Mizuno 10km and Terry Fox Run 2006

Wore the silky smooth orange Mizuno T-shirt and by 7a.m I was out of the house. Got off at the National Monument and immediately took a leak next to a big tree. It is now a habit, no need to queue or frantic search for the official bowl. Ecological exchange with the tree, I supply the nutrients in exchange for the oxygen, naturally.

Met Choi, TM Wong, William, Karen and her father. Could not find Jamie and Newton.
While we were chatting, the race started. It was very packed. A middle age runner tripped and fell flat on the ground but luckily he was not injured. The first few minutes of the start are usually the most accident-prone.

Pinup incentive

It’s one of my favorite routes and a repeat of the NB 15km run minus the loop. Route familiarity help, as I know what was ahead. I step a notch faster coming down the gradual Mahameru downhill. U-turn to Kementarian Pertanian and from here I was trailing this group of runners lead by a perfectly shaped and well-tanned lady runner. In fact she has the body of a swimsuit pinup supermodel.

I kept up from behind as I felt I did not have the speed to overtake them. After Tugu Peringatan, it was the nice downhill, all the way. I could see Supermodel and gang have increased pace and soon lost sight of them at the final left turn to Padang Merbok.

Super striding

I thought I have max out but to my own embarrassment and disbelief I had reserves to do a sprint. I lengthened my strides and overtook more than 10 runners including Supermodel to the finish. It was my strongest last 200 meters ending ever. I clocked 1:05:04.

After taking the traditional group photos with the Pacemakers group, Choi, TM Wong and Karen, we walked to Lake Gardens for the Terry Fox Run. Met Ryan who was helping Captain Ronnie to record race results.



Terry Fox Run

While walking to the boathouse, we saw ex-F1 driver, Alex Yoong donned the Terry Fox T-shirt. He seems oblivious to our stares. There must be thousands of participants wearing the white T-shirt with a large number coming from foreign expatriates. Families came in roller blades, bicycles, tricycles, pram, wheelchair, scooter etc.

My bright Orange Mizuno T-shirt stood out in a sea of Whites. A Caucasian obviously found I was not “compliant” came up to me and said assertively “GET OFF THAT T-SHIRT Its about to start!”.

Saya mau makan nasi lemak puas-puas...

We were looking if any of the tents sold T-shirts before going back to the car to get my wallet. When we found it, we sigh with the thought of rushing back to the Bird-park where the car was parked. Luckily Mee Peng bumped into her office colleague who loan us RM50. San Franscisco sponsored the coffee, curry puffs and muffins were simply delicious.

I walked in the entire 3.5km procession. Met Mee Peng who ran, at the end point. We were presented with the Terry Fox certificate. After reading the contents my eyes welled as I now understand what Terry Fox Foundation means to people who had cancer.

Terry Fox said....

“I’m not doing my run to become rich or famous. To me, being famous is not the idea of the run. The only important part is finding a cure for cancer. Don’t forget that. I’m no different from any of you- I’m no better, no worse. You are cheering and clapping for me but if you have given $1, then you are part of the Marathon of Hope. Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me”


It was a meaningful day. It was not a day about racing. It was a day about hope. Terry Fox made my day.

Putrajaya Half Marathon 2006

I will be expecting the sun to glow; a twisty route and the many steel bridges gleam with pride as I perform my 24,000 strides. I had a relatively longer than expected pre-race night sleep, 6 hours.

Wrong venue

Arrive at the site where I parked last year but was surprised the area was dark with no activities. As we walked towards the bridge, an official told us the venue is further up, at least 1 km away. I began to panic and ran back to my car. Later, Mee Peng relayed to me many runners were caught unaware of the change of venue. A car stopped to offer a runner who had begun running, a ride.

After unsuccessfully locating the carpark, no thanks to poor signboards, I stop in front of half a dozen policemen who were chatting amongst themselves, to ask for directions. Mee Peng took over the wheel, as we knew I would not have time to park. Walk briskly towards the barricade and within seconds, the run started!

At km-1, I saw Choi from the sidewalk snapping pictures. Called him and later he caught up where we paced together for a few minutes before he took off. The early morning weather was cloudy hence we were spared the scorching sun.

Km-10

I was surprised at my pace. I hit the 10km milestone in sub-60 minutes. Have I improved so much? My mind began to wander….

Km-19?

Approaching Dataran Putra I was excited when I saw a signboard that says 39 kms. My stopwatch showed 2:01:16. Breaking my last year’s record was imminent. I looked straight ahead and could see the distant “finishing line”. Then I was caught by the unexpected, runners had to make a loop around the finishing line! The last km (I max out already) became the last 3 kms! This explains my “perceived” improvement. The last water station had an amusing signboard that says 41 kms. 200 meters to finish but I couldn’t see the finishing line. I started walking.

The Walk

My calves began to tighten. I could feel my muscles seizing anytime. After making a final right turn, I finally saw the finishing line. Choi was waving to me with his camera to move to the left. I pick up a limping run and smiled for the lens. Thanks to Choi for being the cameraman from start to finish.



