My running partner

'Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.. And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threegold cord is not quickly broken.' Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Jeremy boy - one of my best friends since IMU. We instantly clicked when asked to run the road relay for our batch in 2006. We trained together, ran in KESAS highway and Commonwealth park, pulled our friends along to join us, and shared our past running experiences. Somehow, i could relate to him in a deep level that running isn't just a sport that we do for health reasons or to look good. There is just an underlying love for the pure experience of putting one foot in front of the other in a repetitive manner, as though we are in a long journey to discover something. That 'something' could be ourselves, our limitations, our pain thresholds, the enemies within us, or  even the horizon beyond us. Now there is no end-point in this. It is just a journey - a journey that will not end till the day we meet our Maker. That year, even though we came in 4th place in IMU cup road relay, the bond that was created remained.

 The road relay team 2006. (Elizabeth is not in the picture)

Later we served together in Infinity Milers - a running and mountain climbing club in IMU. Our first semester of serving was challenging. Inexperienced and overly enthusiastic (ok that's mainly me), we could not impart the essence of running and mountain-climbing to the juniors. Later on, i did some hard reflecting and shared it with him and the committee. Half of the committee caught on the vision and the other half did not. So the half that did persevered. In the end, i am glad to say that we did manage to pass the essence of running and mountain- climbing down to the juniors.

The last training session that we had with the juniors.

We took part in many races together. Most of the times, it is solo races, ie we run on our own  pace. Jeremy boy sometimes struggles with being disciplined in his training. So he could not run his best. He usually responded in a cheeky or half-guilty half-playful way when i asked him about his training.

 Hulu-Langat Eco-Challenge 2008

Our Trans-Titiwangsa Climb in 2008, organised by Raymun and Roderick. 

 The most memorable race that we took part together was in 2008. Then, we recognised that it was our last year in IMU together and that could possibly be the final race that we would run together. IMU Cup Road Relay 2008. We made a promise that we would do it together. Prior to the race i injured myself. But that did not stop me from running the race. I trained as much as i could, so did he.

We were faced with strong teams from M107-bmed combined team (which boosts of Patrick and Jackie, Jolene and Joanne - all MAPCU runners) and the Pharmacy team (which boosts of Pang Tseng, Jothpal, Rachel (my gf!), and Sharon - all of whom are MAPCU runners as well). In our team, only J boy, Sheahlin and i have experience in MAPCU.

The race was tight. All three teams above were favourites in the race. There didn't seem to be too much of a difference between the teams in terms of overall strength and speed; it was down to who performed well that day. Our strategy was to play catching up, but lining up our runners from the slowest to the fastest. By being the one who trails, there is psychological force pushing us to our limits. Before the race, i told the team that we were underdogs, as not all of us were in top conditions, but we would be dogs that bite.

Prep talk before the race.

The M206 team (2008)

True enough, Kim - our first runner, came back third, behind PangTseng and Patrick (both top class runners in IMU). Then Chee Ying went against Sharon and Jolene. She maintained the position. Then it was J boy against Benjamin and Zhi Ven. J boy did a fantastic job by catching up with Benjamin and shortening the distance between him and Zhi Ven. He told me that he thought about our promise when he was running. Then he passed the baton to Sheahlin. Sheahlin is a crazy runner. She was running against Rachel (who was behind her) and Joanne (who was ahead of her). She is known for squeezing out the last ounce of energy in a race, and she almost leveled the race for me - the final runner. (I was told that she collapsed after passing the baton to me, and mumbled in a semi-comatose way: Pray for Jimmy.) I was running against Jackie - a long time competitor, MAPCU team-mate and friend. He is a great runner. Being not in the best shape, i was apprehensive about the race, especially there was not any lead for me. I remembered both of us passed by Rachel - and she said: 'Go, Jimmy'. That was a tremendous encouragement for me. My race strategy was just to try my best to keep up with Jackie throughout the race, and leave the decider of the race to the last minute. At the turn, we were still running together. On our way back to the finish line, i was constantly thinking of God, my loved ones, my team mates, the word of encouragement from Rachel when we last saw her, and J boy. I know he had given his best, so nothing short of my best is acceptable in this case. At last, it was a final down slope, and a final straight to the finish line. Then, i mustered all that i could, and started to sprint together with Jackie. I knew God had prepared the moment for me, and He empowered me at the right time to finish the race. I crossed the finish line. Victory.

The shoot-off. Patrick (middle), PangTseng (extreme right), Kim (between them)

Kim coming back third. Passing on to Chee Ying.

Chee Ying maintained the same position. Passing on to J Boy.

J Boy coming back second. Passing on to Sheah Lin.

Sheahlin almost leveled the position. It was down to me.

The final sprint and victory.

Remembrance of our promise.

Looking back, it was the promise that we both made to each other that allowed us to finish the race. J Boy is a great runner, and a great friend. He has taught me so many things in this friendship. His quiet, unasumming nature has earned my respect for him, and he is always one of the first persons to come to my mind when i think about racing, or climbing mountains. During our IMU days, i don't remember doing any major climb or race without him. He had always been there, through rain or shine, good times or bad times. The memories that we have both created would always remain deep in my heart.

Now both of us have signed up for Northface 100 in Singapore in October. And the funny thing is, we are both injured. He injured himself after running 25km and 10km back to back in Singapore in May, and he is having moderate to severe pain in the fibular head. I had described my injury below. Will we recover in time to prepare adequately for the race? Will we once again dig deep into ourselves and discover the strength we never thought we had? Will we continue to inspire each other to something beyond ourselves? I hope we do.

Jeremy Boy, or in short J Boy, is and will always be my running partner. :)