Bak Kut Teh Run/New Balance Klang Pacers Half Marathon - Post Race

The Bak Kut Teh Run, as some runners would fondly call the New Balance-Klang Pacers Half Marathon, is probably one of the cleanest runs that I've ever participated.

Let me explain. It would seem that almost every participant knows where the garbage bags are, and actually use them to dispose off rubbish (empty paper cups, banana peels, plastic bags, etc) properly! Hence, there's no scenario like in KLIM where rubbish was strewn all over the Dataran field.

It's just too bad that the number of participants for the Bak Kut Teh Run were so few. At one point there wasn't anyone within a 20 meter radius of myself and I got bored running and started walking instead, enjoying the sights along the way.

I saw monkeys (of the kera variety) scurrying on power lines, a couple of dogs starring intently like I'm a postman, the mini wet market with a cat waiting for scraps, and of course, the mosque (yang tersergam indah) and the Istana with a different view of the stadium.

The end result: 1 hour 19 minutes. My friend was saying that any longer and that I would be out of the qualifying time. But no worries, I just decided not to put the pedal to the metal. Normally I would finish a 10km run in an hour :).


I didn't even need to queue to get a drink of Milo or 100 Plus, testament to the low participant count. Anyways, do join the run next year as the finisher medal given out is pretty nice; looks like some Superman thingy.

Go Fling Yourself at the Mountain: Genting Trailblazer 2007, Mild 8KM Mix Team Race Report.

I just got back from the Genting Trailblazer Run 2007. I've a hard time explaining what was it about to friends who didn't participate, as they normally associate me with road races.

I would call it the longest and toughest 8km race I've ever experience and the road portion, which was miniscule, had very little to do with it. It was a number of firsts for me, as it was the first time I participated in an adventure/trail race, the first time I stayed overnight in a hotel for a race, the first time I actually ran in a team, with a partner, and the first time I ran in Genting.

My group of friends and I arrived a day earlier (yesterday) at Awana Genting Highlands, collected our t-shirts, running bibs, goodie bags and checked-in at the same time. The 6 of us were divided into pairs, entering the "Mild" 8KM run for Men, Women and Mix Teams.

We had a BBQ dinner, and sat in the same table with a group of veteran Pacesetter runners. They gave us some pointers about the next day's race, and regaled us with stories of their experiences in different running events. The vast difference of experience aside, both groups were excited about the race.

Race Day: The race started off with the "Wild" 14km run participants first, followed by the "Mild" participants 5 minutes later. The first portion was a gravel road followed by tarmac before filtering into the jungle.

The jungle: It was ok at first, then things got muddy...and then it got muddier and muddier, I would rate the mountain trail as muddy as that of Gunung Irau during the rainy season. I found the going much tougher in the Trailblazer race, despite having a 20 kilo haversack strapped to me when I hiked up Irau early this year.

Up and down, mud, mud, mud. The amount of suction mud can apply to one's pair of shoes never fails to amaze me. Some sections required participants to clamber over fallen trees, pass streams, go uphill and downhill with the assistance of rope or pratically slide down on your butt.. Most of the time my partner and I were looking for footholds to haul overselves up inclines.

t's hard to describe, unless you've gone through it yourself and I do recommend it for any reasonably fit person.

Team work is very important in the race, some parts had either one of us hauling...or pushing the other from behind. Coming out of the jungle and taking a spin around the hill near the finishing line before hitting the obstacle course gave me cramps in both legs but I managed to walk it off. Very painful.

The obstacle course. This thing can be considered by some as fun, some might even consider it abit sadistic, after what participants have gone through in the trail.

Here we went into small mud pit, clambered up earth mounds, wade through even longer mud pits, clambered up and down more mounds, went up and down a wooden structure before going single file on bamboo poles, crawled under a net on sand of all surfaces and then hitting the last long mud pit, which was exceptionally muddy. The finish line was a short run away from the last obstacle.

Time: 2 hours 26 minutes. Placing: 24 out of 44 Mild Mix teams. I had a lot of fun and the company was great too, can't wait for next year.

Mizuno Wave Run 2007 - Race Day Report - 1 hour 8 minutes 49 seconds

I can't begin to describe the course that we ran on for today's Mizuno Wave Run 2007. It was so... hilly.

