Sunday, April 12, 2009

BHP Orange Run 2009...

Event: BHP Orange Run 2009
Venue: Piazza, The Curve, Selangor
Date: 12 April 2009
Time: 7.30am
Distance: 11KM (10.65KM by Lynn's Garmin Forerunner 405)
Shoe: adidas adizero Tempo
By Frank

The fourth edition of the BHP Orange Run which also happens to be my third saw 2 changes. First being the distance having to be increased from 9KM (actual was close to 10KM though) to 11KM. The second will be the technical aspect of it, as the Selangor Amateur Athletic Association has been replaced by the Pacesetters Athletic Club Malaysia. I will guess it's pretty much due to what happened last year when a foreigner won the race but was then disqualified.

Initially, I have planned to run a 10KM run an hour earlier before the race. But since I haven't been sleeping well the past few days, I then decided to change my mind to have some good quality rest. Therefore, instead of a long run, I opt for speed work which turned out pretty well. And to do it in a race, that's killing 2 birds with 1 stone (no birds were harm though).

Arrived an hour before the race and soon hooked up with the Choi, Pueh Tian, Victor, Shih Ming and Pui San, just to name a few. Jamie who registered for the race came as a cameraman though. However, the shock of the morning was seeing Lynn turning up in her running attire! There were some inflammation on her ankle which is rather worrying as big races are fast approaching. I just hope nothing will go wrong. Take care ya, Lynn.

The start was rather punctual. But as I was chatting with Lynn and Victor far at the back of the crowd, and the loudspeaker that Tony was using was low on battery, we didn't know much about the staggered start though it has been all this while the during the previous editions. I saw other male runners around, so we thought for a change, we are all starting at the same time. The first air horn went off and I was still there with Victor. As I approach nearer to the starting line, we heard that the male runners are allowed to start while the women came to a halt. Both of us made our way through the crowd and officially started our race few minutes late and way at the back having the whole road for ourselves.

My strategy for this speed work will be to run to my fullest for 1KM followed by a recovery jog the next 500M before resuming again. I started slowly, slowly revving up my engines as I did not warm myself up earlier. As I hit the the McDonald's junction, I felt it was time to start my pace as I hit the first batch of runners who started earlier.

And so my strategy worked pretty well as the roads were wide enough to accommodate the number of runners. As I arrive at the main roads, the air quality got nasty as vehicle fumes were just polluting the fresh morning air. Victor has already disappeared from my sight here.

During the climb into the housing area of Sunway Damansara which I think should be the halfway point, a refreshment station appeared and I lost a few seconds gulping down a cup of isotonic drink. Soon after at Riana Greens, I spotted something pretty amusing though. A volunteer was standing at the road side with a 6.5KM distance marker written in marker pen on a piece of card board hung around his neck. Now, that's something new!

The road got narrow on the approach to Bandar Utama, and the vehicle fumes kept coming. I was just glad to arrive at Lebuh Bandar Utama as the road widen up. However, I felt some discomfort on my left ankle's inner ball. With this, I decided to call it a day with my speed work and just carry on with a normal run, grinding my teeth as I ran. And further down ahead, Lionel overtook me! Where did he come from?

Entering the last straight at Dataran Bandar Utama, knowing it's about 1KM to the finish line, I went all out again keeping the sight of the finish line in my mind to keep myself occupied instead of thinking of my ankle. 00:54:26 after the start earlier, I crossed the finish line.

Grab the goodie bag, and went straight to my car to grab my camera as it's here where the fun begins. I wasn't in time to snap the finishing of the top women runner friends though as they have all returned. And yes once again, Pui San, Lynn, and Shih Ming dominated 4th, 5th and 3rd in their own category respectively! And like the previous Larian Amal Seri Sinar 2009, it was time for photo shoots and getting together. Had a long quality time together with friends before making our way home for a good rest over the remaining weekend. Rest well everyone, especially... (you know who you are).

Runners surrounding Tony, announcer and road marshall for the day...

Shih Ming, Lynn and Pui San with their prizes. Congratz...

5 comments:

Yin said...

wah, good to read such a quick posting on this morning's run :) i didn't spot the volunteer with the sign but maybe it was coz i was trying to avoid the cars on the road :P

i enjoyed last year's post-run performances - the drummers, the cheerleaders - and was hoping to catch that too this year but i guess budget cuts must have been made.

no pix ke? ;)

Frank Chong said...

Not sure about the performances you mentioned last year cause I left pretty early. But overall the quality of the run has improved under the technical assistance from Pacesetters, minus the low battery on Tony's loudspeaker. Haha...

Yin said...

hmm, i'll see if i can post up some pix of last years performances on my blog later if the net isn't too slow ;)

low bat - hahahaha

Chin Chin said...

Ah, another awesome run and finish by those elite ladies... Now all of them owe me dinner! Hahaha...

-Tweet-

C-CUBE said...

tweet,u just sit there and relax, while the free dinner will come to you.