Feb 8th Road Relay

KE Males – 3rd overall; KE Females – 4th overall

Writer: Ashish Rudola

Editor: Pearly Neo

The Road Relay IHG started with an undeniable buzz hanging about in the air, as since both the guys and girls teams were competing simultaneously on the same route, there was quite a large crowd gathered to witness the event. The route’s length was 2.2 km and it started from the SRC car park, through UCC into Clementi Road, into NUS again at SDE, then up the Central Library slope and finishing at SRC again with the penultimate corner being next to YIH. In both guys and girl’s teams, there were 6 runners each. The girls’ team consisted of Sharlene (the Captain), Mabel, Charmaine, Jolene, Xin Huan and Bee, with Elisha as a reserve. The KE male runners were Kelvin, Yannick, Patrick, Madan, Wang Cong and Jingwen, with Terence and Melvin as reserves.

The KE male team is considered one of the strongest this year, boasting 4 Inter Varsity Players (IVP’s). They are Patrick, Yannick, Madan and Melvin, who is the IVP captain, Due to there being an IVP cap of 3 players, one of our IVP’s, namely Melvin, had to settle for being a reserve. Kelvin, who was captain of the NUS cross country team, is an ex-IVP since he just returned from an SEP. Before the beginning of the race, Madan expressed that Eusoff and Kent Ridge would be the male team’s strongest rivals. The girl’s team did not have any IVP runners but still, with more than competent runners, they had a fair shot at doing well.

First up was the girls’ race. At 7.30pm, the 6 girls from all the 6 different Halls started simultaneously. Xin Huan was our first runner, and going into the first corner (and out of sight from the starting/finishing line), it looked to be a very close race with all 6 moving in a tight group. As we waited for the girls to complete their lap, the guys race started 5 minutes later, at 7.35pm. Our first runner was Jingwen. As soon as the starting horn was blown, all the six guys took off fast.

After a short wait, we saw the first girl coming back. Temasek hall had the early lead. Xin Huan came in 5^th, clocking 11 minutes and 14 seconds. She wasted no time in tagging Sharlene, who immediately took off. Shortly after, the male runners started appearing and this time Kent Ridge hall had the early lead. Jingwen came in 5^th as well, with a lap time of 8 minutes and 33 seconds. As soon as he arrived, our second runner, Kelvin, took off.

After a short wait, the 2^nd female runner of TH came in first, whereas KE came in 5^th again. Sharlene, however, more than proved her worth as captain by clocking in an impressive 10m 20s. The 2^nd KR guy, who actually overtook the TH girl, was the first guy to cross the finishing line in the second round. Kelvin came in 5^th, but he managed to cut short the deficit with a speedy 7m 47 sec run.

The third round started when the 3^rd KR guy came into view. Eusoff came 2^nd, followed by TH and then RH. Wang Cong, our 3^rd male runner, managed to get very close to the Raffles runner, with a time of 8m 15s. As soon as he crossed the finishing line, Yannick, our 4^th runner, took off speedily. After all this, the girls came into view. But a surprise was in store, as the Raffles runner managed to overtake the TH runner. Our 3^rd female runner, Charmaine, managed to overtake 1 runner and pull us up to 4^th place in this round, with a praiseworthy lap of 10m 29sec. She then tagged our 4^th female runner, Mabel, who started running immediately.

Soon, we saw the male KR runner come in first again, followed by Eusoff. But the huge surprise was Yannick coming in 3^rd! He had managed to overtake 2 runners, with an extremely fast run of 7 min and 23s. Our 5^th runner, Patrick, immediately rushed off as soon as he was tagged. The chase was on definitely on now! Meanwhile, the girls started coming in again, with RH again leading and TH a close 2^nd. Mabel maintained KE’s stand at 4^th, clocking in 11m 33s. Our 5^th female runner, Jolene, then took off.

