Pink Ribbon Walk/Run 5km (2nd Oct 2010, 8am)

Note:

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 Murugiah Rameshon

Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)

Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Pink Ribbon Charity Walk/Run 5km (2nd Oct 2010, 8am)


Pic 1 -  Pink Ribbon Walk/Run 5km attracted many people for this race.

Today, at 8am, the Breast Cancer Foundation successfully organised the Pink Ribbon Walk/Run 5km. In summary, the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF) is a non-profit organisation set up in 1997 with a mission: To Eradicate Breast Cancer as a Life-threatening Disease. Breast Cancer has been found to the top most common cancer affecting Singaporean women. Every year, about 1,350 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 313 women die from it. Hence, the Breast Cancer Foundation organised this event for charity purpose and for making people aware, especially the female gender, about the risk of breast cancer through the 5km Walk/Run.

The run was organised for both competitive and mass run participants. The run attracted some top runners from the men and women side. As for the 5km, competitive, there were prizes for the top 4 - both Women Open and Men Open section. There was no junior section for the race. The event was graced by Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State.

The race for the competitive event started at 8am while the mass run/walk for the non-competitive started around half an hour later. The race was organised very well. The start point was at the playground at Big Splash, at East Coast Parkway.

Picture 2- Trudy Fawcett was first in the 5km race

In the competitive section of the women race, Trudy Fawcett came in first while Kelly from America came in second. In the third position was Sheryl Loh, the former Hwa Chong Institution (college) tennis player, who came in a time of 21min 11sec. This was a personal best for her and she was happy about it. She was also the fastest Singaporean for the women open section, coming in top 3 in the 5km race. Not to forget, in the Army Half-marathon Sheryl came in 1hr 37.01min and came in overall 7th in the women open section of the race.

Picture 3 - Sheryl Loh, for the first time running the 5km run.

In the men open section of the Pink RibbonWalk/Run 5km, Thomas Kiprotich came in first. In the Army Half - Marathon Thomas was first for the 10km race with a time of 31min 59sec. Philip Ramachandran, the next runner and the first Singaporean running the 5km race of the Pink Ribbon run, came in second with a time of 17min 23sec.

Picture 4 - Thomas was ahead of Philip Ramachandran by more than two minutes.

The race started off at 8am, with the women open and competitive runners had to run together. Right from the start Thomas Kiprotich, a Kenyan-born runner, zoom his way out during the race, past everyone and finally emerged first in the 5km race.

All runners ran on the pedestrian path of the course and later had to do a u-turn and run at the cycling path. There were three cycles assigned to go along with the top 3 men and women to guide them from the start to the finish.

I decided to give an interview to Sheryl to give us a first hand experience of the race.

How do you know that you are timed electronically?

We had a B-tag on our number tag to monitor this.

How was the start of the race?

The start of the race was excellent. However, from the sound of the horn, I got a punch accidentally from an old lady who may have wished to get a head-start by standing in front of the crowd and good time by running competitively. At the start, I was surprised that some top runners actually came for the event. This made the run more glamourous.

Can you tell us about your race experience throughout the race?

At the start, I was following the two top ladies. At the first 1km, I was about 10-20metres away. At the second km, I was about 20-30metres away. At the half-way mark, I was about 30metres away. This was where Trudy increased her pace and gave us a widening gap. The second runner was just in front of me. 

The run was organised very well but the weekend cyclist, cycling on our lane, made it hard for me to monitor the race well. I was not able to know where Trudy and Kelly was.  In the pedestrian lane, I was not affected at all.

What do you think about your performance in this race?

I am very happy that within a short span of training I am able to do a personal best time for the race. I believe that I could have gone faster. This is just my first 5km race that I am running. I believe that if more quality runners had come here today, I would have done my time better. This is an exam period where some of the top runners are hesitant to come for the race.

Are there constructive comments that you would like to give to improve the run time of the race for the competitive runners? 

It would be a good idea to start the competitive run at 7am. It was cooler at that time. Once it is 8am, the weather became hot and it was harder to get a personal best for people because of this. My suggestion is starting earlier for the competitive runners is a good idea. As for the mass run people, it is ok to run at 8am or even 9am because they are not running competitively and it will not dehydrate them easily.

Are there positive comments that you would like to give on this event?

Picture 5 - Sheryl Loh as a tennis player in the recent past

The organisation of this race was great. The crowd was vibrant. We were actually given warm-up and 10-15mins of stretching before the race. There was no confusion during the run of the race as the route marshal were really doing their job well. At 9:45am the prizes were given away and hence I consider this as an efficient and effective organisation. Overall, I enjoyed my day there. I don't mind running this race if the chance is given again.

About Breast Cancer Foundation

Early detection and treatment of breast cancer is likely to carry a better prognosis and increases the chance of survival before the disease becomes life-threatening. Yet, only 41% of women aged 50-69 years reported going for a mammogram in the past two years2.


For this reason, BCF has been playing a strategic role to educate and empower women with the tools for early detection. Knowing the facts and symptoms associated with the condition, regular breast self-examinations and going for annual mammograms are the first steps women can take to be in control of their breast health.

For breast cancer patients who find fighting breast cancer to be one of the toughest challenges in their lives, BCF provides hope, support and encouragement. Our Support Programmes are designed to provide emotional support for patients as they undergo treatments, inspire survivors to regain their confidence and engage affected family members to help their loved ones enhance their quality of life.

As a non-profit organisation, BCF relies solely on the generosity of public donors and corporations to fund our year-round public outreach and support programmes amounting to $1 million annually.

Picture 6 - Proper warm-up and stretching was given to the participants before the walk/run 5km.

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.