Hong Leong Charity Run Report

Yezzerrrr, I managed to finish my 5km run today! Happy..happy..joy..joy! But now can only happy2 joy2 atas on my bed ler, my legs baru terasa lenguh skit start Maghrib tadi. Maybe coz I did not have a proper rest today, took a 30 mins nap only after Zohor…tu pun mimpi macam2 so it was not considered as a complete rest. Anyway, this is my Hong Leong Charity Run Report. Date: 10th April 2005, Time: 8:00 AM. Venue: Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. I warn u, this is a longggg report, so be prepared.

Woke up with excitement at 4.30 AM to have my breakfast…toast with scramble eggs and my hot Nescafe and a glass of plain water. Have to eat coz I had a bad headache the night before (but still drank Nescafe for breakfast..my stimulant – memang budak nakal..heheh). Thank God the headache was gone when I woke up. The headache was caused by the long hours spent in the car the day before. Saturday was a very busy day. Stuck in the traffic jam on the way to Subang to visit my Mak Tok with my family.

Aley SMS me at about 6 AM to inform that she couldn’t join me for the run – she was having a bad headache the night before and still having it. I asked her to take some rest. Sayang she couldn’t make it, it would be more fun if she could be around.

Took the LRT to Masjid Jamek. Naz called to tell that she’s having stomachache. She too couldn’t join me although I knew that she was looking forward for this day…siap window shopping sports shoes together lagi last week. So..it seems it would be me,myself and I jer lah today.

Arrived at Dataran Merdeka 5 mins before 7 AM. Took my own sweet time to walk there coz the run starts at 8 – typical Malaysian attitude..heheh. As I was walking towards the field I could see a lot of participants ‘lepaking’ and hanging around there. Macam sempoi jer..tak de macam nak pi run pun. Searched in vain for the registration counter – non existent anyway..I was only supposed to put my ticket into a lucky draw box jer – Cit! Penat pusing satu padang carik registration counter. Then I lepak sorang2 nearby the main stage. Doing my observations…on every living and static thing on the field…heheh..dalam maksudnya tu. Meanwhile, the emcee was trying in vain asking all the participants to be on the field in front of the main stage. Not many adhered to his request..some are busy sitting by the roadside while some busy collecting goodies at the nearby booths. Ada participants yg tangan penuh with Ribena, Air kotak Green Tea and Chrysentimum and bottles of mineral water and nutrigen. Where lah they want to sumbat all the stuff. I did not see any booth to deposit any bags. But the most tempting thing was when I saw a man carrying 3 cups of hot Indo Café …coffeeeee…bestnye kalo dapat minum…but I stood rooted to ground..cukuppp..cannot have more than 1 cup a day. Instead, I took a bottle of mineral water. Oitt..lambatnya start..makanan kat dalam perut dah hampir habis tercerna nih..jap agi lapar balik baru tau..

At 7:20 AM. The launching ceremony starts. There where several speeches delivered (yawnnnn….). Rasa macam assembIy kat skolah lak. Dato’ Azalina officiated the Charity Run. Then there was a brief warm up session. A simple but fun warm up..two photographers came nearby my area and took some pictures..ada sorang diri betul2 in front of me..I just hope he did not take my pictures..malu la…camera shy..heheh.

After the warm up I walked up to the starting line. This time nak rasa camna to be in the first few rows in front of the starting line (KLIM I was far behind the starting line). Since I knew that I can’t be the first 20 finishers, jadiklah if I can be the first 30 to start the run! Saw several Fitness First members there. Familiar faces but tak kenal. Tank, where were u? Tak nampak pun..nyorok yea?!! The male and female were separated at the starting line. Since I’ll be running alone today I decided to run non-stop from start to finish…no walking2..and try to finish the run within 1 hour. My unofficial personal best for 5km is 35 mins..so 1 hour is supposed to be sufficient to complete the course since I have no idea how the course would look like – no route given…prayed that I won’t sesat till Damansara..ahakss..

It was one of the longest 15 minutes in my life coz the participants had to wait until 8 AM for the flag off. I made a quick look around me and felt that I was in Hong Kong. Apart from me and 3 more Malays ladies next to me, I could see a sea of Chinese participants. Easily I can say that the ratio of Malay to Chinese was 1:10. But the observation was limited to my height ler (masalah ketinggian). Maybe there were more Malays at the back part of the crowd that I couldn’t see.

8:00 AM, Flag off! The charity run started! I started to run..and there goes my first 30 participants ranking! The course looked easy at first but actually in my opinion it was far more challenging than the 10km KLIM. Today’s route involved a lot of running uphill and downhill. Mak oii..habis brek lututku! I can’t remember much the route as I was busy concentrating on my run and breathing. Terkujat jugak lah nampak bukit as I did not expect it to be that challenging. The first uphill challenge was behind Bank Negara ( where the commuter station is), and then I can’t remember much, lalu a few government buildings, uphill and downhill again and uphill again..alih2 sampai Memorial Tuanku Abdul Rahman. So far so good, breathing tak terkantul lagi and my knees have not yet started to mengigil..still running..uphill and downhill.

Then, moments later, I passed by the Jabatan Perhutanan…aikkk..nampak familiar jer this route…boleh lari sampai office if ikut jalan ni terus! Anyway, I continued running walaupun memotong dan dipotong pelbagai lapisan masyarakat dari pelbagai peringkat umur (from kids to senior citizens). I was taken over by a Chinese man with his two sons aged about 4 and 5 years old. Maintain jer lari laju. The two kids followed their father’s pace effortlessly. I wonder what did he feed his kids..kuat betul.

My journey continued, saw a few arrows showing the way without telling you how far more you have to go..I started to feel that this was my longestttttttt 5km run ever in my life..endless rasanya. Maybe because I don’t know the route and I have no idea how far more I have to go.

Suddenly I was already in my last mile..entah camna timbul somewhere nearby Taman Tasik Perdana and tugu Negara area..the route from Parlimen kot…that was when another test came..sunlight..blinding hot, I ran on the pavement under the shades. Mainly to protect myself from direct sunlight..takut pening balik nanti..tak takut hitam coz dah pakai sunblock..hahah. Marked a participant, and followed her pace. Just to keep myself busy from the hot sun. Lari and lari….saw a few spectators at the Tasik Perdana traffic light. One of them was wearing a cycling helmet. Very kind of them to give support to the participants.

Shift to a faster gear, and finally I was running towards the TAMAT banner…Yezzer!! Clocked 45 minutes. Okaylah jugak since this is the first time I ran this type of course – uphill and downhill. Found out the top 5 clocked 29 mins…so I was only 16 minutes behind her. Overall, I’m satisfied with my run today although initially it was supposed to be more of a jog-walk-jog event with my friends. Wished u girls where there lah tadi. Best skit.

Okay.sleeping time.Good Night!

P/S Waited for a while after the run at the main stage…manalah tau ada familiar names would be called to receive the first 10 finishers (ehemmm..ehemm…hello kwn how was ur run..citer ler skit!)