Cross Country Race at SK Panggong

On your mark, get set, GO! It was a wonderful morning for a run on Thursday, 12th of March at SK Panggong. It was a great opportunity to mix with students and teachers in non-classroom environment, while applying English in a practical setting. My teachers were spread accross the spectrum of a rainbow's colours.. Teacher Zuriana Green Team, Teacher Zailina Yellow Team and Teacher Ros represented the Blue Team. GB Hj Saiduikhwan officiated the start of the race. PK Ku Puan Norashikin did a fine job making sure everything ran smoothly.

We spent the morning together at the finish line encouraging the students on the last leg of the race. The teachers were responsible for giving a ticket of placement to their respective teams as they crossed the finish line with the time recorded to determine the winning team. I also got a chance to take two rounds on a bike to keep the young runners motivated.

Year 1-4 had to run 2.5 km route. Phew! As they started to trickle in the Year 4-5 students were set loose on a 4 km route. In both year groups, girls started first with about a 15 minutes head start. Along the route that snaked around the village, there were scattered clusters of parents, relatives and onlookers as the tykes jogged by.  Throughout the route there were checkpoints manned by teachers who would give a runner a rubberband around the wrist to verify their passing of the post. It was a safeguard from cheating: students taking shortcuts or assistance from over helpful siblings.  There was even a water statation to hydrate the young athletes.

As the morning progressed, the temparture continued to rise. As I mentioned, I was lucky enough to go around the circuit twice to cheer on the youngsters. Phrases like: "Run, you can do it", " Pump your arms", "Don't give up" and "Faster, faster, faster" were used commonly by us as we encountered the racers. It's important to note there were lots of high fives being exchanged between me and students. The day ended with Red clinching first, Yellow second,  Green third and Blue in last place. Yet, from my perspective, we were all victorious in having a fun, healthy time with some English exposure. It was fun day for all!

The lovely SKP Teachers representing their colours