Operation NightHawk 2012: Smooth Kick-Off

Operation NightHawk 2012, Team FatBird's 12-week Night Marathon for Sundown 2012 kicked off to a smooth start this Saturday morning.  About 150 showed up for the first session in fine weather, some experienced with FatBird projects, many others new to FatBird training, but all excited that their journey for Sundown has finally started.

After registration and sizing, all trainees were introduced to the NightHawk Program briefly, before being briefed on the distances, routes and effort for the day's efforts.  As this was the first session, many of the newer participants were still getting accustomed to all the groupings and photo taking :)  Nonetheless, the run started off at 7:30am with the 4 groups dispatched in intervals of 30sec apart.

The ECP was still absent of runner groups as the NightHawks took their designated flight paths down towards Fort Road @ BaseBuild zone, not too fast, neither was it an amble.  Group 3 (2:30h, 5:00h) proved once again to be the largest group, with Group 4 quite similar in size.  The NightHawk Training Crew, which already gathered 3 weeks ago, was there to facilitate and guide the enthusiastic NightHawks, keeping them to a comfortable conversational pace.

There were lots of chatting and sharing going on, interspersed with the occasional walk breaks or water stops.  All that made for more sustainable efforts in what otherwise was a rather challenging morning in terms of weather and heat conditions.  At the end of 2-3hrs and 13-21km later, the NightHawks survived the first session in healthy form, all thanks to the conservative paces maintained throughout.  A number of trainees were surprised that they could venture so far with the feeling of a sub-maximal workload.

After their post-run replenishment at the water-hole, the NightHawks gathered under the shady field just outside The PlayCoast for a de-brief and instructions for Week 2's activities.  From the confident faces of the participants, coupled with feedback from the Training Crew, it seemed that this cohort of NightHawks came with a reasonably sound base and rather well prepared for the rigours of the Night Training Program.  Overall, it a great start for Ops NightHawk 2012, and we look forward to an exciting and fruitful journey as we enter into our first Night Training session in Week #2.


When Dusk Comes, The NightHawks Emerge!

NightHawk Photo Slideshow Session #1 from:
AC Leong
CK Chin