Thanks to Jamie for helping with the registration despite his busy schedule. Most of us join this run partly because of the enticing Travel package lucky draw.
Picked up my brother, Kenny and sped on the LDP towards Puchong. Come to think of it, driving to races is a good excuse to speed since traffic is low. If ever the police were to stop me, I would innocently display my bib and say that I was rushing- perfect alibi. Midway, Mee Peng complained of stomachache (PM1 ailment?) and we had to make an emergency pit stop near the Motorola Bridge Mobil station.
7:20a.m, 10 minutes to go, I floored the Renault towards Bandar Puteri. Luckily, the place was not jammed up and I easily found parking next to a coffee shop. We jogged to the starting line, a good warm-up.
Prior to this run, I postulated Mee Peng could achieve a sub-40 timing judging from her 7km Putrajaya and Rat Race pace. She does not like me telling her what she can attain. I got chided for being analytical and raising the expectation.
My fastest 5.3km was 33 minutes back in 2004 achieved in the wee hours: 3:20 a.m! I last race 5.6km in the JP Morgan Run 2004 clocking 37mins. 5km distance is for the fast and furious.
All 3 of us were doing the 5.5km route. I wore the light Mizuno Precision 5. I thought the route would be rather flat but it turned out to be otherwise. The first 2/3rds were uphill.
There was this slim Indian man probably in his late 50s which I have in numerous other races trailed or ended almost the same timing. I finished just ahead of him by merely a few steps in the NB 15km run but in Putrajaya half he was ahead by a hundred meters. Today we are racing a short 5kms. Never underestimate a senior veteran runner. The old man was flying. I had no answer to his tenacious pace.
I kept up with a fellow runner C107 and later C019 with the intention of overtaking them in the final last hundred meters but today is not my day.
Both finished strongly and very much ahead. I wish to thank them for pushing me to the limits as I crossed the finishing line with a personal best of 29:55 mins.
The Pacemaker gang: Ronnie, Justin, Dinesh, Rachel, Jamie and the rest gathered for a traditional group photo. While I was talking to them, I kept an eye on Kenny and Mee Peng's finishing.
Kenny finished 35:05. Mee Peng astonishingly clocked 35:50 in 22nd position. I did not expect her to run below 7min/km pace. Her Timex stopwatch hung again! I foresee this already and had the contingency plan of leaving my Nike stopwatch running on “Lap” mode to clock both of them.
Wave Technology - Rider 8 and Precision 5
The 10 lucky draw prizes was an anti-climax. The MC announced at least 6-7 names for the Grand Prize but nobody went up the stage to claim the prize. Majority of the runners have left the venue.
True colours won the day.
I am appalled with the MC for addressing the crowd and stage events mostly in Mandarin. This is a public event where there are non-Chinese listeners/runners. The race is called “Community” but it is not spoken in that context.
I hope the organizers would embrace the Bangsa Malaysia spirit next year by using English or Bahasa as the core medium of communication.
Mum turns 70 today. Mum is apprehensive of all her birthdays especially when it involves a cake since dad passed away 7 years ago. The reason? My dad died of stroke the following day after we celebrated his 70th birthday. From her smile, it appears she had expunged her superstitious belief. She loved the delicious fruit flan cake. It was a smile I have not captured for a long time.
Happy Birthday Mum!
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