KING OF BUKIT LARUT 2014 - ARE YOU GAME? #RaceReview

Trio Comel Ceria di Puncak Bukit Larut y`all! Pic courtesy of Gme

Helo there, happy Thursday to all my fellow readers and followers, brothers n sisters of running community... Welcome 2 my humble blog... *Cough2...

First and foremost, my utmost apologies for letting my blog filled with cobwebs and dusts... Yeah I have to admit I was pretty much running out of blogging mojo and laziness got the most out of me.

Chubby chunky me during my 1st Visit in November 2010... huhuu

I was moved to share my recent running/power hiking experience, the inaugural King of Bukit Larut #KOBL 2014. Running up Bukit Larut (also known as Maxwell Hill) really reminded me of my past experience hiking the off road trail in November, 2010. Back then I was still overweight, sooo unfit and lack of stamina too. The running bugs did not bite me yet during those time.  I could still remembered that I vomited the spicy nasi lemak that I had with my friend before we tackled the insane steep incline of Bukit Larut. Urghh.. That was not even half way through yet! After that I  gasping for air, my head started spinning and seeing stars n moon and I laid down immediately. Felt like I wanted to faint some more... Boohoo! I struggled to reach the end of the trail route and decided to walk downhills instead of continuing the hike. #klmj

Right after/before I vomited my nasik lemak Pokok Assam... @.@

Since then I was determined to come back here one day and redeem myself by conquering this beautiful majestic hill. Therefore once PACat Adventure Team announced that they will organize a running event at Maxwell Hill, with no doubt, I did not think twice and right away signed up for this one of a kind event. It was so unique and rare too! 

After all, I am very confident with the organizer after their first successful inaugural Putrajaya 50K Run and Watergate P16 Hours Ultra event. Did not really care about the event tee or finisher medal. All I wanted to do was to support our own homegrown local organizer. Plus, I already fell in love with Taiping the moment I finished my first HM during Taiping International Marathon 2012/3. You can read all about it HERE for the quick recap! =)

Pre-race

The only thorn among the lovely roses at the foot of Maxwell Hill during REPC *Credits to Sis Gai 

I started my solo trip from Kajang to Taiping quite late last Saturday, around 3 pm. I did not expect to drive in the heavy downpour along the highway. Felt a bit sleepy but I soldiered on and drove as fast as I could but still very cautious with the wet slippery highway. Reached Taiping safely by 6.30++ pm and I went str8 away to collect my racekit at the foot of Maxwell Hill. Zinov and Abg Zul were in charge at that time. Not long after that, Sis Gai and Sis Norliza arrived to collect theirs. Managed to say hi to Sis Suzie and Arman too before I headed to check in at Potato Hotel. (pretty cute name for a hotel, yes? =P)

The room was spacious, complete with TV, well functioned aircond and water heater for shower. Worth for my money. After that I went to Taiping Sentral to have dinner with the other KOBL participants. Around 11 pm, it was time to go back and prepped up myself with the running gears. It was still pouring rain on that night. Since I didn't know what to expect for this race, I've decided to bring along my hydration bag and rain jacket. Better safe than sorry yes? I was hoping my not so recent Mount Bujang Melaka Climbathon was enough to prep me up for this hilly event. Dozed off immediately like a baby... Zzzzz...

Race Day *Gulps!

Woke up upon hearing my alarm iPhone around 5.30 am. I sluggishly went to the bathroom for my hot shower and performed Fajr prayer. I took 2 anti fatigue caps and a Gardenia corn bread for my light breakfast. I drove to the starting line and reached there around 6.40 am. There were many vehicles parked there already by that time.

Kita Selfie Dulu Before The Torturous Uphill Run! =P *Credits to Asheek

Look at all our happy fresh faces before the event.... Pics courtesy of Azfar, PACat Adventure Team

Because it was a low key inaugural event, I had the opportunity to meet with so many familiar faces. I must say that we were insane enough to take up this challenge, dubbed as the highest Half Marathon event in Malaysia, with elevation gain of 1,056 m from sea level. Around 7.15 am Abg Zul our RD gave out his safety briefings and before the flag off, we sang with proud and patriotic, our national anthem Negaraku. It was a nice touch and reminded me of Sirkit Gunung Negara ritual. 

Here We Go! 

Just look at this super steep incline... Rasa nak nangis otot2 calves, glutes and pinggang nih...  *Pics by Gme

The participants were flagged off at 7.30 am sharp. I intended to start the run with a slow jog since I did not do any proper warm up and stretchings. I did not want to hit any cramp at this early part of the run. Me and Gme were goofing around and took lots of pictures together. The initial inclines were insanely steep! I was huffing and puffing as I power walked the super steep part. The weather was awesome. Lots of shades along the hike up. But I was still sweating bucket loads! Whenever I saw a flat surface I tried to run/slow jog my way before the road became steep once again. The undulating road felt like it never ends! It really tested my physical and mental strength. As soon I sensed the urge to rehydrate, I reached the first WS at KM3.5 There were plenty of cold mineral water and 100 Plus. The PACat V-Army were very helpful. As we got higher and higher, the air was getting a wee bit thinner and cooler too. Could feel the crispy fresh oxygen up there.  The panoramic view was worth the hike up and stunning totally!

Jangan Pandang Bawah! Gayat cheq oi!

Love The Foggy Forest... Feeling2 obeseas...

