Penang Forward Sports Club

It was 7 something on Sunday morning when we found ourselves standing in the fresh dewy green field.

I was as nervous as a boy who's about to attend his first day of school, stomach churning, hands and feet breaking into cold sweat. I looked at the people around and thought 'Fuck, how am I supposed to complete this thing without making a fool of myself?'

As if she read my mind or share the same sentiment, my friend turned around and said 'Sharon, I think we're the fattest bunch here' I can't help but to LOL at her statement, at the same time nodding my head furiously in agreement.

Truth to be told, I was seriously intimated. My physique was nowhere near these bunch of ladies around me. Both young and old; these people with legs of flamingo and bodies as slim as 'teik ko' (pole) were as fit as a fiddle.


How to compare like that?!

Surely this thing is nothing to them but to us, the dragonboat ladies who are obviously bulkier and a lil more muscular than these runners, ONE, we're carrying extra baggage with us and TWO, we might not have stamina as good as these runners. Sure we may be good with our hands (ehem) but not sure when it comes to the legs.

We convinced ourselves it shouldn't be hard to do. It wasn't really.. the distance was just 2.5km each (it was a relay event where you pass one baton from one to another) BUT shorter distance also means that you need to strive for a good time. No one runs alone in this race, team members depended on one another to complete it so by hook or by crook, you still need to give it your best shot.

The men started first

I was the 4th of 6 runners, the longer I waited the more I felt like I had to go....












shit FML -_-" I held it (ok probably too much information here)... while waiting nervously for the third runner to show up to pass me the baton. When I finally saw her scrambling through the crowd huffing and panting her way towards me, I felt the excitement growing. I can't wait to get it over with. And the instant the baton was handed to me, I ran and ran and ran while keeping in mind not to overexhaust myself before the final stretch. Halfway through the run, I regretted not making a visit to the loo earlier as the mixture of anxiety and excitement was starting to have impact on the tummy :S

It was hard but I tried to shove the feelings aside and try to focus on the run; took a deep breath and just kept running. At the final corner before the last long stretch, I overtook 3 other runners and the end destination was clear ahead. Spectators and supporters were clapping, screaming and giving encouragement all the way. When it was close to 200 meters to the end line, I mustered enough conserved energy to sprint. And sprint I did. I ran like the legs no longer belong to me all the way. I saw the next team member waiting to receive the baton from me and I just kept going till the baton was passed to her.

I felt like my lungs were going to burst the moment I stopped. I had to bend over and took big deep breaths of all the air I could get. Sweat was just pumping out of me! People were talking to me but I was too tired to answer. It took me a while to finally breathe normally again and start talking. The feeling was great! We didn't win anything nor did we come last but the satisfaction of having completed the race with the team was just amazing. The rest of the dragonboat guys were proud of us ladies for giving our best :)

I seldom take my camera with me lately and below pics are stolen from Facebook :p



A little party after the run



Birthday celebration for April babies



Women



Initially we only wanted 3 ppl in the photo but an uninvited guest just 'sneaked in' oh well...



Gotta get used to ppl bombarding your photos haha



My accidental ridiculously big running jersey sponsored by the club

Front


Back


Great experience! Looking forward to more of these events!




posted from LIT