The weather was rather humid. I ran the 1st 10km at a comfortable pace (1:27), much slower than any race before.
Along the way, somebody approached me from the opposite side and greeted, I looked up, it was Captain Ronnie, looking relax and didn’t have der trademark “Pia” facial expression. Down further, it was Dinesh, gave him a high five.
Saw Jamie too but missed out Choi.
I kept a constant check on my leg injury which I sustained in the Seremban Half-Marathon and was rather glad it did not surface after passing the 20 km mark.
On the return leg, just after the Jalan Duta Mosque, I came upon a group of 4 veteran runners. We had one thing in common, all of us were balding. We helped one another to cross the busy Jalan Duta.
Cruising confidently pass the Tennis Stadium, I had a muscle pull on my left calf that prompted me to slow to a walk. The brand new black NB shorts (RM68) I wore had a rather large zipper pocket (for a running shorts), ergonomically located by the side (not behind or front). The zipper pocket was perfect to keep things like car keys and even a handphone if weighing down the shorts is not a constraint.
I applied the home pre-packed analgesic cream Deep Heat on both my stiffening legs and pass the remainder to one of the balding runners who thought he was suppose to eat it!
Towards the last km, cars were caught in the jam along the Lake Club road. A driver wound down his car window and shouted my name. It was Jamie.
I knew how slow I had been running as towards the finishing line; many participants were already leaving, walking the opposite direction. I was a bit embarrassed when a couple of strangers cheered me on. I finished in 4:11:05. This year’s distance was probably 1 km longer.
The guy in front of me took the last finisher’s medal. I was told by the official they will post one to me. I was looking forward to the finisher’s T-shirt but this time round it was a hand towel instead.