After a highly anticipated wait, the first guy came into sight. But, to KR’s unpleasant surprise, the EH runner had overtaken the KR runner for the lead. All the KEVIIans held their breath, and after a very short wait, they soon saw Patrick sprinting towards the finishing line. He clocked in a speedy 7m 21 sec run. As soon as he finished, Madan, our last runner, took off. At this point, the TH girl overtook the RH girl, and she came in 1^st. Unfortunately, KE lost its 4^th position, and came in 5^th, even though Jolene ran a fast lap, finishing at 10m 43sec.

Now, everyone was agonisingly waiting for the first guy to come into sight. EH were very nervous, as it was more than possible for the KR runner to overtake the EH runner. Even though the KR runner had quite a head start, the Keviians were cautiously hoping that Madan could pull a n ace out of his sleeve and overtake him, since Madan is the current IVP champion for the 1500m race. The first runner came in sight, and to the relief of the EH supporters, their last runner had managed to maintain the lead. The KR runner came in 2^nd.  After a short wait, Madan came into sight, having run the fastest amongst all the KE runners, with a time of 7m 20s. The TH girl managed to maintain her lead, and she came in 1^st, followed by RH and then EH. Our 6^th runner, Bee, also ran the fastest, clocking in a very fast lap of 9m 47sec. She managed overtook a runner and pull us back up to 4^th place again.

Congratulations to our guys for securing the third position! It was a really exciting race and the finish was especially nail biting. The chase by the guys was fantastic, having come back from the 5^th position to clinch the 3^rd. The girls runners also overtook 2 runners and played their share of catch up, for they also came back from 5^th position to come in 4^th. Although the girls could not get into the top three, the effort they put also made for an exciting race with another nail biter to finish the night. We are extremely proud of all of you!

Editor’s Note: Pictures will be uploaded as soon as we get them from Photo Comm, we apologise for the delay!

Comments by Kelvin on the KEVII IHG Road Relay race

The guys team did exceptionally well and our race tactics work according to our plan. The guys did an average of 7.49mins which is one of the BEST race in KE VII Road Relay history. We need not worry about this being a one time wonder as most of the runners in the team are in their year 1 and year 2.

The girls team also did well despite that shortage of runners this year. Special thanks to Joanna and Irene for agreeing to run for us despite the short notice and their packed schedule and of course, Zoe(Captain) for her effort.

Last but not least, on behalf of the IHG team, I would like to thank all JCRC members and KE supporters for their tremendous support!

Ling Jiehan Kelvin
NUS Cross Country Captain 08/09
KEVII Road Relay Co-Captain 08/09

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Feb 11th – Road Relay – 3rd Place for Males & 5th Place for Females

Photos & Writer: Nicholas Ng
(Note: A separate report written by Jason Lun Leung can be found below.)

Twelve runners. Two races. One spirit.

The clouds gathered ominously this Wednesday afternoon, and one feared that the much-anticipated Road Relay might be postponed, the fate of which had already befallen certain other sports. Fortunately, the wind and thunder served only to provide cool breezes and loud cheers for the runners who had gathered to participate.

Month of perspiration, fatigue, and for many, injuries, would finally come down to this. Male and Female races, six runners for each team, 2.2 kilometres per runner, pure competition.

While not all our runners were in optimum condition, many of them managed to beat their personal bests, which shows how intense and high a level the competition was. In both races, our hall clawed back from the dead, to give the front runners a run for their money, ensuring that whoever was on the race track, would not be in for a stroll in the park.

All our runners put in their best effort, to the point that many of them staggered after they passed the finish line, having given their all into what was more than just a run around school. These are people who would go the extra mile, and it would just not be right to credit any team member more than another, as every runner’s contribution was just as important as the next. Ginny, Elaine, Irene, Charlene, Joanna, Zoe, Jia Xu, Kelvin, Nicholas, Yannick, Melvin and Patrick were up against stiff competition (which included certain SEA Games gold medallists), but they ran themselves ragged and were rewarded, with the distinction of the races being a close fight, every step of the way.

