Brooks Half Marathon - Breakfast Run 2012

Photo by : Mr. Leong Kwan Weng - After the Run.

Brooks Half Marathon Breakfast Run – 29th January 2012
The run is organized by TBJRC testing the revised half marathon route, however runners wanted to run the 5Km & 10Km routes are also welcome although the routes are the same as last year.
I arrived at the stadium 5:30 am sharp, almost everyone registered to come were there. Since this was a close invitation run, I knew roughly who will be there this morning. First person I saw from far is Julia Lim, the fastest endurance lady runner trained in the Taman. Later during the run, she told me that she will be moving to PJ and will not be training in the Taman any more. The others were Papaya Lee, Fat Keong, Dai Wei, Chan Sir, John Heng, etc. It seems like all fast runners from TBJRC were here. Runners from Desa Petaling and Chap Ayam made up the rest of the crowd. It was closed to 50 runners in total.
The run started just over 5:45am after our president gave a briefing and introduction of the TBJRC runners to our friends. CCP just drove in as we left the car park, not too surprise to see him because he had indicated that he may come.
John Heng led the way as he is the only one in the leading pack who knew exactly the new 21KM route. The rest of us only have some idea and knew that the 1st 5Km and the last 5KM are the same as last year but the middle part of the route was reversed and changes including running into the housing area avoiding the main roads.
I start the run with Julia Lim, tailing John Heng, Fat Keong, Dai Wei and Chan Sir, followed closely by Papaya Lee and some of the faster friends of TBJRC. Since this was not a competition, everyone took it easy and the pace was reasonably comfortable. However, I have other ideas and wanted to test how fast can I go after my recovery from the recent sickness. I want to test my current form with Dai Wei, the undisputed champion in TBJRC and those rising stars including the very physically strong Fat Keong and Chan Sir whom most TBJRC members regarded as some of the best runners. I took over the lead from John Heng at around 2KM by increasing the pace slightly. My prediction was right, Fat Keong and Chan Sir did not allow me to lead so they also increase the pace and three of us running side by side until 5KM when we reached IMU junction. I pushed a little harder and Chan Sir just dropped behind but Fat Keong holding running at my side. I heard (foot step sound) few runners are closing the gap and was a bit surprise because I think only Dai Wei is capable of closing the gap. I was curious so I turned back and see who were so close behind us, of course Dai Wei was there and the other runner was Aircon Liew. Later I found out that he was late and managed to catch up.
The run getting interesting while 4 of us were leading but other runners seem to disappeared from behind. I pushed harder and soon at the 8KM mark, I was only running side by side with Dai Wei. Fat Keong and Aircon Liew were chasing hard around 50 meters behind. I pushed even harder trying to take the lead but Dai Wei easily match and neutralize my effort. However at the 10KM point, Fat Keong and Aircon Liew were no where to be seen and Dai Wei and me were guided by the security guard entering the housing area. This will be the part of the new route and both of us were not familiar. At around this point, Dai Wei decided to take over the lead but I was not letting go, and pushing to my limit to follow him.
Soon we reached the water station manned by Lim Ming Huat, Dai Wei grasp a bottle of water from Lim and he sped away. I was at my limit and couldn’t match his speed so I was left further and further behind. I still managed to keep the gap within 300m when we were in Taman Esplanade but I lost him after turning out to the road leading to the Golf Club. I knew that it was only 3 to 4 KM more to go but I could not push harder because I was feeling the strain within my body. Hold on to my pace and manage to finish the run 2 or 3 minutes behind Dai Wei.
Gauging from my performance today, I guess I am almost fully recover and I should be able to take on the challenge in my next race.

Bareno Run 2011 - Top 10 Results for Category A,B,C,D and E

Bareno® Run 2011
Top 10 for Category A – Men Open 21KM
Position Bib No Name Time
1 A0933 MOSES KIPKORIR KIPTOO 01:06:50
2 A1007 MOK YING REN 01:08:18
3 A0934 KIPCHUMBA KIPROP 01:09:26
4 A0958 JOHNSON KIPKOSSGEI TARUS 01:13:56
5 A0668 MOHD HANAFY BIN ANAS 01:14:51
6 A1036 AHMAD LAMCHANMAK 01:15:43
7 A0552 JASON PAUL LAWRENCE 01:18:34
8 A0894 BARRY LEE CHUN SING 01:26:41
9 A0622 LOH CHWAN CHYIN 01:27:02
10 A0971 CHAN JUN SHEN 01:28:50

