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Spartan Race Singapore 2015: The not-so-tough (but can lah) chick

SINGAPORE – Mention the Spartans and an image of gritty men with rippling muscles and rock hard abs jostling at each other immediately comes to mind – and Gerrard Butler shouting “This is Sparta!”

SINGAPORE – Mention the Spartans and an image of gritty men with rippling muscles and rock hard abs jostling at each other immediately comes to mind – and Gerrard Butler shouting “This is Sparta!”

But will the inaugural Singapore leg of the Spartan Race next weekend (Nov 15) race see similar nail-biting action? We spoke to three participants who will be pitting their strength against the obstacles, and with each other. Here, radio DJ Vernetta Lopez rates her chances of winning.

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She may look like she’s up for anything, but the thought of participating in the upcoming Spartan Race strikes fear in actress and radio personality Vernetta Lopez’s heart.

“I’m nowhere near being fit for this ... I’m actually terrified,” said the 42-year-old. “I’m just going to do what I can. I think I’ll be quite half-dead and injured and on MC after the whole thing. But at least I can say that I’ve done it.”

The Gold 90.5FM DJ will be participating in the 5+ km sprint, where she has to take on more than 15 obstacles along the way. But scared as she is, Lopez said signing up for something like this would also give her impetus to train. “This is a challenge for yourself; if you fail, at least you tried. So why not, man?”

She doesn’t believe in donning any good luck items either. She said the best she can hope for is that her shoes would stay on and she does not drown in the shallow mud pools. “Maybe I’ll cross my fingers as I run, which might render me useless.”

That said, she’s definitely no pushover. When she was younger, Lopez and her sister were “very tough” as kids. Her father was a trainer for jockeys, so they would train alongside them, doing laps, rope climbs, burpees, push-ups and sit-ups, she recalled. As Lopez grew older, she kept up with her training off and on, such as jogging for an hour, but her weight seesawed. A few years back when she realised she weighed 57kg, she began to work on a healthier lifestyle, beginning with eating clean, such as salads and protein-food. She now weighs 49kg.

Her current exercise regime, which she does every other day, includes a 15- to 20-minute run, followed by sets of 75 crunches, heel touches and back arches and a minute of spinning. She also does assisted pull ups and burpees, and a few Pilates moves to round up each session.

Her biggest worry about the Spartan Race, she said, would be completing the penalty burpees, as well as obstacles that involved upper arm strength such as rope climbing and monkey bars, but if all else fails, Lopez has a cunning plan. “I will be asking (the men) for help and getting a piggy back ride.”

So what are her expectations on getting on the podium? “My expectations will be that if I can get through this race, I’ll be so happy already. First and second, maybe in the children’s leg,” she joked. “What am I thinking, they’ll beat me as well!”

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