6th February 2010 – Putrajaya International Night Marathon 2010

The Putrajaya International Night Marathon 2010 will be the first ever night marathon in Malaysia.

I'm not sure how it is defined as a night marathon because in Penang Bridge International Marathon 2009, the race started at 2.30am in the middle of the night as well, or is that regarded as a morning marathon?

Anyhow, since they say it’s the first… I guess it’s the first.

I had a pretty good sleep on Friday night; I ensured that I slept early because I know that my body does not react well in long runs if I do not get sufficient sleep. I went to bed at 10pm. This time round, I had slept well… I think it is because I did not have the fear of not being able to wake up for an early morning race at ungodly hours like 3am or 4am. I told myself, I will sleep as long as my body wants too and wake up naturally when my body had rested enough. I turned into bed, and turned off all my alarms. Sleep was good.

I woke up at about 10am, lazed around a little bit in bed but strangely enough I wasn’t anxious or nervous. It felt strange, because I usually get very excited before a big race. I got up, washed up and stretched a little… and went about doing some chores. Had a hearty lunch with my wife and my best friend’s girlfriend and soon dropped them off at their Japanese language class. I then proceeded to conduct tuition to a bunch of my secondary 2 students in preparation of their PMR next year. As I was giving tuition, I envied my fellow runners whom must be sleeping throughout the afternoon in anticipation of the night race which begins at 8.00pm in Putrajaya.

Time flew on by and soon it was 5.00pm. Class was over and up I went to get myself ready for the race. I called Yoke Kuan, and told her that I’ll soon be on my way. I’d earlier made plans with her that we can go together for the race. It was her first marathon after many rounds of “marathon allergy”. I can’t believe that she is finally going to actually do it. She has previously been plagued with many unforeseen circumstances each time she attempted to do a marathon. This time round, it was no different. One way or another, there’s always a hiccup somewhere that would not allow her to do the marathon, that’s why I told her she’s probably allergic to marathons.

A few days ago, she had just found out that our friend whom was suppose to register her for the marathon had accidentally left out her name. Fortunately, another friend had managed to slot her in right at the last minute. Sometimes, it helps to do some networking doesn’t it? So, after all the fuss she had reached the point of no return. There were no more excuses, crisis or hiccups. She was to do her first marathon. I had earlier called to confirm if she was feeling well. I remember asking her “No stomach pain? Not throwing up? Feeling OK!?” When she responded that all was good… I silently thought. Finally!

I got dressed, got into my car, bid farewell to my students whom were waiting for their pick ups and headed off. I wasn’t too organized today, left a couple of stuff and had to turn back. I left my secret weapon, my special sole for my shoes. Turned back, picked them up and sped off once again.

Upon reaching Assunta Hospital which was close to where Yoke Kuan was staying, the traffic started to build up. So I called her and told her to chill while I embrace the traffic. I asked if she had any ice at home to chill the 8 bottles of Gatorade that I’d place in 2 separate Coleman in my trunk and she told me, she’ll go get them. Several minutes of embracing the traffic, I soon turned into her housing area and called out “Yoke Kuan! Yoke Kuan! Let’s go!”

She came out, with the bag of ice, and after we had carefully stuffed the ice into the ice box we got into the car and began the journey. We chatted a little and I asked if she was anxious about her first marathon. She seemed a little indifferent but I think she was looking forward to it. Messages from a friend, Paul came wishing us luck and safe journey. Paul was my ex-boss, the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Genting Malaysia. Despite his senior ranking in a respectable company, he’s one of the few super down to earth people whom I’ve come to respect over the years that I’ve known him. He treats all as equals, and for that I completely look up to him.

Because I’ve not ran a marathon before during such hours, I wasn’t really sure how to manage my food intake. Should I have dinner or should I go on Power Bar? I was concerned if I ate, I may throw up but then again, I was also concerned that if I don’t, I won’t have any energy to complete the race. After picking Yoke Kuan up, I decided to eat. As a last minute decision, we headed to the only drive-thru McDonalds that we can think off which was located along the Seremban highway. Bought a Double Cheeseburger Value Meal plus an additional Cheeseburger for later and munched along the way. I declared that tonight’s marathon will be powered by McDonald Fuel.

We soon reached Precinct 3, where the race would start. I circled around the block for a few times to find a parking spot where I felt it would be safe. After all the horror stories of unscrupulous people breaking into cars at races, it was better to be safe than sorry. I had parked near the race venue and we got our act together and suited up for the race. Heart Rate Monitors, Fuel Belt, Phiten Stickers and the whole nine yards. It felt like we were soldiers preparing to go for war.

We stuffed out mobile phones and valuables into the bag and checked them into the secretariat. It was either that or risking it by leaving it in the car. Well, I had faith in those managing the event so it was probably safer to check them in. We caught up with some friends like Lee, Ronny and the Bukit Jalil gang who was there to promote their Bareno Run which is up and coming where I also saw that there was a counter set up to promote the Bidor Half Marathon. I instantly signed up for the Bidor run and off I went to keep the receipt into my checked in luggage.

