Donald Ng - The Man and His Mission
Picture 1- A life of dedication to running at 50 plus
On Sept 12, Sunday, Donald Ng, the coach of 6 Divison Army Unit, had to wake up very early at 2 :30am to meet the 16 team One athletes and other runners of 6 Division who were taking part in the Singapore Bay Run (Army Half-Marathon) 2010. The athletes had to report to City Hall first and take their respective breakfast at 3:30am. At 4:15am, he made the runners to go for a 10min warm-up and stretching. Half-an-hour before the start of the race, the 6 Divsion runners proceeded themselves to the start line for their half-marathon formation race. Donald's strategy was to ensure that the runners of same standard could stay together in order they do well for the race as a team. His only thought was teamwork, teamwork and teamwork only. He found that through teamwork, the runners will be motivated throughout the race and they will be able to attain a good time as opposed to running alone. He realised that this would enable the strong runner to push the weaker ones to remain focus and to ensure the weaker runner do not get disheartened.
I have interviewed Donald Ng in the July Issue of this Blog as the coach of Ernest Wong, who has a personal best of 2hrs 37min in the Hong Kong Marathon. Here, it is good to know of his well proven coaching methods which he applied on 6 Division to enable this Army Unit to come in as the Champion team of the Army Section Half -Marathon team race. Let us learn about this gentleman from the interview that I had with him.
How did you prepare the 6 Division to emerge as the champions?
It took me 9months. We started a once a week session of running 5km first. Later on, we progressed to once a week running 25km. This was done gradually. We also told the athletes to do their own training as well.
Did you encounter any disruption/s in training the 6 Division runners?
During Youth Olympic Games, our training were disrupted to a certain extent.
How dedicated were the athletes?
Firstly the athletes came voluntarily to train under me. Gradually, progressively and systematically they were selected to train for Team One. Overall the athletes' attitude was good. From doing workout on Wednesdays, we started doing workouts on Thursdays, as we reach near to the date of the competition.Those who had good base training and fitness were the ones who were always turning up for the training.
Were you expecting your team to become the champions?
Frankly speaking, we were hoping for good individual running time which shows improvement, that's all. Whether we will be able to come in as champions or not, we were not sure. We were also not sure of the other units like 2PDF and 9 Division when it comes to their strengths and weakness. We just focused on our training alone.
How do you find the route?
I find that the route was ok. It was nice to run the whole course which was scenic. There were 2 hills to negotiate and I find the hills not bad. After the 2 hills, the route was generally flat throughout the course.
How do you find the weather in the morning?
The weather was humid. However, it was really advantageous to run before the sun comes up. Thanks to the organisers.
Were you able to sleep well for this race?
I did not have enough sleep as I had to take care of 6 Division runners. I had to wake up at. 2:30am.
How was the food in the morning?
We took something light in the morning. We had bread, banana, tea/coffee, 100plus, mineral water to choose.
How was the support from your Army Unit, 6 Division?
Col Lim Teck Keong was the overall in-charge and he gave us the necessary support to enable us to come in as the champions. Another leader of 6 Division, Commader BG Ishak, gave us the right support to motivate us to win the championships.
How was the feeling of becoming the champions in the year 2010?
I was feeling on top of the world. It was like I was in cloud 9. We were aware of this happy news only after our breakfast at 9:30am. I was happy in volunteering my service to 6 Division to make it a champion team. I can't ask for more than this. I was really satisfied with the results. We took photos together to celebrate our victory and success.
What was your strategy to win?
We ensured that there is a person to pace the first 10km and last 5km, We also ensured that the pacer were also running the whole race. I was the sweeper, the last man to ensure that all is back. I finished the run in a time of 1hr 41 45 as the sweeper of 6 Division.
Was there any hydration strategy?
We took Power gel at certain points to ensure that we get adequate energy to run the race efficiently and effectively. At 10km and 15km points, we ensured that there was water and gatorade drinks to keep us hydrated.
How were the runners supported materially to run the race well?
The elite team was given 1 singlet and shorts, along with a t-shirt to be used during prize giving. The runners were given a pair of training shoe for training purposes and a racing pair for workouts and racing purposes.
Do you have any suggestions to 6Division to improve the performance for the future?
I feel that the good runners as well as those potential ones should be exposed to overseas races to stay competitive.
