Park Marathon 2014 - It's A Wet (Not so Wild) Full Marathon Hamster Style... =D

Helo there fellow silent readers and dear followers... Sorry for the super delay... Happy Eid Adha to all my muslim friends and happy holidays to my non Muslim friends...  Enjoy your holidays and makan-makan yaa =D

It all started when I was looking for a decent 14th full marathon to run somewhere in September. At first, BII Bali Marathon sounds like a good plan and very interesting. But somehow the air tickets were so expensive so I had to ditch it in the end. Hope to run in Bali next year then sob2...T_T

Fortunately, I came across reading this inaugural event from Yahya Iskandar's blog, one of my MM compatriot. The format reminded me of running my 1st Back 2 Endurance back then in 2013. Park Marathon (PM) 2014 was the brainchild of the respected Race Director (RD), the Ultra Man himself, Mr. Jeff Ooi. The only difference was you just have to run 16 loops of 2.7km within the cutoff time to finish the total of 43.2km, whereas for B2E you have to run as many loops of 2.3km in Lake Garden as you can within the 12 hours.

I am so looking forward to run this inaugural Bukit Jalil Park Marathon 2014 because I like the runners friendly concept where the one and only WS, which was situated at the Start/Finish line. I didn't have to bring my drinking bottle along the route. I could even stop for a while to get my drinks, eat my energy gels and change my apparel hoho... How cool and convenient is that. :D

Furthermore, I would love to dedicate my run for Malaysia Day since the celebration was on 16 September, two days after the event. Feeling all patriotic deep inside, I wore my Team Malaysia TM Fan Run tee. Ready to roar like a Tiger huhu... I didn't take a long time to decide and I registered it immediately. That explained my running bib number was #10. Super Top10 kiasu me hohoho...

My running buddy, Suhirman collected my racekit in Running Lab since I had to work on Friday and Saturday.  Thanks bud! =D

I haven't run much after my First DNF experience in Penang Ultra 2014 which was a week before this event. So I was hoping the 47km of mileage before I decided to DNF in that race would be enough to prepare me for this FM run. Only one subtle 7-8km easy run three days before the event. Plus, I had some works to be done in Kuala Selangor for two days prior to PM 2014.

Me & Suhirman, both were psyched to run this inaugural PM...

Fast forward to the event day. It was a wet morning. I could see the sky started to rain cats and dogs as I drove towards the starting venue. It was a heavy rain with thunderstorms so I prepped myself up in the car and made my way towards the starting line in the heavy rain. My clothes and running shoes were super drenched. I took a shelter at the starting line while waiting for the downpour to subside. So I hung my wet socks and shoes to let it dry during the long wait. Finally the rain stopped circa 7.30am and we were flagged off by 7.45am. RD mentioned that the cutoff time was extended to 7h15m during the briefing due to the late start.

2nd loop.... Still ok, all fresh and chirpy... Pic Credits to Eugene Teoh..

It was raining and I'm still got to run and run the hamster loop... Pic Credits to Ms. Hong Lan Tan

Roar Like Fat Tiger Boy! lols - Pic credits to Mr Eugene Teoh =)

I took it easy for the 1st and 2nd loops. Just want to have a feel of the 2.7km route. There were three inclines along the way that I had to deal with physically and mentally too. I decided to break my run into three sections, 6:5:5 loops. Easier for me to digest mentally. It was not that dull during the first 6 loops. Many runners, joggers, walkers were spotted along the route. Some were gathering for their tai chi @ chit chat sessions, while others were seen having a great morning run with their families and friends. The weather was still overcast and windy too. I had to go for my toilet break twice during the run. So cold, cannot tahan one. ;P

Somehow after the 7 loops, it started to rain again. Luckily I had my rain jacket on and my cap so that I didn't feel that freezing cold. I had a nice icy cold ice cream batang, sweetcorn flavour some more at the WS. I even had it in the pouring drizzle. Could not resist it definitely. Yummeh! Takdela rasa mental sgt hehee

I had to stop almost every 2.7km because I need to spray my aching knees and readjusted my knee strap.   There were plenty of drinking water, Coke and Revive Isotonic drinks at the WS. We were served with watermelon slices, bananas and duku/langsat too. So juicy! I ate quite a lot of bananas since I felt hungry that morning huhu... Had two energy gels after 8km and 16km weren't enough for my bulging belly...