I reached WS 2 at KM 7 with Gme. Took a breather, drank a mineral water and swallowed the anti fatigue cap. Worked like a charm. Took a sip of 100 Plus too. Then off I go to catch up with Razinah and Gme. It was getting very very steep with so many dangerous sharp curves. I lost count already. Bumped into Ultra Jol, Yim and Shahrin as they were already running down the hill. Finally I arrived at WS 3 (KM 10). There were serving some juicy irresistible watermelon slices, banana cake which I didn't take with plenty of mineral water and isotonic drink.  The air was so fresh up there. Guess what, we still had to climb another 500m to reach the u-turn and get our black ribbon.It took me 2 hours to reach the summit. After that it was all going downhills baby! 

We Are Half Way There! Pic Credits to Azmil =) 

I managed to gobble up a few more slices of watermelons before I made my way down. Wished to stay a bit longer up there and munching all those refreshment and soaking the splendid view but I need to finish this run asap. I just let the gravity to do the rest of running downhills. But still I had to hike up at some stretch. I gave high 5s to those who were running downhill. They even cheered and motivated us too. Saw Arman n Abg Fuad as the official sweepers. He advised me to land a midfoot while running downhills to protect any serious issues of my knees.

Wajah2 Insaf Sepanjang Jalan.... Abg Zaini, Gme and I... 

I need to run carefully too as the some part of the road were mossy and uneven surfaces. Descending was even way dangerous and we runners normally prone to injure ourselves during this point as we were getting more fatigue at this point. The super  slopes looked like the same and felt like it forever to reach the FL. Took a breather and snapped some pictures at the mini waterfall. How I wish I could dip my face in that icy cold water hahaa!

Happy Cheerful Me at FL. Pics courtesy of Vivien Tay and Azfar

 After a few more dangerous slopes and curves, I crossed the finishing line under 3:07:14 or so.... My Garmin watch recorded 18.78 km, instead of 21km. Must be due to the GPS and the zig zagging running motion along the route. Suprisingly my legs were still feeling fresh. Must be the wonders of Hammer Anti Fatigue Caps. Received my goodie bag, shiny bling-bling chunky finisher medal, I went straight away tackling the buffet spread... LOL!

Food Glorious Food!

All the finishers were pampered with lots of food I tell ya! There were lots of juicy watermelon slices, bananas, iced mineral water and 100 Plus, super sedap spicy nasi lemak and free flow cendol too! More like a makanthon than a half marathon... LOL! Me and Gme melantak cendol sampai tekak rasa nak hilang suara... Hahahaa... Totally worth the experience... It's priceless...

Pakar2 Melantak Cendol Sampai Kembong...  LOL Pic courtesy of Abg Zaini & Sis Marlina =D

Three Kings and One Queen of Bukit Larut

Muka2 finishers penuh keinsafan ini... hohoho!

Sekali sekala buang tebiat pose2 Queen... LOL! Thanks to Sis Norliza... Pinjam sat nah!

Viking King Andrew bestowed my Coronation Day in his own exquisite exotic way.. LOL!  Pic by Moving on AC

Pros

1. Small scale event like this was very good. Love the camaraderie spirits. Felt like a running family reunion. Easy to control the crowd. Ample parking space and felt very safe especially very early in the morning although there were many dogs at the parking area. Thanks to abang2 and uncle2 RELA. 

2. Singing Negaraku right before the event really boosted our patriotic spirits. A very nice touch. 

3. Sufficient mineral water and isotonic at every WS. Even the medical team was always on the standby mode.

4. Runners kept on encouraging each other along the way up and down. Love the high fives.

5. Picturesque view along the way up. The scenery at the summit was to die for. Felt like a King at that time. LOL! Appreciating the beauty of Mother Nature at its best

6. Simple but sweet event tee design, love the drifit material too. 

7. Post run event - scrumptious food for all the Kings and Queens.Now we could really say, we had breakfast like a King/Queen. LOL!  Boleh lah makan sampai lebam... Hohoho!

8. Berbaloi2 harga pendaftaran dengan perks yang semua Kings and Queens dapat semasa KOBL ini. Most important of all, the experience of going up and descending there was totally priceless! Hands down... =D

9. The cutoff time (5 hours) was so generous. Love it too... 

Con

1. Paper cups were seen littered around the WS and along the route even though there were many rubbish bags. It won't harm a bit if we could slow down and throw it properly. Next time it would be better to do BYOB for the refill. 

I would love to take this opportunity to thank the organizer and sponsors for a successful, very well organized event. It was really awesome. I was still grinning from ear to ear till now. Thank you to all the PACat V-Army, JPAM medical team and abang2 RELA. Last but not least, Congratulations to all the Kings and Queens for gracing Bukit Larut! You guys did great ya! 

Till we meet again, Bukit Larut.... You will definitely be missed badly... The crazier idea of doing a King of Bukit Larut Marathon (2 loops) always been lingering on my mind eversince. I`m confident it is runnable/doable. Hahaa... Gilos... We'll just have to wait and see what KOBL has to offer next year... So looking forward to support this kind of event.  (^^)

Toodles! 

Now I am the King Kong of Bukit Larut... Ho Yeahhh! 

P/S: So looking forward to run/hike in Taiping again someday... The makanthon really excites me more than the run itself... Best of Taiping! =P #meeudangmakjah #cucurudangmalatop #cendolansari #yongtaufoobomba #kempunanpopiahbasah 

My GARMIN data HERE...