The lead-in to race day was a short 3hrs nap. I slept at around 11.30pm the nite before and woke up at exactly 2.30am the next morning. Wash myself up and had my usual breakfast of 6 teaspoon of oats mixed with soya milk. Then I headed out of the house towards Bukit Aman where I will park the car and meet up with Frank. When I reached the destination, Frank was oredi there waiting. Put on my running gears and we headed towards the race site at Dataran Merdeka together with Jason Lim. It was about 1km walk down the road.
Met all the regular frenz and greeted each other with encouragement. Met up with Pelle who flew in from Korea to run the race. It was good to see him again after he left Malaysia since August 2007. As this is a charity race for myself to raise funds for an orphanage home, I am motivated to run the race with my mind focusing on all the orphans who are in need of all the monies. To them every cents count on what I can raise.
The race was gun off at 4.30am sharp and runners was clapping to acknowledge the beginning of a long race to go. Was running closely together with Frank and Jamie for almost 15k and after that Frank drop back slightly. Both Jamie and myself continue to maintain the pace and as we approaches the 20k mark, he decided to move ahead with a faster pace. I fall back and was running alone from the 20k mark onwards.
Met Zul at the AmBank building and greeted him. Went past him and continue my solo run all the way to the 25k mark. My legs felt a bit tire as I approached 25k and decided to slow down my pace just as not to trigger any muscle pull or cramp. Ran all the way down Jalan TAR towards the U-turn (near Dataran Merdeka) into Jalan Raja Laut. Experiencing a slight muscle pull as I was running along Jalan Raja Laut but eases off as I turn into Jalan Raja Muda heading towards the 30k mark. Some where at the 29k mark, I heard a voice greeting me and it was Shine. He was running past me so gracefully with very little effort.
As I turn into Jalan Tun Razak after the 30k mark, I felt the tightness on both my legs and that slow me down tremendously. I am anticipating the muscle pull and cramps will hit me anytime from now onwards. True enuf at the 32k mark, my legs are like applying emergency brakes where it hardly wanted to move. Cramps are over my thighs and calf. At this point I have to actually slow down my pace to ease off the pain. This helps as the pull comes and goes, allowing me to continue running. Never thinking of giving up and start walking. An Indian gentleman went alongside me and asking who am I running for. Told him about my mission to raise funds and he said he will pledge RM100 and meet me at the finishing line. I thank him for his generosity and we exchanged names and he move on. His name is Mohan. This really motivates me to continue no matter whats going to happen.
As I was climbing up the hilly course along Jalan Mahameru, Phyllis and Yee Hua went past me. These two ladies were running very strongly side by side. I just continued running at almost turtle pace by now. Bumped into Yaziz and he was about to resume running after a short rest. Continue with my slow pace all the way down Jalan Duta before making the U-turn. This point turn disastrous for me as the muscle pull became more severe. I had no choice but to revert to walking and eases off the muscle tension. As the cramp eases off, I started adopting the run and walk option, and this continues all the way till I reached the 40k mark.
2k to go and at the 40k mark. I stretched both my legs and told myself I will run all the way from here no matter what's going to happen. This last 2k is dedicated to all the orphans whom I had collected the donations and will be sending to them. Immediately my imagination kicks in and all these orphans are greeting me with big smiles and wide open arms.
As I was trooping down hill after the climb, I saw a man in a Pacesetter T-shirt greeting every runners. As I get closer to him, its was Capt Lim from the Klang Group. It was so nice of him to offer me some water and wishes me all the best to finishing. Ran past Bank Negara and onto the traffic light that leads me to the right towards Dataran Merdeka for the finishing. As I approaches the final destination, the group of Pacemakers were there cheering me up. Now the cramp is getting more severe but I hang on to it and crossed the finishing line in 4h37min20sec (Gun off time) and champion chip time of 4h36min19sec.
Well....I could have done better if not for the cramp that slow down my pace. But anyway I have done my very best and ran the race with my fullest capability. The timing was secondary for me, cos if it was faster then it was a real bonus to me. What is more important are those orphans that kept me running and running and running. The donations that I raised will definitely meant a lot to them in terms of meeting their needs in buying food, clothing, supplements and others. I shall be meeting them in a week or so to pass on the donations to them.
Hopefully with this small amount of donations it will continue to inspire them and make them a better person in the near future. To all that have pledge a donation to me whether in large or small amount, I on behalf of the orphans from Home For The Angels would like to say a big Thank You to you.
You made it HAPPEN !!!!!
