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.

Klang Run 2006

The last time I ran a 7km race was the Olympic Run 2004. I must admit I am a lazy person when it comes to race registration. Thanks to the Pacemaker League Captain Ronnie See and his friends who are ever so helpful to register on behalf of others. It is people like them who spur others to run in races.

I try to make it a point to run a new race or route every year. Klang is 42kms away from my home. I got up at 4:45 a.m sliced up the freshly baked bread, ate a banana and drank the 5-in-1 tongkat ali ginseng coffee. No powerbar or powergel. I will be relying on herbal power. Left home at 5:45 a.m, by 6:05 I was already approaching the NKVE Bukit Raja Toll - too early. Parked at the club house stadium. The atmosphere was very relaxed, no barricade, no ribbons, horses, live band singing, runners came with children to run in the team event, almost like a family day.

Less Fats please

Racers no matter what shape participated. There was a category for paraplegic. This is encouraging and a positive approach to promoting a healthier lifestyle. The obviously obese VIPs who came in batik and slacks but wore sporty brand new Mizuno wave shoes. Perhaps, the Wave technology could help them to lose the excess fats.

At the starting line, I surveyed the C-Category runners and found C255 was the biggest number. With a total quota of 150 medals, I must run within 60 percentile of the Junior Veteran group. My thoughts were 50 minutes qualifying time for 7 km is achievable (this proved otherwise!). The teenagers as young as 13-year-olds were group together with the seniors, the oldest being 77-years-old. The organizers gave an award to the oldest participant!

Right after the count down, we zigzaged squeezing through a narrow exit. I programmed myself to run at 6min/km pace. The teenage runners were sprinting like there was no tomorrow. The older runners were cruising like I want a better tomorrow.

The route was an interesting one with many shortcut opportunities. We ran on an old look-alike WW2 bridge running parallel and just beneath the main bridge, crossing the foul smelling muddy Klang River. I observed the seniors skipped the water-station while the juniors wallop the 100 plus. There was one segment one could see the "S" double U-turn. This is where the controversy started. Since no ribbons were used, some runners cheated by cutting across the divider pavement. I remember overtaking a tall burly loud wheezing C-category runner only to see him reappeared some 100 meters ahead of me! Perhaps he has mastered the art of teleportation. Perhaps he wants a medal; Medal of Felony.

When my stopwatch clocked 40mins, I assumed I should be very close to the finishing line. Another uphill and I should be heading back to the stadium but alas that was not the last hill. The final and steepest uphill was the last km. 10km-ers; Draco Loong and Boon Seng greeted and overtook me. Both were very strong on the hill. Boon Seng was the one who helped me register for this race.

48 mins

2 minutes left from qualifying time and I was still ascending the Sulaiman Park hill. Is this route 7km or 8km? In front there were 2-3 runners in my category, all gung-ho and not giving in to walking. Weaving through the cars, which were courteous enough to slow down almost to a halt, I ran on a narrow 2-foot width gap path between the drain and the cars to avoid traffic obstruction and to shorten a 90-degree turn.

C for Consolation

Coming downhill, it was the approach to the stadium. C255 was in front and just when I tried to put up a sprint, he accelerated away. At the finishing line, there were so many alphabets: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J.... until I had to slow down to count from left, 1-2-3...yes...3rd lane for C. Some runners ran into the wrong lane.

The official gave me a tiny dark green piece of paper, which read C-103. I think it meant 103rd position. I walked towards a C-tent, handed the slip and collected the certificate with a medal inside. I have forgotten to stop my new Nike Triax stopwatch, which by now had run past 52mins. I estimated I must have completed around 51-ish mins. The organizers continued to give the certificates and the remaining medals. Mee Peng had completely missed me. I saw her extending her neck glazing at the horizon waiting and probably worrying if I had passed out!

This would be my first medal received not merely for finishing but within position. It’s a small consolation for a lucky mediocre runner.

PJ Half Marathon 2006

Without fail the night before every PJ run there would be a dinner function. This time it was my cousin’s wedding in Klang. My uncle, a retired ex-army intelligence personnel was in the same table. He was the only person guzzling the beer and wine. Knowing I was a drinker, he asked why the hell was I drinking water. I replied rather proudly I would be running the half-marathon in 9 hours time. He looked at me with a smile and said “Heng, the alcohol will give you a boost. Do you know I ran my first marathon in KL back in the 1950s? I was a student then in RMC (Royal Military College). I finished in 17th position. There was no water-station (?). I kept the certificate somewhere”. I told him he should look for it and show it to his grandson, Marcus whom he adored so dearly. Actually, I am rather curious to sight the certificate myself! 1950s???

Past midnight, when I was about to doze off, Mee Peng asked me to forget about the run and watch the World Cup instead. I mumbled something and went into deep sleep.

4:30 a.m

It’s time to do the jingle. Took the chocolate Powerbar, which was not as sweet as the other flavors. Left home at 5:50 am reached the stadium 6:10 a.m. There seems to be fewer cars this time round, could this translate to fewer runners?
Did not bother to hand in my registration card. I could not find the regular kakis.

Shortly after the start Newton came up to me and once again we are able to pace together. Reached the first water station in 25mins. After the Motorola flyover U-turn I developed a stomach pain right on my navel. Newton slowed down to wait for me but I didn’t have the tenacity to keep up. Told Newton to go ahead. Judging from the number of female runners in this category, this year’s participation seems to have dwindled.

After the Subang roundabout I waved to Jason, Kenneth, Jamie, Tey and Newton who were in the opposite direction. Found a place to take a leak under the Aerobridge. This is the first time I stop mid-race to ease myself! What a feeling.

My target is to reach the Subang terminal U-turn as quickly as possible because it will spur me to hallucinate I am zooming on the home stretch. Stopwatch clocked 1:36. All this while I contemplated whether I should eat my PowerGel. In the end I didn’t. My stomach was a bit bloated since breakfast, just didn’t feel like eating anything.

The Wall

Somewhere after the Sg. Damansara bridge, I began to walk-run. I lost my sense of speed, endurance and finishing instinct. Saw a barely conscious injured runner leaned by the side of the Saujana flyover with both knees badly bruised. Not sure if he tripped himself or hit by a vehicle. Another runner, policeman and an official were trying to keep him awake to get him into the ambulance.


Walking Tall

This is the race I walked the most. Just 600 meters from the finishing line, Mee Peng called me from the sidewalk bench. I put up a smile and restarted a run for the camera. Thanks to Newton who was clapping and cheering me to the finish. I clocked a personal worst of 2:34:09.

It was a strange finish. It was more of a relief from exertion than exhaustion. The pain was not so much in my lungs or legs but my stomach and left shoulder (heart related?). In the evening, a fellow marathoner sent me an SMS advice that I should take whatever is on the plate the night before the race.
Later in the week, I realized my legs were not as sore as expected.
3 things I did differently in this race:
(1) I ate abalone the night before
(2) I did not take PowerGel
(3) I peed mid-race!

Thrice Beaten Never Sigh

This race proves long run training is essential. I survived up to 14kms after that it was a decaying end. Perhaps too many halves had made me slacked and complacent with what the body has to offer. Nevertheless, it is still a distance accomplished and hopefully many more to come.