A race opened to all the Inline Skaters in Singapore sponsored by Samsung.

Congratulations to all skaters who came, raced and conquered. Team SpeedVirus won a total of 5 medals out of 12. Great job!! - 1 Gold, 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze.

Here are the awards:
1. Elite Men's Overall - 1.120km Road Individual Time Trial (BRONZE) - Daryl Chan

2. Elite Women's Overall - 1.120km Road Individual Time Trial (GOLD) - Ethel Lui

3. Elite Women's Overall - 1.120km Road Individual Time Trial (SILVER) - Jenn Lui

4. Elite Women's Overall - 1.120km Road Individual Time Trial (BRONZE) - Carmen Goh

5. Sports Men's Overall - 1.120km Road Individual Time Trial (SILVER) - Goh Chin Kiong

Article

Early in the morning Six o'clock
Viruses were gathered for the job
Speed and Fitness, Recre and Hockey
Skaters' skills for all to see….

This once a year event attracted more than a thousand registrations. Skaters on speed skates, recreation skates and hockey skates, of all shapes and sizes filled the Padang as early as before 6am.

At 7am, Elite speed skaters were seen rolling around the track doing their warm-ups getting ready for their event. Soon after, Ladies and Men were lined up together as Race Director Jonathan Seutter gave last minute briefings.

Somehow, I always end up as the first of the first on the starting line (last year too); in other words, I was first guinea pig :) Even though there was a micro-chip attached to our skates, we were told to start after the sound of the horn (not our own starting time). The most disturbing instruction was "when on the starting line, skaters must "freeze", any slight roll results in a 15 seconds penalty". This last instruction effective subjected many skaters to a 15 seconds penalty - which in my opinion, is highly disputable. There was no dash line of 60cm from the start line as in a standard time trial during the World Championships (CIC rule).

At the start line, I had to pay special attention to the "freeze" position, and then sprinted off at the sound of the horn (5 seconds interval). With all the strange instructions, I looked back twice at the Race Director to ensure that I did not false start, and slowed down tremendously. With no further assurance I sprinted off as fast as I could as I realized that I had wasted precious time. I pushed as hard as I could even at the corners and continued to push relentlessly even though I slipped at several stretches of wet grounds. Finally, the finishing line came and I maxed out with all that I have. To me, I've done my best and that's all that matters. As it turned out, I was in 2nd position despite the crazy start. Yes!!

Looking back, I saw Virus Evo (Ethel) sprinting her max towards the finishing line, and then Virus CK (Daryl) came dashing through at top speed too. They really looked formidable on those speed skates.

We continued to cheer the skaters on and went crazy when the skaters crossed the finishing line. We noticed many skaters looked back in confusion after they sprinted off the start line obviously unsure of the instructions.

After the Elite speedsters completed the race, the challengers of the Sport Category gathered and got ready to go. Crazy Virus Stealth made a bad mistake of sprinting off before the honk and even went back to the start line again. This mistake cost him big time - he was disqualified :( Everyone pushed to the max with the determined look on their faces. It was a good race.

More than 200 skaters formed a line for "The longest inline skating chain" record. They hooked onto each others' waists and tried their best not to break the chain. After a 200m skate, they set the record. Great job skaters!! Then the skies opened up and the rain began to pour. As the grounds were wet, the organizers decided to cancel the next 2 events - 100m sprint for Elite skaters and Children 1.120km. Many "boos" were heard as disappointed skaters started packing up. Though many were disappointed by the cancellation of the events, the organizers have put in lots of effort in putting this together and we would like to thank them for their labors. Other than the confusion at the start line which resulted in lots of confusion and dispute with the results, it was a great work out day. Viruses were blessed with many victories as they were seen playing with their cameras, hand phones, printers - prizes they were awarded for their hard work.

Thank you Lord for keeping us safe. Until next time…. Hit it speedsters!!