SCKLM 09 Race Report

Slept well the nite before and woke up at 230am to get ready for the race. Do my morning business as usual but it took longer as this is not my normal time for such activity. Anyway got it done in 2 tries, lucky I would said. Bowels cleared and my body feels lighter. Usual cup of oats, soy milk, black sesame seed and brown rice powder for breakfast. Everything checked and I am out of the house at 330am sharp.

Besides for some small hold up along the way to Lake Gardens (party-goers finishing their clubbing session and going home), I reached Bukit Aman carpark at around 400am. There are already quite a number of runners at the location when I arrived and the runners are in a carnival and jovial mood. As for me, no kancheongness creaping into me, very calm indeed!!!!

Soon the rest of the Platinum gang arrived.....Loke, Frank, Lau, Marvin and Lawrence was there earlier than me. We chatted while putting on our running attire before we start to make our commencement which is a 1km walk to race site at Dataran Merdeka. Once we reached race site we bumped into many frenz of ours (too many to name them) and do our last pit stop. And suddenly the sky crumbbled down and decided to rain. Its more of a heavy drizzle than a heavy downpour. Its now abt 430am and still 30mins before the 42k race starts. Most of the runners took shelter at the tents that was setup.

10 mins to race start and we are all inside the kandang ready to be gun-off. Its still drizzling and I reckon it will be a wet race at least for the next 10k to 15k. All the runners were gun-off at 500am sharp and out we go.

The race route take us from Dataran Merdeka, passing the old Railway Station and into Brickfields passing the KL Sentral landmark. It was too dark for anymore to admire it. I was running at my race pace target of 6.30 minutes together with Lawrence. As we were approaching towards the Federal Highway, Lawrence stop for his very early pit stop and I was all on my own. Onto the Federal Highway and the route take us to Jalan Loke Yew pass Stadium Merdeka towards Cheras direction.

At this momet I bumped into Seok Ling (SL) running at a steady pace (slow for her standard, as i was informed she was carrying an injury). I up my pace tempo and just pace her, and its a 6min pace. By now I have increase my pace a bit as I am feeling ok. We ran together along Jalan Loke Yew and all the way along Jalan Cheras. Then out of no way Khee Meng came charging. This senior veteran is always full of energy. As we are about to cut into Jalan Tun Razak, SL drop off and I am not sure wat happened.

From Jalan Tun Razak onwards I followed Khee Meng closely, and again out of a sudden Keat Seong came charging along. This Ironman is full of energy and we paced together for a short while before he take off. As I crossed the intersection of Jalan Ampang, I caught up with Lai Fong Sang which is running very steady and give him a pat before moving on.

Approaching the Jalan Pahang round-about and I from a far saw a runner that looks like Frank. As i got neared it was indeed Frank and he looks likeehe is struggling with his injury. Told him to go slow and off I go. As the route took me into Jalan Ipoh, Khee Meng was not pacing me anymore and probably had slowed down. My pace is still maintaining at a 6min pace and I am feeling good. From Jalan Ipoh, it took us into Kampung Baru and then towards the KLCC area along Jalan Ampang.

It was pleasant running along Jalan Ampang where the road is very wide. From here it take us into Jalan Kia Peng and there are some foreign supports cheering the runners up. I was surprised to see Tay Poh Chye here and just pass him. He was too encrossed focusing on his run. From Jalan Kia Peng, the route took the runners to Pavilion shopping mall along Jalan Bukit Bintang before crossing over to Jalan Sultan Ismail and then a left turn into Jalan Raja Chulan. Traffic along this few cross sections are filled with traffic where the policeman had totally stop vehicle flow to allow runners to pass by.

At the Jalan Raja Chulan water stop is where I bumped into Marvia and we then ran together. Time check and I am still pretty much maintaining a 6min pace, cinya holiao. Body is still fresh and not having any fatigue at all. Ran past Chinatown area and then onto Jalan Hang Tuah before taking a climb over a ramp towards Jalan Syed Putra where Istana Negara is located. After the climb, Marvin drop behind and I was all along again.

I know this is where the challenge will be as there will be gradual incline along this stretch. The distance now is around 34k to 35k with 7k more to finish. I slowly cruise along Jalan Syed Putra and I reckon this is where most runner will suffer because it was a long stretch of incline before a downhill near Parlimen house and make a left exit towards Jalan Sallahuddin where there is another steep climb. As my pace is still strong (maintaining a 6min pace) I kinda of cruise control along this stretch potong sayur quite a number of runners which were in the same 42k category.

From a far I start to have a vision of Keat Seong who had waved past me in the very early stage of the race. Slowly and surely I was closing down on him, and as I reach Jalan Sallahuddin, caught up with him and gave a pat. I told him lets pace each other out and finish the race together. Keat Seong is drying up and looking for water. The sponging station at the 37k mark had ran out of water, cinya TNS. We took on the steep climb and slowly increased our pace towards Bank Negara.

Its probably 39k at the Bank Negara junction and we still need to turn towards Jalan Raja Laut and make a U turn at Wisma C&C and back onto Jalan TAR before heading towards Dataran Merdeka for the finale. Along Jalan Raja laut near UOB Bank, Keat Seong beh tahan anymore and asked me to go ahead. He was really drying up and in need of water. That left me on a solo mision again to finish the race.

This is a long stretch road ahead and I slowly inched towards the U turn. Once on Jalan TAR, I switched on the usual finishing turbo and open up my stride. All the way down Jalan TAR toward the Dataran. I was very focus in running under 4.20 and pushing real hard to give it a shot. Stride after stride I ran, passing a number of 42k runners and just give a pat on CC Hoo as I passed him. Crossed the junction and into the finishing path of Dataran Merdeka. I heard cheers from the crowd but I am not sure who they are, as my focus is to reach the FINSIH point.

Crossed the FINISH point in 4.17.26..........I immediately bowed to the ground and say a prayer. It was answered throughoout the race. Some race officials thot I blacked out, but as I rose up I told them I am OK, just saying a prayer that I finish the race safely.

So, another marathon under my belt and I did not expect to clock such a timing. I guess the 2 months of training paid off, plus the durian load helps too. Till then and seeya around in future races.