I managed to do 21km in 3:06:41. Saw Suhirman, Yahya Nizar, Rafizudin and many runners along the hamster loop. The weather remained cloudy until 12.15 pm. Ideal for a mental FM loop, I said to myself.

I forgot to bring my Hammer Anti Fatigue Caps (I really need to kick myself for the silliness). Luckily they offered us some potatoes chips just to satisfy my hunger pang and my sodium intake. Did not want to catch a cramp along the way. Plus I started to experience some chafings due to the soaking wet compression tight. However the show must go on.



Me dashing towards the Finishing Line... Awesome! Pic credits to Kah Wai

The run didn't feel that mental at all. We were cheering for each others whenever we met along the loop. Exchanging high fives and cheer really lifted my spirits. Plus there were some photographers took our pictures along the loop. I've decided to wear my tiger beanie cap when it was not raining anymore because it was not a hot day. I felt more in the zone whenever I had my tiger beanie on. Some strangers even cheered for me as I ran past them. Plus Kah Wai the famous bf photographer was taking the next shift after Eugene. He waited patiently for us at the WS to take our pictures. That's what makes me want to finish my 16 loops as quickly as possible. Huhu..


Pic candid taken by Ms. Hong Lan Tan during the selfie.... So hilarious ya...

Our Groupfie... Thanks to Madame Karen Loh... Best of luck for your Chicago M ya... =D
Saw Karen Loh the RD for MWM at the WS after my 12 loops. She was there to give her support and managed to take a groupfie with her, Jeff Ooi and Jason Tan. Thanks Madame, it was so much fun... :)

Finally I completed the 16th loops in 7:13:14 (moving time 6:53:54). What a relief and joy! It's already around 2pm... Overall, I was at no.38 out of 48 and 31st in Men's Category. Unfortunately, 7 runners DNFed the run. Collected my cool finisher medal and striking bold finisher tee. Glad my size was just nice... Took some pictures with the fellow remaining runners and off I went back home. Super tired but really satisfied. I will never see the dreadful incline in Bukit Jalil Recreational Park the same way ever again... Huhuu... In fact I still don't feel like running there yet ever since the PM 2014. Felt like a fat chubby hamster running the route... Hahaha....

Congrats to all of us, the inaugural finishers of PM 2014!

Happy 51st Malaysia Day 2014.... 

Cool finisher medal and Water Bottle from 2ndSkin Asia

The Finisher tee by 2ndSkin Asia was mind blowing, super bold fluorescent orange!

Till we meet again PM 2015.... Let's mental game begins....again, shall we?  =D

P/S: My GARMIN data here ya... 

LARIAN BANDAR DIRAJA OREN SPORT DAY 2014 - FUN RUN THROUGH THE RAIN!

Kami Bersama Baginda Ratoo Klang Bandar Diraja.... Oh terharunya patik =P

Happy Thursday peeps! Have a great day ahead ya you guys....

I would like to share with you guys on my not so recent run, which was Larian Bandar Diraja Oren Sport Day 2014. It was normally held on 16 September every year in Klang City. There were only two categories for this run. 10km and 5.5km. I registered for the 10km as I haven't run any 10km run for this year, since I've DNSed so many short distance run due to some inevitable reasons.

On  the day of the racekit collection, I could not collect it because I had to work on those weekends (SYMP...). Many thanks to k.Romzy Liu for collecting our racekits ( Rashid and I).

Fast forward to the event day, I woke up around 4.30 am and straight away took a shower and wore my running apparel. Rashid and I reached the venue around 5.40 am. It was still dark and the tarmac was already wet due to rain. I need to hurry up because 10km will be flagged off by 6 am sharp. As I entered the Sultan Suleiman Stadium, I was looking for Rashid who was holding my running bib. It chaotic as it was already started to drizzle again. Some of the 5.5km runners were running towards the shelter. Luckily I managed to spot him among the huge crowd and off I go running to catch up with the 10km runners after 2 minutes of flag off.

It was drizzling along the way. From the stadium, I took left and ran along Jalan Istana. Went past Kelab Diraja Kelang. After the roundabout, I was being directed to Jalan Raya Barat and ran towards Lorong Perbandaran. This was the only incline part of the route. Pretty steep too but nothing can beat the steep incline of Bukit Jalil Recreational Park. It was already 3KM and my throat felt dry. Really need some liquid.

