Saturday, March 10, 2007

Highlights of the week…

4 MORE DAYS TO POP!!!
24 km graduation route march cleared!!!
SOC cleared in 3:26!!!

The dreaded 24 km march is OVER!!! 24 km. 12 rounds around the BMTC school compound. 60 rounds the track. 24000 m. 72000 steps. 6 hours of tramping through all types of terrain…

Weather sucked even before the march. Blazing sun one moment, cloudy skies and a few teasing drops of rain the next. This alternated in 5 minute intervals for about 20 minutes, finally settling on a moderately hot sun. 40 minutes into the march, and we reached the first 4 km checkpoint. Spirits were low, knowing that there was a long long long way more to go, anudder 20 km more… To make things worse, it started raining in the middle of our 10 minute break. It RAINED! Hard enough to soak our equipment. But not hard enough to warrant a cancellation of the march. Sigh. What else was there to do but put on soggy equipment and carry on trudging through the mud, with the occasional splashing through a puddle. We walked, we walked…

12 km checkpoint reached!!! Halfway there. Spirits were higher, but there was a long long way more to go. Signs of "wear and tear" started appearing… We really perked up when dinner was distributed. To go with the usual fare was A BAR OF KIT-KAT and A CAN OF 100 PLUS! We must be so deprived to get such a kick out of small things in life… We trudged, we trudged…

Proceeded through the next 8 km in the deepening gloom. By the first km, it was hard to see the guy in front of you. After the next 2 km, it was pitch black. Just go on and on, following the vague silhouette of the guy in front… hope it’s a person and not something else… We endured, we endured…

Last 4 km. Oh god the pain. Aching muscles. Blistered feet. Abrasions where they hurt… Hobbled back into camp in high spirits, drunk on endorphins, singing (yelling?) at the top of our lungs. Tekong had many new "penguins" waddling around the next few days. We hobbled, we hobbled…

ĴÖÑ dosen't know what to do with his time @ 11:32 PM

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