With all his heart and desperation he silently shouted at Bela to run like the wind, silently tried to

will strength into her. Run! His skin prickled, and his bones felt as if they were freezing,

ready to split open. The Light help her, run! And Bela ran.

 

Was this actually the first time Rand channeled? and if so, what did he do?

Yes, it was. He presumably performed the same trick Moiraine used in the following two chapters, to ease Bela's sense of fatigue (without actually removing the fatigue). Basically he gave her a shot of espresso.

 

If you've read to EOTW52,

Moiraine was right when she said

“At Watch Hill, Bela had no need of me to cleanse her of tiredness; someone had already done it. She could have outrun Mandarb, that night. I should have thought of who Bela carried. With Trollocs on our heels, a Draghkar overhead, and a Halfman the Light alone knew where, how you must have feared that Egwene would be left behind. You needed something more than you had ever needed anything before in your life, and you reached out to the one thing that could give it to you. Saidin.”

This explains when Rand channeled in EOTW, though I think there's some small debate over the second item, or if there may have been another event shortly after it. It's the standard interpretation, though.

 

Edited January 20, 201115 yr by moratcorlm