I'm really, really(to the power of 11x, where x tends to infinity) really glad that the Mock Race is over.At least my Mock Race. What happened last night was already swirling into shape since December 2006, when I was still comfortable with the Warrant Crest on me. It fermented over a month (January) and then underwent a major blow wind blow just last week-the restrictions on kayaking at the Bedok Reservoir made me and Juan Jie aka Jady aka JJ realign all checkpoints from 7 on Southwards.
The end result: Mock Race started from the Northern End of Singapore to the Southern end of Singapore on the East Coast before heading North again to reach AHS.
I think my loving Boys like eddie and freddy(haha) would already be writing about the Mock Race...So as the planner and the host and the Officer in charge, I'll write it from my elevated point of view!
The morning began with my phone alarm going off at 5:56, 5:57, 5:58 before I got out of bed. Didn't sleep much actually. The previous night or rather several hours before at 12:27 was entertaining my mother with her fetish for the HUAYANGSHAONANSHAONU show on youtube.she kept wanting to see the attempted rape bit on ruixi.tsktsk...
So, i woke my lao bu, who stoned in the kitchen for a while before moving off to boil eggs, then giving JJ and Mr. Oi, 14th's resident safety vehicle master.Haha...
After being assured that both dudes were really awake, I went to take a 10 min hot bath to wake up properly.
Left the house at 6:35 after Cherng Ru's phone call to 'hurryhurryhurryhurryhurry!!!'.
Just in time, walked parallel with JJ. (after years doing early mornings together, our times were about the same now).
The gang of 6+1 were already at the bus stop, mingjun aka simon;cherng ru;jon tay;ben gan;chong rui and the intruder edmund.
Marlon(dunno how to spell) called me to say that 66th won't be exactly arriving early, so well.-shrugs-
Mr. Oi came and loaded us up, with the all-important host, myself taking the front seat. We stopped opp West Plaza to pick up Jing Han, who conveniently brought nothing but a water bottle. UNBELIEVABLE. His hair was impeccable-as usual. (caught him using his shadow to style his hair later at night.lol).
Oi and I convened a while about which exit to take after TPE and then we were off.
The dark sky at 6:40 plus became a bright one at 7:20 plus at Punggol Jetty. The Punggol Rd to the jetty was like out of like mildly out of initial D.The cute van went up slope and down slope like WHHHHEEEEEEE... And I had a front seat view of it all. JJ was laughing his head off. His view was not bad, before the metal wire of the van.
We reached the jetty and 44th was already there. We stopped over and waited for those who were on their way and those who were late beyond acceptance(edison and sharp-talking keane).
66th arrived in Bus 82. I think in the space of time for them to hit the Jetty, we saw about 4 unskilled bus drivers, who struggled with turning around the loop. Edison and keane had us see 6 unskilled drivers and 2 taxis that were not them and two groups of big-hips police officers drop by.
When we finally were able to have everyone together, they got into a long line in their groups and set about plotting their checkpoints. The line shifted up and down several times: up to avoid bird-crap; down to avoid lousy bus drivers.
It was 8:30 when we finally lined the teams at the area between the barricade. Before that I led them in a group warm-up, allowing 2 guys to go touch up on their maps, and had the Boys stretch from top to bottom, TampJC canoeing training style. We then went for 30 push-ups, where i noticed that JJ conveniently drifted from us the moment I said push-up position. HAHA.
Chong Rui was the default timer. And we went for the dictated 30 lor.
Then we lined up between the steel barricades flanking the jetty.
At the line, Keane hit the stupid sign on purpose. He did ten on the ground with his pack on. He's a nice guy,sure. But he does stupid things with his mouth and hands.tsktsk.
I hit the sign for them to start and they bounded off.
Then me, Marlon(still dunno how to spell), Yong Jie(the FAA from 44th), Mr. Chen, Mr. Oi and JJ went into the safety vehicle to reserve the seats for later. I then told them what to expect, what was coming next and where were we going and how were we going to have things run.
We let the teams clear the front, moving off only after nearly 15 mins.JJ's stopwatch was ticking. He was a bit shocked, but sadistically happy that his estimation of the Punggol route which was not smooth at all was, well-off. We had a laugh and moved. The 4 (JJ,Chen,Marlon,Yong Jie) sat at the back. Couldn't expect the mastermind to take a backseat(literally). We exited the Punggol route up and down, but SLOWLY. When we couldn't take the slowness, i got Oi to speed up. "STEP ON IT!" Haha.
