Adidas King Of The Road

I missed last year race and heard lots of negative feedback about the event especially on toilets and insufficient water stations. So I hope this year the organiser had learn the mistakes and improve on it. This year the race was on 2nd Aug and held at the Shah Alam stadium.

Reaches the Shah Alam stadium pretty early at around 515am and there are ample parking. Since its still early I took a short nap before heading to the registration point at 6am. Registration was simple, and runners was given a black rubber band before allowed to enter the stadium.





















Warmup was done at the stadium area before the runners were asked to assemble along a road just outside the stadium where the starting point is located. Kudos to YB Khalid, MB of Selangor for being punctual to gun off the race at 630am.





















Runners have to run out of the stadium and onto the main road and immediately we are greeted with an uphill climb. My goal was to take it easy in the beginning as I was warned thjat there will be lots of up and down terrain throughout the entire route. Even with a hilly route my aim was to try and maintain a sub 5.30min pace throughout the race.

Running around Shah Alam area does not give me any sense of direction cos it looks the same everywhere coupled with all the huge roundabouts. The weather was dry and humid, and with the haze it makes running very challenging. Although there is no direct sunlight but I perspire a lot and water loss is definitely higher. I ensure that I drink more water at every station.



















Uphills and downhills along the route. And now I know why the run is called King Of The Road. The route doesnt allow one to rest after going uphill and gain some momentum before another hill to greet you, and have to make another climb again. This goes on and on throughout the entire course.

The mother of hill greeted all runners for at least a 700m climb before one reaches the top. And there it was the sight of Shah Alam stadium in front of us, and another 1km to the finishing line.
We are required to run thru the stadium tunnel before finsihing on the stadium track.

I crossed the finishing line in 1hr 59mins 19sec for a distance of 21.8km and was pretty happy with the timing. Also manage to get a finisher medal for the run.

Adidas King Of The Road

Before I start my race report, I would like to bid farewell to Pelle and family. After been living in Malaysia for almost 2 years (I met him during the Putrajaya Marathon 2005) he and his family will be moving his base to Korea (next week). The photo was taken before the race starts this morning (courtesy of KC). All the best and good luck to you and family. Do contact me when you are down in KL the next time. Adios amigo!!!

Back to the race. I anticipate the race to be run on an open hi-way. The race started on time by Sami Veloo, at least he didnt talk kok, i mean talk rubbish. He just said 1-2-3 and the race was started.

I started off very slowly since I am feeling very tired (stress out during year end closing) the week before leading to race day. Was running the first 5 km with Pelle at talk kok pace, I mean talking pace. Bumped into Wan Yew Loong and talk with him for a while and move on, then met Ah Grace and had a quick chat too. Not too far off saw Yee Hwa and had a quick chat too, then Ann, Kelvin PM2, Chee Wee, Mah Chai Meng - KRI and Lee from Penang. Slow down my pace when having a chat with all these people I know. I was not going for time and because of my tiredness I decided to take it easy.

At the 10k U-turn when one exit to Old Klang Road, the tiredness started to get worst. My pace are much more slower now and I just maintain it without pushing myself too hard. This continue until I crossed the finishing line in a time of 1h46mins. The distance covered that was shown on my Garmin Forerunner 205 was 19.6km (an under distance race). Anyway I was within the 2h15mins qualifying time and got myself a medal and certificate (which I hope the organiser will send to me)

Mingle around before having a quick breakfast and head for home. Then I got the scare of my life when I was at home resting.......