It's the second half of the year where most running events will be staged. I only check those with at least 21km distances. Got to be selective or else I will drain my wallet if I enter them all. I got the SCKLM, BSN Putrajaya Night marathon and 2XU run coming up in the next 3 months. Unfortunately, unable to run Penang bridge this year due to school obligation during November. That would be my first DNS. I wasn't so bummed up though as it was announced that the run will be staged at the old bridge instead of the new bridge as how it was originally planned by the organizer.
For my preparation this time around, I was more concerned towards getting back my running mojo rather than losing the extra weight gained from the lemang, ketupat and rendang during the Raya season. Ran short distances and managed to get about 19km in total between all those raya open houses.
As the run was held at Setia Alam City Mall which was a quick 20 minutes drive from where I live, I didn't care to pack the night before. Decided to leave home after Subuh pray. The half marathon category starts at 6.15am and I left home at 6.00am. At that moment, I realized I was going to miss the flag-off.
One thing I fear the most about arriving late to running events is that the road closures to make way for runners. Thankfully, I didn't encounter such detour. Quickly make my way towards the starting line which was already packed with 10k runners getting ready to be flagged-off at 6.45am. Notified one of the committee just to let them know that I ain't a 10k runner being released early. Given the green light, a quick stretches to wake those sleepy legs, jumped to the front line and started running at 6.40am.
Ran alone about 10 minutes before the 10k front runners caught up and flew passed me. Even my friend, Epit running in the 10k category caught up with me. Snapped picture with him and off he went chasing some runner dude where he was keeping pace with.
About 30 minutes into the run, I finally caught up with the 21k runners and felt right where I belong. You know it can demoralizing when everybody is running passed you. Now it's time to get my spirit up as it was my turn to fly pass runners. I was aiming for a sub-2 hour finish. Reached KM10 around 56 minutes and I was still feeling good, but then around KM13 onward my left hip started to feel a sharp pain followed by my left knee.
The route was relatively flat. No insane climbs. Managed to check out some properties as we ran through lovely housing area around Setia Eco Park. Nothing beats an easy route combined with the beautiful morning weather. When we were heading back towards the mall I tried to speed up a bit, but when the time reached the 2-hour mark on my stopwatch, I slowed down a bit. I crossed the finish line at 2:02"53'. Collected my finisher medal and tee, head straight for the refreshment booth for some watermelons, 100plus and VICO !!! Snapped pictures with friends and chilled on the open field next to the mall under nice morning sun.
Ran alone about 10 minutes before the 10k front runners caught up and flew passed me. Even my friend, Epit running in the 10k category caught up with me. Snapped picture with him and off he went chasing some runner dude where he was keeping pace with.
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With Epit "The Flash" |
About 30 minutes into the run, I finally caught up with the 21k runners and felt right where I belong. You know it can demoralizing when everybody is running passed you. Now it's time to get my spirit up as it was my turn to fly pass runners. I was aiming for a sub-2 hour finish. Reached KM10 around 56 minutes and I was still feeling good, but then around KM13 onward my left hip started to feel a sharp pain followed by my left knee.
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Almost there... |
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All good at KM18 with my awesome shoulder pads =P [photo by WaiHong Hoo] |
The route was relatively flat. No insane climbs. Managed to check out some properties as we ran through lovely housing area around Setia Eco Park. Nothing beats an easy route combined with the beautiful morning weather. When we were heading back towards the mall I tried to speed up a bit, but when the time reached the 2-hour mark on my stopwatch, I slowed down a bit. I crossed the finish line at 2:02"53'. Collected my finisher medal and tee, head straight for the refreshment booth for some watermelons, 100plus and VICO !!! Snapped pictures with friends and chilled on the open field next to the mall under nice morning sun.
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Here I was busy capturing a video crossing the finish line [photo by WaiHong Hoo] |
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With Puteri, Zul, and my homeboy Dinie |
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Pace 5:51 |
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