It was a challenging, but yet enjoyable FatBird Weekender of 16km. The runners liked it so much that they vowed to be back to the area for more of the Western Slopes. Some have asked for visits to the Kent Ridge area and the local ‘mini Lombardi Slopes’…hmm, we will be planning for more scenic FatBird Weekenders in other parts of Singapore, but we shall be back to this wonderful Western 5-Hills training grounds.
The Crimson Sunbird, courtesy Yathin S KCrimson Sunbirds are tiny, only 11cm long. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding.
More information about this interesting bird HERE
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.
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.
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.
There was a mini sharing session after the run for those who are participating in or planning for The Gold Coast Marathon. The Tourism Queensland and some experienced Gold Coast Marathoners (Azhar, Mohan) and members of Coach's team shared with the NightHawks and TFB Pacers the highlights and features of The Gold Coast Marathon. In appreciation, all who were present were given a specially-made Gold Coast Marathon top. With one more nice-looking top, we could not resist the opportunity for more group and fun photos.
After an interesting and fruitful 12-weeks of marathon training, many of the trainees have grown stronger in terms of endurance running base and know-how. Many have formed close friendships and developed informal support groups to help motivate and encourage one another to go through the trials and tribulations of marathon racing. Operation NightHawk has been a success, and we can all be proud of the journey we have gone through together, which will surely make us better trained marathoners and aspiring ultra-marathoners. We will now only have to rest and prepare our bodies for what will be the maiden Night Marathon for many of us. Bring On Sundown, The NightHawks Are Ready!
the haze conditions only slightly better than in the earlier part of the day. The NightHawk finisher tops were distributed to qualifying trainees who have achieved at least half of the sessions, and all were pretty excited at claiming the prized possession. There will be another round of distribution for those who qualify at the final 12th NH session.
With the Tapering Phase in swing, the NightHawks were to be running at a reduced distance, albeit not at a reduced intensity. Armed with race-day equipment, gear, running shoes, Pace Bands, all were to go for their target race pace for 18km (Half-Marathoners), 25km (Full-Marathoners), 25km (Ultra-Marathoners). After the group photos, the respective timing groups were flagged off to perform their 'thing' in what would be rather challenging atmospheric conditions :D
conditioning these NightHawk trainees have to be able to manage their paces to within close ranges of the targets. The Training Crew, who have been training alongside with the NightHawks, were most impressed and happy with their progress, and more importantly, their commitment and determination to go through with the training sessions, whether they were day or night, irrespective of terrain and impending weather conditions. The few who have sustained minor injuries were also at training to rehabilitate and build up for race day. They were not about to give up on the race, and will seek to complete, instead of compete.
will be the final and 12th installment of Ops NightHawk, the finale to what would be one of the more comprehensive and eventful marathon training programs Team FatBird has conducted. We hope to see as many of the NightHawks turn up with the Ops NightHawk finisher tee to celebrate the successful conclusion and completion of their training, and to recognize the dogged effort, sweat and tears that all NightHawks have put in. Bring On Sundown...The NightHawks Are Prepared.
The already cool night was made even more pleasant by the quiet and serene environment of the 'green lung' areas of the Reservoir habitat. With 3/4 of the training under the belt, The NightHawks were a lot more experienced and conditioned during this run. We 
took the initial stretch at a more conservative pace to get the engines warmed up, and then settled into a steady zone, taking care not to push the lactate threshold too early. The water point at the 9km mark was a welcomed Check Point of the night, providing iced-cold isotonic drinks and even flash photography to mark our passage of line...hehe. The NightHawk Support Crew had really made the training so much more bearable, providing the much needed boost of motivation to all the trainees and RGs alike....thanks to Sunny, DO, HC, AC and the extended support crew.
After the refreshing fuel top-up, it was full pace ahead along Upper Thomson Road all the way to the Mandai Junction. The 21km NightHawks turned for their return trip back, while the 30km trainees turned onto the paved sidewalks of Mandai Road. 
The paved roads were soft to the legs, and made the pounding so much more bearable. With the cool night temperature, we felt good to be able to pick up the paces to close the gap towards the targeted training pace. Most were hydrating regularly, with some refueling with powergels and sweets to top up the energy reserves. We had nice conversations and chit-chats all the way to the U-Turn at the Mandai Rd/Zoo entry point junction.
The night and early morning scenes of Police Patrols, stationary cars with newpaper coverings, strange characters lurking around, and the quietly 'noisy' surroundings made for an interesting long run (in groups) along the lonely stretches, especially the Seletar Reservoir and OUTR sections. We were constantly watching out for one another, at the same time keeping to our target paces. The Full Marathoners met up with the Half Marathoners near the final 4km along PONY AXIS. We gave one another words of encouragement to continue on to the end point. It was great to see all the NightHawks finishing strongly and with reserves in their tanks to spare.
The NightHawks started on the Final Cycle after more rest and recovery from last weekend's Longest LSD night run conditioning. With the 18-25km base-building mileage for this morning, most of the runners came with a stronger mental outlook, knowing full well they would be doing a training pace LSD (Long Slow Distance) without pushing unnecessarily hard.Run for a Cause!
The Chain Reaction Project: Dili 'City of Peace' Marathon 2010
The Chain Reaction Project will be running the inaugural Dili Marathon on 20 June 2010 in Timor-Leste to raise funds for a timorese NGO, HIAM-Health.
The Chain Reaction Project is an initiative founded by four women who have come together with a shared passion for adventure and philanthropy. www.thechainreactionproject.com
The initiative hopes to encourage more people to be actively involved in giving back to the community through their passion for sports. This year, runners are invited to participate in the Dili Marathon. Online registration for the TCRP Dili Marathon package can be done at this website: http://www.adventures.com.sg/tcrp/
If you're on Facebook, please join this page for all the latest TCRP news: http://tinyurl.com/thechainreactionproject
HIAM-Health is a rehabilitation centre for critically malnourished babies and their family. They offer programs to nurse these babies and provide education to their care-givers on nutrition, food preparation and skills on growing their own subsistence crops. Such training for the care-givers helps ensure sustainability of the rehabilitation process when the family returns to the remote regions of the country.
The Dili Marathon 2010 is more than just a marathon. There will be events of 5km, 10km, half-marathon and full marathon on that day to cater for runners and walkers of all ability. http://dilimarathon.com/en/
Team FatBird would like to encourage our running community and friends to play a part in this initiative, and also help to spread the good word for this interesting event for meaningful and worthy causes.
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