5th place for the girls, and 3rd place for the guys, but to KEVIIans, they are our number ones.

Quotes:

Musa, Sports Secretary:
“I think the guys did well, especially Patrick, our last runner, who had to go up against a SEA Games gold medallist. Before that, we were in front, but unfortunately, his opponent caught up.
Good job to the girls too. Good job to everybody!”

Melvin, Men’s Team:
“It was a good run from everybody today. Special credit should go to Yannick, who helped us get from 5th to 2nd place. “

Writer’s note: Yannick’s lap time was about 7.28min. That’s 17.7 km/h. Beat that.

Joanna, Ladies’ Team:
“I can’t believe I’m doing this in M5!”

Writer’s note: Joanna has stayed in KE for 5 years. Round of applause, people.

Writer: Jason Lun Leung

11th February was the day for the road relay team. The guys had been training hard for several months, and now, they were there in the SRC car park, waiting to run their hearts out.

This year’ s team was a really good one, with Yannick leading the IVPs Kelvin, Melvin and Patrick, with 2 excellent freshies in Jia Xu and Nicholas completing the team. We knew that we were definitely better than last year, what with the hard training and all. The thing was that we were not sure how much the other halls had improved on their side. So, this all made for a very nervous and expectant atmosphere.

All of this disappeared once Jia Xu lined up for the start, and went off with the other first runners, cheered by the supporters who had assembled in the car park.

Road relay truly is peculiar. 2.2km. Short enough distance to have to run it fast, really fast. Long enough to really tire you and completely crush you if you don’t pace yourself right. The runners experience all kinds of emotions during the race. The anxiety at the start. Cruising and hitting their stride. Pain and burning in the chest when it really starts getting at them. Pushing right through the pain, and forcefully willing themselves forward, one step at a time, as fast as they possibly can. It truly requires some serious mental power, even with the cheers and support from the watching people. This kind of struggle is what earns them the respect of all the supporters. Really admirable stuff.

To make it harder, the course is a really hard one. Starting from the SRC car park, the runners will dash past Raffles Hall and UCC, turn left and run past engineering and SDE, to find themselves at the bottom of the Central Library slope. Then, they just go all the way up, and then down again past YIH and then turn back into the car park. Moderately fit people would be happy to finish that within 10 minutes. Our guys were hitting sub 8 timings thanks to their hard work during these past months.

As supporters gathered in the car park, we just waited to see them come. From time to time, others lined up at different spots along the route would tell us where our runners were. ‘Just up the slope’, ‘central library’ and then, ‘they are coming!’ When we got news that the guys were coming in, we all craned over and looked to spot Jia Xu. After the first round, TH and Eusoff came in first. Jia Xu came in last, just behind KR and Sheares. He had done brilliantly to keep us in the race with a good chance, trusting Kelvin to play catch up. And Kelvin did just that. Pushed himself all the way and then, after one round, came in to bring KE in 3rd place, behind Eusoff and Raffles. He beat the TH runner to the line after a strong finish where he gave his all to overtake him in the final metres, to the delight of the KE supporters.

Nicholas faced extremely good opponents in his round, and despite his best efforts, could only hand the relay over to Yannick in 5th place. Now, only our big guns were left, so, the plan was that from now on, KE was going to slowly catch up as our best runners went in. It worked really well, as Yannick came back, clocking in at a superb 7’ 28, to put KE second in the race. Melvin finished his round second behind Eusoff again, and leaving Patrick for the final round. The final runners came in, with Eusoff first and Sheares hauled into second place by some humongous performance by Mok, an SEA gold medallist. Patrick finished third in 7’ 30. An immense timing, which delighted the whole of KE.

This is truly the best kind of victory. Training hard and knowing that everybody gave their best. And coming in third, just barely losing out to some really stunning athletes. Considering the calibre of the runners from Sheares and Eusoff, third is a fantastic achievement. One that made all of KE proud.

Congratulations to you guys. You “owned the day”, and made us proud.