Standard Chartered KL Run 2013: To Run or Not to Run?
In my plan for 2013, I will only run once every 2 month. So I had participated in February & April and skipped the other month. On this month I should be running in the Standard Chartered KL Run 2013. More precisely by the end of this week.
Or so I thought.
An introduction for the run because this run is not like any other. Standard Chartered Marathon is THE run for KL. This is the biggest annual running event in Malaysia. Some excerpts from Wiki:
I had joined their 10km running event last year, 2012. Since the 10km category is soooo popular, it have been further break down to 3 sub-categories, namely Speed, Cruise & Leisure. While Speed is for the serious runners, I had participated in Cruise which is for recreational runners. No prize on guessing what Leisure category is for. This year the event set itself its record by having the largest number of participants. From its official website:
Quite surprisingly, this run pose a lot of challenges to me even before I will start running this weekend.
The 1st obstacle came about 3 weeks ago when the company's family day committee announced that they had picked none other than 30/6/2013 as the date for the event. It's not really a case if my company held the event every year, but this is my 6th year I'm with them & this is the 1st time we will have our own family day.
Quite pathetic actually but the main reason why usually we don't organize it is because until 2 years ago, our HQ is the party that responsible for it. After some policy change since then, the HQ stopped doing it anymore. Another reason is because due to the nature of my company being a factory, it is hard to 'close shop' even for the weekend. Especially when the order is 'hot' right now.
When I informed Lia regarding the family day, her eyes gleamed with pleasure & anticipation. To avoid being a 'party-pooper', I already planned to forget about the run. I already asked my brother, Rosman to replace me in the event (even though he can't fit in the running shirt, I don't want the running medal go to waste).
Or so I thought.
Suddenly they change the plan last week. And surprisingly, I have these men to thank for.
That's right. Because the JDT team managed to get to the FA cup final match, the committee moved the event to 7/7/2013 - one week later. Basically all the Johorean is going ga-ga for their team right now. Because the match is on 30/6/2013, everyone want to either at the stadium or at the mamak stall or at their home comfort - to watch the beautiful game.
And I'm going like this after hearing the news.
The 2nd challenge is actually too hard for me to control. It is actually out of everyone's hand. It is the haze that blanketing Malaysia since last week. It is a frustration event not just for me, but also for all the Malaysians plus the Singaporeans.
The only reassuring news that I have got thus far is that the SCKLM committee will only decide whether the fate of the run this Wednesday night. They have consulted the Meteorology Dept & it have been predicted that KL will have some rain beginning Tuesday.
For me in Pasir Gudang, the better news is that the haze is blowing up north of the Peninsular Malaysia. From the highest IPU reading of above 300, we're now coming back to normal of IPU reading below 100. I hope the haze will be clear from the KL skies after a few days so that we could make it for the run.
I hope sincerely hope the run will go on.
I even think the kit will look good on me.
Or so I thought.
An introduction for the run because this run is not like any other. Standard Chartered Marathon is THE run for KL. This is the biggest annual running event in Malaysia. Some excerpts from Wiki:
The Kuala Lumpur Marathon (or Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon under Standard Chartered Bank branding) is an annual marathon event held on June every year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This event was established on 2009, during the time, more than 12500 participants has participated in this event.[1] It was the largest marathon event in Malaysia. This marathon events is supported with some athletics organization such as Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) and Federal Territory Amateur Athletics Association (FTAAA) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) while the approval from Association of International Marathons and Distance Races and International Association of Athletics Federations will be made within five years since 2010.[4] As of 2012, more than 28000 participants has participated in this marathon.[5]
I had joined their 10km running event last year, 2012. Since the 10km category is soooo popular, it have been further break down to 3 sub-categories, namely Speed, Cruise & Leisure. While Speed is for the serious runners, I had participated in Cruise which is for recreational runners. No prize on guessing what Leisure category is for. This year the event set itself its record by having the largest number of participants. From its official website:
Exceeding target with record total of 33,000 runners!
14 March 2013Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2013 exceeds target and clocks a record total of 33,000 runners!
Kuala Lumpur, 14 March 2013 - Runners train all year to achieve their target finish time for the iconic Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM), but this year's registration was a race in itself!
Following overwhelming response, SCKLM 2013’s registrations exceeded its target number of participants within a mere six (6) weeks; which means 12 weeks ahead of the scheduled closing date of 31 May! This is an unprecedented milestone and represents the shortest registration period for the Marathon in its five (5) year history. This year, SCKLM targeted 30,000 runners, but finally closed at 33,000 participants to accommodate the overwhelming demand. Statistically, this represents a 17 per cent participant growth from 2012 (at 28,000 runners); and a 144 per cent growth since its first year in 2009 (at 13,500 runners).
 |
| SCKLM - milking the money from the 10km runners |
Quite surprisingly, this run pose a lot of challenges to me even before I will start running this weekend.
The 1st obstacle came about 3 weeks ago when the company's family day committee announced that they had picked none other than 30/6/2013 as the date for the event. It's not really a case if my company held the event every year, but this is my 6th year I'm with them & this is the 1st time we will have our own family day.
Quite pathetic actually but the main reason why usually we don't organize it is because until 2 years ago, our HQ is the party that responsible for it. After some policy change since then, the HQ stopped doing it anymore. Another reason is because due to the nature of my company being a factory, it is hard to 'close shop' even for the weekend. Especially when the order is 'hot' right now.
When I informed Lia regarding the family day, her eyes gleamed with pleasure & anticipation. To avoid being a 'party-pooper', I already planned to forget about the run. I already asked my brother, Rosman to replace me in the event (even though he can't fit in the running shirt, I don't want the running medal go to waste).
Or so I thought.
Suddenly they change the plan last week. And surprisingly, I have these men to thank for.
 |
| JDT - Luaskan kuasamu |
That's right. Because the JDT team managed to get to the FA cup final match, the committee moved the event to 7/7/2013 - one week later. Basically all the Johorean is going ga-ga for their team right now. Because the match is on 30/6/2013, everyone want to either at the stadium or at the mamak stall or at their home comfort - to watch the beautiful game.
And I'm going like this after hearing the news.
The 2nd challenge is actually too hard for me to control. It is actually out of everyone's hand. It is the haze that blanketing Malaysia since last week. It is a frustration event not just for me, but also for all the Malaysians plus the Singaporeans.
The only reassuring news that I have got thus far is that the SCKLM committee will only decide whether the fate of the run this Wednesday night. They have consulted the Meteorology Dept & it have been predicted that KL will have some rain beginning Tuesday.
 |
| Ini lamalan saja maaa.... |
For me in Pasir Gudang, the better news is that the haze is blowing up north of the Peninsular Malaysia. From the highest IPU reading of above 300, we're now coming back to normal of IPU reading below 100. I hope the haze will be clear from the KL skies after a few days so that we could make it for the run.
I hope sincerely hope the run will go on.
I even think the kit will look good on me.
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