zoom back into the tent age too as it was filling up quickly with many runners seeking shelter after their race. Shariff was tired and already sleeping soundly, he did an excellent job. :-)

There was plenty of laughter, fun and joy despite the downpour, we met many new friends too. When the skies were tamed, we quickly made our move home. It was an amazing night in all aspects, and I believe all of us had great fun lighting up the city, so much fun that it got light up, literally. (CAT 1)

The Freaks and IMD had many PBs broken during the race, but in terms of running for a reason and experience, they had a great run too. Special shout out to our one and only KING, who ran in a road-erupting time of 3:40!

Well done to one and all, you are a champion!

Thank you for reading!

Sundown Marathon (The Final Countdown)

14km
Up till now, I haven't been paying much attention to the route as there was nothing new, same old roads I've seen for U RUN, 2XU Compression Run and recently, RUN 350. Then as we emerged out an underpass, the most retarded thing happened. Two road marshals, who were about 500m ahead of us, suddenly stretched a rope made of reflective vests tied up together to block the road, to let some vehicles past. It was all so sudden and we had to stop for one minute.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Singapore's the only country who does this shit in races." An angry Caucasian exclaimed, many agreed with him, but after that one minute, we took off again. 14km - for my fellow team members of the EXCO. And just as I realized who this 2km was for, we entered Marina Barrage, it wasn't well lit, but the perimeters were clearly marked out. It was a first time for me, as I usually run on the opposite side, the new route was a plus! I whispered each EXCO's name once and dedicated about 2 minutes to keep them in my mind and relive some memories, just then I heard a some human voices over a speaker.

Shanmugan, the head coach of Team RunFanatics

21km runners go straight ahead, 42km runners turn right! This message was repeatedly played over three speakers, and it was time. I think there was 6km more to go at this point, I don't know how or why, I started to pull away from the 2:00 HM Pacers and went ahead, I was telling myself to go all the way till the end and not regret this decision later on. So slightly ahead was the gel station, I took it and drank it on the go, as Maxifuel Gels are highly water based.

16km
Yes, I was feeling tired. Then I did something I always did when I was tired, motivate others, when you motivate others you just get the extra push to keep going. I can swear that every single volunteer I saw in the last 6km, I shouted and motivated them, and thanked them. It's just like a boomerang, these volunteers have great spirit, if you shout at them, you get a shout back instantly, it's very encouraging, and even if you wanted to, you won't be able to stop. I drafted this Caucasian couple for a couple of KM then overtook them, was gunning for a strong finish! I kept the concourse in sight, the 20km distance marker flashed past, this was it!
I gave it all I got, and powered up the last incline up Nicoll Highway and sprinted downhill for a last burst. While running down, I high-fived every single supporter I saw, it felt ust like the Boston Marathon in SBR's video. Simply overwhelming. As I crossed the finish line, I jumped and punched the air in delight. :-)

I crossed the finishing line at 1:53:34

The HM 2:00 Pacers arrived at about 1:56, I owe a big thanks to all of them for helping me achieve my target. I was elated, and now it was time for me and the rest of Team SBR to cheer the rest of the runners on!