The rains came as forecast in the late afternoon, leaving an air of cool and crisp by 8pm when the trainees for Operation Kookaburra and Operation NightHawk gathered at the MacRitchie Reservoir. The
Kookaburra Running Guides and some of the Nighthawk Pacers were put to the test to guide the runners through the 'Wild Night' terrain of slopes, along roads and Park Connectors in the midst of the green lung of Singapore. Because of the varying distances for the respective groups, the briefing was focused mainly on the 
route of advance and how we were to navigate the interesting terrain by night.The Amenities Centre was crowded with Team FatBird trainees, and in the flurry of activity, forgot to assemble to get a group shot. Nonetheless, the runners were all anxious to go through the
challenging, and to many, the longest LSD they would have done to date. Being the 3rd week of training, The Kookaburras were going for 16km (HM) and 25km (FM) whilst the NightHawks were going for 32km as planned. By the time we entered into Lower Pierce Reservoir (LPR) road, the quietness and coolness of the night settled on us. Moving along OUTR in single file, at respective paces set by the Pacers, light sticks helped illuminate our presence as we meandered through the winding stretch.The cool weather helped us to maintain good pace all the way to Mandai Ave, where the 21km group turned back, and then at the Collabrium area, the 25km did their U-Turn. The runners were feeling good as they kept to their training drills and paces, staying within the groups, and
focused on eating the km as they came. Applause and shouts of encouragement, with the occasional waving of light sticks ensued as the various groups passed one another on the turn. The cool weather was a close simulation of what we might get in Gold Coast, albeit at a higher humidity level. With such cool weather, the runners were able to sustain the paces with manageable effort for the longer distances....it was an ideal night for LSD training, no 
doubt.On the return, one of the groups missed a key turning point and went an extra 3-4km, giving them a total run of 36km for the night - they were quietly cursing at the point of getting 'lost', but were pretty satisfied when they learned they did 34-36km at good pace, ahead of the longest LSD in the training program. Otherwise, the trainees had a great night's out and all returned with smiles of having achieved their training objectives and yet feeling good after the run. The Kookaburra trainees will be joining us again in week #5 for distances 18km and 28km, and we are looking forward to that Friday The 13th Night :)
Laugh Kookabura, Laugh Kookaburra, Happy Runners Are We!
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