He did, and we exited the ulu part into the jetty into the normal Punggol Rd. 44th, led by Dominic, almost certainly went the wrong way. I shook my head and we went down the Punggol Rd and passed Chong Rui's team, 66th, the rojak team, Xing Kai's team and Cherng Ru's team. We then headed to Rivervale mall, because Mr. Oi needed to withdraw the payment for the race from 44th from ATM. Me and JJ went shopping for prizes at NTUC. It was really weird, indulging in all the buying while our Boys were trudging outside. We were not with them and not sure of their progress and that was a bit unsettling for the both of us, we agreed. We chop chop paid ($22.60!!) and went to the toilet, where JJ only wanted to look at his hair -.-
Mr. Oi was already in the van that he parked aside and we got on, trying to find the Boys.
Since we couldn't catch hold of any team,we went straight down to Punggol Park, and I got off to find the teams. At the playground, we saw Jing Han's team (xing kai,keane,edison) and they were seating on a bench. 66th's team was also lounging there, and Jing Han pulled me over, telling me, I quote:'the blackies jaywalk'. He was putting on his regular cool-guy buay song tone. I thought it was quite funny, especially when the indian guy walked near to throw rubbish. I told the 2 teams not to jaywalk for the rest of the race and to call me whenever they reached a checkpoint. JJ meanwhile, struggled out of the toilet with a jerry can, the one that he brought over to fill.
It was heavy and i helped him abit, but of course, it was still a struggle with me. We went to the bus stop where I disembarked from the van earlier.
Expecting more teams to come in, we waited, until ming jun called to say he reached woodbridge le.
GOSH. I realised that the only teams behind was the 44th team and they were still a long long way off.
We had to go back to find them and we realised that their map plotting was absymal. We had to go back to Compassvale Dr to find them and I had to teach them how to use the markings on the compass and then gave them a free bypass of 3 checkpoints straight to Lorong Ah Soo BLK 124.
In order to chart all 6 teams, we proceeded to checkpoint 6, to ait for them.
Until Cherng Ru called and said they were already at ckpt 7. Bethany Prebysterian Church. SHocked beyond belief at their speed, we drove to the church to intercept them. They were unhappy about staying put at one place for long but we reached and got our message to call after every checkpoint acrossed, they were pleased at least that were 3 checkpoints ahead of everybody. They rushed off and we parked in the church car park and hurried off to find the toilet, one by one.
Ming Jun came 15 mins later, or was it longer? They were struggling to catch up with Cherng ru and mistaken a temple for the checkpoint. We sent them off packing after the first team, making them think that the 1st team had just left. After that, there was radio silence and Mr. Chen entertained us with his mathematical jokes.Or actually ingenius musings. That man is a marvel. I must say.
Well, we waited for so long that it allowed each one of us in turn to visit the toilet in turn a second time. 66th finally came and they replenished the water from our black jerry can; the one we lugged to the bus stop previously. Funny thing, the 66th people were probably expecting a ride or a session to stop and rest freely from us. We did the same thing we did wioth MJ;'s groups and tried to surge the line forward by having the subsequent teams speed up and chase the first team. Turned out that Jing Han's team crossed 7 by running the other way instead of the main gate where we were at. Dubious, but keane's explanation seemed plausible...
Cherng Ru reached Checkpoint 8 then 9 and so did Ming Jun. They finally met in 10 and were awaiting us in the Bike Station .Faced with time shortage and the half and island gap between the first and last teams, we cancelled the biking station and told them to skip over to the National Sailing Centre. The teams, we last heard, were moving like zombies.
We hurried North to push the teams that were lost down. They were in the wrong places and moving at a very very slow pace. We taught them where to go and rushed down to the centre to unload Chen and me, who were kayaking station masters.
We did that and the safety vehicle went off to buy lunch for all the instructors. The teams that were at the East Coast were only at the Bedok Jetty, and we ate and discussed the entire race and more. We made plans to paddle to the Jetty and back for the Boys and set down the plans solidly.
When the teams finally arrived, it was when the safety vehicle personnel got up to transport the kayaks down to the beach. The two teams were Cherng Ru and Ming Jun's and they were all red-faced and stiff-legged. I led them in a full body stretch, them groaning and all.
They then selected their paddles and PFD and waited to go down. We did too, the instructors, while Oi, Amos and JJ stayed ashore to plan for the other teams that were on their way. Chen and I both wanted a single, a bandit boat that would entitle us to our privacy and leisure of movement. But there weren't any suitable boats to brave the waters, so I was stuck with this bony lad that was my nemesis for 2 years. Until he found his conscience.
