I’ve always been known as the “small boy” to many people (largely due to my small build).
I was very short (now not very short but still short…) during my younger days. When I was 14 years old, I was only 1.47m “tall”, weighing about 34kg. I was always the shortest male in class, only taller than two or three females.
Because of this, I was often bullied by the bigger-sized guys. They would snatch my things and laugh at my puny effort trying to get my things back, push me around, call me names and even threaten other guys to not be friends with me.
As such, I did not have many friends in school and I was often a loner, watching people hang out with friends, play during recess and after school. I wished that I had friends I could enjoy activities with.
At the very least though, in terms of academic, I could say I’m in the slightly better than average zone. I grasped concepts easily and could excel in exams, but this soon became another point of target for those bullies. They made me do their homework and assignments, and they would also steal my study notes.
This was a terrible part of my school days which I could never forget. It lowered my self-confidence and gradually, I became introverted.
Then came army. Just before army, I was 1.65m, weighing about 40kg. After army, my weight was about 50kg!
During army, it was the exercise and training that helped me put on some weight and look less scrawny. In the army, we would all be “tekan-ed” by the commanders. Though it was tough, I kind of felt like part of a group. We endured the training together, cheering and encouraging one another. This was a feeling I never had previously.
After coming out from the army, I thought maybe getting fitter and having a bigger build would make me less of a target for bullying. So, I continued to do some jogging, swimming and even signed up for gym membership. However, I was not very motivated to continue because most of the time I was doing all of these alone. Most of the time, I found myself giving excuses – “I’m so tired from working”, “I just want to rest” or “I just want to enjoy my weekends.”
In January 2018, I came to know ROCKrunners through my company and thought, “Hey, maybe I could make some new friends here! It might be fun like what I experienced in my BMT days (minus the tekan portion of course!!). Everyone would do the training together!” So I joined.
Indeed, the people here are VERY friendly. Regardless of age, body size or fitness level, they do not make fun of anyone. They would encourage each other, give advice and help those who are in need.
During the first few sessions, I struggled and found them very challenging. I kept saying “My legs/arms are breaking!” Yet, the rest of the group were able to keep up with the programme. It made me feel insecure again, but I told myself that I would become stronger – this was what I signed up for!
Seeing me struggling, some of them then came up to me and gave me some tips and advice – such as teaching me the correct running techniques, choosing good running shoes, how to control my pacing, etc. They were really encouraging and that helped me gained a lot of confidence.
Because of the ROCKrunners, this year has been a year of achievements for me. Prior to this, I had never done any runs longer than 4km. Now, (because of them) I have completed two 10km races and one half-marathon! This really seemed impossible to me initially.
Two of the honourable mentions are Jack and Gwen. Both of them had really helped me a lot. They would take time off to run with me, helping me to train my running and some focused muscle group training.
I would say I am glad to have found many wonderful people in ROCKrunners. I may be the ROCKstar of the month, but all you people in ROCKrunners are the ROCKstars in my eyes and heart!
Thank you all for radiating your lights to my world!!!
