Diary of Jeevanesh breaking the sub 15min barrier (14min 57sec)
Picture 1 - Another target of Jeeva was for school to win the team championships.
I made my way to Bedok Reservoir Park in Si Heng's parent's car, together with Yong Liang and Nathaniel Wong. We arrived at approximately 7:50am . We met Jian Hong, Joo Ern, Samuel Wong, Freeman and Jia Le along the way and we headed to our spot in Temesak Poly where we conducted our warm-up jogs and stretches. Mr Ram gave us his last thoughts on the race and wished us best of luck. Ashley Liew, Augustine Tan and Shi Jun were also there to give us support. We changed into our running attire and did our usual stridings on the top platform of Temasak Poly. We hyped ourselves and got ready for the race, both mentally and physically. We went to report at the reporting area. At the same time, we took photos of us as a team just before the run.
Picture 2- Jeevanesh (left) was confident of a sub-15min
We found ourselves in a straight line, me followed by Jian Hong, Si Heng, Yong Liang, Joo Ern and lastly Samuel Wong. The race official was giving his usual speech before signaling the start of the race. Later on, the race began. I found myself in an unusual position, just mili-seconds after the sound of the siren. I realised that the ground that I was standing on was muddy which, resulted me in slipping forward as soon as I kicked off from the ground. I noticed the front runners were on their way and luckily, my team was not affected by this as I saw Jian Hong emerging from the left hand side of me. I got my bearings right and started chasing the front pack. By the 200m mark, I caught up with them but I had a tough time navigating myself through the patch of grass which was extremely wet due to yesterday's rain, perhaps.
00:33sec was shown on my watch as soon as I hit the 200m mark. I was on a perfect time split and thus, calmed myself down and started running according to the way I run my usual time trials. Benjamin Amaldas and Zachary Deveraj was just behind me at that point, followed by Eugene Rodrigo and Wilbert Ho. I started to up the pace a bit faster in order to open up a gap between me and them. I hit the 1000m mark with a time of 03min 00sec. It wasn't a suprise as I did that once and still managed to run the route with ease. I continued to follow this pace through the rough path till I reached the bottom of the hill. Due to the fast pace at the start, I could then relax and run up the hill at a slower pace in order to recover from the run as well as not exert myself.
As soon as I reached the top of the hill, my watch shown 06min 20sec. I was delighted as I was still on a perfect time split for a sub. 15 min timing. I ran down the hill slower as usual as I decided to recover a bit more so that I could sustain the fast pace till the finishing line. As I hit the sandtrack, I started to run as fast as I could. This portion of the race is where most runners will feel likely to give up and so I reminded myself that I had to give my all in this race for the team, school etc. Sometimes, I looked ay my right arm with the words 'Never give up' written on it. I arrived at lamp post 47, a few metres before the 3000m mark with a time of 09min 30sec. It was 8s faster than my usual time splits but I decided to keep on running at this pace. I felt assured that I could do a sub- 15 min if I could continue with this pace.
I ran as fast as I could till the Berlin Wall. I hit the portion outside the toilet near the Berlin Wall apprx. 11min 30sec. It was way too fast as compared to my usual time split of 11min 45sec. Thus, I had to pay the price as the last 600m was pure torture. However, I tried pushing myself harder with the support of Sim, Nathaniel Wong, Freeman, Jia Le, Ashley Liew, Brenden Lee, Lester, ACS (Independent) boys, HCI boys, Mr Ram and finally my dad. As I turned my back, I could see Benjamin Amaldas and Euguen Rodrigo approximately 15 - 20s behind. I pushed myself but it was difficult as I felt the lactic through my legs. As soon as I crossed the bridge, I was getting dizzy due to exertion and probably because of the heat. However, I focused on finishing the race and tried opening my strides till I reached the track. As soon as I hit the track, I gave my all and crossed the finishing line with an official time of 14:57:05. I was extremely happy as I met my personal 2 goals of coming in first for my category as well as achieving a sub 15 min personal best time. But the satisfaction was nothing compared to what I saw next. Jian Hong, Joo Ern and Si Heng finished 7th, 9th and 10th respectively, which meant that we have won the team championship as well, which is our team goal. Yong Liang did very well, coming in 12th just behind Si Heng and Samuel Wong came in with a respectable timing and position as well. All of us did sub-16min for the race. Overall, we came in first for A-Div with the lowest points of 27. Many congragulated us on our outstanding achivement.
We collected our medals, trophies and shield and for Mrs Chin Bee Kuan, our Deputy Principal (college) but we realised that she outstation. Hence, we gave it to Mr Ram. Also, we expressed our appreciation to Mr Ram for training us both physically and mentally for this race. After the race, we went to celebrate our achivement at Gokul, an Indian vegeterian cafe, where Mr Ram treated us for dinner.
Picture 3 - Taking photos together at the lounge
I would once again like to thank Mr Ram for training us, Ashley Liew and Brenden Lee for coming down to support us despite having lessons on that day, the team for giving everything for the race, Nathaniel Wong, Sim, Freeman, Jia Le and HCI boys from the High School for cheering us on during our run, my parents and friends for encouraging me and lastly to everyone who have supported us in one way to another.
Picture 4 - Outside Gokul, Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
I hope this victory will spur us on to do better in the upcoming Track & Field Championships. Congratulations to those who did well in this Cross Country Championships.
Picture 6 - Augustine Tan, Rameshon and Shijun joining the celebration.
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