Top 10 for Category B – Women Open 21KM
Position Bib No Name Time
1 B2237 NOOR AMELIA MUSA 01:29:18
2 B2233 SONOKO FUKUMOTO 01:49:37
3 B2260 BRITTANY LIM HUEY TING 01:49:47
4 B2128 CYNTHIA CHILDRESS 01:50:38
5 B2104 YEE PEI NI 01:52:25
6 B2221 YAP YEE LING 01:54:57
7 B2231 NICOLA SUYIN POCOCK 01:55:23
8 B2052 LEE SIAK YENG 01:58:57
9 B2209 TOH MI MI 01:59:00
10 B2062 LYNN GUAN 02:00:25

 
Top 10 for Category C – Men Veteran 21KM
Position Bib No Name Time
1 C3219 MARK WILLIAMS 01:18:56
2 C3297 CASEY LIM KHON SENG 01:21:30
3 C3194 KHIR BIN SALLEH 01:25:42
4 C3108 SILAHUDDIN SALIM 01:29:25
5 C3097 ONG CHIN 01:30:15
6 C3092 NG SAY HEONG 01:32:43
7 C3105 RICHARD TANG 01:34:18
8 C3083 MOEY WOOI SAN 01:35:43
9 C3266 ALAM SHAH ISMAIL AHMAD 01:36:38
10 C3236 TAN CHENG JIN 01:36:42

Top 10 for Category D – Women Veteran 21KM
Position Bib No Name Time
1 D3532 KOH LENG LENG 01:35:55
2 D3621 SUSAN KHOO 01:36:16
3 D3595 NG SUN NEE 01:40:12
4 D3611 YONG LAI CHEE 01:45:41
5 D3535 LIAN BEE HOON 01:46:59
6 D3572 CHNG LAY KHIM 01:53:32
7 D3576 EWE BEE HONG 01:57:07
8 D3614 TAI OY LEEN 01:57:44
9 D3605 SUSAN AZAM-ALI 01:57:45
10 D3571 CHNG LAY HOOI 01:59:03

Top 10 for Category E – Men Sr Veteran 21KM
Position Bib No Name Time
1 E4044 KHOR NGEE LEONG 01:22:57
2 E4035 GOH CHOON AUN 01:26:26
3 E4107 TAN WAH SING 01:35:21
4 E4095 RIDZUAN B SULAIMAN 01:35:38
5 E4181 WONG WENG SENG 01:37:02
6 E4028 CHOO KIM HOE 01:42:04
7 E4192 KOH YONG HENG 01:42:06
8 E4153 LIM KIAN HUAT 01:42:59
9 E4105 TAN HOCK HUAT 01:44:53
10 E4099 SIMON CROSS 01:45:18

Bareno Run 2011 - Top 10 Results for Category F,G,J and K

Bareno® Run 2011
Results for Category F,G,J & K
Top 10 for Category F - Men 10KM

Position Name Bib No Time
1 KESEBE DICKSON F5871 35:51
2 SHAHARUDIN B HASHIM F4983 36:52
3 MURALI A/L MUNIANDY F5827 37:14
4 ALMUR ABDELKREEM SAEED RABIN F5887 37:35
5 ARUL THEVAR A/L MUNIANDY F5826 38:00
6 PRABAKHARAN A/L MADHAVAN F5825 38:27
7 GAN SHIN CHAU F4683 40:02
8 KATHIRAVAN ARUMUGAM F5891 40:25
9 CHAN WAI YEE F4569 41:25
10 CHEE EVAN F5184 41:44


Top 10 for Category G - Women 10KM

Position Name Bib No Time
1 TAN BEE KIANG G7294 42:46
2 SHEELA A/P SAMIVELLU G7357 44:09
3 CHEONG TSUI YING G6917 46:13
4 JESSICA TANG G7339 49:29
5 YASUKO HOSOTAMI G7289 49:49
6 NURUL FAZILAH BT RAZMAN G7420 50:06
7 TEE YOKE LOI G7160 52:28
8 LIM PICK JUNE G7370 54:37
9 AUDREY ROSLYN REUTENS G6522 54:38
10 OH YANN SHIE G7093 54:57


 
Top 10 for Category J - Men 5KM

Position Name Bib No Time
1 JASNI KHAIRIL BIN JAMALUDDIN J8102 19:26
2 ABDUL AZIZ BIN MAHAMOUD J8347 20:04
3 SATESH A/L PANIR SELVAM J8241 20:17
4 KOGILAN A/L SAVITTIAN J8460 20:51
5 AMALAN A/L DEVASAGAYAM J8018 21:56
6 AL MUZAR B MOHD AZHARI J8015 22:02
7 MUHAMMAD REDZUAN B SHAHROM J8206 22:04
8 CHEN KEAT HOONG J8035 22:07
9 MEYYAPPA MANICKAM A/L M.SETHURAMAN J8392 22:08
10 ZULAZLAN SHAH IBRAHIM J8446 22:30


