Pacesetters NB 15KM race

21 May 2006

Did not expect too much of myself in this race. Was just focusing in finishing within the 1:50 qualifying time for the Mens Veteran category. The race started without much of an attention since I was still talking to Ben, Jamie and Karen. Anyway nothing to complain, since this is more like a fun run, I put no pressure on myself to do well. Off we go and the road leading towards Bank Negara was filled with runners. Paced myself very patiently following the crowd, so as to the get the rhythm. Was at one time behind Ben, but all of a sudden this guy disappear (must be trying to do a PR - actually he was trying to do 1.15 according to his blog). There goes my pacer again......

With the crowd in front, one have to swing left and then right to overtake the slower runners. Soon we were climbing up the hills leading towards the Kenny Hills area. Was still running at a comfortable pace and I bumped into Eugene Lee. Greeted him and move on slowly. As we came downhill and running towards the Selangor Properties Condo area, the big crowd are now starting to disperse into small groups of runners. Ran pass a guy who was blasting his ears with music via his iPOD. Even I can hear the music when I ran pass him.

As we turn left into the junction that leads to the Double Hill route, I told myself this is where the race starts. True enuf I was overtaking quite a number of runners at this stage until the road leads us out to Jalan Maharajalela and made the left turn along the road towards Jabatan Perhutanan. Here I bumped into another friend of mine, Lawrence Tang. Greeted him and move on and reaches the junction where JKR building is, where we need to do a loop before reaching the finishing line at Padang Merbok.
















Now I am feeling the strain on the muscle of both legs as I climb the hill again. I was looking for a pacer now and saw Uncle Hooi. He was running in a very steady pace and I decided to pace with him all the way until we reaches the 10Km mark. Look at my watch and it was 59min. Not too bad a time and we continue to take on the hills. At this moment he was running slightly ahead of me and I did not really push myself to catch up, I am trying to reserve some energy for my last 1-2km push. Somewhere further up I saw William Wong running on his own, probably started very early in the morning just to catch up with the rest of the group. Greeted him and move on.

Just as I was passing the Distance Marker "4KM to go", Carboman passes me. We greeted each other, he went off like Flash Gordon, and after a while I lost sight of him. As I hit the junction that leads into Jalan Maharajalela, 2 lady runners went pass me. And I believe they were competing among each other and I decided to pace them following closely behind. Both of them were concentrating on their pace and do not realise I was behind them until we were on the uphill in front of Ministry of Agriculture building. I overtook both of them right in front of Jabatan Perhutanan before turning right into the road that leads to Tugu Negara. This put them into some pressure and was also a good pace for me to push harder towards the finishing. I overtook Uncle Hooi here and I take a look at my watch and it shows 1:20, I shud be able to cross the finishing line under 1:30.

We were running together at a pretty fast pace and at Tugu Negara, the olman engine was panting for oxygen and eventually both the ladies push ahead of me. I was following them all the way behind, cut into Jalan Parlimen and then turn left into the road leading towards the Padang Merbok carpark until we crossed the finishing line. Greeted and congratulated both of them (with handshakes) for being a good pacer and pushing each other all the way. Need to watch out for both of them in the next race.



















My watch showed 1:27:38 after I crossed the finishing line. Not too bad a time under my current form and conditon. Mingled around, have fruits and cereal for breakfast. Met Ben, Jamie, Cheong and Newton. Later I bumped into Karen and her dad, and eventually saw Eugene and YiXi. They did well too doing 1:40 something and 1:30 something respectively as a first timer. Watch out for them in future races, they will give us a run for the money.















My next official race will be the Penang Bridge International Marathon aka LAKSA Marathon on 30 July 2006. This will be a big test for me. I cannot even imagine the outcome, just train and enjoy the race. Thats my strategy and I will be happy if I can do a sub-5.