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At the ring of my alarm clock, I jumped out of bed to check the floor outside. Yeah! It's dry and we're going to RACE. This is the day the Viruses have been waiting for expectantly. With so much excitement & adrenalin pumping inside of me, I almost fainted.

The moment I stepped into MacDonald's, a bunch of hungry Viruses were busy munching away. After breakfast, we proceeded to the race course. Wow! This was the first time the race track was being barricaded. It felt like I was in an international race.

I stood at one corner to observe, looking at all the colourful jerseys and skin suits zooming pass me. It's a feast to my eyes. As music and the excited chatter of the people began to fill the air, our shutter bugs were busy capturing all these excitement on their digital memories. Haha... Viruses are a vain bunch. Before the start of the race, Viruses came together holding hands to pray for safety and protection for each and every participant.

Soon, the first event was underway. For the Men's Open, there were two heats with the group of 17 skaters split into two. They were to skate 5km and the top five from each group would proceed on to the Men's Open Finals. The Korean skater, Cody Winter who was in the 2nd group was an eye opener for everybody. The way he broke away and sped round on his own made it look like a stroll in the park. I could hear the screaming girls as he went round the track. Unfortunately, Viruses Coolzone and Spinstall were in this 2nd group of stronger skaters and were not able to go on to the Finals even though their timings were better than some of those in the 1st group. Only Virus CK managed to move on to the Finals.

The second event was the Veteran & Junior Girls (13-17) combined (10km). Who says grown-ups cannot roll on wheels? Not only can they skate fast, they still look good. "Lau Cek go market ah, faster lah". Fred, who's a real veteran in the skating arena, easily took top sport. Virus 003 completed the race in good time and we are proud of him. The junior girls were pretty strong too. They looked really cool pushing hard round the track. Go skaters Go!!!

Next up was the Junior Boys (under 12). Those kids looked really cute. It's really amazing to see some of the kids run on their skates; it looked as if they were running on foot. "Go boy go! Come on kor-kor, skate faster!" screamed the mummies, daddies, grandpas and grandmas. 9 years old Sean Lim of Team SpeedVirus emerged first. Good job boy!

Next event was the Men's Fitness (5km). The skaters looked very determined as they gathered at the starting line. The crowd was screaming and cheering so loudly that I almost went deaf. Haha.. Actually, I was one of the culprits. Virus Bert was looking really good as he was skating with the lead pack. With little experience in such races, he was playing the hero as he took the lead for about 6 laps. Unfortunately Virus Bert fell and lost his position, but he got up quickly and kept chasing the lead pack. Viruses continued to cheer him on and it gave him the push to continue with the chase. He completed the race in 4th position with pretty good timing. Well done Virus Bert!!

Finally it was my race. Women's Open and Junior Boys (13-17) combined (10km). There were only 5 women at this race. At the starting line, Virus CK told me "Win or nothing". Wah.. Stress man. My heart beat and adrenalin started to go crazy. "Peep!" Everybody jostled for their positions. Everything was nice and easy for the first few laps until Kimberly Ames took off. This was where the game started. The locals fought it out.

Just after 2 - 3 rounds Kimberly lapped us and took the lead. At one point, Skateliner Mani tried to move to the front position and sped up from the back. As she was trying to cut in front of me, her frame and Hyper Jasmine's frame clicked. Mani fell right in front of me. One of my feet got caught with hers but thank GOD I was able to lift it up and did not fall. "Phew!" That was a close one. Fortunately, Mani was not badly injured and she managed to get back into the race, but was not able to catch up afterwards.

We tailed Kimberly for a few rounds before she broke off again. I could hear all the Viruses from every corner cheering hard and screaming so loudly. At one point, there were three of us left in the pack (Jenn, Jasmine & I). As we continued our rounds, Jenn took lead for a few laps and then I went up, and then it was Jenn and me again. Hmmm... It seemed like Viruses were doing the entire job. So, I decided not to play the hero for too long. This was a familiar scene, it has happened somewhere back in time.

