KL Tower International Forest Towerthon Challenge 2008...

Event: KL Tower International Forest Towerthon Challenge 2008
Venue: KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 3 February 2008
Time: 8am
Distance: 1KM uphill run, 1.02KM (2,058 stairs climb)
Shoe: adidas Supernova Cushion 6
By Frank

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The bunting says it all, Towerthon...

This morning sees a different kind of running event for me and Andy. The KL Tower Towerthon as what most people calls it, sees a 1KM uphill climb followed by the tower ascent through the tower shaft which consist of 22 levels which makes up of 2,058 stairs equivalent to 1.02KM.

The fifth tallest telecommunication tower in the world, KL Tower...

The starting venue was at an empty piece of land just slightly below the entrance to the hill area. It was in a mess! It was full of rocks and mud thanks to the rain yesterday night. And what makes it worst is the small little hill at the starting point is unevenly cemented which is pretty hazardous. Runners were release in a staggered manner every 15 minutes where each group consist of 200 runners. 20 minutes before the start, rain drops were felt and it kept coming. But it was pretty nice as it was really cooling and it wasn't really heavy.

At the starting line...

And at 8am, the first batch of runners where I was in was flagged off. Upon reaching the main gate, it was a steep uphill climb. I pushed and pushed and my heart rate hit 94% here! Halfway through, I was already exhausted. But the rain helped rejuvenate me a bit and by the time I hit the stairs, some energy came back into me. The stair case area was very tight and narrow and overtaking is almost impossible unless the person in front takes a rest. And also, the view is all cement, cement and more cement with the salty smell coming from the sweaty runners. As I was just through one quarter of the tower ascent, I can feel my heart beating real fast. Slowed down and started to breath deeply before I went for it again. It did helped and I started overtaking runners through gaps I found between slower runners and the wall. Motivational posters were put up at most floors consisting of phrases from famous sports people. And when I hit the 16 floor and saw the poster saying that there is 6 more floors to go, I started pushing again and counting down at the same time. But then after climbing for 4 floors, I was greeted by another poster saying another 4 more floors to go. I was shocked and my legs went wobbly when I saw that. But then, I know I'm almost there, so no point complaining. And as I reached the top and crossed the finish line, I felt relieve that it is over as I was kind of worried about my heart rate. I clocked 00:22:09. Felt a bit disappointed as I was initially targeting sub 20 minutes. But guess it's ok as I was rewarded with a magnificient view of Kuala Lumpur and it's surrounding areas from the fifth tallest communicaton tower in the world.

Frank with the magnificient view from 276m high up in the sky...

Stayed a while there snapping some pictures of the great view while waiting for Andy to arrive before we made our way down to collect our goodie bag and finisher's medal. And I really have to comment on the goodie bag. Although it consist of some pretty good stuff (considering this is a RM20 event), why did they put sanitary napkins in it? If they were to put, at least differentiate between the male and female runners. Weird...

The finisher's medal...

The goodie bag...

Anyway, although far from perfect, I totally enjoyed this event. And with the Chinese New Year celebration just around the corner, here's wishing everyone a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!