Larian Amal Seri Sinar 2009...

Event: Larian Amal Seri Sinar 2009
Venue: Taman Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 15 March 2009
Time: 7am
Distance: 10KM (10.4KM by Lynn's Garmin Forerunner 405)
Shoe: Nike LunarTrainer+
By Frank

I woke up late! Yes, my very first time waking up late prior to a race. I do not know the reason as I went to bed as early as 9.30pm. I shut off both my alarms without noticing. And yeah, my alarm clock is placed far away from my bed. Sleep walking? Hmmm... Hence, I only had around 30 minutes to get myself prepared compared to my usual 2 hours. Only had a cup of oats and took the energy supplement that Geraldine gave me before she left for Australia. No time to clear my bowels but glad that nothing went wrong with it. Fearing for the lack of parking space, I quickly dump my gear into my car and left for the venue and was glad to find ample parking space available. Phew...

Jamie arrived shortly while I was gearing up followed by Lynn. As I intend to do a test run to know where I stand currently in terms of fitness, I put on my Nike LunarTrainer+, my personal best shoe for my 10KM distance, even knowing there are risk. And boy it was a bad choice. Read on to know why.

Met up with the rest like Kevin, Pueh Tian, Yin Fook, Amelia, Pui San and Shih Ming and this was the first indication of the fun to come. While Jamie went for his warm up, both myself and Lynn just did a stationary jog plus some light stretching as we were a bit lazy. Haha... Soon it was time and we proceeded to the reporting site only to be mobbed by sea of runners. We had problems getting the ribbons from the marshall in charge. Personally from my point of view, the ribbons were not necessary as all runners have their running bibs pinned on and ribbons will be given out throughout the route. Just my two cents though.

Together with Lynn, we hooked up with Jamie again and we started the race together three quarter from the front of the standing crowd, after a 5 minutes delay. There was a very soft countdown from the organiser but it was enough to signal the runners. Off we went! While Jamie manage to navigate through the crowd and disappear in them, I was stuck behind with Lynn. Bump into Wan and we chatted for a while before I noticed that Lynn has took off. Manage to catch up with her upon exiting to the Bukit Jalil Highway. And this is where I started my race pace.

Traffic was moderate but the fumes were a killer. However, I successfully attacked the long climb along the highway and manage to catch up with Jamie at the end of it. This should be near to the 5KM mark I think, and this is where things got awry. The collar on my right Nike LunarTrainer+ began to irritate my right Achilles and soon it was enough to open up a wound. I began to struggle on flat roads and also down hills. I did stop once to check on it and I was rewarded by a bloody scene. Blood was slowly oozing out from my wound and my socks and the collar of my shoes are starting to soak in it. Though in pain, I was still fresh to push on thus giving it a go, grinding my teeth as I ran. No tears of pain though.

I ran passed Victor who was a road marshall stationed just before the International Medical University. Thanks my friend for the cheers. Soon the only refreshment station came into view. Took a cup of water to wet my mouth and also to cool my head down before collecting the ribbon. From here, I could see Pui San recognised by her bright pink top. I tried to chase, but to no avail.

Soon I was back at the starting point but I had to run an additional distance towards the main entrance of the Bukit Jalil Park, passing the highway again. My pace was slowing down as I felt my wound open up even bigger. Lynn caught up and passed me upon exiting to the highway. Being my motivation to carry on, I bear with the pain. We exchanged positions for a few times till the final stretch where we slowed down as vehicles jammed up the road leaving us only a lane to run. And that lane is just enough for one runner, and not to mention the vehicle fumes again. And at the final turn, I got a little messed up when the road marshall mention to go straight when in fact it was to turn left into the park towards the finish line. Those messages were actually for runners who haven't run the extra distance actually, but it was enough to create a mess out of the front runners.

Powering up the final climb together with Lynn towards the finish line...

The final stretch was a steep climb and together with Lynn, we powered ourselves up the slope side by side captured on camera by Lionel. Looking forward to my first ever photo finish with a friend, my hopes were dashed as we were directed towards a different funnel according to categories. Sigh... But at least we finished it together in a time of 00:51:35 with my position being 39 and hers second! And she was approximately just a second or two behind Pui San. Way to go!

Collected our medals and goodies and this is where the fun began. Met up with so many friends like Ben and Yee Hua, and not forgetting those I mentioned earlier. We joked and joked and all burst into laughter as we waited for the prize giving ceremony. And this is where I found out that in the women category, the podium finishers are all my friends. Clean sweep. Woohoo... Girl power! If only I was a female runner. Oh well... Forget what I just said.

Lynn with her prizes. Look at the size of that trophy...

Proud of you Lynn...

Don't mess with this ladies as they can run real fast...

One for the album...

No personal best for me this time but at least I know where my fitness level stands now. Not forgetting that the race route was pretty tough due to mix gradient and air quality. I had already went all out and only had myself to blame for choosing the Nike LunarTrainer+ as my shoe today despite knowing the risk, leaving me with a rather huge wound which resulted a very grueling shower session.

My post run souvenir, a busted right Achilles...

Front view of the finisher's medal...

Rear view of the finisher's medal...

Despite some shortcomings which I heard of like road marshalls leading the shorter distance runners for another loop, I really enjoyed this run. Running for the first time on this route, it certainly brought out the excitement. But the highlight was still the company of all my friends as we really had a blasting good time together. You guys and gals rocks!