IVP 2017

It wasn't mine to be. Yet perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.

Perhaps one of the highlights in a race that I could possibly have been running, was the IVP 5000m. I was previously hoping to qualify for this event, yet the poor health rendered it not possible. Instead, I witnessed an amazing race - rarely seen over such a distance in our local setting.

How often does the winner of the 5000m lap the bronze medallist? (In the 2016 POLITE, the champion lapped the silver medallist in the 5000m. This was the same champion burning the field of IVP candidates.)

How often do you see a SEA games athlete being lapped by another Singaporean over 5000m?

This was surreal. I was proud to have witnessed the entire spectacle as a spectator instead of being a participant. 

Coming into the race, Chilton's PB was fairly far off from Jeeva's. A friend informed me that Chilton's PB was run during the POLITE 2016 5000m. Having said that, he was running solo. Did he have the courage to gun for the gold?

It was a pretty strong field - you're talking about more than half a dozen sub-18 runners. 5 sub-17 runners. With regard to the podium possibilities, 2 runners participated in 2015's SEA Games. 

Settle for silver (or bronze) or seek the gold (and risk the podium)?

Here's a race of courage, confidence and composure.