marathon line dancing

The event attracted 25 contestants and a crowd of more than 300 line dancers from all over the island. The youngest contestant is 45 years of age and the eldest being 65 years old. Truly an extreme sports for the seniors. One person amongst them will make history in the Singapore line dancing scene.

The event started punctually at 5.00pm on 18 June 2005 after speeches by Mr. Michael Pang, President of the Country Line Dance Association (S) and Organising Chairman of the event and Mr. John Taylor, an official from Record Breakers Singapore.

Many came to support the contestants and more than 2 dozens stayed through the early hours to be with the dancers. It was their presence that kept more than 8 contestants till sunrise on Sunday.

After 21 hours of dancing and with only 5 minutes break on the hour, contestant Ms. Stella Loh had to give up due to muscle cramps and tired legs. The remaining 6 contestants continued to clock the 24 hrs by 5.00pm on Sunday 19 June 2005. You can tell from the faces and dance movements that they are truly exhausted, tired by this time. They have pushed to their limits both physically and mentally.

4 contestants dropped out at the start of the 26hrs attempt leaving only 2 contestants at the dance floor. 30 seconds through the dance, 57 years old Mr. Steven Woon had to give up leaving only 46 years old Ms. Carolyn Lai at the dance floor. At this stage, the crowd was cheering for Carolyn to continue. We all knew the event will be ending soon as the exhausted Carolyn could no longer continue dancing alone. She stopped dancing 30 seconds after Steven Woon.

Ms. Carolyn Lai Su Pin has clocked 25 hours 1 minute to be declared the winner of the 1st Singapore Marathon Line Dancing 2005. She received an OSIM iSqueez massager, by courtesy of OSIM International and cash prize of $500 from OKH Ballet Centre. Both are sponsors of the event. Carolyn's achievement will also go down in history in the 1st Edition of the Singapore Records to be released sometime this year in celebration of our nation's 40th anniversary.

Mr. Steven Woon will also be recorded as the oldest line dancer to achieve a record of 25 hours 30 seconds of non-stop line dancing. In fact, one of the officials, Mr. Yeo Kok Pang, Vice-President of CLDAS, will have a memorable record for himself for staying awake throughout the competition.

The event was a great success and a milestone for line dancing in Singapore. The contestants and supporters had an enjoyable time. The event strengthened the friendship and fellowship of fellow line dancers. It will be an annual event in our calendar and many are already talking about the next challenge.

*The prizes above are contributed by the following sponsors:

1. O.K.H. Ballet Centre
2. OSIM
3. OSIM