Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I’ve done it! KL Marathon Yataa!

YES I’ve done 21km, the longest distance ever achieved!

I was so excited on the night before the race till I only got 4 hours sleep (intended for 7h sleep at least). I set my alarm to go off at 3.30am but I jumped up earlier at 3am (I hate it when you get all excited like this!).

The organizer was kind enough to arrange for a special shutter bus which operates from 3am onwards, from various pick up points. 2 of my colleagues and I took the Bkt Jalil one at 5am.

I really did pack light, evidence.
kl_marathon bus
Our bus came on time, however, Axiao complained that their bus only came 45min later. The bus journey was so smooth that we got there a little too very early.

We have plenty of time to get our bags checked in and clear our bladders. We even have time to do a 2 round the field jog warm up.

While lining up at the starting line, I suddenly the urge to go to the toilet again, the excitement must be getting my nerves. However, looking behind me were about 1500 people so I decided to just go with a full tank. The same thing happened to me during the towerthon though.

Upon reaching the first water station which was about 10min away only, only 2 toilet available but later came to realize that the trees along the road are also toilets for the guys (more than 6 trees available).

The race started with a slight drizzle which was quite refreshing which made running smooth and breezed. I broke my record for a 10km stretch at under 1h which I usually take 1h 10min on flat ground.

An ~5m distance shower was provided at around Hang Tuah station. I’m just wondering who the hell needs a shower that will only add weight to their run and might cause blister easily with the wet shoes. In my opinion, it is a waste of water with only 1/50 using it. They could have installed a mist shower like those you find in mamak fan instead.

The route got tougher as we reached the first flyover from MAA turning into Jln Istana. The stretch from Jln Istana –> Jln Parliament was all steep + another flyover. My legs lack of practice on slopes gave way before the flyover which was 3/4 away from the finish line.

Once I’ve reached the last 3km point, I pushed myself to finish as my target time is about up (2.5h). I was smiling when I saw the clock at the finishing line printing 2h 30min 10s!kl_marathon running to finish

I have finished the race in:

2h 30min 40s

The start and finish line. The second clock from the right is the 21km time.
kl_marathon start finish line

I was so thirsty and tired after the finishing line that I sort of made a quick walk to grab for some isotonic drink and some banana. I met my colleagues around the 100plus corner and asked to get them all a yellow stick each:kl_marathon banana gang

Karen was together with her bf running 10km, aw such a sweet couple. Eh… no no I was suppose to say: spot spiderman! kl_marathon spiderman
It is Mawar Sahlan again! Myave you guess that he is young but no he is 69 years old uncle! He has been running with Spiderman suit at run quite a number of marathon races. This time he participated the 10km run. Read more at NST.

The race indeed have 12,000 participant.
kl_marathon

The queue to baggage collection was terribly long like 3 long python attacking one booth. Many people utilized the bag provided by the organizer so it was difficult to spot the owner’s bag. I was smart to bring a different bag Big Grin

Finisher medal marks me completing the half marathon:
kl_marathon finisher medal
There is one thing that I didn’t like about the race is that the medal should be given on the spot when you pass the finisher line instead of the long queue at the end. Well maybe they have their reason to get their chip back but some people get to keep theirs… I wonder if it works.

The half marathon gang from Sony:
kl_marathon half marathon-ers
Oops Axio is still on her way back but we are using her camera now Tongue… Heheh…

I met a few guys while lining up for the bag and talk for a bit about marathon. They told me that I had used the wrong shoe for marathon. I’ve used a cross-training shoe Nike Air Max 180.

nike_air_max_180+III

Which will lead to:
kl_marathon blister

Actually, there were a few major complains from the participant includes:
1. Drink station dried up before race finish. Axiao experienced this.
2. Local winner were not crowned local champion, …

This is my first Marathon and the experience was fantastic beside the medal distribution method. Maybe to avoid from the mentioned complain is to avoid running first and the last. Tongue

After the race, I had a feeling that I can achieve anything. Maybe next I shall go for a try for something more extreme like bungy jumping at sunway.
bungee jump
The thought came crashing when my father said 2h 30min? If you don’t finish within 2h 30min then you are not a marathon runner. He say his 21km time was 1h 45min. I was like erm… so spoil… Heheh but it’s alright! I shall beat that and aim for a 42km as well…

Oh yea… I’ve almost forgot that Hew and me did signed up for the King of the Road race. 11km for 50min qualifying time. That’s a target to beat!Registering King of the road
Notice that both of us are signing up for the T-Shirt. Winking The package comes with 2 x RM50 voucher to be used for purchase of shoe worth more than RM250 (one voucher per shoe). I think I’m making use of it to get a correct shoe at least!

Feel like joining? You better act quick, the closing date is 3rd of July. Click here

Resting,

--Catfish--

PS: Photos courtesy of Axiao, Hew, Goh and Helmut. Thanks!

1 comment:

  1. Trust me...you will get more excited on your wedding day. hehe...

    ReplyDelete

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