Top 10 for Category G - Women 5KM

Position Name Bib No Time
1 CHEAH HWEI VEN K9044 20:49:00
2 PHUA HUI QIN K9476 24:36:00
3 SUE LING WONG K9494 25:30:00
4 THARSHINI A/P SAVITTIAN @ SEBASTIAN K9549 25:40:00
5 STEPHANIE CHONG AH TIN K9493 26:05:00
6 CHAN KER XIN K9030 26:34:00
7 LEE SOON XIN (LEE XIN TING) K9157 26:53:00
8 SRI SUGANYAA A/P HADERAJA K9551 27:32:00
9 CHEN EE VEN K9399 27:37:00
10 LIM SAW MOOI K9177 28:05:00

Bareno Run 2011 - R U READY!

Picture 1 - " 1 KM To Go " or " 1 Week To Go"

Picture 2 - Distant Markers & Road Signs

R U READY, it is only just one more week to one of the "Bigger" running event this year. With almost fifty five hundred participants registered for this event, and close to 2 thousands runners will be in the start line for the 21KM race, the neighborhood within Bukit Jalil / OUG areas will wake up shocking to find out on the Sunday morning, 13th March 2011, that the streets were jammed with runners and cars.

Although I have confident in Taman Bukit Jalil Running Club organising this event, I will be slightly, I mean slightly, worried that the voluteers will not be able to cope with the crowd.

Most of the Running Vest were delivered and sitting in the "TEMP" office of Taman Bukit Jalil Running Club, Bibs were printed, Timing Chips were packed. Looks like every things were ready. R U Ready?

Remember to take a look "left or right" at the lamp posts if you are looking for distant markers.

CICM Responsible Care Run 2010 - Race Report

This Run is organised by SP Wong, Pacers Sports, for CICM. I registered just before the closing date because I am not too sure I have the time to run this race since Taman Bukit Jalil Running Club (TBJRC) will be assisting him for the time keeping at the finishing line and the road "marshall-ing" along the route. Thank all my friends from TBJRC for allowing me to take part in this run while they have to work hard to ensure this event went on safely and smoothly.

Although I have a big share in formulating the route and I knew every parts of the terrain, I have only run along this 10.6 KM route for 2 times. Okay, okay, I means the exact route for this CICM 10KM run. During normal day training, we never run toward Astro and the Seremban Highway because of the heavy traffic and speeding vehicles. In fact, this 10KM route is formed by 2 x 5KM loops, the 1st 5KM loop start from the stadium towards TPM, Seremban Highway, MRR2, and turn back to the stadium. The 2nd 5KM loop start at the stadium traffic light towards IMU, Tmn Explanade, go round Bukit Jalil Golf Club and back to the stadium.

On this Sunday morning, I arrived at the Stadium just after 5.00 am. Most of the Marshall and volunteers had already arrived here and everything seems fine, passed those writing boards to the Time Keeper and I started loitering around. The participants started to arrive around 6.00 am and soon the car parks were crowded with runners mostly wearing the white event T-shirts.

After the warming up session led by Ms Lim, the "Men Open" participants were ushers into the confine starting area and flagged off at around 7.25am . I quickly checked myself into the starting area to ensure that I am not too far away from the start line. The participants for the 5KM categories were flagged off on the other starting area one or two minutes later. Almost immediately, the rest of the 10KM categories were flagged off together, it was 7.32am when I looked at my watch.

I started confidently following the leading pack climbing the first slope, after turned left off the VVIP gate of the stadium, which is quite gentle and short. Few elite runners soon disappeared from my sight while we ran down the ramp at the TPM traffic light joining the Sungei Besi-Bukit Jalil Highway. At this first KM point there were already a few slow Category A runners walking along the route, as we ran toward Astro, the road became more congested with the slower Cat A runners, the faster runners had to run just outside the coned area to avoid being blocked by the slower runners. It was downhill or flat from the 1st KM to the 3rd KM, it was around here that Vincent Wong and Tan Wah Sing pulling away from me and was almost 200m in front.

At the 1st waterstation, around 4KM point, I decide to take a drink because my throat was very uncomfortable due to the cough. I have to squeeze through the crowd to get a cup of water. Feeling much better after the drink, I continue to run maintaining around 4.5 min/KM pace. This route lead us back to the stadium while I had to conquer the next gentle climb at the 5KM point around the LRT station.