Chen: What is conscience? (sometime tjhat day on the safety vehicle)
East Coast Waters are notorious for being choppy. We went into the water and i could feel the bobbing up and down sensation. The guys got into their boats and me and Chen sped off, heading at and outward angle. I really was more adept, thanks to training at Reservoir.lol. Chen and I were a good combo, considering we shared a love-hate relationship.Our strokes and everything were coordinated and all and we were fast as well. We reached the reservoir and had them race back to the lauch point. Thank GOD the first 2 teams back were really the ones slated to do Kayaking on the actual Race. If not they'd be dead. WE DID 5 KM!!!! But at least Chen and I were good at bursting...Chen said he could only burst once in one day. LOL. And he was hoping to pass his IPPT too.Dun think so. Barely 2 km, he already put his paddle down to rest le...
Jing Han's team arrived and went into the water and 66th did too. Shawn, the Kayaking instructor who's been helping us since ever took them out. The waters were bastar* and he ditched his dancer and took a double kayak instead, So he skimmed on the water's surface with a double, him taking the back seat. Amazing. I let the other 2 instructors take care of the 66th Boys, and the helpers went to convene on what to do with the guys still wallowing up North.
Mr. Oi decided on this: I mean, safety vehicle and recce that sorta stuff, he's the old hand. I'm just a guy who's been through all the walking and running and trying to recreate them for the next generations that are actually up to the task of covering the distance in the time I give.
So Oi said that he and Amos and Yong Jie would meet the two stray teams, give them directions to the endpoint and unload Yong Jie, thier PFM to topo them back just in case.
44th were given an express route to AHS, and the teams that were done packed up for the final leg of the journey.
the first team was set off, the next team 10 mins later, and the third team-66th, 20 mins later than the first team. It was intended to maintain the rankingas the teams arrived on the east coast at different times, but had to leave at the same time. Hardly fair otherwise.
They left Marlon, me and JJ at the Sailing Centre where me and JJ were wondering where did all our money go ($20), after rivervale mall. While looking at 2 girls at the nexty table from RJC sailing. MMMHmmm.
When we set out with our finances cleared and resolved, we climbed over the locked gate to reach the path the teams took to rendezvous with Oi. We walked for awhile and then met up with the 66th team. WTF! They had set out 10 mins before and now we had caught up with them! Their speed was snailish. Time: already 6:48...
We ignored them, while Marlon made them run abit, and the 3 primers went to get some ice cream. Actually, only JJ got some. I owed him 1 buck.
The safety vehicle picked us up and we cruised back to Anglican High.
All of 14th's teams were back and lounging on the concourse steps; like tradition dictated. The last 2 mock races were the same. They had their shoes off and were sprawled on the floor. AHS was dark by then. Mr. Oi unloaded us and the prizes and we watched him leave the school for his family dinner.
We distributed the prizes to 14th and i gave a short brief, as well as the official declaration of the team rankings in the race and mentioned how ming jun's team was able to chase cherng ru's team even with a gap of 2 checkpoints at the furthest point in the race.
We took a picture with Cherng ru's phone in the best lit area in the swamp of darkness that was AHS at night and saw them off for their KFC date. Which we couldn't partyake in, as there were still 3 teams at large.
Me and JJ waited in the darkness along with Marlon and Edison. Eddi was just lying on the ground resting. Marlon left for the Airport and Eddi went off too. Me and JJ were alone, and ignorant of the trails of the Boys who were supposedly on their way. They had to be; thier wallets and phones were all with us. it was 8:20 plus when we saw the linr of Boys run into the front gates under the orange lights. We thought everyone was back, but end up-it was only the ones led by Yong Jie. I gave them some advice and commendation and let them have their stuff baccck and released them. They were slow to move but quite eager to leave the creepy school. Even more after I told them about the nearby clock tower...
Turned out, the 66th team leader Kesavan had called my house, with the help of call divert and told me that they were on their way. Mer and JJ and as well as their buddies from the Rojak team followed us down to Bedok Swimming complex where they were at. We discovered that tthis lost team actaully had a Sec 5 Warrant Officer with them who didn't lead, guide or anything, but just behaved like a lance corporal, doing nothing helpful to the team at all.
WOW.
Me and JJ were Warrants just 2 months ago too. That kind of Warrant Officer was on parr with the likes of us and six others from 14 and Josiah in VS? Goodness.
When we were assured that they were on their way home, me and JJ went to Bedok's KFC. It was 9 at that time. Gave a sms report to Poh, Yeo, Oi and Chen too, while tasting the ZINGER burger that was marvellous after one whole day of Potato Chips.
In short the race went ok, but wasn't as smooth as we'd all liked...
We did not have the gathering at AHS before dark, we did not have the Biking, we did not have everyone take the conventional proper route to the Endpoint, but at least it was a good day outdoors, i got in the green sea to row, and well too. All of 14th and 66th got to kayak and there were no injuries unlike last year. Pretty neat.
It was really a crazy day. But a delicious one. 14th really does rock.
But we're still not up there yet. But soon. And its not only me who has to have that dream; it's everyone. Under the banner of 14th.
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