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A Message from the
Chairman
On
behalf of all who were involved and cared for one another in the Death Valley
Ren and ensured the success of the run, I sincerely appreciate every efforts of
the team. THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!
I take this moment to reflect
on the journey taken and mission our team-work to succeed. I appreciate the
opportunity to allow me to experience the various roles in the event. For those
who drove behind the runners, you could have fallen asleep. Never before driving
without much opportunity for your feet on accelerator but on brake pedal
throughout the journey to summit. We appreciated the patience and understanding.
For the respective support
teams assigned to runners, the effort to accept the pains, tolerance, endurance,
strengths and sincere determinations to support the runners in providing the
most ideal comfort conditions in those harsh environments, motivated all to move
on and eliminated the impossible obstacles that would have dampened the
challenge. We shared, we never faltered and we conquered the odds.
To our media support, Wei Keng,
he physically stormed the day and night in unpredictable weather conditions. He
overcame odds, insufficient sleep and multiple challenges, his commitments to
the provide footage and reports writing to be send to HQ, has been one of the
most difficult job of the entire event. No words can expressively describe the
thoughts and efforts.
In this trip "217km Death
Valley Challenge 2007", we experienced survival, friendship, operational and
mission execution, superior planning process and Runners' determinations and
strong mental mind set, spurred all to work as a team. We had successfully
transformed groups into one mission team.
It has been a great honour and
privileges to be part of the mission team.
Once again, a million thanks
and wishing all a very memorable event success.
Congratulations to Mr. Lim and Mr.
Yong !!!
217km
Death Valley/Mount
Whitney Successfully Challenged !!!
On the 18th to the
20th of July 2007, two of Singapore's ultra-marathon
runners, Mr Lim Nghee Huat (Chairman of Mountbatten
CCC and MediaCorp Editor, Current Affairs) and Mr
Yong Yuen Cheng (Vice- Chairman of Mountbatten CSC
and National Junior College Teacher) will embark on
a 217km run across Death Valley, through extreme temperatures
of up to 55 degrees Celsius and a vertical elevation
of 4000m, to raise funds for Mountbatten CCC and National
Junior College respectively.Both
successfully scale the summit Whitney Portal: Finish 134.4 miles 8360
Mr Lim : 51.49 hours (USA 1235pm) and Mr Yong : 54.39 hours (USA 325pm).
Through advanced satellite
tracking, join them in real time with AsiaTracks as
they conquer the treacherous terrain and climate in
one of the most difficult physical and mental challenges
they have ever faced.
The Last Lap Run Summary
Nghee Huat’s Left ankle injury:
Continuous Body weight pressured the left
ankle in the uneven road terrain and strong winds, left ankle began to swell.
Yuen Cheng’s support team attended
to Nghee Huat when both met at the check point during the evening hours.
As the day light began to fall, Yuen Cheng
made a point to accompany Nghee Huat throughout the run. Strategy : “Open steps
walk”. Yuen Cheng’s got cold and continuous coughs. This is due to slow down
pace and very cold breeze in the late night.
The teams were affected. Both began
to slow down and the support team began to wait for one another. Moral were low.
Wild thoughts began. Probably at the pace
of 2 –
to 3 km, it going to take 40hrs to reach LONE PINE and probably none would make
it to the summit. Every one was feeling bad.
Some tough decisions were made.
Strategic decisions and team work began to put to test.
Yuen Cheng and team made the point
to lead while Nghee Huat would continues at this comfort pace. In hope for
miracle to heal his pain.
With a heavy heart, Yuen Cheng and
team left. Lots of trust and confidence were put into test. Continuous
Leadership, Friendship and team work formed the strategy core to success.
The last lap:
Nghee Huat was pursuing the journey with the assisted
walking stick, at about 330am (USA time) we encouraged him to walk without the
aid. He tried and at 4am he started running. He looked fresh and he was all set
to catch up the loss time. He started to run at the speed 7km/hr. 12 miles
before turning to LONE PINE, he over took Yuen Cheng and pursued the summit.
We were glad both succeeded and all were
happy.
Congratulations! To both Runners and
Team…With Compliments of Asia Tracks
Both
Mr Yong and Lim had great moments. We exchange best
wishes and rallied up the team work momentum. Both
runners running at the speed of 7km/hr. Both reached
Furnace Creek within 4 hours and are pursuing the next
check point @ StovePipe Wells. Mr Lim is running
relatively fast. The distance apart after Furnace
Creek was about 1.8 km.
Both runners had their
regular 2 hourly checks on temperature, weight, heart rate and blood pressure.
19th July 2007 1850 hours Local Time
Both runners are doing well and great.
Mr Lim is running fast. His open up
distance pacing is about 1.8km away from Mr Yong. Both are on schedule as per
planned.
Landmark Distance (mi.) Elevation (ft.):
Nghee Huat Yuen Cheng
18th July 2007 Weather Climate : Extremely
Dry and windy Hot Air.
Morning : 46 C Noon : 51 to 53
Badwater O -282 Start Time 0846
West Side Road on L. 10.5 +2 plus
Golden Canyon on R. 14.4 -165 +3hrs plus
Furnace Creek Ranch on L. 17.4 -165- +4hrs
plus
-First Time Station on Left after Ranch
entrance Both Runners
Distance Apart is about 1.8 km
1st Marathon 26.2 -170 +6hrs plus
Both runners had good massages and
delicious hot snacks at Stovepipe Wells Village 41.9 0, after about 9 to 10 hrs
of run from below sea level to current at sea level.
Both are targeting to reach Panamint
Springs Resort 72.3 1970 at this morning 4am (USA Time, 19th July 19, 2007.
One of the satellite cable was damaged and
as such, one unit is being used to show the live location tracking status of the
moving support vehicle.
19th July 2007 2325 hours Local Time
@
Panamint Springs Resort 72.3
miles from Start Point.
Mr Lim and Mr Yong arrived
this morning Both runners exchange morning greetings and well wishes. Both had
some snack and good shower.
20th July 2007 1630 hours Local Time
Thanks
for the well wishes for the runners and support team. Please pray for them as
they are in the toughest conditions ever experienced.
Day 2 : total coverage
distance is 107miles and into the 4th marathon run towards Lone Pine.
Mr Lim’s left ankle leg swell
and he carried on the journey. Yuen Cheng no apparently bodily injury.
Into Day 3 morning. Both
runners continued to storm the toughest running conditions ever experienced on
earth. Throughout the event, none has more than 2 hours of proper rest.
Strong winds and weather above
46 C all day long. Floating Sands and dust made it tough for anyone to move on.
Extremely tough terrain, lip dry up easily and no body sweats, wet clothes dry
almost instantly.
Regularly checks and
observations are being conducted by their respective support teams.
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