halfpastsixers

We call ourselves "Half Past Sixers" for simple reason because we meet at half past six every saturday morning at West Lake Avenue for a run to keep fit and have fellowship with one another. Please join us!

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Preparation for the MARATHON

This is my suggestion for the runs from now till 3rd Dec:

9th Sep Sat -> 14+km
16th Sep Sat -> 14+km
23rd Sep Sat -> **20km
30th Sep Sat -> **20km
7th Oct Sat -> **23km
14th Oct Sat -> **25km
21st Oct Sat -> 14+km
24th Oct Tue - Hari Raya -> **32km == MR -> Zoo -> MR
28th Oct Sat -> **23km
4th Nov Sat -> **25km
11th Nov Sat -> **20km
18th Nov Sat -> **20km
25th Nov Sat -> 14+km

2nd Dec Sat --> Carbo Loading
3rd Dec Sunday --> D Day !

Any other suggestions?? Please feel free to discuss about it!

My thinking is to do more road runs as some of us are prone to injuries running on the trails. We should cut down injury possibilities.

**25km
======
MR -> Upper Thomson Road -> SICC Upper Thomson
-> Upper Peirce Reservoir -> Upper Thomson Road
-> Mandai Road -> Seletar Reservoir 1 ROUND
-> Back to Upper Thomson Road -> Lower Peirce
-> Upper Thomson -> Westlake

**32km
======
MR -> Lower Peirce -> Upper Peirce -> Seletar Reservoir -> Mandai Road -> Zoo -> MR

Starting from Westlake Ave
- Casuarina Road Roti Prata 4km+
- At the Gate of Upper Pierce Reservoir 6km
- End of old upper Thomson Road 7.5km
- Seletar Reservoir entrance road 9.5km
- Turning into Mandai Lake Road 14.2km
- Zoological Gardens 15.8km

** 20km - run to the Seletar Reservoir toilet & back!
** 23km - run to the Seletar Reservoir + 1 ROUND & back!

Best regards

Kenneth Ng

HPS Run 2 Sep

Thursday, August 24, 2006

24th Aug - Run and Makan

Hi All!

The Army Half Marathon is on Sunday & many of us will be running, so we will have a short run this coming Sat + carbo loading! Yes, Carbo loading => Nice food at Shunfu market.

Same meeting time: 6.30am Sat 24th Aug
Same meeting place: Westlake Ave road junction

Running route: WL -> Upper Thomson Rd -> Venus Dr -> SICC -> 3km trail -> short cut to Shunfu Market

This will be around 6km.

For those who want to run a bit further, you can join me. I will run from Venus Dr to the Rangers toilet & complete the 3km trail and end at WL (maybe +broad walk. It depends....) Then I will join the party at Shunfu.

See you all on Sat!!

Captain Kenneth

Monday, August 21, 2006

MISSION POSSIBLE

She ran 250km, he'll run 100km to raise funds for girls' home. SHE endured harsh conditions as she ran 250km across the arid Atacama crossing in Chile last month.

By Zubaidah Nazeer on 20 August 2006, The New Paper

SHE endured harsh conditions as she ran 250km across the arid Atacama crossing in Chile last month. There were times when Ms WaiYen Jasmine Wong's determination wavered as she crossed sand dunes, rock formations and glacial waters in the rugged South American terrain.
But the thought of the underprivileged girls kept the physiotherapist going, and she completed the race in seven days.

After completing last December's Standard Chartered Marathon here, her first, she itched for a bigger challenge. That's how she signed up for this race.

Said Ms Wong: 'I had apprehensions about whether I would make it through the race... But I thought of the girls and that motivated me to go on.' She has used this run to raise money for the Andrew and Grace Home (AG Home) for troubled women.

She has raised $30,000 so far through friends and word of month. She is hoping to hit the $50,000 mark with more donations.

This on top of raising nearly $10,000 for the cost of her run - with support of the Singapore Sports Council and her running buddies. She came to know about AG Home when a friend told her about a pastor there who was training for his own version of 'mission-impossible'.
Pastor Andrew Choo, 45, is bracing for a 100km race here on 25 Nov to raise money for the home.

Said Ms Wong: 'Coincidentally, I was looking for a beneficiary to dedicate my race to. When I heard about Pastor Choo's mission, it mirrored my own physical attempt.'

Pastor Choo's AG Home has 53 women aged 11 to 39 recovering from drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and juvenile crimes, among others.

He calls his '100km Run: Go The Distance' a symbol for overcoming the impossible.
He prepares by training up to four times a week. Each session, he runs 20km. He's on a strict diet and takes supplements regularly.

Some girls will join him in the race at different points of the route - starting from the Home at Telok Kurau to Fort Road, through East Coast beach and making a loop at the PA Sailing Club - repeated five times.

