18th Jan 2004 - continuation of race at Commonwealth track

"Good Morning ...!!!" Wah... look who's back? Virus ET back from Japan to give support. The usual rounds of warm ups and stretching. Wait a minute, what's this yellow tent doing here? Camping time? No... it's Viruses' portable toilet! Talk about innovative.

This Commonwealth 400m track has a very rough and uneven surface, no trees for shade and no toilet. The girls and guys had to redo their 1000m races as this is a new venue. An official commented, "the Viruses have lost their advantages on this track". That's an interesting observation.

5 girls gathered at the starting line for the 1000m event. We were suppose to go 2 by 2 for this event. At the sound of the whistle, off I went skating round the 400m track. Looking back, I saw Virus LadySpeedster who started half a lap behind me. With the wind conditions, it was no joke skating round the 400m track for 2.5 times. I'm just totally glad when it was finally over. It was time to play cheer team again. After the girls finished their race, it was the Men's 1000m. Another round of mad sprint.

I went to check my timing - my goodness, Virus LadySpeedster and I had no timings!! Sandy and Kao got our timings wrong!! Oh man... We were then asked to redo the race again!! You've got to be kidding me - do this 1000m for the 3rd time?! I was beginning to feel like a puppet on strings. We're penalized through no fault of our own! Argghhhhh!!!! The girls came together to discuss, fortunately, there was a majority vote not to redo the 1000m. The officials concluded that the 1000m race would be void - AGAIN! This is one area we really need to improve on. This is the 3rd DQ in the whole league, that's too many DQs in a single league.

Next up, Men's fitness race (5km). They'd be going for 12.5 rounds. "PEE...!!!" ZOOM... off they went. Look at those cadence... After about 5 rounds, the pack broke into 2. The front team was cruising strong, while the rest were moving along looking fast. Soon it was the last round, the 3 front guys "chiong" to the finishing line. Wah... it was a close one. Hvper Maverick came in 1st, followed by Lawrence and Hvper George. Well done guys!

Next was the Women's fitness and Boys' junior races combined (5km). Girls & boys were on the mark. Another 12.5 rounds. The boys were chasing the girls and they were really something. There were 3 packs of skaters. The 1st pack of girls were ahead of the boys, the boys were with the 2nd pack and they're fast. It was exciting watching them. The boys overtook the girls... the girls overtook the boys. Phew.. it was half fight. Finally, Erica emerged winner for the Women's fitness race, followed by the other 2 ladies from Skateline. Skateliner Bertrand was 1st and Baby Virus Sean was 2nd for Junior event.

Next event, the Women's speed open (10km). It's 25 laps round the 400m track. Excitement was in the air. I heard that the timekeepers & marshal even made bets on who's coming in 1st, 2nd & 3rd. Wow..!!

As we were getting ready on the mark, my legs felt like jelly. We dashed off at the sound of the whistle. We immediately jostled for positions. Joelle took lead and everybody else formed a peleton behind her. It was a relaxed run as we were going slowly round and round. Virus LadySpeedster and I sang a little to boost the mood. Judy took lead next. By this time, the head wind was strong. I could see her struggling after a while, so I decided to take the lead. After that no body wanted to take over the lead. Wah.... I was leading for 2.5 rounds already. Judy came to help take the wind for a while, then Virus LadySpeedster took over the lead next. By the 12th lap I realized that it's still the same 4 of us taking lead. Eh... there's 5 of us racing, is it not?

The atmosphere was tense as everybody picked up speed. After a few laps, we slowed down again and the jostling started again. Hvper Jasmine finally took lead next. Soon, it was the final 5 laps. Joelle dashed up to take lead and tried to break away. We all caught up and continued to push hard. It was the final lap with 200m from the finishing line. Hvper Jasmine dashed from the lead position and I chased from the outside. Wah... tired man. Virus LadySpeedster was chasing from behind too, but couldn't pass because too many legs in the way. Finally, I crossed the finishing line neck to neck with Hvper Jasmine (photo finish). Then came Virus LadySpeedster, Joelle and Judy. What a race!

Finally, the Men's speed open (10km). Talk about joisting for positions. This is the race you should watch. The timekeeper and marshal are betting again. As there were many more men speedskaters than women, the excitement was even thicker. "PEE...!!!" "Click..... Biong...." "PEE PEE PEE..." A skater fell and the race was stopped. The injured guy withdrew from the race and the rest got ready at the line again. "PEE..!!" this time, the skate is for real.

The guys were jostling for positions again. First few laps, all were together, after which Hvper Yong Quan broke off. Virus CK went after him, followed by Munwai and Hvper Shawn. The majority in the 3rd pack are newer skaters. After a while Hvper Yong Quan was alone leading, followed by Virus CK hot behind his wheels. Munwai and Hvper Shawn were coming up strong. Hvper Alan from the 3rd pack was trying to catch up with Virus CK. Emm... that boy is plain stamina. Suddenly, Virus Bear fell, he was injured and didn't continue with the race. Medics and Viruses rushed over to attend to him. Fortunately, no broken bones.

Hvper Yong Quan was going really strong, leading alone all the way to the finishing line. Virus CK came in a strong 2nd, followed by Munwai. Good job guys!

Special thanks to our Virus marshal, timekeeper, photographers, videographers and cheer team for being there braving the sun. Thank you Sandy and Kao for putting the events together.

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