I finish in 2:27:06. I believe this year’s route is longer. Mee Peng finished her 7km run in 55th position in 48 mins. She received her first ever medal. Both our bibs were numbered "001".

The Corrupt

I bought a large 94gm Deep Heat analgesic tube for RM10 – a real bargain. We wanted to drink more water but the stock seems to be depleting. What surprised me was the officials were “selling” the 6-pack sponsored can drinks openly for RM5 when it should be distributed free. Some runners were carting away cartons of bottled water. I saw a pickup truck loading at least 7 boxes and counting. Are they here to run or open a mini-market?

Overall, we were happy with the spacious new location, more than sufficient water stations and good weather. We will be back next year.

MPAJ Run 2006

Got an sms from Ronnie to buy over a Junior Veteran bib from a fellow runner. I took up the offer with the anticipation of doing a discovery 10km route at Pandan Indah. I went back to my NB 15km notes to follow the same pre-race nutrient loading formula: cordyceps + multi-vitamin tablets + banana + coffee but this time minus the Powerbar.

Woke up before the alarm clock rang at 4:50 a.m. from a work-related audit preparation nightmare. The MRR2, which is just in the vicinity, leads all the way to Pandan Indah. Parked in the single-storey housing road junction next to the Bomba station.

The Padang Perbandaran Ampang Jaya was well lit with floodlights. Ronnie has informed me that this is the same organizer from the Klang run. It is no surprise there is no barricade and ribbons. Anybody can cheat if they want to.

7:20 a.m.

The program says the race starts at 7a.m. but it was already past 7:20 and we were still waiting inside the starting area. One runner became very pissed and shouted “Kalau tak boleh bangun jangan datang !!! “ I am not sure if he meant to swear at the VIP flagoff person or the officials who delayed the start. Soon many restless runners began to jeer, boo and woo.

Finally a grinning official stood on the high platform and sounded the air horn. It was a very gradual uphill, not steep at all. After 1km I notice the tall and burly runner who cheated in the Klang race was in front, wheezing loudly, his trademark. Shortly after 1.5km I caught up and overtook him. The route took us to the MRR2 highway.

Darth Vader

Coming down from the left turnoff flyover to the MRR2, I could hear Mr.Vader’s super heavy breathing shadowing my footsteps. He sounded like he had asthma. That drove me to run harder. After a few minutes, the dark side fizzled away. From MRR2, another left turn took us to Jln Bunga Raya. The area here was much greener and less traffic. 7kmers took the left turn and 10kmers took the right turn. A senior veteran runner had to back track after mistakenly took the wrong 10km turn.

4 Pacers & a bus

Somewhere at km-7, after the Petronas Station, I began to chant, “hammer! hammer! hammer!” There were 4 runners who seem to share the same pace. 3 female runners: D188, D160 and D130 were similarly attired. Earlier I had overtaken them but D188 seems to have reserved her best for last. She overtook me back with a pace that I could not match. D160 and I were running neck to neck on a single narrow lane under reconstruction. An air-cond bus came along side, almost brushing our shoulders moved at a walking speed. I could feel the bus air-cond (I don’t know why he opened the doors, perhaps to get a better view of the chicks?). To my amusement the driver jested “Ah, mari-mari naik bus! Hahaha! ”.

D160 was really pushing hard. It is the first time in my 2.5 years of running I hear a lady runner screaming “Arghhhhhhh!” at the top of her voice during a race. Eventually she regained her lead. She deserves it.

The 4th runner, C172 was doing his walk-run strategy. We exchanged leads a few times. Although I never walk or stop at the drink station, C172 adopted an alternating rest and sprint technique. Whenever he attacked he would overtake me conclusively. Whenever he walked, I would in turn overtake him back.

Less than 500 meters from the finishing line, C172 walked again. I maintained my pace and overtook him. As I ran past an official, he told me C-category finish already, which meant no more medals. Only the top 75 are awarded medals. I wanted to find out my position but the official was simply too slow in updating the spreadsheet until I lost my patience and left.

Mee Peng came to me and asked if I got anything. I was surprised myself as there was no finisher certificate presented at the finishing line. Later an official told me the finisher certificate is located at the far end table. Mee Peng told me she heard runners complaining why there were no certificates presented. I believe many runners left the ground without knowing there were certificates.

This is my fastest 10km race. I finished in 62:01. According to Ronnie’s website the actual distance was 10.5km. If that is true, then it is the first time I ran below 6mins/km for 10kms. The rather flat route had contributed to the better than expected timing.

The highly acclaimed Steven’s Corner mamak shop located just next to the MPAJ padang was a disappointment. We don’t find the food great.

Later I went to Low Yat to purchase a 250Gb Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm hard disk for RM290 while the other half feast on the Isetan sale at Lot 10. Ate lunch in the supposedly famous silky smooth Ipoh Hor-Fun soup in Imbi Road.