While I turned in to IMU after the stadium traffic light and ran towards Taman Esplanade, I had lost my target (Tan Wah Sing). I grep another cup of water at around 6.5KM and drank to ease my uncomfortable feeling of my throat. This is the first time in a 10KM race that I took a drink at two water stations. Overtook a few kids with their parent (I guess), the 5KM categories participants, on the final climb along the Sungei Besi-Bukit Jalil Highway.

Once ran pass the VVIP gate, I sped towards the finishing line but decided to slow down around 10 to 20 meters knowing that there will be photographer waiting at the finishing line to take a photo for the certificate. Happy to finish a few seconds past 47 minutes.

CICM Responsible Care Run 2010 - Results

Category A - Men Open
1. Casey Lim, Time= 39.19
2. Jasni Khairil, Time=40.33
3. Murali Nathan, Time= 41.19
4. Muhd Fazly, Time=42.55
5. Selvaninayagan, Time=43.41
6. Kajenthiran, Time=43.49
7. Amalan, Time=44.10
8. Toh Wai Kuen, Time=44.13
9. Chan Wai Yee, Time=44.19
10. Chan Chen Siong, Time=45.39

Category B - Men Veteran
1. Ong Chin, Time=40.30
2. Malayalam, Time=42.19
3. Goh Choon Aun, Time=43.19
4. Ng Say Heong, Time=43.31
5. M. Thanasekaran, Time=44.09
6. Wan Sin, Time=45.12
7. Alam Shah, Time=45.44
8. Bong Teck Yong, Time=47.17
9. Choo King Hoe, Time=48.00
10. Rosmua Paw, Time=49.06

Category C - Men Sr. Veteran
1. Ridzwan, Time=44.14
2. Vicent Wong, Time= 44.25
3. Tan wah Sing, Time=45.19
4. Tang Chee Choon, Time=47.05
5. Tee Teck Bee, Time=47.40
6. Mohd Sowoto, Time=49.50
7. Tee Ee Kia, Time=50.26
8. Lok Chan Chuen, Time=50.37
9. Raja Arumugan, Time=50.44
10. Chia King Hai, Time=51.13

Category D - Women Open
1. Yuan Yu Fang, Time=43.50
2. Nor Amelia Musa, Time=44.28
3. Agnes Tee, Time=53.09
4. Jessica Tang, Time=53.22
5. Annie Yee, Time=53.33
6. Tharshini, Time=55.29
7. Lyn Guan, Time=55.37
8. Lexi Abel, Time=56.27
9. Lim Pick Suw, 57.28
10. Ang Sinne, Time=1.01.00

Category E - Women Veteran
1. Susan Khoo, Time=48.45
2. Lian Bee Hoon, Time=51.09
3. Sara Lee, Time=53.46
4. Wan Choy Yun, Time=54.50
5. Low Wah Leng, Time=54.55
6. Anne Lee, Time=55.00
7. Lucy Lim, Time=58.05
8. Wong An Yin, Time=58.59
9. Tan Sew Whee, Time=59.05
10. Chong Lu Fong, Time=59.13

Bareno Run 2011

Bareno Run 2011

What is new:

1) It includes a Half Marathon, 21KM.

2) Timing Chip will be used.

3) Finisher T-Shirt for Half Marathon in addition to the Vest given during registration.

Klang Pacer - Run 4 IT 2010

Organised by:

This morning woke up at 4.30am and left home with my son slightly over 5.15am .Picked up 3 of my son's friend around my area and we arrived at Klang just before 6 am. Managed to find a fine place to park my car, changed to my running attire and took a slow walk to the Stadium. Met most of the regulars and this time I found plenty of time to do some warm up.

The men started first just before 7 am, I paced moderately at the start although I stood right in front at the second row. As usual, I only paid attention to the competitors in my category. Rama and Ridzuan were far ahead and I was following closely behind Krishnan, Tee & Sowoto. Siow Kek Kheong, who just promoted to the Sr Veteran was just a few meters in front of me.

In just less than 2KM, the famous barefoot runner, Tan Wah Seng, came from behind and overtook a few of us. I picked up a slightly faster pace and move in front of Siow & Sowoto still following closely behind of Krishnan.

At around half way mark, I was surprised to see Yahsan overtaking me. I was surprised because I have not seen him in many races recently. However he couldn't last long and slow down after the last water station.

I was quite drained out when there was only around 2KM to go, I tried very hard to maintain the pace as I knew most of my competitors were just behind me. In less than just a kilometer to go, Siow sped and overtook me, and I had no answer and his pace was too fast for me to follow. I had to concede defeat, however I was very happy with my performance because all those finished earlier are much better runners than me. I was also glad that I could out pace some of the better runners in my category.

