Events for 2011

These are the races that I am taking part/have taken part in 2011. Most of the races are part of the training races for the major races I am joining. Major races are highlighted in bold.

2011

23 January - Bothas Hill 10 km run, South Africa
13 February - Hillcrest Marathon, South Africa
23 April - Two Oceans 56 km Ultramarathon, South Africa
3 July - Gold Coast 21 km Half Marathon, Australia
10 September - Glasshouse Mountain 30 km Trail run, Australia
25 September - Taiping International Marathon 42km, Malaysia
2 October - Adidas King of the Road, 16.8km, Malaysia
9 October - Larian Amal Kebangsaan Half Marathon, Muar, Malaysia

15 October - The Northface (TNF) 100km duo, Singapore

30 October - Petaling Jaya Half Marathon, Malaysia

5 November - Ultra-Trail Marathon 50km , Borneo, Malaysia

These should be all. If everything goes according to plan, ie. if i don't bugger up my knees during training/racing and no terrorists decide to attack any of the locations i am racing,  I would have raced in four countries and three continents by the end of the year. This is really exciting, and I am hoping to gradually improve on my timing for all distances (10km, 21km and 42km). Being injured for the first half of the year has pretty much reduced my running down to the minimum and drastically affected my timing. However, I am thankful for the experience (though it's pain-stakingly frustrating) during the time of injury because it taught me to always rely on God for all seasons of life. During my time-out, I have also learned valuable lessons on training, pacing, injuries prevention, shoes selection, dietary intake, and have come to know some of the greatest runners of all times in the world through books and blogs. Three of my top favourites are,

Scott Jurek
Anton Krupicka 
Kilian Jornet

All three of them have certain unique characteristics that made them different from most of the other runners I know.  For a more in-depth understanding of their lives, you should read their blogs and writings. For me, I constantly find new inspiration from their running ethos and personal lives. It's important to have role models when it comes to running so that you don't only focus on yourself and be obsessed with it, but rather, to find the common bonds that link all of us together as runners and to share experiences with one another.