I'm the one in red, to the left of B2003 Sun Yoke Kuan : Photo courtesy of Frank Chong

Time was almost 7.30pm, and I gestured Yoke Kuan that it was probably time to go report in for the race. We reported in without much problems and I recall telling Yoke Kuan, this is the point of no return. J We stood around waiting for time to pass when I saw this guy being interview by this guy wearing an orange shirt. I figured out that he must be Anand, the Orange Man. As I had earlier been selected as one of Hooha Asia’s SuperStars, I introduced myself and he told me he tried contacting me earlier but there was no answer. I figured that my phone must’ve already been on silent and checked in and therefore that was why I didn’t hear any calls. He proceeded to do a quick interview and he bid me good luck! I was then introduced to several other SuperStars and one of them coincidently was Mr. Ang, who introduced himself as the Chief Risk Officer of Agro Bank. We chatted a little and soon it was countdown time.

The Full Marathon Route

Bang! The gun went off as I immediately pressed “Start” on my trusty Garmin Forerunner 405. I’d always preferred to time myself from gun time instead of net time so that along the way I can push myself a little faster. We had a good position near the starting line so it wasn’t too crowded in the beginning but soon there were many that started overtaking me. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling but at this point I kept reminding myself of Lee and Daniel’s advice. Converse and hold back. Pace yourself. I started slow, the plan was to do a slow warm up jog until the first water station before I start running my usual pace. The strategy paid off well.

I’d couple my walk-run strategy alongside with proper fuel management. I did some research online and decided to test out a fueling strategy similar to the one I did during the New Balance Pacesetters 30K race earlier in January. My fueling strategy is as below:-

1 PowerGel 1 x caffeine 15 minutes before race

1 PowerGel 1 x caffeine at 7.5 km mark

1 PowerGel 1 x caffeine at 16 km mark

1 PowerGel 1 x caffeine at 24 km mark

1 PowerGel 2 x caffeine at 32 km mark

1 PowerGel 2 x caffeine at 37 km mark

I know this could be over-doing it on refueling but the idea was to ensure that before my body is shouting out for energy, I would supply it with the coal to burn. It was planning to prevent my body from crashing and to some extend, it worked out quite well.

So, I ran slowly in the beginning and Yoke Kuan caught up with me and told me that she would run with me to the first water station. This soon came and she gestured me to go ahead and push on as she mentioned that her knee had started to ache a little. I told her to listen to her body and if the pain persist and is gradually increasing, I’d suggested her to drop out. After that, I pushed ahead gradually increasing my speed while looking for someone that I can pace after. I put on my iPod and tried taking my mind off the run. I wanted to forget how long 42km is, and just enjoy the run. This helped for a while but eventually it gets a little boring as I’d forgotten to change the content in my iPod Shuffle. I’ve been consistently listening to the same play list ever since I started running. I use it for my training, my races – both short and long distance. It was getting a little old and I’d meant to change them but never got to it. So, I’d just have to suffer as a result of my own procrastination.

I put my iPod aside, and decided to find someone to talk to. Met this veteran runner from Kepong and had a decent chat with him. I always like to chat with people more senior than myself because they usually have more stories and advices to tell. It also meant that I didn’t have to talk too much. J We went on for a while, and I decided to quicken my pace. It was then that I saw this petite girl doing a pretty decent pace who was surrounded by almost 8 guys from different age groups. I tried to catch a glimpse of her as I’m wondering why she’s being surrounded. Well, she was in fact quite pretty and I deducted that these people must be pacing her and is probably motivated being after to chase after her. I wondered where she’s from, I’d seen her in a few races and I wonder what her name was. Haha! Traffic was a little heavy so I tried speeding up and overtook them.

The air was quite stuffy at the starting point and this only changed slightly after we got out into the open highway. It was only then that I felt a light breeze in the warm night. It was a breeze long sought for. I slowed down at each water station to drink, and each sponging station to grab the ice cold sponge. I’d read that it cools down your core, but I usually do it because it just wakes me up.

I don’t really know how far I’ve traveled as I try not to keep track of the distance. I tell myself “Just run la…” and I was soon overtook by a group of very fast runners. It was then that I realized that they were the Half-Marathoners. I actively searched for my sifu, Brother Daniel as he will usually be with this pack of front line runners but after 30 minutes or so, he’s no where to be seen. So, I deducted that he must’ve passed me earlier without me knowing. I gave up searching for him once we had to part to a different route as those doing the full marathon used a much longer route. I silently wished him well while I continued my journey.