Overall the event was quite well organised with plenty of foods and drinks. The prizes for the lucky draw were attractive enough to hold back many participants.

The Senior Veteran's winners, picture taken by KLANG PACER.

Bareno Run 2010 - Some Photo taken by Uncle Sonny Ng

Bareno Run 2010 Result

Results for the top 5 runners for all categories can be download from:

Bareno Run 2010 Results

Bareno Run 2010 route maps

You can download the Bareno Run 2010 route maps at www.bareno.com.my

Bareno Run 2010 Update

If you have not registered and wish to take part in this event, please do so as soon as possible.

We have almost achieved our target of 2,000 participants and the registration will be closed much earlier.

Category F and G (10KM) - RM 35
Category A to E (15KM) - RM 35

Category J and K (5KM) - RM15

Bareno Run 2010

Date : 14th March 2010
Venue: National Stadium Bukit Jalil
Distant : 15KM / 10KM / 5KM
Registration Fee : RM25 for 15KM/10KM Early Bird, after 30th January is RM35. RM15 for 5KM.

Entry Form can be download from the link below:
http://www.fileden.com/getfile.php?file_path=http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/1/9/2258942/BarenoRace%20Entry%20Form%20Ver%201%20a.pdf

Kwong Hon Run - Route Map & Updates

Registration will be closed after this coming Sunday, 29th November, for those runners who are interesed, you can register via
1) Print out the form from my previous post.
2) Fill up the form.
3) Bank in the money to the Public Bank Acct as printed in the form.
3) Fax or Scan and email the completed form together with the bank-in slip to the number/address printed in the form.
4) You can confirmed your entry by calling those telephone numbers printed in the form.

Running Route: Almost the complete 10KM will be running in the Sungei Besi Army Camp as shown in the map below.

Kwong Hon Run - unofficial news & information

Route :-
When I ran the Sungei Besi Iron Hill Run two or three years ago, other than the torturing experience of crawling up the hill, my impression was that the camp was very big and there were many roads in the camp. So when I did a route survey yesterday with the school organizing team, I was a bit surprised that it is quite challenging to map out a 10KM route. With the approval giving to the school to run pass the camp, the traffic control is much simpler and the safety of the participants especially those registered for the Family and Fun Run categories will be very much improved since there will not be much “speeding” vehicles in the camp.

Distance:-
If everything goes well, the 3KM route for the Family & Fun Run will be increased to almost 4 KM and the 10KM route will be very, very close to the target. Since the school is on a much higher ground compare to the camp route, there is a good view from the school compound overseeing the 10KM runners at around the half way mark. The route is mainly flat compare to the recent Mizuno Run.

Finishing Medal :-
I have not seen the design of the finishing medal yet but I believe it will be similar or better than the one giving out by the Larian Amal Seri Sinar held earlier this year in Taman Bukit Jalil. Only 10KM finishers will get their medals. The organizer has the intention to raise some fund for the school so the entry fee is set at a slightly higher rate compare to those organized by the sport bodies.

Parking:-
For those participants who come early before 6.30am on the race day, they can drive directly into the school compound where there were few hundred car parking lots available. The school gate will close after 6.30 am and only Police and Ambulance vehicles will be allowed to enter or leave. For the late comers, they have to park along the road leading to Taman Tasik Selatan. The gate will be re-open after 8.30 a.m. and those participants wish to leave early can drive their cars out from the school, however they have to drive very slowly because the slow runners will still be coming back around this time.

SJK (C) Kwong Hon Century Celebration Charity Run

SJK (C) Kwong Hon Century Celebration Charity Run

Location: SJKC Kwong Hon, Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur.
Date : 13th December 2009
Time : 7.00 a.m. (Please take note)

Categories : A, B, C, D, E, F, G open to public

Distance : 10 KM (A,B,C,D)

Distance : 3KM (E,F,G)


Hundred Year's Celebration (From 1909 to 2009)

If you come from Subang, Shah Alam, Cheras, Ampang, you can use the MRR2 exit at the Tasik Selatan Shell Station opposite of the Tasik Selatan LRT station.

If you come from KL, you can take the Sungei Besi Highway. The school is next to the famous Army Camp in Sungei Besi.

Mizuno Wave Run 2009

There were no races since mid of August (puasa started), I took the opportunity taking a long rest with minimal training over this period. As for the Klang Centro Community Run on the 11th October, I was taking it easy and never stressed myself.

The venue for Mizuno Wave Run this year was changed to UPM, which is nearer to my house. I arrived at the venue quite early with my 15 years old son. I brought him along because I managed to get a "free" bib from my Taman Bukit Jalil's running mate.

