Today was the dreaded Army Half Marathon. I was participating the 6km run because I knew that I didn't have enough time to train and my body probably could not endure the staggering distance of 21km. Just before I left for the start point around 730am, I saw a medic perform chest pumps on someone. From my distance I could only tell there was a body lying in the military ambulance, I couldn't even be sure if that body was a real one. There was a crowd forming around the ambulance and I saw how tired the medic looked from just doing the chest pumps alone. At that point, I wonder what had happened. I really hoped that if that body was a real person, that he will regain conscious again. Just a brief glimpse and a brief thought. I didn't think about the incident until after my run.

I came back from the run and sat at the floating platform seats waiting for dismissal. I was rubbing my aching feet and lamenting on how out of shape I am. For some reason, the thought about the CPR in the ambulance came back to me again. I told my colleagues about it but no one really knew what had happened. So I didn't think about it again until my father-in-law told me the Army lost a captain this morning from the run. Then it struck me. The body I saw was the captain, he had collapsed immediately after completing his 21km.

Looking back, it was a real possibility that anyone of us could have died out there. Most of us did not get any real training prior to this. True, there was progressive training twice a week but is it really enough? Even if it was, how many of us have really attended every single training session? It was either the weather or our workload that prevents us from 100% attendance. Plus, we start training from 0730am while the run was at 0545am. The oxygen levels in the air is significantly different and the body will react differently.

Sleep was another matter altogether. The flag off for the 21km run was at 0545hr but a number of us were told to be present by latest 0430! That's 1 whole hour before the run starts. So in order to reach the floating platform by 430am, the runner would have to wake up around 330am latest. That would mean to be sound asleep by 8pm. Let's face it, how many of us can fall asleep at that time? Moreover, it is common for participants to lose sleep the night before because of the excitement or being nervous.

There are a lot more reasons to list out but already these two are a fatal combination. A body that is not fully trained and accustomed to running the distance and climate plus a significant lack of sleep. I only hope that the captain did not go through pain during his death.

Not quite the end

Five years later, she has completely recovered from her previous injury. Not only has she released herself from the shackles of physical limits, she has also realised a few of her personal goals. Apart from working as an education officer, she goes to hospitals and hospices after office hours during weekdays to visit patients who have limitations like she used to. Walking in with high heels and a power suit, she represents to them the hope that each of them has to lead a normal life again. Having completed her Masters Degree, her new job gives her more flexibility with her working hours and a better pay than she used to command.

Weekends are the most precious to her. It is during these days that she is able to spend valuable time with her 2 darling children and loving husband. Having the twins wasn't an easy task, especially since she had barely recovered from her accident when they found out that she was expecting. The discovery that she was carrying twins was a happy surprise for twins ran in neither of their families. The pregnancy wasn't the easiest, but fortunately, her husband had been understanding, even when her food cravings were at their most unreasonable. The pregnancy was also tough since he had just embarked on the second part of his career and couldn't spend as much time with her as he would have wanted to. Luckily, they weren't financially dependent on his job as he had struck lottery just before his promotion.

Now, as she chased after chubby little Natasha with the latter's brightly coloured hat in her hand, she was laughing as she ran. They were at the beach, a favourite place of theirs on weekends for the children had plenty of space to run around there. The twins were also no stranger to sun, being almost as tanned as their parents. The beach holds a special place in their hearts, it was here that the children's mother almost lost her life and it was also where a new chapter of their parents' lives began.

Their wedding anniversary was next week. She smiled as she looked at her husband playing with the children. She had already prepared a present for him and hoped he would like it. It wasn't easy completing it behind his back but with her best friend's help, she had pulled it off. For their wedding, she had given him a cross-stitch of a little boy and little girl looking at a rainbow. For their anniversary, she was giving him a cross-stitch of a family of four. He should get the significance of it.

Gazing at her husband and her two children, she realised that her childhood dream had come true. She had her own family. A blissful family filled with joy and laughter. It was definitely not the end. Instead, it was a beginning. The beginning of yet another chapter of life she would walk, with him by her side...