We started of at Padang Merbuk and the first half of the race was pretty easy, having ran that part twice (both clock wise and anti-clockwise) earlier this year. Instead of bringing us to the highway for the 2nd half of the run, the organizers made us run through more of Bukit Tunku, with a spirit-breaking length of a slope as a preview of things to come.

On the way during the first half of the run, I saw a lady took a tumble in front of me. I was just too suprised to stop and help her up. So so sorry. And just before the Istana (Jalan Sultan Salehuddin...something like that), there was a guy already lying on the ground, I think he passed out or something. Some of the runners were looking out for him and apparently by the time my friend ran pass the same area, the guy was already in an ambulance.

What an eventful race.

The run brought us pass the National Monument (Tugu Negara), it was a hill climb all the up before a rather fast down hill back towards Padang Merbok. It was a pretty cool sight looking at the finishing line from the road crest I was running on and despite my rather complain-y tone early on (hey...the race was made up of hill climbs!), I finished with a placing of 767! I don't know how many participants took part in the rub but that sounds like a nice number.



My time: 1 hour 8 minutes and 49 seconds (on my watch). And this was a harder run compared to that Siemens Run which I completed in 1 hour 15 minutes. Improvement? Yes. Room for further improvement? Most definately.

I chatted with some of those veteran category runners, mostly when I was waiting in line for drinks and while walking back to the parking lot. All of them uncles said the same thing, "run more, young man!" (or variations of that). That's a sure thing :).

Subang Jaya 10KM Run - 1 Hour 1 Minute and 12 Seconds.

I got up at 4 a.m. (my usual time when it comes to running races) and it was raining. By the time I left home at 5.45 a.m. I was wearing a jacket driving the car to MPSJ.

The turn out to the run was pretty good. There were people parking cars in the residential areas surrounding MPSJ and also in front of the HSBC building. As it was still very cold, I ran up and down a portion of the stadium's track before stretching. No point stretching cold muscles, yes?

Out of the 6 entrees that I submitted, 4 of us showed up. It was a pretty good turn-out considering the two that didn't turn up had an interview and class respectively.

The race started somewhat on time, and suprisingly there wasn't any enclosure for us to enter, we just needed to stand at the starting point on the road in front of MPSJ. The start was okay in my book. The narrow road made for a bit of jostling around for some clear space to run in but after several minutes things did clear up.

The track..or circuit as my friend called it, that we were running on was a very fast one. Consisting of long stretches, the roads were generally flat, and I ran the first 3 km without before slowing down to take a Power Bal gel. By the time I reached the half-way point, I was already proceeding at a better than normal pace...but where was the drink station?

Come to think of it, the race details didn't mention anything about a drinks station. Shocking eh? It might be trivial to some but I think most people would appreciate the sight of a drinks station during a run. No matter, I proceeded with the 2nd half of the run with a even better pace.

The only problem I had during this run was the big left hand curve in the second half. I'm pretty wary of these kind of road conditions as they only serve to aggreviate my left knee. But the good thing is, the knee didn't act up during the run, although now I'm sitting with it bent..straightening it will only cause pain.. a lot of pain.

One of my church members is aware of my knee problem from the previous race and asked me this morning about it. I told him I just ran another race this very morning. Hehe.

During the final stretch nearing MPSJ, passing the HSBC building, I lost abit of focus as I thought, the end was near and I already been expanding my energy to finish off the race (my watch showed 52 minutes), but I forgot that the 10 km runners have to run pass the MPSJ building before making a U-turn back!

Brr. So much for thinking that I managed to dip under an hour for this run...I'll get that in the next run. Anyways, I arrived at the finish line at 1 hour 1 minute and 12 seconds. Which is not bad, an improvement actually over the previous one. My friends came in a little later.

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Some people ask me why do I run? My answers usually would be to get a better time, and to enjoy the scenery. Actually is more of the former than the latter, since the focus is on the road and on my pace and staying out of other people's way.

And there's a bonus of the camaderie among participants. I find it easier to say hi and pick up a conversation with a stranger during or post-run, rather than someone on the street. I spoke to one uncle at the parking lot, and he commented that the competition was tough this year. Apparently the last person to receive a medal ran a 48 minute race!

This uncle ran a 50 minute race..and was abit disappointed for not getting a medal this year, unlike previous years. No problem uncle, there's always next year to prepare for :).