For the 1st half of the race, I managed to maintained my form and reached the only water station at around 5KM. I checked my watch and apparently my pace was fast, the time shown was around 22 minutes. The route from around 6KM onwards was quite flat until I reached the hostels. I felt quite tire then and I knew it is quite inevitable for the lack of training over the past two months. I couldn't maintain the pace and soon those runners around me disappeared in front of me one by one. At the last slope, my pace was further reduced since both my legs were softened. However, I managed to pickup some speed at the downhill and maintained the pace until the finishing line, it was almost twenty over seconds past 50 minutes. I was slightly disappointed not being able to run below 50 minutes for this 11Km race, but this is the price I have to pay for not training hard enough!

Overall, the run was quite enjoyable and I managed to snap some photos using my compact camera. I will download these photos to the photo album at tangcc.multiply.com.

At the finishing line.

The vest is quite nice looking.

My 15 years old son finishing the run.

Many pretty ladies taking part.

Very focus although with around 100 meters more to go.

Large crowd.

Quite many foreigners taking part.

Revisit Gunung Nuang After 20 Years

Lit Jin asked me one day last month that where could he train if he plans to trek Gunung Tahan. Although I am not an expert in mountain trekking, I told him that Gunung Nuang would be ideal. The answer is very straight forward for me because I have been to Gunung Tahan once 20 years ago, and the only training I had done that time was climbing Gunung Nuang once before the trip. I have not done any more mountain trekking since then other than a few trips to the small hill in Taman Melawati.

Taking the advantage of the long holiday during Hari Raya, Lit Jin, Kit Mun and I decided to trek Gunung Nuang on Sunday, 20th Sept 2009. I did some research over the internet and convinced that three of us should be able to scale the summit without seeking help from other mountain sifu. I did not try very hard to ask around because without joining others gives us the freedom to stop anywhere and turn back if the going becomes very tough.

I spent some time on Saturday to do some shopping. Since this is a one day trip, I bought some bread, biscuits and a packet of prune. This should be enough for us to last a day, however I bought a simple camp stove (with camp fuel) which cost me RM 6.90 and some instant noodles so that I can show Lit Jin how easily “cooking” could be done.

Our plan was to leave our house at 6.30 am, have some roti canai for breakfast and reach Pangsun before 8.00 am. However on that day, Lit Jin and Kit Mum took their own sweet time and we eventually arrived at the car park just after 9.00 am.

The registration office was opened but nobody around, it was already 10 minutes past nine and we decide to move on and start trekking without doing the registration.

Along the never ending road, we met some morning trekkers walking back to the car park, they must be wandering why we started so late. Lit Jin and Kit Mun found their old running shoes were not holding well on the wet ground. I did not fare better because my 10 years old Camel Boots were hurting both my legs.

We reached the old dam slightly after 10.30 am, there were around twenty to thirty hikers around that area. I was lost around this area and luckily there was a fellow marathoner (he came alone and we met him just before this old dam) planning to hike up to Camp Pacat also. We carefully maneuvered amongst the crowd and crossed the stream towards camp Lolo, I overheard some of them were surprised that we were moving on to Camp Pacat as it was too late. It was only a very short distant between the old dam and camp Lolo and we did not stop and move towards to Camp Pacat.

The track between Camp Lolo and Camp Pacat was narrow, undulating and slippery. It was all the way up and after about half an hour, we lost sight of over running friend. We had to walk slowly because Lit Jin and Kit Mun’s old running shoes were slippery and my boots were hurting both my legs very much (I still couldn’t wear any shoes today for both my legs were still bleeding after 2 days rest).
This is a lesson learnt that we need proper tracking shoe for hiking even it is a one day trip.

It seemed to take a very long time to trek up to Camp Pacat. By the time we were there, it was well past 11.30 am. We met two small groups here, one was on their way down and the other was heading to the summit. Kit Mun told me that she felt a bit tire and would not like to continue up the summit. She would rather reserve her energy for the way down. We rested at Camp Pacat for about half an hour and I managed to convince Kit Mun to move on as far as we could. We took out the extra drinks and foods from our back bag and hid them in a bush, we continue our journey at around 12 noon.

The track from Camp Pacat onwards was very much steeper and in many occasions we have to use both our hands and legs to climb. This was indeed a blessing for us as these steeper slopes had many roots and rock and Lit Jin and Kit Mun shoes were not as slippery as in the red-soil path. However, Kit Mun was moving very slowly because of her tiredness. We reached the false peak at around 1.30pm and decided to continue since we had come so far. From the false peak to the summit, there was a long descend at the start, we met many hikers trekking back to Camp Pacat along this route.

