Road Relay:
Guys – 3rd
Girls – 4th
“I run, therefore, I am”.
This was what could be read on the jerseys of the Keviian road relay runners. And run they did – some as if possessed, others with calm determination, but all with the same aim: to win.
(Editor’s note: The following report is brought to you by Nandeenee [N], the reporter on the scene, and Joanna [J], who while editing the report for the blog decided to add in some extra info from a runner’s point of view.)
N: The IHG road relay is a race which involves 6 runners taking turns to run a 2.2 km route which starts and ends at the SRC carpark. The route takes one past UCC, out to Clementi Road, then back in again and up a punishing slope past the Central Library back to the SRC. The atmosphere from the beginning to the end of the event (advertised as being one of the most unglamorous of events by Terence) was one of expectation and restlessness. This was the last event of IHG ’06/07 - the last chance in the competition for supporters to cheer their sportsmen on, and for sportsmen to bring pride to their respective halls.
J: This year the KE guys’ team was quite strong. Our fearsome runners were Ma Rong, Juncai, Colin and the three M1s Darius, Kumaran and Enming who had trained very hard for their moment to shine. There had been talk among the captains Juncai and Dias some time ago that we had a good team which should aim for 3rd place, but the team was less confident after a concussion and a pulled thigh muscle at the soccer finals against KR on Tuesday meant that Terence, our road relay loyalist and JCRC president, had to be excused from this race. On the day itself all the runners were jittery and no one was talking about aiming high.
Meanwhile, the girls’ team, cobbled together within the last few months by the long-suffering Mindy (who had often bemoaned the lack of girls who could make it to train), had finally been assembled! Esther, girls’ Hockey captain and our fastest runner, was going to run in first position. Mindy herself would run second. Huey Shin had finally been wrested from the grip of XQRJ and dance for a few training sessions and would go third. In fourth, fifth and sixth place were the three medics, Xin Rong, sunburnt from canoe polo training, Joanna, the overworked M3, and Irene, who had already taken part in swimming and squash for KE. Honestly, we did not believe that our chances were very good, and just hoped that we would not come in last by too embarrassing a margin…!
We knew that the outcome of the road relay would not affect our final position in the standing of halls; regardless of how well we did, we would be 5th overall (ahead of RH and behind Sheares). Thankfully, then, there was not so much pressure on the runners. This was not so, however, for IHG giants Temasek and Eusoff, for whom the race would mean the difference between first and second place! Before the race, Hui-En, the first girls’ runner for Temasek, told me that Eusoff was leading by one point when the race began. TH’s guys were not expected to be able to beat Eusoff’s guys, so the girls were under tremendous pressure to come in first place so that TH could equalise with Eusoff.
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Girls
N: The starting whistle saw a smiling Esther, the first female runner of the KE cross-campus team, leaving the starting line to the accompaniment of loud cheers from the KE supporters. And so she started this mad chain which all of our 12 runners followed one after the other. Generally, each round of the girls’ race ended with a TH runner leading, and KE in the 4th or 5th place. But each new round saw our KE runner starting off with the same unwavering determination, the same drive to make it big, and it was this drive which brought KE all the way.
“Are you going next Huey Shin?”
“Yes I am. It’s scary.”
Scary it was, but nothing stopped her from running like the wind when she got the pass from Mindy, the female road relay captain.
J: The Temasek girls DID manage to fulfil the hopes of their hall: in the first round, Hui-En was the first girl to come in, a lead which TH held - and only increased - till the end of the race. One of the TH runners caused some amusement by running in an RJC jersey so that when she reached the finish line, the name “Raffles” on the back caused momentary confusion to the uninitiated as to whether the runner was from TH (by the white colour) or RH!
KR had put their slower runners in front, so in the first few rounds of the race, we were in 4th place, ahead of KR and RH. The KE girls were surpassing expectations, running much faster under race conditions than anyone had forseen. Xin Rong had narrowed the gap between KE and SH to just a few metres by the end of the 4th round. As the orange and the red jerseys were seen, with Xin Rong giving a last burst of acceleration to come up behind the Sheares runner, surprised voices from all halls could be heard to comment, “KE?!” No one had expected that we would be holding our own so well…
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Guys
N: The male race which was taking place in parallel was equally mesmerizing. One of the high points was when the male 3rd runners were approaching the finishing line, and KE supporters spotted the heart-warming RED colour of Darius’ jersey - second in the line. The loud cheering from KE supporters kept him going and giving the pass to the next runner before collapsing in the same state of dizziness which all the runners fell into after their round.
J: It was very thrilling watching the guys do so well. We knew our team was strong, but were nevertheless amazed when Darius, our third runner, pounded in in SECOND place, having overtaken two or three runners to be AHEAD of (*gasp*!) Temasek… this caused quite a stir among the onlookers from all 6 halls!
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Girls
N: Soon after, Joanna, the 5th runner, gave the pass to Irene, who was to be the final runner for the female race. Some ten minutes later she was welcomed back with thunderous cheering and applause from the supporters and her teammates, propelling her forwards and winning KE the 4th place for the female cross-campus final.
J: During the fifth round, I was overtaken by KR, which picked up speed now that their star runners were entering the fray. However, during the last round, Irene managed to overtake Sheares and regain 4th place.
Both Irene and Huey Shin had achieved the heroic result of cutting off more than a minute from their previous best timing - an almost superhuman feat! (In fact, under race conditions, everyone cut off half a minute or even a full minute from their usual timing.. er, except for this writer paiseh.. so, yeah, good thing everyone else ran faster! :P) It was a wonderful finish for the girls, who had done much better than expected.
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Guys
N: Meanwhile, on the side of the guys, Kumaran had started the final round after receiving the pass from male road relay captain Juncai. We saw him coming back looking as if he were really running for his life, close to the heels of the TH runner in front of him, and putting KE in the 3rd place for the male cross-campus final.
J: This was one of the most dramatic moments in road relay! KE had actually been in 2nd place for a few rounds, ahead of TH. We were pipped at the post though by the 6th TH runner, who in a fantastic burst of energy right at the end overtook Kumaran at the last turn before the end of the route. (Onlookers could almost see the thought bubble above his head: “I must not lose to KE! Not to KE!” Haha!)
If TH was second, it was no fault of Kumaran’s; it was obvious to all that he was really going all out. His expression as he crossed the finish line metres behind Temasek was echoed in the faces of all KE supporters - the strain of disappointment mixed with elation at the miracle of KE’s brilliant showing nonetheless. We had missed being second by seconds! (Incidentally, this allowed Temasek Hall to be overall winner of IHG; had we come in second, Eusoff would have won.)
N: Runners and supporters alike were ecstatic. The KE cross-campus team had fared much better than the year before, and the blissful happiness on the team members’ faces clearly showed that the results reaped were all worth the months of training. The fastest male runner was Enming (7.44 min) and the fastest female runner was Irene (10.00 min).
Looking at the different times of her team members, which were all in the same range, Mindy commented with a twinkle in her eye, “We sure have got talent in this team”.
“That’s because of all the cheering!” replied Irene, with a smile.
J: 3rd place for guys and 4th for girls! A great finish indeed, a celebratory note on which to close IHG. The KE contingent, which included many seniors (even some very busy ones) who had come down to line the killer hill during the race, lingered around the end-point as sports sec Dominic gave everyone a rousing pep talk which expressed the pride which runners and supporters felt alike. Then, led by Zichun, the last event of IHG ended in an enthusiastic, full-throated cheer.
Reporting by Nandeenee
