On Cloud 9 - Still don't quite believe I completed 21km!! That's like the distance from my hometown of Taiping to the Royal town, Kuala Kangsar. A friend from Taiping, Janice said, next you'll be running (further) to Ipoh! I dunno what possessed me, but I'm sure glad I did it! Now where shall I start???... RACE MORNING 4am Bravehearts - A few of us decided to take the plunge with the introduction of 21km route in the KL International Marathon 2005. Ervi, Audrey, Ivy, Chantelle, YanKeat and myself would be running 21km for the very first time. 21000 meters. That's a lot of steps.
This is it. No turning back - I had arrived at Merdeka Square (Dataran Merdeka) where the KL International Marathon 2005 had already flagged off the marathoners an hour earlier. Now it is my turn, to run the Half Marathon of 21km. It is not a race for the faint-hearted. Siew Moi, Ronnie's proud wife greeted me with a bright smile which lit up this dark morning. I was so relieved to see a familiar face. She would dutifully keep watch over my camera and other chips while I ran the race. She even had the layout map with her as I enquired about the luggage area! Ever so grateful. "MJ, you're already sweating.." - haha, new found fren Kwok Foo caught my attention as I was looking for the baggage area. I replied, "Scared la.." Exchanged greetings and salutations, as I went off in search of a peehole. Great minds think alike - I saw a familiar figure in red approaching as soon as I joined the mobile toilet line. It was Ervi, smiling away, fending off all negative thoughts. But she was nervous about one thing i.e. not being able to pee in time before the flag-off! hahahha.. Phew! - Made it just in time to the reporting area aka 'bull-pen'. There was a queue for reporting?? Aiyaiyai.. Stood at the back of the starting crowd since timing would be recorded by the chips (I hope they don't malfunction!). Met newbie YanKeat and wished him good luck. Ready or not here we come! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! - Hope my chip registered as I stomped across the starting mat, started my stopwatch and away I go. Into the darkness of the morning, not even the sun had begin to rise at 6.30am. The crowd was energetic, everyone trying to find their own space and pace. Fortunately, the entire road was cordoned off from traffic. I let the pace of the crowd carry me for awhile. It felt good to be positive long strides. Everyone had a single goal in mind, you could just feel the energy. You just had to be there. Down towards the Royal Palace (Istana Negara) even before I hit Jalan Syed Putra, my left shoelace came untied. Slowly inched to the side, tied it up before catching up with Ervi ahead of me.
"MJ"..."MJ", I snuck a look behind me and realised Rohaizad called out to me. I was surprised to see Rohaizad and Kenneth, thinking they were already far ahead. They claimed I was too fast for them.. yeah right. I was already being mocked this early in the race. Water station 4 KM - Orange flavoured 100+ (isotonic)?? Yippee! I love orange haha.. grabbed 2 cups, slowed down to drink it all down, though I still split some on myself. A bit early to drink for my normal liking, but I wasn't expecting the other water stations further down to have water. :P Over took a lady in yellow garb, whom muttered she was taking it slow while she "let the water go down". Lol, ok, suit yourself and I resumed pace. Shortly after, Rohaizad and Kenneth suprised me from behind again. I joked they must have had a 'long water break' aka watering the plants, guys? hehe Gradual uphill climb on the Federal Highway for about 1km++ towards the Air Force Base (TUDM) for 1km++. I had dreaded this familiar slope as I drive this way to work everyday, roaring on 5th gear at 110km/h. Today, I was slowing chugging up, but I wasn't beaten. woohoo! Think I remember a marked water station and surprise power bar station here, cause for motivation :D Out of fuel? - Ironic. A damsel in distress along the highway apparently ran out of fuel for her car. I laughed to myself silently, imagining the same scenario for a runner at this point, just a few feet away from the water and power bar station. Suddenly saw someone dash across the 3 lane highway to the other side of the road, and he started pushing and shoving someone in argument. A car had already stopped by the side. Not too sure what that was about, as I pressed on, mind on the water station. Power Bar station 8.5 KM - A very enthusiastic marshall handed out Power Gel. Thanked him as I grabbed a Double Caffeine flavor. More giggling to myself as I recall YanKeat wanting to get a caffeine boost for this morning's run. Here's your chance mate! Double caffeine. Water station 9 KM - Grabbed more orange 100+ and a bottle of water to help wash down the gel. Not too sure how I would react, consuming it for the first time, so I was a bit cautious. Not too bad, I soon found out. TOILET ?? - Blinked twice before I realised I indeed saw the word "TOILET". Forgot the organizers arranged this facility, but in the middle of the KL-Seremban highway?? At least it was blocked by the construction barriers hahahaa Beep! Beep! 10 KM = 66 mins - Looking good as I crossed the timing mat. Soon put down the water bottle I was carrying as it interfered with my arm momentum. Quite hoping to keep up this pace as long as I can. A man called Patrick - Met an elderly runner whom intro-ed himself as Patrick. He told me he had just turned 61 years of age, and used to clock 21km in 2hrs! Age was catching up, he claimed and he targeted 2hr 30 for this race. Man, talk about ambition! I greatly admire people like this. If I were half as active at his age in the future.. I'd be happy. Cruising along the freeway - Can't believe I'm running along the KL-Seremban highway which normally is choked with heavy traffic. Amazing. Surged ahead for awhile and met a new friend, Kaynis. Said his friends went off to run the marathon, leaving him solo in the 21km run. His target was 2hr 30 too and I paced with him for a bit as we passed Chin Tuck Meng who was already walking. Also said hi to two ladies, one of which, Winnie was her name, I think, gave me a gulp of water on Jalan Sultan Ismail from the bottle she was carrying. As expected, the water station was depleted along that point. Was doing good time till the 14km mark which read 1hr 38mins while my time was 1hr 35mins. Furtherdown, due to lack of distance markers, I really lost the plot. Lost perspective of distance, time, I really didn't know if I were fast or slow. City of all sorts - Pass the infamous Pudu Jail, the modernistic Monorail running above, pass the fairly new Times Square mall with IMAX theatre, through the old streets of KL and back into the Golden Triangle. Thanked the policemen on duty curbing traffic, but somehow someone was caught napping and we were 'attacked' by a few cars, speeding by obviously frustrated. Even had to fend for ourselves at one intersection. Didn't help, there were many students from the 10km route, walking, clogging up the road. No more distance markers!!!! WTF?? - Air mist sponsored by Nike didn't help to calm my frustration. All those encouraging words on the boards, couldn't they even sponsor ONE miserable distance marker? I saw some numbers on the ground, which didn't make half sense and wondered if it had anything to do with the race. Bah! Really not familiar with roads in the Jalan TAR/Sogo area and was left to follow the walking crowd. Arrows were far and few between. Distance markers - none to be seen. Lost all perspective of distance, having made numerous turns round the streets. Where's the finish line? And I think this is where I really LOST IT. Urged on a lot of runners whom had resorted to walking, including Kaynis. I lost my pacer and was struggling to keep my pace. Mind was getting distracted. I heard a runner said he had made one round. One round?? Up ahead, I recognised a girl I saw this morning. She was walking, so I said, "Jog with me to the end, gal!" She responded and we exchanged names. Realised, she was Chooi Wan (CW), Terence's (aka Penguin 6) understudy. She suffered leg cramps, but I urged her not to give up. Make pain your friend I told CW, quote from Azwar's and Rohaizad's blogs days before. We had no idea where the finish line was. A water station appeared out of nowhere, and 10km runners were 'banned' from taking a drink. I really wondered how far more? Shortly after, we spotted the finish line!! But then ... we had to make that right turn which about killed everything you had left in you. :( Killer Loop - One more round, back at Sogo(!!!!), yearning for the last right turn, which seemed to take forever. Looked left, it was a shortcut I was sooo tempted to take. Mind obviously lost focus, as I tried to refocus on that finish line, that medal. "Lets cross the finish line together," CW said to me. She had stop one more time for medication to sooth her cramps, but caught up with me. This time we really had the finish line in sight, as I waved to Ron's Fellowship, parked in the middle of the road. We strode to the finish line, like champions, hands in the air!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. 21km. 2hrs 34mins In excitement, I forgot to look at my stopwatch, forgot to even stop my stopwatch! My legs were feeling like jelly, as I heard someone call my name, and said hi to KokHo whom had also just came in. Mr Milo, here I come! Milo battle zone - It was harder to get a cup of Milo than it was to run 21km. I'm not kidding. Finally got some, and headed to the finish line to greet Ervi. Spotted her and showed her the Milo, but she shouted, "100+!!". Geez, demanding aren't we? hahahahhaa I hadn't even seen the 100+ booth, later gal! Now, to catch up with some friends and wait for that infamous penguin (runner) to come in. :D See you at the next race!
In retrospect - Disappointed I missed my target time of 2hr 27mins, by 7 mins. Amateur. Muahahhahhahaha... But, I gained a friend and met some good people along the way. AND I completed the race. That's what counts. Dare I try another 21km??? Mebbe... just mebbe. Wanna drag me into training? Muahhahhahahhahaaaaa... Xtra! Xtra! Read all about it: Azwar | Rohaizad | Julian | Penguin 6 | Jamie | Petaling Runner | Jason Related Links: |
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