We finally arrived at the summit at around 2 pm. Only 2 young girls and a young gentleman were at the summit boiling water to make tea. This was the group we met at Camp Pacat earlier. I was so delighted because I had left the 2 lighters in the car (I realized my mistake just after half an hour after we left the car park), and the young gentleman was kind enough to help me to light up the camp fuel for the stove. I only brought 3 cup of instant noodles along, one for each of us, but eventually Kit Mun managed to convince me to forego my share so that she could have 2 cups. I had to settle with bread and biscuits.

We left summit around 2.30 pm and during the descend towards Camp Pacat, there were 2 ladies just ascend to the summit. Along the descending route towards Camp Pacat, it was Lit Jin that felt tire and was moving very slowly. We collected back our extra water and biscuit at Camp Pacat and hurried towards Camp Lolo because we knew that it will be very late. We did not bring any torchlight along for this trip!

More than halfway between Camp Pacat, our friends (the group of three and the last group of 2 ladies) that we met at the summit overtook us as Kit Mun and Lit Jin slipped and fell 1 or 2 times along this slippery path. We finally arrived at Camp Lolo at around 5.30pm safely as the last group.

We spent some time at the old dam resting and eating biscuits. We left slightly after 6 pm when the sky getting dimmer. We quickly trekked through the remaining single track and reached the 4-wheel track or better known as The Never Ending Road before the sky getting really dark. We trekked for almost an hour in the dark while we saw shinning eyes hiding in the bushes, fireflies flying freely around the trees, listening to all kinds of sound made by the insects and animals. We arrived at the car park exactly 8.00pm.

PS
Lit Jin – My 15 years old son.
Kit Mun – My 17 years old daughter.

Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM) 2009

All these three pictures taken from Kwang Leng.

John Heng missed his sub-4 by 13 sec!

Liew Chin Ngen completed the full marathon in 3:26:45, his personal best? (I believed)

This was my 5th marathon after I ran my maiden marathon in March 2007. I will remember this event for a long time since there were many incidents happened. As a result, the organizer of this event, Octagon, as promised, delivered the most memorable event (as far as I am concerned) but perhaps not the way they wanted. They have lost control over the event as most runners complained from the way they organised the Bib collection on Friday, then the redemption of medal and the collection of luggage after the race, the “water” shortage, the traffic, etc, and a long list of shortcomings that many runners had already posted in their blogs.

When the news broke out that Standard Chartered Bank will sponsor this marathon, many local runners were so excited. The response was so good that registration was force to close much earlier. (P.S. However I was a bit saddened just before the race start when I heard the announcement that there were only 1,900 Full marathon runners. I was expecting at least 3,000 (25%) participants for the 42KM category since we have such a large population).

After I registered for this event, I realized that I have to attend a company’s workshop in Cherating Club Med from 26th to 28th June 2009. Since it clashed with the SCKLM, I quickly made some arrangement that I could leave Kuantan on Saturday night so that I still could manage to run on the Sunday morning. Since this was the tapering week, I refrained from taking part in the more strenuous activities during these 2 days and took the opportunity to carbo-load with all the good foods provided. This turned out to be the wrong strategy as I put on at least 3 more KG (memang exaggerated lah!).

I drove alone starting from Cherating at around 8pm after a comparatively light dinner, I took a wrong turn exiting the new Highway and drove towards Kuantan, thanks to the ever confusing sign board along the road. At around 11:30 pm, I was arriving at KL and I decided to stop at the last R&R just before the toll, rested there for half an hour and drove straight to Dataran Merdeka following my plan.

I was at Dataran Merdeka just after midnight, there were a large crowd and I surprised that there were so many runners came here at this wee hour. When I started to look around thoroughly, those people around were youngsters having a good Saturday’s night outing. It look a bit weird to have a group of “partying dressing” youth hanging around with a running event backdrop (with the tents, the grand stand, the mobile toilets, etc ).

The Full Marathon started punctually at 5.00 am. It was a perfect weather, cool with slight rain, to run, however I did not quite please to have my shoe and socks wet during the starting of a run. I was standing not so far from the start line and it took me less than 20 sec to cross the line.

My target today was simple, completing the Full Marathon within 4 hours would be an achievement since I could only manage to do 3 times 30KM LSD training after the Great Eastern 30KM run in January. I knew the important of the LSD training for the marathon but I still believed that those 20KM run during some of my weekend would help me through.

