Weekender: East Coast To Gold Coast

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It was a busy weekend at The PlayGround @ Big Splash where the FatBird Weekender was organized for a group of 50+ runners. There were groups of i-Runners, Gold Coast Runners as well as Fit Bar enthusiasts. The early birds were treated to a rolling good time by Erik from Fit Bar, showing them how to use the foam rollers to knead and massage away all those tight muscles and ‘knots’. There were a number of new runners who joined us this morning…some of whom were down to run along with Team FatBird as well as meet the good people of Queensland Tourism, while others were coming for previews of what Operation Kingfisher will have in store for them.

A number of FatBird Runners were away for the KL Marathon, while others came earlier to begin their slightly longer run first. Many of the FatBird Runners were just restarting their running regime, having taken a restful 2-3 weeks after Sundown Marathon. After a good warm-up routine with the Fit Bars, followed by a quick briefing on the routes, we started off towards the Cable Ski area, immediately chatting and sharing about recent runs and activities.


The i-Runners were having fun, running in their mini group, and snapping pics along the way. The Gold Coast runners have already gone ahead, all enthusiastic about running at The East Coast….in a week’s time, they will be running at The Gold Coast……from East Coast To Gold Coast :). Since this was a ‘Blue Top’ Weekender, many of the runners don either the royal-blue Gold Coast top or the baby-blue NightHawk Finisher top. It was a sea of blue moving along East Coast, quite a sight to behold. Everyone was having so much fun we didn’t realize the skies getting cloudy. By the time we reached cable Ski or for those running the 15km, at The Sailing Centre, there were droplets of rain coming down.

As the rains got heavier, we got cooler and fresher. It was a nice experience running in the rain, especially with good company and conversations. Many of the Park visitors were taking shelter in the Pavilions, while most of the FatBird Runners continued running merrily in the rain. Seeing how much we were enjoying ourselves, the rest soon followed suit when the rain got lighter. Without realizing it, we soon reached back to The FatBird Nest. The rain had by then lightened. The Nest was by then full of FatBirds, joined also by the ladies who had just completed their Nike Shape Training. We shared shelter and refreshments, while taking time out to try out the Fit Bars under the supervision of Erik.

Azhar and Khim were on hand to dispense advice and share experiences with those who will be taking part in next weekend’s Gold Coast Marathon, as well as give out specially prepared goody bags for the Singapore contingent….a real nice gesture of support and encouragement for the Singapore participants. There were more queries and discussions about FatBird Runs as well as the training programs for the Army Half Marathon (Ops KingFisher) and the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (Ops sunbird).

From The FatBird Nest, we proceeded to recce the location and plan for The FatBird Runners Celebrations in July. It was an interesting social weekender for the FatBird Runners and friends, meeting up with many running kakis as well as new friends. We wish all our friends doing The Gold Coast Marathon on July 4 a most enjoyable and fruitful race, smashing Personal Bests (PBs) and establishing Marathon firsts.

FatBird Photo Gallery
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