Luckily as I ran towards Jalan Jambatan Kota and into Jalan Kapar, there was one WS. The volunteers provided me with a cup of drinking water. Felt alive once again. hehe... I tried to maintain pace 7 throughout the run as my knees were not bugging me at all and I just want to finish it asap because of the cold drizzle. Hehee...

From there I ran into Jalan Sireh and Jalan Limau Gedong. It was still raining ya... Luckily I wore a thick Santai running vest, a Reebok visor and arm warmers. Did not fully drenched because it was just a drizzle. Right before the next roundabout, I was required to make a U-turn towards Jalan Batu Tiga Lama. It was a long stretch along the Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim. It was getting bright but still cloudy though. Circa 8KM, there was the second WS. Grabbed a cup and off I go.

With only 2 km to go, I tried to push on and I ran across Sungai Kelang via Jalan Tengku Kelana and went towards Jalan Tengku Diauddin. It was already 9KM when I ran into Jalan Stesen. I knew the finishing line was so near when I ran towards Jalan Besar where 5.5km runners merged with the 10km. Once I entered Jalan Dato' Hamzah and ran towards the stadium, I clocked 1:13:14 (pace 7:13) for 10.11km. Actually it was around 10.5km but I stopped my Garmin watch once I reached 10km huhu.. Not bad lah for a recovery run after the dreaded Bukit Jalil Park Marathon huhu... =D

Bambam Me sedang cuba memecut mengejar Azni hohoho...

  Me And The Podium Duo... hohoho... Serap aura Podium sat!

Bumped into Nyun and Azni as I ran towards the stadium. They kept on sprinting towards the FL while I just tried to finish strong in one piece hehee... I really felt good and went to take my goodie bag and finisher medal. There was no isotonic being provided at the venue. Just slices of juicy watermelon and Gardenia buns.

Congrats to all finishers!

Bergambar bersama k.Romz, Lani and da Gang... hoho...

We and Uncle Tan BF... Salute la uncle!

 

 

Later on, took some pictures with some familiar faces after the race. Congratulations to Rashid Mat Rani (RMR) for his first elusive podium finisher (10th placing) for 5.5km and Epito (7th placing) for 10km. You guys were awesomely fast and well deserved it! What a great way to celebrate Malaysia Day this year.

Congrats Rashid Yosh! Podium at last! Hohoho...

Dynamic Duo Podium Finishers! Pawerrr woo korang nih... 

Overall it was a very well organized event. Good traffic control, cheap registration fees, sufficient WS and the running tee looks striking bold and the design was nice too. It's a good platform for any newbie to start taking up running as a hobby. As for me, I`ll definitely will be running this race next year, Insya Allah... I bet RMR will be aiming for Top 10 in 10km next year... hohoho... Elite runner la katakoan... =P

My GARMIN data is HERE =)

2XU COMPRESSION RUN MALAYSIA 2014 - STUNNING MAYOR HILL REVISITED

Hi there fellow readers and loyal followers... Happy Wednesday to all of you guys out there.... Hopefully no Monday Blues ya at the office today... Me? I started to feel a bit under the weather today. Some sore throat and light headache... It's definitely time for me to rest and recover...

Well, well, well.... Forgive me for my long hiatus... Well you know, the most common reasons were writer's block and laziness finally set in huhu... My bad...

I would love to share with you guys on this recent 2XU Compression Run Malaysia 2014. For the record, it was my 20th Half Marathon so far. I always love to run a HM because of its decent distance. Just nice to enjoy the hilly route along Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur.

Lucky Me, Triple Eight! =)

I went to collect my racekit along with Rashid's and his friend at 2XU Outlet in Gardens, Midvalley last Friday. The collection process was silky smooth, No long queue or whatsoever.

On that night, I went for a Insanity Abs Cardio session. It was conducted by my running buddy, Acid. There were many people took part in this abs shredding session on that very night. I sweated bucket loads during the warming up session. The workout was awesome! I had to make sure that my left knee stay intact with less damage. With all the jumping squats and insane plank... Those workout really leave me breathless... Nampak sangat badan ini tak cukup fit hahaa... Can't wait for next week Insanity Cardio and Balance session... Note to myself: Must bring my own yoga mat and a big bottle of drinking water! Kihkih...