I started with an easy pace, not much of an option due to the crowd, I caught up with Ng “Kin Hong” after around 2 or 3 minutes near the old Railway Station. I was surprised he was not pacing with his training mate, “Fei” Keong. As the congestion eased, I picked up a little speed heading towards Bangsar. Saw “Papaya” Lee and “Fei” Keong not far ahead, I kept the pace and slowly approaching them. While we turned in to Brickfield, “Fei” Keong saw me and run together with me for the next 1 or 2 KM. He decided to slow down slightly just before the water station at 5th KM. I moved ahead and run alone again along Loke Yew road and here I overtook Tay Poh Chye, he was running much slower compared to last December SC Singapore Marathon. Caught up with Klang Pacer SP Wong around this area. SP was not running his usual pace so I decided to move ahead alone along Jalan Cheras.

I was so surprise to see Tee Ee Kia overtook me just before turning into Jalan Tun Razak. I took a look at my watch and did a rough calculation based on the distant marker, I was at an average of 5min per KM pace at this point. I knew that I would not be able to survive later in the run with this pace and I was quite certain that Tee would not be able to sustain this pace since we did train together sometime. I am sure Tee is a better runner but I also knew that he did not train hard enough for this run especially the LSD. As all these thoughts still with me, I saw Tee sitting at the roadside seemed trying to take off his shoe, he showed me some sign indicating he was having problem with his shoe. I moved ahead and only after the race he told me that he finished the run slightly more than 4 and a half hour and having problem with his wet socks and shoes.

Met Jason Thiang riding his bike along the course and he was surprised I was running at this pace. He was right because I started to feel the strain when I turned into Jalan Ipoh and I decided to slow down a little. I had overtaken a few runners and at the same time, a few runners overtook me around Jalan Sultan Ismail/Jalan Ampang, including two ladies and Sam Pritchat. At the water station at Jln Kia Peng, I skipped and nearly fell on to the ground while I tried to maneuver around the volunteers to grab a cup of water on the table. They were standing outside trying to pass those cups of water to the runners, but the 4 runners just in front of me took all the six cups held by the 3 volunteers, 2 more volunteers were holding the sponges.

At around Jalan Bukit Bintang, my speed dropped to almost 7 min per KM as I became tired and hungry. Since I did not have the habit of carrying any Gel or Bar while running, I had to wait till I reached China Town. I torn open the PowerGel immediate when I took it from the volunteer and squeezed those sticky gel into my mouth. It was quite a challenge to swallow it without water and it was a calculated risk that the water station would be at around the church along Jalan Hang Jebat. I took 2 cups of water and my throat and stomach felt much better and there was no miracle, I still had to struggle to climb the slope just outside of the FTAAA’s office.

There were huge amount of traffic being held up the run for runners crossing over to the middle of the highway in front of the Istana. I was wondering why the traffic police did not diverse those vehicles and prevent them from coming in to the Istana area where they had to wait a long time. Running in a narrowly condoned-off path along the highway created a sense of insecurity. Making it worst because the full marathoners running along-side the half marathoners. What-if the high speed car lost control and veered towards the crowded running path, many runners will be killed and injured. However, putting this negative thought aside, it is quite pleasant for me running along this path feeling proud overtaking many slower half-marathoners, temporary forgetting my tired body and heavy feet.

It was a challenge to run up the slope in front of Wisma Tani, it was a huge relief when I reached the top and started strolling down. I had studied the route map many times and I knew that I need to turn left towards Pertama Complex at Jalan Raja Laut. I gathered all my energy and continued running completing this loop while the effect of the PowerGel started to kick-in.

Kevin Tan & Ah Boon’s wife were at the finishing line after finishing their half marathon waiting for all the Taman Bukit Jalil runners returning. I was glad that I could still make it within 4 hrs. However, it was not as lucky for John Heng, he crossed the finishing line while the clock showed 4:00:26 Hr (Net Chip Time of 4:00:13) and later I found out from the internet that he missed the sub-4 by a mere 13 second!

Another shocked was that Liew Chin Ngen finishing at 3:26:43 (No, the shock was not the timing, he was expecting to finish sub 3:30), overtaking our top runner John Chow (Ah Wei). Ah Wei only managed a poor timing (as he is a 3:15 marathoner) of 3:45:50.

I will not dwell into those negative aspects of the event as most incidents have been widely publicize in the local newspapers and the internet. However I would like to congratulate our maiden marathoner, an 80KG plus “Big Size” Liew for completing the full marathon in less than 7 hours. He was lucky that he carried some money with him so that he can enjoy stopping by at, at least 4, of the best marathon water stations in the world equipped with all sorts of cold drinks, Coke, Seven-up, Gastronate, 100 plus, orange juice, etc, including beer. While other not-so-lucky runners had to pick up half-filled water bottles along the road to re-hydrate. For those who are curious how the water station look like, there is a picture below.

Larian Amal Seri Sinar - News & Results