Mizuno Wave Run 2007

6.00am: "You guys are crazy! It's 7am on a rainy Sunday morning, and 8,000 of you are gathered here waiting to run in the rain!" the DJ yelled over the P.A system, "it's incredible!"

"Yeah, right. I'm one crazy guy, man!" I thought to myself. Temasek Poly Sports Complex was full of men, women, boys, girls, even old men and women all gathered for one purpose: To finish 10km round Bedok Reservoir, Tampines and Bedok estate. 8,000 insane people, and I was among them.

Organisational wise, it was a mess! Men and women jostled to deposit their bags in the trucks that would bring their belongings to Bedok Reservoir, which was the finishing point. "How on earth are they going to identify thousands of these bags and lay them out?," I thought to myself. The VIPs were late, and everybody was restless. However, weather wise, it was perfect. Cool and wet, cloudy with no sun.

7.40am: BG George Yeo, the VIP, sounded the horn. I found myself running off with the First wave- the Men's Open. It would be a race like no other I've ever took part in. Full of bottlenecks (Bedok Reservoir is too narrow a place to accommodate thousands of runners), mud pools (I wonder if the organisers were thinking about the Waves generated), and sand in my shoes (I was awarded with blisters). Along the way, I was baptised in mud, sand and water. I've never been so dirty and thrashed out in a run before!

8.30am: Saw the Mizuno balloon arc and crossed it! "Yes! I've finished!" I thought to myself. "Sir, the finishing line is further down, not here," the official told me. Man, talk about getting the Messiest Race Award! The last 1km was full of Ah Ma and Ah Kong from the Aljunied GRC doing their Walk-A-Jog along the same path that we were doing our run! As I sprinted across the finishing line, I had to take extra care not to bull doze down these elderly folks! I crossed the finishing line at 50min.

But, the mess had only just begun. The goody bag collection area was already crowded and full of people, with the Q-line extending as long as the race itself. The baggage collection area was like Sungei Road, with bags and stuff all laid out on the field, extending all the way to the car park! You could hear people cursing and swearing as they dragged their weary bodies around the war zone, salvaging their stuff.

I guess that I could have joined in the colourful language, but I was thankful for the cool nice weather in which I could run. I was also thankful for the improved timing. Actually, I was not too sure if my knee could take this 10km (I injured it a few days ago, while falling out of the bus carrying my beloved Daniel). Improving by almost 5 minutes from the Passion Run, I was quite happy with finishing this run at 50mins.

In life, as with running a race, we can never expect things to turn out the way we want them to. The challenge is: In spite of the mess, obstacles and difficulties, we have to see beyond all these and make the best out of it. The winner goes to the one who can rise above these present challenges to finish the race!