Totisthoners Trio (Without Acid in this picture)

Fast forward to the day of the event. Woke up around 3.20 am.... Hurriedly took a shower and prepped myself up. Left home with my partner in crime, Rashid and managed to reach National Monument car park circa 4.20 am. I was struggling to make sure I did not leave any necessary items behind, especially my energy gels and knee straps. Dashed to the starting line in Lake Garden. Met several familiar faces and took a selfie with them at the starting line. After saying best wishes to them, we were flagged off by 5.05 am. Did not target any PB or decent timing as I want to treat it as my usual long run during the weekend. To finish around 3 hours was good enough for me at that moment.

Any minute from now, off I go! Credits to Mr. ET Tey

Shaky picture of us but still recognizable... huhu... Pic credits to Azril... =D

After 1km of running, I had this sudden urge to honour the nature's calling. So I decided to stop by at National Mosque for my toilet break. After that, it was already almost 5.30 am. So I tried to run a lil bit faster to catch up the last batch... Bumped into the Awesome Trio (Zen, Heng & Chiew) as I ran towards the first loop. Said hi to Sis Lily, Redzuan and Azrie who were manning the road along Jalan Sultan Salahudin... Thanks guys for your support and being the road marshalls... =D

Just look at the elevation profile... Semput baq ang... =P

From there, I ran towards the normal route, Jalan Dato Onn and went past Bank Negara KTM Station and took the right turn towards Jalan Tun Ismail. Here the 10km runners merged with the 21km for a while before I ran straight ahead towards the second loop (10km). After the mild hilly route, the real challenge began once I entered Jalan Tunku. Luckily I bumped into my running buddy, Zen and I asked him to tag along with me. At least I wasn't running alone huhu....

Me & my running buddy, Zen at our final 2 km, I guessed... (Credits to Lokman Keme for this pic)

The tormenting hill along Persiaran Duta near Tun Razak Hockey Stadium felt like forever to run uphill. So we shuffled leisurely there.. After that it's all going through the rolling hills along Persiaran Duta towards Changkat Duta and Jalan Tunku Putra. As we came towards the dreaded jaw dropping Changkat Tunku incline @ Mayor Hill, we tried to slow jog and enjoyed the climb. Some how I had to power walk when the incline was unbearable. Once we reached the top, we stopped for a while after the u-turn to take some mesmerizing photos up there. Unfortunately they were running out of drinking cups. So I had to drink from the large bottle instead and shared it with Zen. That's what slow runners like us had to deal with... Oh well... pasrah saja lah huhu...

Sikit lagik, sikit lagik Pari2 Gebu nak sampai garisan penamat nih (Pic courtesy of Pali Sado)

From there on, it's all down hill and we ran gingerly to catch up with the slow climb hehe... We ran along Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin and went passed Istana Selangor and National Monument. I could see there were a lot of macaques sitting along the power lines along the stretch. The final 2km was so exciting as we ran passed the huge crowd of 5km and 10km runners who were on their way home. Some of them cheered for us. Finally I crossed the Finishing Line in 03h:15m:08s (nett time), ranked 1102 out of 1605. Not bad after all... huhu...=D

My results... =)

After the run, it was time for photo taking ritual with all the runners. I was so excited to take pictures with so many friendly runners. It's a must indeed. Felt like I was in a runners gathering at that moment huhu... No drama, just strike for a pose here and there...

Me & My new running friend, Farhan... Nice meeting you bro... =)

Me, Acid & Rashid

One for the photo with Edan Syah, our Champion for 10km... Well done Edan! 

With Kijang Road Runners (Fifi, Syed Azmi & Friend) and Kak Nor Mah & her friend

Wewowewowewowewwo.... Padat sangat pic nih, credits to Lokman Keme....

Me & The Gorgeous Runners (Aizul Plantar, Ridwan, Am & KZ)

We Are Runners! 

Me, Cikgu Budin, Rashid & Mrs Page Khas (Mak Buyong)

Sempat lagik berwefie tuh... hohoho!

Over all, it was a well organized event. Traffic control was excellent, the weather was on our side, stayed overcast throughout the morning, thanks to the heavy downpour the whole day before. Plenty of water stations along the way with drinking water and Revive isotonic. They gave us a banana each circa KM 10. It was right on time as I felt a bit hungry during my run. Plus the finisher medal is exactly identical to what I've received when I finished 2XU Compression Run in Singapore last March. Oh well...

Silang Kaki Pose Poyo sat... hohoho! 

Let's Jump.... Hurrah!

Till we meet again... Adieu!
P/S: My GARMIN data is HERE.... =D