Formation Inter-Unit Half -Marathon results
ARMY INTER-FORMATION CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010
CHAMPION TEAM - 6 DIVISION
(TOTAL GUN TIME TAKEN OF 14 RUNNERS -20HRS 59MIN 57SEC)
1 CHEONG KIEN WENG 1HR 24MIN 40SEC
2 CHEE EVAN 1HR 24MIN 58SEC
3 NAISH NAVIN SAMSON 1HR 25MIN 14SEC
4 PAND SELVAN 1HR 26MIN 56SEC
5 ANANTHARAJ 1HR 27MIN 26SEC
6 JAGDISH SINGH 1HR 28MIN 19SEC
7 M. KUMAR 1HR 29MIN 47SEC
8 LIM DAWEN 1HR 30MIN 02SEC
9 P SUBRAMANIAM 1HR 31MIN 59SEC
10 KENNY HAN 1HR 32MIN 02SEC
11 MATTHEW 1HR 32MIN 09SEC
12 KIEW EE CHUAN 1HR 32MIN 18SEC
13 JAX TAN JIN XIAN 1HR 35MIN 08SEC
14 LIM WOON PIN 1HR 36MIN 46SEC
15 Muhammad Zainuddeen 1HR 37MIN 49SEC
16 ISA RAZELEIGH 1HR 42MIN 55SEC
2ND - 9 DIVISION
(TOTAL GUN TIME OF 14 RUNNERS - 21HRS 36MIN 49SEC)
1 CHEONG PENG TAT 1HR 21MIN 19SEC
2 HO GHIM KHOON 1HR 24MIN 50SEC
3 WILLY LOO 1HR 26MIN 09SEC
4 MICHAEL LUI 1HR 26MIN 26SEC
5 BENNY GOH 1HR 26MIN 47SEC
6 MOHAMMAD AZREAN 1HR 30MIN 09SEC
7 DANNY LIM 1HR 34MIN 14SEC
8 MUHAMMAD IZZUDIN 1HR 35MIN 18SEC
9 HEN CHYUAN SHENG 1HR 35MIN 24SEC
10 ANG CHEE KANG 1HR 35MIN 45SEC
11 POON CHUNG KIAT 1HR 37MIN 55SEC
12 JOSEPH IVAN 1HR 39MIN 06SEC
13 CHEW HONG YUN 1HR 40MIN 11SEC
14 MD ZAHIR 1HR 40MIN 34SEC
15 LIN ZHIXIANG 1HR 41MIN 25SEC
16 KEE PAU BOON 1HR 42MIN 37SEC
3RD Position - 2 PDF
(TOTAL GUN TIME TAKEN FOR 14 RUNNERS - 22HRS 22MIN 21SEC)
1 ANG CHEE YONG 1HR 20MIN 29SEC
2 S DEVATHAS 1HR 21MIN 49SEC
3 COLIN TUNG 1HR 22MIN 43SEC
4 SHI RONGHUA 1HR 23MIN 26SEC
5 SUNIL NAIR 1HR 28MIN 47SEC
6 JONATHAN EDWARD D'RUZ 1HR 32.33SEC
7 JEREMY DEE 1HR 39.46SEC
8 KWAN PING KAN 1HR 39MIN 48SEC
9 LIT JAYMOND 1HR 40MIN 41SEC
10 BENJAMIN POH 1HR 42MIN 03SEC
11 OH HUI JIAT 1HR 43MIN 03SEC
12 PETER M 1HR 46MIN 54SEC
13 CHUA WENZHENG 1HR 48MIN 42SEC
14 THANGARAJ SELVARAJ 1HR 48MIN 45SEC
15 MUHD NASZREEN 1HR 50MIN 29SEC
16 SIA LIAN HUAT 1HR 50MIN 20SEC
4TH POSITION
3RD DIV
(TOTAL GUN TIME TAKEN FOR 14 RUNNERS - 22HRS 33MIN 40SEC)
1 ASHLEY LIEW 1HR 23MIN 46SEC
2 ALLAN TENG 1HR 24MIN 10SEC
3 NE WEI WEN 1HR 29MIN 02SEC
4 MICHAEL HUA 1HR 30MIN 03SEC
5 LEE ZHI XIANG 1HR 36MIN 47SEC
6 JAISHARN 1HR 38MIN 52SEC
7 FARIS 1HR 38MIN 20SEC
8 RAVICHANDRAN 1HR 38MIN 45SEC
9 HE RUI JIE 1HR 40MIN 00SEC
10 YAP CHUEN HWEE 1HR 40.18SEC
11 VICTOR TAN 1HR 41MIN 03SEC
12 CLEMENT CHUA 1HR 42MIN 32SEC
13 JAYA BENUGOBALAN 1HR 42MIN 50SEC
14 ONG CHI HAO 1HR 43MIN 47SEC
15 TAN PING HONG 1HR 43MIN 46SEC
16 WILSTON LEONG 1HR 44MIN 13SEC
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