I heard someone said "Come on Girls, you can do better than that!" Whenever I tried to drop back to let Jasmine take the lead, she would just roll or stood up and drank from her camel-pack. Has anybody seen a race like that before? I almost fell asleep skating. We were swinging left and right until Kimberly came along and Jenn took off after her. When I realized that Kimberly and Jenn were far ahead, I started to give chase and eventually caught up. After a few laps Kimberly broke off and we were on our own again playing games. Then, at the corner of my eye I saw this monkey jumping up and down. Haha.. It's Virus CK. He yelled, "Just go for it girl! Don't wait anymore!!"

Jenn took lead during the final 3 - 4 laps. At the last lap, she shouted "Go girl!" I took off and dashed for my life. No time to look back. Push and push and push. I could hear a lot of "Go! Go! Go!" along the way. I hived a sigh relief as I went across the finishing line. Then came Jenn and Jasmine. They were neck to neck at the finishing line. Wah.. It was photo-finish. Everybody was anxious to know who came in 2nd and 3rd. The results were finally out - 1st went to Kimberly Ames, 2nd to me and 3rd to Jenn. Yessss!! The 3 Bont gals won!

I was so busy playing games, I never even noticed the Junior Boys skating in the same track with us. It was like they didn't even pass us though some of them finished before we did. Congratulations to Virus Kim Teo who emerged 1st for Junior Boys. Well done guys!

Finally, the long awaited Men's Open Finals. At the start line, Cody Winter was no where to be found and the race carried on without him. What a pity! It would be an eye opener for everybody if he had skated. I screamed to get Virus CK's attention and told him, "Win or nothing." Haha.. Stress him back. There's only one Virus in this race and I could see the focus on his face.

The air was tense as the guys got ready to go. Sandy was in the lead followed by a long string of speedsters. I ran over to the finishing line to cheer Virus CK on and to make sure his laps were counted correctly. All the colourful jerseys were zooming pass like a real race should be. Sandy started to break off and left a big pack behind him. The rest of the guys continued their rounds and soon, the big pack has lessened to pack of three (Virus DC, Hyper Eddie and Max). I felt very excited as the two very strong skaters were in the same pack. I began to cheer louder and screamed to Virus CK his laps. Virus Jenn was jumping up and down shouting instructions to him.

We just love a good race and this was certainly one of them. When it was down to their last 10 laps, Virus CK broke from the pack leaving Hyper Eddie and Max behind. He went on strongly on his own and the crowd was cheering him on. With about 5 more laps to go, Hyper Eddie decided to break from Max and gave chase. With a determined look on his face, he double-pushed to narrow the gap. Virus DC was too far ahead and the finishing line came all too soon. The minute he crossed the finishing line, I ran towards him and we all screamed together. Wow!! This is what I call a race! The results were out - Skateliner Sandy emerged 1st, Virus CK emerged 2nd and Hyper Eddie was 3rd. Good job guys. That was a real great run!

Just as the race ended, the rain hit the ground. As a result the Women's Fitness and the sprint events were cancelled. What a shame, but safety had to come first.

Viruses entered this race without finding out about the prizes or awards. It was therefore a fantastic surprise when we discovered that by winning the Men's Open (Daryl Chan, Virus CK) and Women's Open (me, Virus Evocative) - for the local skaters only; we have actually won the Singapore National Championship!!! This included sponsored air tickets to Korea for the World's in April. That's a double whammy!!!!

Virus CK and I looked at each other and we were like "Harhhhh??" We're going to Korea to race! I was so overwhelmed and nothing could describe how I felt at that moment. This proves that hard work does pay! Jenn (Virus Lady Speedster) was jumping up and down with her camera and couldn't stop snapping away. I got the biggest bear hug from her too.

I would like to thank InSSAS, sponsors Hyper and Skateline for organizing this event. Not forgetting all the timekeepers and volunteers for their hard work. This is one of the most well organized race events I've ever seen. Kudos!

Thank you to all the Viruses for cheering, lap counting and taking pictures; your presence, efforts, cheering and moral support meant a lot. Special thanks to our Vice-Capt Jenn, for all her effort in putting the team through our training. I'm truly blessed to be in the Virus family.

I thank GOD for all the victories that came in favor for TSV for He is the power behind all of us. Until the next race, zooommmmm...

Goto >> Main | Article by Daryl