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Wan's Column - Sustaining
the Beginners’ Program
Since we started the beginners’
program on 6th May 2006, I have not missed a single session
except for one when I went out of town with my family
for the school holidays. While the number is not entirely
encouraging it cannot be considered a disaster. We have
an average of 5 to 7 coming in each Saturday with the
highest of 12 recorded on the first week when Dr. William
gave the talk. Honestly, I never expected a roaring attendance
from day one. I recall trying to call Dr. William Chan
the night before to manage his expectation that the group
is small. I discussed this with my partner Jamie Pang
before we decided to launch this program. No matter how
small is the group, we believe there is value to what
we are doing. If we could change the life of a few individuals,
motivating them to start running as a sustainable fitness
program, we are already contributing to society. The 2
hours we invest each Saturday (including traveling time)
is a small contribution we make to society as a whole.
Moreover, we too have a mild workout before the usual
long run or road race we normally do on Sundays. We are
killing two birds with one stone!
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| On 27th May 2006, the Saturday that I
missed the session as I took my family for the Kiwanis
Motor Treasure Hunt to Cameron Highland. When I was at
Rawang at about 9.00am, I got a SMS from Chong Ting Chow,
one of the beginners in our program. It read “ Completed
3.4km without walking, not going for nasi lemak”. Chong
age 50 was my school mate and a member of the Pacesetters
Athletic Club, Malaysia. Prior to this, his running is
confined to once a year participation in the Brook Pacesetters
Bonding with his son, a 5km run that he walks most of
the distance. Each year, his son has to wait for him at
the finish line to finish together as required by the
rules. I can imagine why he was so exited, he has always
confesses that he does not have the stamina to run but
after much persuasion, he agreed to join the program.
Since joining us, he has diligently followed the program
with 2 to 3 short runs around his house in the morning
during the week days. Yesterday, I took him the Carcosa
Route (4km) and he completed it without trouble. After
the run I also introduce a few strengthening exercises
that we could do at the park for the stomach and upper
body. When the group was first started, I notice some
regular joggers in our group, maybe a little rusty but
have no problem completing the 3.4km route without walking.
These individuals are not beginners as far as I am concern
but they are welcomed anyway. Chong is the typical individual
I am targeting at and it has been proven that this simple
brisk walk cum jog program does work. It is even shorter
that the 10 weeks as provided by the New York Road Runners.
At the moment, we only have 3 individuals that are still
not able to jog the whole 3.4km route as they joined the
program midway and I hope they would preserver and achieve
their target in the weeks to come. |
We have our fair share of drop-outs, I expected this from
day one. It is now time we recruit the next batch to join
us. There is nothing wrong with having a mixed batch as we
could cater for the beginners as well as those who we considered
“graduates” from the program. For the graduates, we encourage
them to run a little longer, say 4 to 7km and trying taking
part in a few selected road races to motivate them further.
Wan Yew Leong
11th June 2006
wanyewleong@gmail.com
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