I did not even know I have signed up for this event until Amelia told me so. She kept the collection tickets for the bulk sign up. I thought I would be doing my personal long run this weekend.
Well, I treated this as a training for the upcoming SCKLM module.
The run was held in the new housing estate in Setia Alam in the town of Shah Alam. When Amelia and I went to collect our bibs and running vests on Saturday, we were shocked that there were hardly any trees big enough to take shelter from the heat, probably one body part at a time. During our collection there were some hiccups and the weather at 10am was scorching and burning at the Setia Alam Welcome Centre (coincidentally also the starting and ending point of the race).
On race day, I met many running friends. The Pacemakers were requested to don our very own sponsored running vest by Adidas. We had a group picture taken.
The race started a couple of minutes late (as usual waiting for the arrival of VIPs...I tell you, they are NEVER on time and when they arrive, many excuses and reasons given and some are worse, they have that “WHAT THE F*CK AM I DOING HERE SO EARLY ON A SUNDAY MORNING??” look on their face.)
The route was basically flat with 3-4 water (and I mention here ONLY water) station. There were no isotonic drinks for the half marathoners. There were some gradual uphill (up the rams etc.). Nothing major like Bukit Tunku.
The weather was very hazy this morning. We could smell the smog. In a way, thank God for that, the sun did not blaze to its full glory until about 9am (where most of the runners have returned).
The route was just highways and by-ways with lots of u-turns. There was no running into undulated terrains (e.g. gravel etc). I understand from many runners who brought along their mini GPS that the route is over distanced. That explained my timing, even though I managed a sub 2 hours. It was about 400-600 meters more. For me, I do not really care about over distance as I am treating this as a training ground for my 42km on June 28th. I do not mind if it was another km or so. It was just covering the mileage for the week.
Picture courtesy of Ben Swee. Thanks Ben!
After the run, there were unlimited fruits, cendol, tau fu fa, 100 plus and VICO drinks. It started to get uncomfortable due to the hazy condition and the heat, therefore right after the lucky draw announcement we left the event.
The medal is nice and worthy. Its like a shield.
And since I am talking about medals and stuff, I took pictures of my medals/trophies collection. Enjoy.
