PJ Half Marathon 2011...

Event: PJ Half Marathon 2011

Venue: Stadium Petaling Jaya, Petaling Jaya

Date: 30 October 2011

Time: 6.30am

Distance: 21KM (21.05KM by Polar RCX5 G5)

Shoe: K-Swiss K-Ruuz

By Frank

Probably the oldest running event in the Klang Valley, the PJ Half Marathon made a return to the running scene this morning after a 3 years hiatus. I remembered clearly that in the year 2007, I ran together with Rashid and Ferdinand as part of the members of LYN Runners which today has been sabotaged. Anyway, was really looking forward to the run hoping a good run out of it (I even chose to run in one of my favourite racer), but sadly, it didn't went as planned.

The Ruuz is back in action...

Surprisingly, I slept pretty well last night. Preparation was swift but when I arrived to the race venue with an hour to spare, my tummy sent out a distress call. Time to hit the potty pot! After making my deposit, I met up with lots of friends like Raymond, Michelle, Shine and Yim which the 2 latter I spent some quality time with chatting until the gun went off out of a sudden signalling the start of the run.

I quickly settled into pace trying to make my way past other runners as I started way at the back. Just after 100M or so, Yim disappeared into the front. He was fast! Weather was kind of humid and by the time I hit Federal Highway, I was already experiencing problem with my vision as sweat is slowly stinging both my eyes. Where is the Halo headband when I need them?

About 3KM into the run, Rizal called out to me only to let me know that Jamie is slightly at the front. I gave chase and soon join him and Calvin. Making the turn at the LDP overhead bridge, I slowed down a little for about 1KM to recover myself before going for it again. Then it was on to the airport road and I was joined by Jamie again where we ran together till about 10KM near to where the entrance to the Subang highway interchange was.

Thing started to go awry for me here. Remember the 4 blisters I suffered at The North Face 100 Duo a couple of weeks ago? It actually didn't burst leaving loose skin on the affected area. The main bloody blister on my right big toe burst as I felt a warm sensation followed by pain. To make matters worst, another one above it and the other over my left feet too decided to join in the "fun". It affected the way I run and I had to shift to heel striking at times to avoid as much as possible the contact of the blistered area.

The airport road was long but I soon find myself just before Skypark where the u-turn was. Made my way back and along the way was joined by Paul Dimaandal and Karim. Grin my teeth as I continued on but just couldn't find the way to forget about the burning sensation. As I arrived at the exit of the Subang highway interchange, I tried to control the pain and shifted into gear as I know the finish is close. Then I entered the stadium and suddenly the memories of my Macau Marathon 2009 flash back into me. It really felt the same. I managed to find an extra gear out of me and managed to overtake a few runners leading up to the finish line with a time of 02:02:43.

Front view of the finisher's medal...

Rear view of the finisher's medal...

Overall, pretty disappointed by my run but at least I did not end up at the medic tent like 4 years ago as I couldn't breathe properly. But still, I had fun meeting friends before, along and after the race. Cheering other runners at the entrance to the stadium was fun too while chatting with Jamie, Shine and Jeff. Anyhow, I'm now hoping that the PJ Half Marathon will be an annual event from now on.

* Also CONGRATULATIONS to Roy Yeow for running some marathon at New Zealand and achieving a 04:01:20. Very huge improvement since starting to pick up long distance running late last year. He already outran his trainer and therefore I think his trainer deserve a treat from him. *hint hint* :D