Story and photos by REDintern Koh Yizhe and Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.

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The children from Touch Young Arrows break into a run as the 5km fun run is flagged off. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

Castle Beach, Sunday, 3 August, 2008 – There were no fancy awards, no expensive goodie bags. Just a chance to wear your heart on your own sleeve. Some time back, a group of students from Anderson Junior College decided to organise a run for charity. Today was the day when they saw their dream come true.

This public fun run, known as the "Touch Run", aimed to help raise public funds to further the work of TOUCH Young Arrows (TYA), a service that reached out to the children from single-parent or low-income families in society. The students, who became the youngest team to organise a running event, also wanted to build awareness for TYA’s work. In addition to giving everyone a good workout, they also wanted to let everyone have an opportunity for a fun Sunday morning with family and friends. 20 children from TYA also took part in the run together with their families, volunteers and staff from TOUCH Young Arrows.

As posters went up across the island, several organisations pledged their support. Runners from all walks of life also signed up for a chance to run their hearts out. With a healthy turnout of 340 participants, Castle Beach was bustling with activity on Sunday morning. Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang Mr Seng Han Thong graced the event and ran alongside the participants of the run. As the children of TYA arrived and took centre stage, this run certainly had a different look from the professional marathons. There was no fierce competition to win, no jostling to start off first; just happy smiles and eager runners who want to do their part for charity. As the horn sounded for both the 10km competitive run and the 5km fun run, cheers erupted as the participants ran down the starting stretch, smiling and posing for the line of cameras along the route.

Showing up in full force were the Anderson Junior College boys soccer team who came to support the event. "Our CCA teacher encouraged us to support this event. Might as well sign up as a team right? It was quite fun to go out as a team and run the 10 km. Although it was tiring, I believe it’s a successful event," said Jickky Palmae Sarathy and Abdul Halim. Jickky, who finished first, said, "It was totally unexpected and I am extremely delighted! With this being my first time (running a half-marathon), I would never have thought of winning. There is a sense of achievement as you cross the finish line no matter how tiring it is."

Miss Lim Chye Ling, a teacher from Kent Ridge Secondary School who also took part in the run had a few words of praise. "I came to know about this event because the organiser used to be the president of the student committee. As it was a good run for charity, we volunteered our students to help out for this event. As a personal way to show my support, I also ran in the 10 km run.” Miss Lim showed that she was no pushover as she finished the run in slightly under an hour, emerging as one of the top three runners for her category.

The children from TYA put many to shame as they ran in the 5km fun run, each and everyone of them completing the route. Ranging between the ages of 7 – 11 years old, they returned to the finishing point with loud screams and cheers from their supporters by the sidelines. Izamanriah Bin Abdullah, a Primary 4 student from Ngee Ann Primary was one of the children from TYA who took part in the run. "It's very tiring, but it's fun!" said the 10 year old boy. His mother showed her full support by bringing him and his little brother to the race, "It is great to see students here supporting this event. My children love it! It is a family outing for us. I am glad that we finished the 5km run even though we walked at times."

Andrew Yeo Yong Jie, a 9 year old boy also of Ngee Ann Primary found this run fun as well. The shy Primary 3 student was smiling throughout the interview as he answered the questions, spirit not dampened despite having just ran 5km. “It’s very tough,” he quipped. “But very fun.” Track and field seems to be a favourite for Andrew as he seemed enthusiastic about running. He expressed that he would want to run again if there was another chance. Andrew’s father, Mr Yeo Ser Tiong also took part, running alongside his son in the 5km fun run. Seeing this as a special time where he is able to spend quality time with his two sons, he felt that his was a meaningful run where he could run for a good cause. “During the run, it was definitely very tiring. But as we ran as a group, the rest motivated me to complete the run.”

Programme 2nd IC Yeo Quan Yin of Anderson Junior College was exhilarated that they have pulled off this event. “I think we all did well today. It was much better then expected. We were actually quite excited last night and could not sleep! There were quite a couple of minor hiccups along the way, but we solved them with the help of our teachers and mentor.”

As the sun rose high into the sky by the end of the morning, everyone went back, each and everyone knowing that they had done their part for charity. For the first time runners who completed the route, they can now go back with a sense of achievement instilled in them. This “Touch Run” might have been just a simple charity run, but it is definitely not short of a meaningful one!

Related post:
Anderson Junior College students organise "Touch Run" for charity

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Mr Yeo Ser Tiong, father of Andrew Yeo, starts off his run. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Andrew Yeo coming in on the final stretch. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Ms Lim Chye Ling (#0024) stands at the start line awaiting the flag off. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Jickky from the AJC soccer team receives his medal from MP Yio Chu Kang Mr Seng. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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The AJC soccer boys warming up before their run. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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A runner smiles to himself before the start of the run. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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A runner sharing some laughs with his friend. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Showing some excitement as #0053 begins her run. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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#0019 waving to the line of cameras along the starting stretch. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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MP Yio Chu Kang Mr Seng Han Thong poses with a child from TYA before the run. (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Turning up in full force to support a family member. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“Give me five!” A child from TYA receiving support before embarking on the 5km run. (Photo 13 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“No no no! Don’t take my photo!” You forgot about the other camera here. 😉 (Photo 14 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“Friends forever!” A child from TYA giving her friend a hug of support before the run. (Photo 15 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Doing a small “east coast wave” before the run. (Photo 16 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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A look of determination as the children break off into a run. (Photo 17 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“Hello mommy!” A child waves to his mother who was taking part in the run. (Photo 18 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Showing that running can be done by anyone regardless of age or gender. (Photo 19 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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#0009 starts off the race with her son by her side. (Photo 20 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Mr Seng gives the supporters a friendly wave as he runs down the final stretch. (Photo 21 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“I’ll carry you down all the way…” An AJC student piggy-backs his schoolmate (out of fun?) as he runs down the final stretch. (Photo 22 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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#0084 putting in all his best as he sprints towards the finishing line. (Photo 23 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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A volunteer cheers on a younger runner as she nears the finishing line. (Photo 24 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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#0121 finishes the race with a smile. (Photo 25 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“If you don’t know who I am, I’m the one in a yellow shirt with really bad hair.” The sporting MC cracks a joke on himself as he kept the event lively. (Photo 26 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Programme IC Carissa Ng is all smiles as the runners come up to receive their medals. (Photo 27 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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“We were all so relaxed and exhilarated that the project was finally over.” Programme 2IC Yeo Quan Yin shares on her thoughts and feelings. (Photo 28 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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An exhausted volunteer catches some winks before the run began. (Photo 29 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Runners receiving thirst quenchers as they ran past the water points. (Photo 30 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
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Volunteers handing out drinks to runners at the water points along the route. (Photo 31 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
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The AJC soccer team posing for a photograph after the run. (Photo 32 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

More pictures in the gallery.

Editor’s note: Results and names were not made available at press time. If you recognise yourself or your friends in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!