DRAGONISTA RODE THE DRAGON BACK IN STYLE!

Sayup kelihatan "ekor" Sang Naga Sakti dari kejauhan..Credits to Mr Victor for this awesome pic!

Hello there my beloved fellow followers, Happy Wednesday to all of y'all...I used to ogle down the so-called impossible insane Dragon Back Run route ever since 2011 but I could never find any courage and brave enough to overcome this mind boggling route before. Maybe because I have to drive about 1 hour (40km) from Kajang to the starting venue in Meru, Klang. Not until by the end of 2012 when I finally decided to conquer this famous LSD route among Shah Alam, Bukit Subang and Klang runners. After reading the sincere review from Andrew`s blog "Moving On AC", I prepared myself physically, mentally and spiritually for my debut Dragon Back Run 2013 aka my 1st running event for this auspicious 2013. Along the way, I've successfully "poisoned" Rashid with gusto, my Dynamico Duo buddy to tag along with me, since both of us has never run this race before. Kihkihh....

A day before the event, Rashid and I joined our fellow colleagues hiking up Bukit Datuk. After that we went to a so-called training to develop our characters for this coming inaugural running event. It was more like a "Boot Camp 101" for us. Tormenting yet we barely survived in the end. And I never know I have to pay such an "AWESOME" price for the next 3 days. T..T

Fast forward to the running day, I woke up pretty late, around 5.15 am and struggled to prepare all the necessities for the running event in time. Since I've never been to Meru before, I decided to go there earlier in case I lost my way along the trip. However we could only managed to leave my house around 5.35 am and rushing like hell to Klang. Memang super kalut abess... Hehee.. @..@

Luckily we didn't get ourselves lost and reached the starting line barely less than 10minutes before the flag off time. After wishing Azlinah and her friend best of luck, we were ready to take off. I was surprised to find out they didn't use any hone @ gun for the flagging off. Instead they just shot off some fireworks as the signal, definitely a new experience, one of a kind. It was like Chinese New Year came early this year... Hehee... Awesome...

Kong Hey Fatt Choyy 2013.. Enter The Year Of The Snake...

I decided to run happily with my Chinese noble hat, the one I used to wear for my Mizuno Wave Run 2012. In the spirit of 1Malaysia, I guessed... The first 2KM was flat and doable. I tried not to push myself too fast too soon because I normally need 2 - 3KM to warm myself up, especially to loosen up my legs and ankles. I waited until the first climb to increase my pace. I struggled to maintain my 6 min-ish pace while feeling a lil bit thirsty. Thank goodness there was WS1 after the first incline.

From there onwards, there's 7 more rolling killer hills (mentally) to be tackled, 4 hills for the first 7.5KM and another 4 climbs along the way to the finishing line. Thank goodness I didn't face any trouble to tackle those deadly inclines, thanks to the brutal merciless hills of FST in UKM and MARDI. However I did felt uncomfortable as my old injury around my left knee reoccurred after the nasty "Boot Camp". I experienced 3  series of painful attack which prevented me from increasing my speed. Dang! T..T

Credits to Mr Lim.. Super nice shot here... Must smile although in die-die already mode  =D

Muka tengah mintak nyawa nih... Separuh nafasku telah pergi... OMG!

Around KM 8, I decided to consume my only energy gel since I was running on an empty tank that morning. I was still feeling thirsty and have to stop almost every WS. The isotonic and cold water are plenty and sufficient. Me likey...

The Furious Dragon Back Run 2013 Route... How awesome... =D

Eventually, I managed to reach KM10 in 1:05:40 with 6'05" pace. More like doing a LSD run at Sunday morning. The view along the route was definitely breathtaking, especially after the U-Turn loop on the way back to the finishing line. The morning sun was bright and being kind enough towards us runners on the splendid morning. After KM11 I was struggling with my pace again due to my injury. I tried to hold on and stay positive. I picked up my pace for the last 2KM and it was hard to overtake other runners in front because the lane was too narrow. Syukur Alhamdulillah I successfully finished the race in 1:37:04 (6'26") with 109th position. Not that bad after all, huh? =D

Hard earned finisher medal along with 109th placing... Almost Top 100.. One should not be greedy... Hehee

Congratz to Rashid, demam2 pon still managed to get 25th place with your 80% running turbo power. LOL! So much for your Drama Queen sangat.. What a way strong finishing time to kick start this 2013, right? We were served with generous amount of watermelon slices, isotonic water, nasi lemak, fried bihun and fried noodles and plenty of bananas too. Owh Vico has never tasted that divinely yummilicious before. Must be due to hunger strike and lethargy. But still cannot beat the sinful MILO drink... LOL...

MARDI Runners United in Meru, Klang...

We Are Runners (WARS) Slain The Dragon Mission - SUCCESS!!! 

All in all, it was a very well organized running event, eventhough in a small scale but still managed to organize it effortlessly. Traffic control was okay along the Dragon Back route. Many cyclistas were tackling the killer hills too on that morning. So the route is not that dull at all. Definitely a sight to behold. WS were plenty and located strategically too. Unfortunately there's no porta-loo for runners to do no.1 and 2 businesses along the route. So bear in mind to empty your tank before the race or just go Au naturale... LOL!

Me and my first finisher medal for 2013... How cool is that? Woot2...

Well, hopefully to be able to do PB for my Dragon Back Run next year. Insya Allah... =D Untill then, will be looking forward to do my LSD here too in the near future... Pretty awesome and I felt so good!

My most liked Profile Pic in FB - 55+ likes... Credits to Mr Victor... Me Super  Likey too!!!