KLIM07 Race Report - 18 March 2007

As in my previous posting it was 20 years ago that I ran the KLIM, and that was in 1987. The morning started very early with me waking up at 2.45am. Wash myself up and have a cup of oats with soya milk (these have been my breakfast for the past 3 weeks) for breakfast, and by the time I started to leave home, it is almost 3.15am.

Reached Bukit Aman carpark at around 3.45am and there are already people there. Put on my vest and apply petrol jelly to all the sensitive areas to prevent any friction and chafing. It was 4.ooam now and I decided to walk to Dataran Merdeka for my registration. Took me about 10 mins to reach the starting point at Dataran Merdeka. Did some stretching and warmup, and Wong sifu appeared. We decided then to look for a place to do our small business.

By 4.15am, we decided to register ourselves and masuk kandang. Inside the kandang, we met many frens and then Cheong SH appeared. He told us he is feeling very nervous (since this is his maiden marathon) We told him to calm down and just run his race with his most comfortable pace. Just hit the tarmac and get himself to the 30k mark, the rest is mind over body....thats what I told him.















L-R: Wong sifu, Cheong SH and myself


At 4.30am sharp, the race was started and I was running along side with Wong sifu. As we ran towards the railway station I heard Kelvin Ng (PM2) voice at the back of me. He was talking very loudly entertaining everyone that he know, and soon I join in the talk kok converstaion. The group consists of Fook and a lady called Phyllis. Running with him actually ease off lots of pressure and soon we reach the first water stop (5k) and I skip it. We continued running and the conversation goes on (Kelvin start talking to another Gal that he knows) till we reaches the entrance the SMART tunnel along the KL-Seremban/Sg Besi highway. A familiar site because it was one week ago that I race at this route, only this time it is in the inside lane. Soon Kelvin, The Gal and myself reached the 2nd water stop (10k) and I take in two cups of 100 Plus and 2 cups of water.

We continued to run together as we passed the 10k mark towards Dewan Pustaka where we are suppose to make a right turn in Jalan Loke Yew. At 10k I lost Wong sifu,a nd believe he was behind running his own pace. Here we caught up with Ah Loong running at a very easy pace. Ran towards Jalan Loke Yew and by that time its almost 6am, and the traffic is all jam up because it was closed at certain stretch of Jalan Loke Yew to allow runners to pass by. Instead of pure oxygen, we are also given free carbon dioxide here. The 3rd water stop (15k) is around this area and again I wallop two cups of 100 Plus and 2 cups of water. Running on a one lane along Jalan Loke Yew and the other lane was pile up with traffic.

From Jalan Loke Yew, then we turned into Jalan Cheras and this is where I left Kelvin behind and now was running with The Gal. We got into Jalan Tun Razak and this is where the 4th water stop (20k) was located before heading towards Jalan Bukit Bintang. . The Gal move on and left me behind but I can still spot her from a distance. Then we are supposed to take a right turn into Jalan Sultan Ismail. At this point I am still maintaining a very comfortable pace so as not to push myself to hard and suffer from cramps later. I was very cautious about it. Went thru the water sprinkler setup by the Adidas team and the group was cheering loudly " Impossible is Nothing"

Reaches the 5th water stop (25k), and drank the right amount of fluid before heading towards Jalan TAR. The road will lead us to the finishing line at Dataran Merdeka but fat hopes for the full marathon runners. We have to make a right turn at the Jalan Tun Perak junction and head towards Jalan Raja Laut. I was running a bit faster now and manage to catch up with The Gal. From here we ran towards Jalan Raja Muda and joins back Jalan Tun Razak.

The 6th water stop (30k) was just at the cross section between the two roads. At this moment I am still running fine except that my legs are staring to feel tire. I told myself, from now on till the finishing its my mind over my body. I have to be strong in whatever happen and dont hit the wall. Stiffness on the calf on both my legs start to create some problem and I start to slow down hoping that it goes away and the cramp doesnt hit me. The Gal had left me behind again and this time no sight of her anymore. As I ran along Jalan Tun Razak towards Jalan Mahameru, again there were traffic on the outer lane and free carbon dioxide was given to us. The uphill along Jalan Mahameru is a slow battle for me taking it steps by steps, seconds by seconds until I am at the top for the down hill again. What a relief in taking on this stretch. Now its downhill for me towards Jalan Duta and I saw a sign "9KM". That means 9k to go and then followed by a sign "8k".

I reached the 7th water stop (35k) and gulped in as much fluid as I can. My legs are still OK but very tire by now. No sign of any muscle cramp, just some stiffness around the calf area but am able to overcome it by not running to fast. From this point is 7k to go, and I told myself its just the same distance as running two loops around my housing area where I normally train in the morning. This is just to give myself some motivation that the finishing point is getting nearer

I am now running along Jalan Duta and had to make a U-turn back to the other side of the road. On the opposite side saw some runners really struggling in pain. Most of them are hit by cramps. As I ran along Jalan Duta towards the finishing point, my calf muscle starte dto act up and have some signs of getting cramp. I slowed down to contain it so as not to aggravate it too much and continue to run. I hit the 8th water stop (40k ) as i tackle another hill near the Jabatan Perhutanan office. This hill is always a phobia to me because of its gradually steepness and the distance.













Hand in Hand finishing with KRI member

Finally got over it and onto my final stretch towards Dataran Merdeka. As i turn right towards the stretch from a far I saw der PM team welcoming my arrival. Thanks a lot for the encouragement. As I run towards the finishing, I caught up with a senior veteran runner and held together our hands high up for a victorious finishing.

The offical clock shows 4:35:38

My spilt time.

5k: 32mins
10k: 1h05mins
15k: 1h37mins
20k: 2h05mins
25k: 2h36mins
30k: 3h06mins
35k: 3h43mins
40k: 4h20mins
42k: 4h35mins