The Sprint Towards a New Normal

by Kerin Chua (Sec 2C), Evangeline Lee (Sec 2C) and Sarah Chan (Sec 3B)

As the students did their final stretches, their faces glowed with excitement. They readily jogged to their starting positions. Student leaders and teachers stood along the running track and watched in anticipation. With clear azure skies and a light breeze, the weather was perfect for a run. The students crouched down and received the signal. The Fairfield Annual Run was about to begin.

The main highlight of this year’s Fairfield Annual Run was a physical race between representatives of each class. This was a highly anticipated event since physical runs were the norm before the onset of the pandemic. Cheers and words of encouragement could be heard from the teachers and sports leaders rooting for their classes. This enabled the students to find renewed strength as they sprinted their last lap, taking deep and even quicker breaths with every step. Cheers erupted as the first competitor crossed the finishing line.

“My classmates and friends were also encouraging and supporting me throughout the race. They were clapping and cheering right till the end of the run,” said Eythan Kow, who clinched First Place amongst the Secondary 2 boys competing in the event. Indeed, both runners and their supporters forged amazing memories that day.

Students were individually tasked with the goal of clocking 20km between 28 March and 14 April 2022 using the ‘Strava’ app. It was indeed different seeing students with phones in their hands during their Physical Education lessons. Hanika from Secondary 1D exclaimed, “The whole class was encouraging one another to run with them to obtain First Place.” They spent days and nights competing against other classes of their own levels, some even walking long distances in groups of 5 people!

Another student, Jayden Chin from Secondary 2C, added, “It was astounding to see so many of my classmates gathering for walks, jogging long distances and even trying to squeeze in a few extra kilometres whenever they could.”

Additionally, students were given a task card to complete along with various tasks such as hikes at Southern Ridges, double skips and cycling. Those who completed the tasks earned limited-edition T-shirts that were designed by the Sports Leaders.

As One Fairfield, students and staff put in countless hours to run around the school field and go on outings simply to contribute to the class mileage and to complete the task card. Indeed, the Fairfield Annual Run enabled everyone to Move as One Fairfield, while learning the values of endurance and resilience.

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”

–Dean Karnazes