Do the thing you do!

Uncle Hooi at his best © The Star

I remember the barrages of concerned pep talks from my family members when they discovered that I, at the tender age of 43, slowly started indulging in competitive distance running. In not so many words, they were obviously trying to tell me that I would just drop dead by the roadside to be found by passersby as if I were just roadkill.

Another old friend, obviously overweight and looking much like Peter Griffin of the 'Family Guy' fame was even generous enough to offer free anaesthetic services as and when I need a knee replacement. 

As a last resort, my family went ahead and gave me a 'stress test - CT angio' combo as a birthday present on my 50th birthday. When the cardiologists gave a clean bill of health after silently cursing under his breath for wasting his precious time from his more deserving patients, they essentially gave up and let Nature take its course. 

This must have been what Fauja Singh must have gone through when he took up serious running at the age of 89. I can imagine how people would have mocked him. How people can be cruel with their words... 

"Living on borrowed times, and he is asking for trouble!"

"What is he doing? Should be playing with his grandchildren."

"He should be making peace with his Maker, not running around like a young bloke"

Uncle Hooi (pic above) is a regular feature at the place my friends and I frequently run on Sunday mornings. Starting his solo run as early as 5 in the morning, without fail, at a steady pace, he would cover a distance of 20km effortlessly at his springy age of 82. He must have been ridiculed behind his back for missing all those late Saturday banters and parties that last till the wee hours of Saturday night- Sunday morning. He must have been labelled as a party pooper for precisely the same reasons.

Fauja Singh, 107, Turbaned Tornado
Photo courtesy santabanta.com.

Others mean well and say things that they think would make change for the better. They feel that it is their God-sent duty to do so. At the end of the day, everybody has to use their God-given faculties to decide what is best for them. When we falter or make a wrong decision (immaterial whether it is in accordance to their advice), they have nothing to offer but sympathy, maybe crocodile tear and perhaps, words of comfort that God works in mysterious ways.

Some enjoy the attention of being sick and like to immerse in the sympathetic display by the loved ones. Others use their disability, perceived disability or faked ailments to garner a soft spot. And a few convince others that they are indeed sick to give their two cents' worth advice, to sell their products, to gaslight them down or just to have a conversation going. For them life is so mundane, they need to irritate someone.


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Curtain finale!

With the year-end malaise and festive mood, not to mention the sinful over-indulgence and the mounting of unnecessary calories and pound, the desire in partaking in the Newton 25km Challenge started waning as the days got nearer. With many casualties as well as other pressing commitments in the rest of the members of the running gang, I became the lone, lonely lifeless representative. The thought of scaling the slow gruelling ascends of Puncak Bukit Jalil just send shivers down the spine. It ain't no bed of roses and no pleasure cruise!
The wild west adage kept ringing in my ears, "a man got to do what a man got to do!" "For what?" asked my horned red-eyed inner demon friend. "For the glory of motherland or bragging rights as you smoast on the social media?".
The tussle continued with my haloed friend retorting, "For health, to ensure smooth laminar flow of blood in your vessels, for strengthening the inner fighting spirit of the soul, to stimulate the immune system to make sure that rogue mutated cells can be nipped in the bud before it becomes a mash of dangerous parasite!"
So, like a kind soul, fighting the inner demons, I did what I was to do, to run for health, for life, for that momentary surge of feel-good feeling!
It would also be a proper send-off to 2012 and my Junior Veteran status. I would be officially initiated as a Senior Veteran in 2013. Hello... I am too young to be 50.
Came 30th December 2012....
My last outing in this route was in 2010 when I completed it in 2h53m. Last year, family commitments overruled this run. Hoping to finish it with a bang a wee bit faster.
The race started promptly at 5.30am at Bandar Kinrara recreation park with 3800 runners in 12km and 25km categories. The long and straight trail started. Somehow, when we are running the inclining road, it did not seem impossible to conquer. Probably all that Sunday morning gruelling at Bukit Aman were paying off. Every successful climb was rewarded by a decline for us to catch a breather before embracing another. The temperature must have around 28 degrees based on my skills living in a tropical country! The air was still with only the movements of the runners making any kind of air turbulence.
We (me and my haloed friend) - the horned guy had to drag along, no choice- met the Newton Challenge and conquered it, to my heart's content. What a way to bid farewell to the fourth decade of my existence. I managed to slice 10 mins off my previous Newton run. My Garmin 610 shows that I completed it 2h43m. The distance, however, apparently is only 24km. With all the torturous hills, the effort is definitely more than you will need for a flat 25 or even 30km! Yeehah.....

Now to continue with my worldly duties...