Appeared in today's Straits Times...article about the 2.4km run IPPT in the Forum (Page H12)....Any comments ?

[edit: For those of you who do not wish to read through a lengthy post, I'll summarise my comments into one word ... IDIOT]


To the Editor,

I refer to the below published letter in the ST Forum on 7 January 2008.

For ease of reference, I shall hereafter refer to Mr Ricky Lim as "The REMF".

The REMF seems to be confused about what constitutes a test and how achievement should be graded/awarded.

Allow me to quote him ...

"On average, in order to obtain a Gold standard in the IPPT, a national serviceman has to ... run 2.4km in about 10 minutes, plus or minus half a minute."

"However, it is unrealistic to expect the majority of national servicemen to reach that level of fitness."

"Hence, it is not advisable to set such a short time limit for a 2.4km run."

That in a nutshell is what is wrong with The REMF. Of course we do not expect the majority of people to reach that level of fitness! If you wish to wear the "coveted" IPPT Gold Badge on your uniform and earn the monetary award, you have to be of exemplary fitness.

This is common in all forms of testing, be it physical or mental. You do not get an A grade in your exams unless you have performed exceptionally. Likewise, you should not get a Gold in a fitness test unless you have risen above the performance of the majority.

"Anyone who has ever achieved a sub-10 for a 2.4km run can attest to the power of endurance needed, and the pain and fatigue undergone. Of course, the excitement and sense of achievement are what push one through."

Discounting the supremely gifted, anyone who has excelled in their exams will attest to the sheer mental effort, the stress and fatigue undergone. Of course, career advancement and a sense of achievement are what push one through.

However, given the number of exam stress related disorders and suicides, perhaps the Ministry of Education should lower the standards of exams so as to make it less taxing on the majority. Duh ... :rolleyes:

Gold standards and A grades are there to denote outstanding achievements. If the REMF wishes to be amongst the masses, maybe he should consider just aiming for a Silver, Bronze or even *gasp* just a pass. After all, a pass grade only requires that you complete the 2.4km run in under 12:40s (+/- 20s) ... quite easily done by the majority of National Servicemen.

The REMF also seems to be confused on what constitutes "training", "testing" and "warm up".

"Fitness experts recommend that we engage in a cardiovascular exercise continuously for at least 20 minutes in order to maximise its benefits. Running a sub-10 does not seem to serve that purpose"

Yes, by all means run longer distances to maximise the benifits of training. The IPPT, on the other hand, is a TEST. It is a one-off event meant to provide a gauge of ability within set parameters. In this case, a short-medium distance run that tests both speed and endurance.

"My suggestion is to extend the distance of the run to 4km or 5km, with a time limit of 30 to 40 minutes, thereby focusing more on the endurance and general fitness than speed. This should put less strain on the heart and body, while giving the runners some time to warm up and ready their bodies for the run in a less gruelling manner."

We might as well all go for a slow jog holding hands ... what research or medical background does the REMF have for his abitrary standards listed above?

Instead of pulling standards out of the air, why don't we benchmark ourselves against the US Army's APFT?

The US Army APFT standard is ...
3.2km in 16:36 for a pass
3.2km in 13:54 for a "Gold" Badge equivalent

3.2km in 16:36 = 11.56 kmph
3.2km in 13:54 = 13.81 kmph

2.4km in 12:20 = 11.67 kmph
2.4km in 09:45 = 14.46 kmph

Given the shorter distance of 2.4km vs 3.2km, the slightly faster speed required by the IPPT 2.4km standards is commensurate with the APFT standards.

So, if we were to increase the distance to 5km at a commensurate pace, we will only end up putting that high level of strain on our body for a longer period. If any deluded fools should take the approach recommended by the REMF of using part of the Test distance to warm up and ready their body for a run, then they better be prepared to sprint the rest of the way.

Warm ups are done BEFORE an activity to prepare your body for the exertion ... not during the activity. We may as well ask professional football players to only walk for the first 15 minutes of every match to warm themselves up and prepare their bodies for the match.

"Instead of a sudden burst of energy to complete a run in a short time, a longer run may be all it takes to prevent a cardiac arrest."

A longer run is most probably going to cause more cardiac arrests.

"We cannot delude ourselves that these 'running deaths', which have led to the demise of healthy men in their 20s to 50s, are coincidences"

The "running deaths" of healthy servicemen is lamentable and perhaps more should be done to find out the root cause. To link the deaths to the distance and standards in place is being irresponsibly speculative. For all we know, the REMF's knee jerk response of increasing the distance may in fact result in more deaths ... not less.

The human body is complex and varied environmental factors do not make it any easier to determine the causes of failures in our body's biomechanism. The distance is but one of many factors, off hand I can think of a few other reasons that need to be looked into:

i) Possible failures in medical screening?
ii) Poor preparation by the serviceman - over/under hydration?
iii) Possible contributory effects of "health supplements"?

It is laudable that the REMF is attempting to raise awareness in an issue that maybe is being ignored. However, he should leave the findings and recommendations to better qualified personnels.

Unless, perhaps, the REMF has an agenda? Maybe he wishes the standards lowered so that he can finally get a Gold award ... or even just pass?

"Neither can we attribute the concerns expressed over these occurrences to 'sensationalised news' by the press."

To me, the publication of such an error-ridden and logically flawed letter indicates "sensationalism" of the issue by the press. Sure as heck, we will have Aunties, Uncles and assorted other ignoramuses talking about this over their hair curlers and kopis and nodding sagely ... if the ST published this letter, then it must be "true".

CJ!!! WTF are your guys doing over there?!

Maybe I should clean up this post and mail it in to ST Forum ... :P

What a way to come back to this forum kotay! Cool down dude, this is just a bloke's view. No need to get so agitated right? :D By the way, what's "The REMF"? :blink:

I'm back but in an intermittent manner. ;)

With regards to my rather vitriolic post, I do have a character flaw ... I have a very low tolerance level for Idiots. Mr Lim may be entitled to his view, but it doesn't detract from the fact that his arguments and logic are way way off.

Also, I was under the impression that letters to ST Forum are screened for content. I'm rather amazed that this rather illogical piece of demagogic bum fluff made it through ... or maybe the editor had left it to an intern ...

REMF = Rear Echelon M***** F***** ... rather rude but does indicate my view of Mr Lim as being some service side desk jockey struggling to pass his IPPT and trying to wrangle an argument to have the standards lowered.

If he's a service side desk jockey, why is he cursed with the IPPT.. maybe he didn't do enough when he got into(or was trying) service side?

:lol:

Anyway, the ST Forum has let a few loose screws in now and then, and those are really awful.

Well, until they can medically prove that the risks of cardiac arrests is unacceptably high for 2.4 runs, all these loose nuts are just a way of letting ppl think they are being heard.

About 2.4 km IPPT run there are people who cruse the running ground if there is too many up slopes. Many swear Maju camp has the best ground for 2.4km run but i beg to defer as i run there before and passed will say my old Jurong camp is better.

seletar camp is best!

Katik camp is the best! Flat 400m stadium run track. :D

Hahahaha....what about the worst?

If 2.4km is shit....someone should tell him about the 5km SOC....me and my comrades ran it at the old Changi AETI where there are so many up and down slopes and not to mention uneven grounds... those were the days...

:P

Tot this is an interesting response.

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_...27apr10_nr.html

Looks like Mindef is collating data for a review of the IPPT to make it more vocation specific. Timely.