Said Pastor Choo: 'The race, much like the girls' struggle, is a lonely journey. I want to inspire them to be determined about pulling through.'
He hopes to raise $100,000. The funds will be used to provide more services for the girls in the home.

One of them is expected to be a school of physical education with sports professionals hired to groom the girls into athletes or train them for sports psychology and sports management.
For more details of Pastor Choo's race or to donate, contact Andrew and Grace Home at 6348 5674 or e-mail andrew@pcs.org.sg.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's put our hands to congragulate Jasmine!!!

Friday, August 11, 2006

HPS Run on 12 Aug, YES on Saturday!

Captain Kenneth is in India but reminds very one that we still have our regular HPS runs this Saturday...

Please be reminded of our regular HPS (Half Past Six) run on Sat 12th Aug.

Same meeting time: 6.30am
Same meeting place: Westlake Ave road junction --> Click Here for Map
Similar Route: I reckon it'll be a 12-14km run around the reservoir.

Have a nice day ahead! See you...

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Special National Day Run on 9 August

Happy Birthday Singapore!!!

Today our nation we love celebrates her 41st year of independence.

And we at HPS celebrated National Day today in a very special way today!

We had planned for a run to hte Botanical Gardens but somehow while running to the Botanical Gardens, we had what Boon calls a small "misadventure" and did not make it there but instead ended up in a 'Garden of Eternity' on a hill named after an English gentlemen who has a name that describs the colour of chocolates...


It was truly an experience because we were somewhat a little lost for a while, yet thankfully we made our way out before the sky showered us with blessings of rain as we ended up at Kim's house for a hearty breakfast of sandwiches, fruits, beverages an an advance lesson about the astral realm.


Rollcall for National Day Run: Patrick Goh, Jennifer Lin, Power Peng Peng, MaMa-Marathoner Audrey with husband Donald, Kim Boon 哥哥, with wife Justina and Planet Mark.

Look out for the the next run and hear the FIRST HAND experience of the run!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Upcoming events

I've discovered a few more races and events and have added it into the list...

There is the Terry Fox run on 17 Sep which I think HPS can make an appearance.

13 Aug: NUS Triathlon http://www.nustriathlon.com/
20 Aug: New Balance Real Run http://www.realrun.sg/index.php
27 Aug: Army Half Marathon http://www.safra.sg/safrasbr&ahm/
3 Sep: Action Asia Adventure Race http://www.actionasia.com/aae/en/Events/2006Singapore
17 Sep: Terry Fox Run http://www.terryfoxsingapore.org/scs-runforhope/
7&8 Oct: Pulai Triathlon http://www.desarutriathlon.com/
11 Nov: Powerman Duathalon http://www.powerman.com.my/
11&12 Nov: Eco-Xtreme http://www.nomadadventure.com/adventure.php?section=ecox&page=ecox_upcoming
3 Dec: Singapore Marathon http://www.singaporemarathon.com/ (Better sign up early for early bird discounts)

Atacama Desert Run; live from Jasmine in Chile

Dear friends,

It´s 3 days post-race, and ýes, I´ve completed my Atacama Crossing! All 250km of it across the harsh desert of Atacama, often through awesome and very brutal terrain. 7 days of trudge and trample under the hot fierce sun, only to come in cold wet and hungry into the campsite after night fall.

Has anyone ever tried walking across salt flats before? It is like ploughed up land, all uneven and dried out in the sun... cracked and brittle, and many times, our feet will fall through the top crusty layer, and be gashed by the rocks... it takes ages to walk across such terrain.

And sand-dunes - steep steep 45deg and more gradients of soft sand that just gives under your feet. Ploughing up such hills almost brings me to my knees and tears to my eyes... those of you who´ve run the Pierce reservoir rolling hills - imagine steeper and tougher and many times over and over again.

River crossings and slot canyons... Before the race, I thought that it would just be sensational to walk through slot canyons. Unfortunately, these slot canyons of water are from glaciel melts... freezing cold, and we were made to cross rivers FIFTY-FIVE times and walk for stretches in the water. There were sections in which the water would be up to my hips in depth, and fast flowing too... and I was nearly swept away on several occasions. My lack of height was clearly a disadvantage. How could the organisers have advertised the Atacama Desert as the DRIEST place on earth??

There´s so much to the race... it was unanimously agreed by the experienced desert ultramarathoners at Atacama that this has been the toughest race they´ve ever done in their lives. The race course has been set differently from before... I can´t believe I chose this as my ´maiden´ desert run event! Once I´m back in Singapore, I will work on a proper race report with pictures / videos to show.

Thank you to all for your support through my race, and also for giving to AG Home... Thank you for being my partner through my journey across this desert.

Humbled,
JasmineIn Santiago, Chile