If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)
Cold Storage Run - Kids Had Fun Today With Their Family
For Results, please go to http://kidsrun.com.sg/
Picture 1 - Athalla, proudly showing that he is going to run in the 800m kids run
Today, I went down to see the Kids Run which was held at Padang, Connaught Drive. I saw nearly all, except for a rare few, holding on to their child, The first wave started at 8 10plus and the wave continued on in series and ended with the last wave moving out at around 11 30pm approximately. While finishing, I saw cheerleading crowd giving their 100% to cheer for the young ones, the parents were motivating running together with their parents and finally finishing the race in a happy manner. I met one parent whose child is in Flexifitness, Young Champions Programme and interviewed the him on his son's performance after the run.
Picture 2 - Athalla standing side by side with his friend, with finisher medals
What is your name and your son's name?
My name is Ade Rangkoto and I am 42years of age and my son Athalla is 7 years old.
Why was the reason for you to make your son take part in the race?
It was more of a participative one rather than a competitive one. He has run in some races, an example of this is the ZOO RUN for children and adults. I always look forward to these kinds of races for my child to that he develops physically in terms of improved timing in a run.
How is he now as compared to the past?
In the past, he had some difficulty managing a run, although he could finish the run. Right now, I can see that he can manage the run physically and mentally. I want him to learn to pace himself well in run. I have seen children feeling so excited that they start off too fast during the run and then slow down at the end. I wanted my son to do his best to challenge himself physically and mentally. He was able to run faster than his friend who also ran in the race, not forgetting that the important thing to do was to challenge himself rather than mere overtaking, benchmarking his own timing instead. This is what I would like to see. I can see that he can set some form of short-term goal now and this I feel is good for my child. In the past, he could run but he was not able to pace himself properly.
What did your son learn today?
Learning at this early age to pace himself is very important for my son. I also know that kids don’t like competitive environment. Instead, he is now surrounded by people who are motivated in running and this gives my son the motivation he needs to build his own record for and progress.
What are your future plans?
Future plans, I don’t know. As for me, I would say that sports is an inevitable activity for my son. As his father, I feel that I am responsible to mould my son to remind him to be healthy and fit in life. I also realise that sports will make him blend well with his peers. In the long run, my intention is for making him independent enough to make a decision of what sport to take and do it for the rest of his life.
How was the organisation of the race?
It was organised very well. There was good crowd support and cheerleading etc. I liked the environment. However, I would like to give feedback to the organisers so that they can strive to make the race better by informing on putting some officials for direction. We were searching for the start for some time by reaching at 8 10am. We were not sure about where to go and how to go. I had to ask the runners instead as I was not able to find any official to help on this. We are supposed to start at 8 20am and ended starting our race at 8 45am. I was feeling lost for some time finding the start. Instead of putting many officials for cheerleading, some could do crowd control so that the race goes in a smooth fashion.
I would like to say that this did not happen in ZOO Run. In the Zoo run, the race was going on at the same time with visitors also inside the zoo at the same time. Maybe, organisers could look into improving some of these kids races.
What race did your son run in and how did your son fare?
I know he did well although I did not time him. In the past, he was rather slow. He was also able to run in a steady fashion and was running ahead of me. This was a good sign of his improvement. I will have to check the website for the result. I hope that the organisers could put out the results just like how the organisers could do it for the Zoo Run. I am excited and am still waiting for the result. Anyway, I felt very good about my son's run. I felt that all the training that he did with Flexifitness has helped him to run better.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
