No wonder sleep didn't come that night. It rained the whole time. And morning brought no respite. We all arrive before 6.30 a.m. It was still raining, and Philip and I made our way to the field. My nerves were on a high. Were the decorations we set up the day before still there? Had they dropped? Have the words been blown away by the wind to some unknown place? At first, I though it had all gone, it was so dark.
The Maclay people had started congregating at their tent. The continuous rain and wind made me shiver, physically and emotionally. We did all we could; some props for the tent couldn't go up in the rain.
While most of the school was busy congregating at the skylite, the Shirtliff camp base ;) was inhibited by Karthigan, Thamaraj and girlfriend, and myself. Marc joined us soon after, in all his splendour of Aztectian gear. Nothing much happened : I threatened Kartigan and Thamaraj with sewing scissors for threatening to dismantle stuff. The kind Chucky used to kill people. And Marc and I exchanged tales our Taekwondo lives.
But soon the crowd started to arrive and still only half of everything was up. And believe me, there were a lot. Lets just say, everything on our draft materialised =). But when it was up, it was oh-so beautiful. I think that as I ran my 100m and 200m, the gang put up the shield in the middle, and poked the sepanduk into the ground.
I had long planned to run barefoot. My spikes were thrashed beyond repair, and I hate running in soggy sport shoes. But lo behold, at the end of the 100m race, I slipped and fell SPLAT on my arse, resulting in a butt-slide of a few meters in muddy water. As I limped my way to the toilet to clean up as best I could, I realised my left foot had started bleeding. Oh well, too late to do anything about it.
Nike ad audition 1. Spot me!
Zi Kang threatened to carry me to the 200m starting point if I didn't hobble faster. How compasionate. Surprisingly, my foot didn't hurt during the run. Or maybe it did, I just didn't notice. The beauty and curse about short distance runs is that from the moment you get into the ready position, and during the run, there is no real thought or memory. Suddenly you just wake up at the finish line in a daze, wondering for a moment, if the run actually happened at all. Then a teacher comes up and asks for your name, and you know you've cliched a place at the top 3.
After looking at my still shots did I realise I was swinging my arms wrong. =/
Hamizah totally screwed her 400m run, but our 4x100m team were secretly half-happy. At least she would have energy for our event. She was our first runner. It would be an extremely win-driven race. Yee Vonne, Hamizah and I had been in the same team for the same event for a long time. So far, the 3rd runner void had always been filled with nonsense runners. But now we had Ee Laine; our team was complete.
My pride and joy. Remember the eagle banners? I'll never look at double sided tape and glitter the same way ever again. Notice some bajet people in the background? =p
*sigh*
I love it. I love it. I love it! Thank you, everybody! =D
But right before the run, Yee Vonne had some funny two-toed cramp, and Hamizah hadn't returned from the finish line. Panic, panic, panic! And Melissa nearly had to run, but all's well, ends well. We were leading from the start. =D
Hamizah led by about 3 meters;
Yee Vonne maintained and added another 2 meters of lead;
Ee Laine's was a pretty close race with Amirah, but she had style, that one;
I can't really say how I did. I just know that I had this sudden burst of determination halfway through, and I know I went faster halfway. Even before the finish, I was already shamelessly screaming with joy. =D The team met up at the score board and we just hugged and screamed and hugged some more. XD
Seniors and Pn Zamzila.
Overall, Shirtliff's track events were so much better than last year, with lots of potential. The best memory (other than the Girls Under-18 win) would have to be the Guys Under-15 4x400m relay. We were leading by 200-300 meters.
Subsequently, Arjun was awarded Sportsman of the Year (Boys Under-15) =D. He can definitely take me to prom! Awi and I had always supported each other through our running years, and this year was no different. If we could face MSSKL together, being in different houses shouldn't be any different. Congrats to our Sportsman of the Year (Boys Under-18)! Oh, and Bev, you deserved it. Our only girl captain led Maclay to victory this year, and was awarded Sportswoman of the Year (Girls Under-18). We love you =)
Pictures!
Vi-Jean and I look weird in both our cameras. XD
Its okay, its alright, come on Shirtliff fight fight fight!
The winners are the ones holding up their numbers. The others are impersonators. x]
Nike ad audition 2. Wei Lin.
Nike ad audition 3. Charlotte.
Same shorts! My leg is as big as Shaun's o.O ...Fat!!
Holding out medals, which cannot rival Awi's. Look beyond the trophies at all the gold. Wow!
Arjun! I knew he was good from day 1! Awesomeness!
The bottom line? Shirtliff got last again. But we lost to Cooke by 1 point. Just check out the board man. Shirtliff, Green and Prouse have the most Gold medals; Shirtliff and Maclay had the most medals won; Shirtliff won Best Tent. It was our Sukantara that pulled the whole thing down =/
A complete set! Gold : 4x100m; Silver: 200m; Bronze: 100m.
Battle scars. The wound under the plaster is pus-ing up. Gross.