I was in Penang for the first marathon ever in my life... and suddenly my mobile rang."Hello? Mr. Ronny, How are you...?"
This was how it started. Mr. Ronny is one of the most down to earth and easy going person I'd met through Yoke Kuan. From the first day he'd met me, even as a complete stranger he had welcomed me with open arms. This goes for the rest of the Bukit Jalil running club as well.... Mr. Ting, Mr. Tang, Chee Pong, Lim and many others.
In the conversation, he went on telling me about this Army Camp run in Sungai Besi. Wow... my imagination went wild. I instantly thought of the excitement of running amongst Tanks and Helicopters. I'd completely ignored the fact that I had not even completed my first marathon! Haha!
"OK... No Problem! Sign Me Up!" was my response and I kept that out of my mind for a while to refocus on my first marathon.
Several weeks passed and I recall on Saturday, 12th December 2009 I'd arranged with my (busy) running buddy Yoke Kuan that I'll be picking her up in the morning for the race. I told her I'll be at her place at 5:30AM to head on to Kwong Woh Primary School in Sungai Besi.
It was 5.00AM, the alarm rang... I put it on snooze. "5 minutes..." I told myself "...5 Minutes" The next thing I knew when I opened my eyes it was already almost 5.30AM! "Shit..." I said followed by a series of lightning quick responses of completing my pre-race rituals of wearing my gear and etc. etc. Within less than 5 minutes, my gear was in the car, the gate is opened and Vroom... went the engine. Zoom zoom zoom... and I was at Yoke Kuan's place. Said my "sorry ah... overslept" and off we were to our race.
Reached the venue and only then did I realized that it was a run to celebrate 100 years anniversary of the Chinese Primary School (i think... cause I don't read mandarin) Did a quick warm up, had a quick PowerBar and some water and went straight to the Starting Line. "BANG!" the gun went and off we went! It wasn't a very huge race... it was a friendly race and many were seasoned runners. I was one of the few amateurs in this run.
The Committee and some participants
The route did take us into the Military camp but it wasn't as I imagined. There was no military tanks or helicopters but just mainly buildings, buildings and more buildings. It reminded me of the Mizuno Wave Run I'd done earlier in the year at UPM. The only difference is, the buildings were labeled differently. It was quite interesting. Competition was quite stiff. There were plenty of uphills and downhills... and I ran quite quickly today.
It felt good in this race... I ran quickly but the last stretch was bad. It was very much uphill. Had to walk at the end... but I completely my race in 52 min 08 sec, my personal best so far. I will strive to break my 50 minute barrier one day. But this will not be the day. I finished my race 17th place in my category. Yoke Kuan... finished 2nd and even got a throphy!
It was a good day... :)
The Female Winners of the races!
Ronnie of PaceMakers (visit his blog at pm1.blogspot.com)
Yoke Kuan and her 2nd Placing Trophy
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