TNF Singapore

Finally the day arrived for Jeremy boy and I. We both have prepared ourselves very well physically and mentally this time. Winning was not part of the agenda at all. In my heart, i know full well that the most important thing is to be able to complete this run together with Jeremy boy, and through suffering and hardship, strengthen our friendship and partnership further.

We were quite excited before the race. It was our first time running TNF Singapore. Seeing so many runners wearing all the different gears, cool-looking Salomon shoes, hydration packs and attires, we both laughed at ourselves for simply wearing a pair of light-weighted New Balance MT 101, mizuno shorts, university running jersey, a cap, and two hand-held bottles. 'It's the heart that counts, not the external', we comfort ourselves.

During the weigh in, we were horrified to discover that our two-handheld bottles only weighed 1.3kg! So we quickly went to look for things to stuff in our handheld bottles - Jeremy found some rocks and i stuffed the Ginseng bottle that was in the goodie bag into my bottle. :D After they allowed us to go in to the confinement, we took those things out and started to prepare ourselves.

The gun went. Off we ran!

This is my first time running under such hot sun. During my training, i had not done a proper run under the hot sun before, so I really suffered this time. Besides the signage was terrible. I got lost a number of times and I was so frustrated coz I was losing a lot of time. For some incidents which i don't want to mention here, i also felt that the top four runners of the 100k duo category have no sportsmanship and integrity. It is really sad that runners view each other as enemies or rivals rather than friends.

After 40km, I felt i had hit the wall. I certainly walked a lot then. Tried to dig deep to look for motivation to go further. I was playing 'amazing grace' in my mind to remind myself of this gift of running, and how it's purely by grace that i could run again.

Finally, after much walking and running, I completed the race!

Not long after, J boy finished it as well!

Yo ho!

Almost done!

Finally! Shouts of excitement and relief!

Finished in a time of 5:15:02!

J boy finishing not long after!

J boy finishing in a time of 5:35:46. Mission accomplished for team infinity milers!

We both couldn't believe that we had just completed a ultra-marathon together

Cooling him down.

To infinity and beyond!

My most faithful supporter and my love. :)

J boy and Amanda

The support crew at the finish line. Thanks to all!

Celebrating my eldest brother's birthday later in the day (the guy in white top in the right side of the photo)

We later found out that we got DQ coz we did not pass WP 2 where time was taken. Well, can't blame us coz the signage was poor and i was just following other runners. I realised that all runners that ran between 5hrs to 6hr10mins (some 26 of them) got DQ too. I think the organiser must have felt weird that no one was crossing WP 2 for a long time so they started directing runners to the correct route. If we didn't get DQ, our position would be third overall.

Even with this setback, I must say we both have experienced something special together. This bond of brotherly love and the personal milestones that we have crossed. I definitely am going to miss all the times we trained together, running up Gunung Nuang, getting lost there, running in Bukit Jugra, Taman Bukit Jalil,  Bukit Gasing etc. To me, he is always a great brother, friend and runner.

After this, J boy is going to start working as a houseman in Teluk Intan Hospital. As for me, I need to start studying for my final exams (to graduate as a medical student) in Australia too. I guess our journey shall end here. Hope the next adventure for us would start soon!

I just want to say a little prayer for him - that God would continue to watch over him, guide him in his path, and give a heart that burns with passion for Him and His people. Also to grant him an enduring mental stamina for the tough work ahead as a houseman, and to give him strong legs as he would never stop running. In Jesus' name, Amen.