Ever wondered how it is like to plan, organize and execute a race? Occassionally, not often, I wonder. But for a small race for the COSI children, out in the somewhat remote rural farmland of Cambodia, there are challenges that are - shall we say - quite unique.
The race route, for one. The only recollection I had was the 8 km run I did with Vuthy last August. So needless to say, I had to do a recce run on Jun 15 (Mon), prior to the rehearsal day. My memory failed me yet again, and I went north (see map below), instead of west. I explored a fork due west into a village, but there were just too many dogs. Dogs would run out and bark at strangers (that's me). But the good thing was that they didn't chase me. I was holding on to my water bottle just in case.
On the way back, I went due west, and took a left turn due south around another village. This took me all around the COSI compound and through the school field. But the path becamse just a narrow footpath, unsuitable for running.
In any case, we decided on a simple 1 km and 2 km route, out and back with mid points at 500m and 1 km.
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Aerobic runs on June 16 (7k) and 20 (10k). For the June 16 run, I was joined by about half a dozen COSI youths and children, TH, Faith, WL, and later with RN and HY. This time, we took the westerly route. Also the run was for familiarization for the team.
The 10k run on Jun 16 was just for me. Needed to get the body going after some days of relative inactivity. Slow easy aerobic run to yet another village and back.
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Running on dirt tracks is nice for a change. But need to be careful not to shuffle the feet. That could lead to tripping over uneven surfaces. Encountered that on the return leg.
While on the subject of race organization, what do we do when we don't have timing chips and mats? How do we capture the positions and also ensure that runners do not skip the mid point? Steph, our race director and Candy, deputy race director, had a brillant system figured out that works like a charm, all without the aid of modern day technology. How can we quickly compute the scores of six different houses (dorms) based on the race positions of their children? What is a fair system?
All I can say, without divulging too much of Steph's trade secret is that the system involved positions rather than timing, stick-on tags, colour stickers and great organization!
Does anyone out there need a race director?
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