It must’ve been about 25 km when I started to feel that my mind is beginning to wander. I had to refocus, and the long highway stretch isn’t helping with the situation. I spotted a runner in blue, a reasonably young guy about 26 – 28 I think and I started pacing him. He was doing a decent pace and we were doing an uphill stretch. So I zoned out and just concentrated on following his pace. He lead me up through the hill and I continued to follow him to the next water station. After the water station, we both slowed down to a walk for a quick drink but I’d restarted my run a little earlier than he did. I looked back for him and gestured him to move up forward, I introduced myself and he told me his name was Leon or Leong (couldn’t really hear to well as he was breathing heavily too). I suggested that we should pace each other to the next water station and he agreed. This strategy worked well and we soon reached the next water station. He then asked me, now what? I told him, what else? Off to the next station of course! Haha!

Along the way to the next water station, I suddenly spotted Lee who had slowed down to a walk. I slowed down to chat with him for a little while and he said he was not doing too well tonight. He motioned me to keep moving. I then quicken my pace to catch up with Leon and I soon also caught up with Frank Chong who was stretching. I’d earlier spotted him way ahead of me on the opposite side of the road doing a very good pace so I stopped and asked if he was alright, because I remember that his injured knee is probably not fully recovered yet. He told me to move on and told me not to stop as my muscles might lock up and cramp. Thanks for the advice Frank!

Off I went again into the quiet night, it must’ve been between 30 – 32 KM now, and I noticed that many are now walking. I did a mental body check and felt that I seem to be still okay, and perhaps I’d conserved a little too much so I decided to step it up. I sped up and overtook Leon whom I’d been pacing and told myself, this was where I broke down in PBIM. I asked myself out loud “So, what are you made off James?”

"What are you made off?" - James Wong

I recall seeing the sign, “32KM achieved, 10KM to go” and I did some mental calculations, a quick glance at my GPS showed that I’d spent about 3 hours 20 minutes getting to this point, so I did some mental calculations and told myself, if I can run a 10KM race in 52 minutes, perhaps I can reset my mind and think of this as a 10KM race. I tried to reset my mind and started to quicken my pace to a 10KM race pace and told myself, I may just break the 4 hour 30 minute barrier but it was a grave mistake. I had fooled myself into believing that I can turn into superman running a 10KM race pace after I’d done 32KM. I started slowing down to walks after 4 km or so.

The last 6KM was a combination of walk and runs, and I constantly asked myself if I can make it within 4hr 30min. At the last 4km, I was totally de-motivated as I know that I would not make my target of 4 hours 30 minutes. This target was only set at KM 32, because this marathon was meant to be a training leading to my Ultra Marathon in May. It was never meant to be a marathon to break my PB. A little dishearten, I walked and told myself that even if I were to walk all the way from this point, I would be able to break my marathon record of 4 hours 57 minutes which I’d achieved last year during my first marathon attempt in PBIM.

It was at this point, where I heard a familiar voice in Cantonese saying “Oi James… Hang Lo…” (Translated as “Hey James… Let’s move…”) and as I looked behind I saw my friend Ah Keong from the Bukit Jalil running club. He said, the finish line isn’t too far away and told me to let’s keep moving. I moved my tired legs and started running slowly with him telling him that I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t break the 4:30 barrier. He looked at his watch and said, actually if you keep moving, you might just make it in a nick of time. I took his advice, told him… “OK! I’ll try” and started running again purely based on motivation. I suddenly felt stronger and ran a little faster and when I finally reached the marker indicating that it’s the last 2 KM, I ran out of spirit again. I walked a little bit, my watch shows me that it’s not possible to break 4:30, but since I’m so close, perhaps I can just raise the bar for my next PB?

I took a deep breath and started widening my stride. I remember how the Kenyans do it. The always seem to be almost doing splits in mid air, and that motivated me to quicken my pace. 700 meters to go, the final turning. One of the race marshals on his bicycle told me, just a little more and you’ll be able to see the finish line after you make the final turning. This really motivated me tremendously, and as soon as I cleared the final turning… I suddenly remembered “Finish Strong!”

"Just Smile and Finish Strong!" - James Wong

I kept repeating this to myself as I ran a sprinting pace. The bright lights started to get closer and soon I could see a small crowd of people cheering on. A man shouted “Young Man! Very well done!” and I remember giving him the thumbs up! There were some camera flashing and I tried to smile for them as I head towards the end of this long journey. I’d slowed down to cross the finish line to savor the moment of victory. The time on my watch showed that I’d completed my marathon in 4 hours 34 minutes and 53 seconds. It was a new personal best for me. It was a moment of victory… of joy and of great satisfaction.

I collected my medal, immediately put it on and gave it a kiss. Went over to the media centre to do my interview and soon after headed over to wait for my friend Yoke Kuan. She finished in 5 hours 13 minutes for her first marathon. Kudos! Amazing! The feeling she feels will certainly be beyond words.

We soon left and changed our clothes. As we felt hungry, we headed for Lok Lok in Sri Petaling. A satisfactory Victory Dinner for the both of us; to celebrating my new PB and her first marathon ever. I am confident; I will be able to break the 4:30 barrier one day.

Who knows, this day may come sooner than I expect.