Melawati 10k Run 2013 - a victory by 3 minutes

(During CNY, I was having a great road trip down to East Coast - all the time in offline mode from the net. More on that later. This is the entry for my 2nd run in 2013 - Melawati 10k Run)

My second run of the year was Melawati 10k Run which happened on 3rd February 2013. I'm looking forward for this because of 2 things. 1st is because the distance is 10km. And the 2nd is because Iqbal will also join the same category with me. During this run, I can test myself on my running speed & compete with Iqbal on the same ground.
 
To tell the truth, I cherish the idea of competing with Iqbal. When he managed to persuade me to join New Balance Wave Run 2012 in February last year, I thought it was kind of weird that he is keen on running. As far that I have remembered, he was not someone that likes physical activities, let alone running. But he is good with food though & cooks really well. 

So it came as a surprise when suddenly he darted in front of me right from the beginning of the run. I had tried to catch up with him but eventually I gave up. What was more humiliating that he managed to finish the run 15 minutes earlier than me.

From that moment, every time that we ran together I had tried to better him. The good news is that in the last run that we ran together, I managed to beat him. The bad news is that from 9 runs that we had ran together, I only beat him twice.

OK, back to the run. 

The 1st impression that I got when I received the running kit is the sponsors of the run. I noticed that the main sponsor of the run is none other than Sime Darby. According to Iqbal, SD Properties is the developer for Taman Melawati where the run will be held so no surprise there.

What is weird is that even though SD is the main sponsor, there was no SD logo in the running shirt. That's ticked me off a little bit. What is the point of being the main sponsor if your name is not on the merchandise?

Since Taman Melawati is quite near to Iqbal's house, we arrived early to the starting point of the run. Apparently, there was not a lot of runners that joined this run. I estimated it was only about 200 to 300 runners that joined the run. 

There was quite some confusion before the run begins. Usually the run organizers would come early to the assembly area so that we runners can put our belongings. They also would blare out some musics to make the event quite happening. That doesn't happened to the Melawati Run. There was no organizer in sight until 6.45am except for some personnel I saw that were surely the one that will control the traffic. Because of that I need to run back to Iqbal's car to put my bag.

Runners already at site from 6.30am

Sponsors of Melawati Run.

All smiles before the run

Right before the run started at 7am, there was announcement from the organizer that because of some unavoidable safety reasons, the distance of the run had been cut short from 10km to 8km. That was disappointing. 

Taman Melawati is a residential area. Right from the start of the run, I could see the houses besides the road. But the view of the area is quite scenery with hills as background. The route that the runners will take is a hilly area near the residential area. We could see that the residents in Taman Melawati also use the route to jogging & walking in the morning.

Everyone's eager at the starting point.

I'm really keen to beat Iqbal during this race. My strategy is to sprint right from the start of the run in front of him & never let him pass me. The strategy is actually simple but in reality is exhausting, but it worked last time. I knew that if I let him pass me, I'll never catch up to him. Iqbal's strength is his running speed is consistent but he can't sprint. When the run is at the end, he will still have some energy while mine already depleted. I'll use the initial distance advantage so that he can't catch up with me when I'm huffing & puffing at the end of the run.

Kudaku lari gagah beraniiiii

 

What? We need to run to the hills? $#@^%#^&

 

Hills as backdrop

The route served the runners with some breathtaking views. There's even a waterfall. The residents in Taman Melawati is very lucky to have this beautiful area near to their place.

Because the route that had been picked is a hilly area, after climbing some slopes I had to stop & get a rest after the first 4km. That was quite frustrating because even with climbing the hills, I hoped to get the initial 6km without stopping. What is more worrying for me, I don't know whether Iqbal was in front of me or not. If he was in front of me, I have no chance what so ever to catch up to him with that condition.

And then the route came to a u-turn. What I hate about u-turn is that you can see that people is way ahead of you which is quite demotivating. I try to scan for Iqbal to see whether he is in front but I couldn't see him which is quite reassuring. Then I saw Iqbal. It seems that Iqbal was about 10 minutes behind me. I spotted him after the u-turn route. It seems that my strategy worked.

Hahaha I'm in front babeh

After confirming that I'm in the front, the rest of the run beginning to be quite relaxing. I just need to make sure Iqbal didn't pass me. The route beginning to go downhill which makes thing easier. Iqbal does have a problem when attacking hilly slope. This run just confirming that.

When I arrived at the finish line, my GPS showed that the distance of the run was 8.3km. I had completed the run in 61 minutes. Considering that the route got a lot of slope to climb & I had stopped several times, the timing is encouraging because I had been able to maintained my usual speed (usually about 8km/h).

Iqbal arrived a little bit later. When I had dropped my speed at the end of the run, he managed to maintained his speed. He managed to finish the run 3 minutes behind me. If I didn't speed up in the beginning, maybe he got the chance to beat me to the finish line.

Minum Milo anda jadi sihat & kuat!

Victory this time

Muka kesian

I did brag to Iqbal a lot after beating him. Just to make him boiling inside until our next run. His actual reply, "Tunggulaaa bulan April nanti. 10km Iqbal boleh menang punya." Apa-apale Bal. Yang penting hari ni Bang Nol menang. Huhuhu. 

I'll see you in KL 10K Run in April. But for now, I feel like a king.

 

RUN RATINGS - MELAWATI 10K 2013 
Organizer - 2/5
The organizer should be at the assembly area from 6.30am. Because of that most there was some confusion at the beginning of the run. The distance had been cut short from 10km to 8km in the last minute. But bravo to all of the traffic personnel. They managed to control the traffic safety for all the runners.
Kit & Goodies - 2/5
There was no timing chip for the run, but the fee is quite high. The kit & goodies were too small. There was no goodies distributed in the kit.
Route - 4/5
Great route. Provide challenge but not too hard. The scenery are beautiful.
Overall Experience - 3/5
It got 3 just because I beat Iqbal. The route was great but the kit & organizer were abysmal.