Road to Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009 - Part 1

Marathon, a long distance foot race with the distance of 42.195 kilometers. Many have regards this kind of activity as “Ooi… You got nothing better to do ar?” or “get a life man..”

But for me, Yap, who wants to ‘fly’, will use this race to prove myself and claim myself some self-esteem.

Part 1 – Why Am I Running

Most people have neglected their exercise when they start working, and oh yes, I’m one of them. I’m not the athlete kind of person and I don’t go for exercise that often.

One fine day, I was taking my blood pressure measurement, and it shows 140/90mmHG, at the borderline which prone to hypertension, heart attack, diabetes and so on… I was stunned, shocked and can only say jia lat liao this time.

The blood measurement reading was high, where came the urgency within myself to start exercise! When come to exercise, I need to choose the cheapest sport which doesn’t require that much of money, or best it’s free of charge.

1)Badminton – looks good, watch badminton games since young, admired those national team player how they smash the shuttle cock with the sound piak, or Taufik’s amazing backhand smash (so yeah and so geng). But this activity needs to rent a court and also spend on the shuttle cock, not just 1 cock, but many cocks! For long term, it’s a no no.

2)Basketball – used to play basketball a lot during primary/secondary school, and with my height (188cm), I can easily slam dunk with Air Jordan’s style (just kidding, till today I still can’t reach and grab the basketball ring). This only requires a basketball, then you can be in action, but none of my friends/colleagues are into basketball, so no basketball for me.

3)Swimming – don’t know how to swim, only know how to get drown.

4)Gym – just look at the membership registration fee already feel like “wuah, need so much just to shake my muscles meh?”

5)Jogging/Running – you only need a pair of running shoes (MYR120 - 300), find a park then you can keep running till you get bored/tired/give up. You can choose to be running alone, running with friends (if there is any), or running with strangers. This looks like the best bargain ever, me hokay with it, being a typical kiam siap gwai.

Conclusion, I have chosen running to bring my life back to a healthy balance.