Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2013: Getting Back My Mojo
I'm quite pissed off when the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2013 had been postponed from June to 29th September because of the haze. I know that this can't be helped because of the haze which the organizer & even the Malaysian don't have any control over it. (Damn you peat soil burners!!!!) But I can't helped being overly annoyed that I need to run two times in September.
In my running calendar for 2013, I had already enrolled into the Oren Sport Run for the month of September. Do you know how difficult it is to go up & down from Pasir Gudang up to KL? And for September I need to go to KL twice. It does seems ridiculous, but the reality is that most of the running events held in KL.
Erm, back to the run. In this event, Iqbal & Firdaus are leveling up to the 21km (half marathon) event. Both of them was quite nervous about the whole thing & quite relieved when the run had been postponed.
"Ada 3 bulan lagi boleh prepare", kata diorang.
This Standard Chartered Marathon is the largest running event in Malaysia & even the logistic issue of the participants going to the Dataran Merdeka is a headache for the organizer. This year, they have organized for the LRT to operate early in the morning to bring the runners to the Dataran Merdeka. This proved to be the better step compared to last year when they provided several feeder bus. Kudos for the improvement.
When we arrived at the Dataran Merdeka it was about 5.30am. While waiting for the Suboh azan, I looked around the area. There was a lot of runners around the Dataran Merdeka. The starting line for the full marathon & half marathon will be at the Dataran Merdeka, while for the 10km it will be near the Jalan Parlimen. Actually by the time we arrived, the full marathon had already started & the half marathon will start at 6am. For Iqbal & Firdaus, their heart were thumping because of the anticipation. Real hard.
After finished Suboh, I quickly preparing myself & went to Jalan Parlimen. Since I'm the only one signed up for the 10km event, the there was less pressure for me. This year I signed up for 10km speed category, an upgrade from last year's 10km cruise. There are 3 categories for 10km each year - speed, cruise, and leisure. My decision to run for the speed category was spot on. Since we started earlier, when I arrived at the finish line later on, there was not many runners yet so the line for the goodies were short.
Walking slowly to Jalan Parlimen, I noticed something. All the 10km runners same as me were walking towards the same destination. It was a sense on camaraderie of sort. I was also be able to do some warming up by jogging to the starting line, something that I found hard to do recently with my runs. Asyik sampai lambat je pagi-pagi...
The starting time for the 10km speed will be at 6.30am. Which is perfect for me. I could pray Suboh, preparing myself, do some warming up & walk to the starting line without rushing. And the time also perfectly early for a 10km run.
When the signal start for the runners to run, surprisingly I need about 3 to 4 minutes to get from the back of the pack to the start line. I thought there would be lesser runners for this category. I was wrong. It seems though that there were also a lot more runners that Iqbal expected in the half marathon because he also face the same situation as I am.
From the start of the race I am quite cautious with my pace & my energy level. The reason was because when I had run in the 10km event last year, the route went thorough the challenging roads of Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. I had ran some events that covering that roads & the last of them was the KL 10k Road Race back in April. And that was not a great experience for me to repeat since after the run it had inflicted some pain to my left leg.
And after running about 2km, I realized something. We're not taking the same route as last year. I think the organizer had put the route course in our starter pack, but I never read that. We're not turning into Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. That was when I started going excited with this run.
In most of the runs that I had joined after June this year, I didn't doing seriously enough. In the beginning it was because of the after bulan puasa effect. It need a lot of effort to regain my fitness back after the Raya. After that the stress from work effecting my usual evening runs. This resulting in me running in those events just to complete the run without any target. Which sucks by the way.
But in this run, I started to regain back the enjoyment that disappeared in recent runs. So much I'm into the runs that I didn't even stop to take any photos along the way. But Iqbal did during his half marathon, and the looks were gorgeous.
When the distance already reached 8km, it seems in that the route will enter the Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. There was the last drink stop just before we entered the road. I braced myself for the worst when we went through the road.
Fortunately, we just ran 1km through the road. (Well, I should know this if I just read the notes beforehand). My body feels great & it will be just 2km to the finish line.
It was a misconception about the distance about this 10km run in the first place. The actual distance that the runners need to cover is over 10km. Actually it is more about 11km to be precise. Since I had the experience from last year, I didn't exert my self unnecessarily when I'm almost at the finish line.
From the beginning up until I'm at the Jalan Raja Laut (9km into the race), I didn't stop for rest except at the drink stops. When the GPS that I had with me showed that I had covered 10km, I started slowing down & walking all the way to the finish line.
There was no reason for me to run faster in this event. I'm alone in this category & recording a PR in this event was not in my target. Plus the cheering along the road was worth taking some photos.
When I touched the finish line, the time that I recorded was only at 1 hour & 33 minutes. Nothing to shout about (my last year's time was better) but I'm proud with myself for finishing the run.
When I finished the race, it seems my decision to join the 10km speed category have an advantage. Since we're completed the run early, there was not much people at the stalls at end of the race. I even got a photo of myself at the Seiko photo booth (even though I need to queue for almost 1 hour).
The best about this event is that it will post you performance & result online. I'm not really proud with my timing - I'm only at the 6431th place among the 10km runners, but it good to know that I had passed more runners than others passing me. Not bad for a half ass effort.
A note of advice for anyone who want to run at the Standard Chartered Marathon next year. At the end of the race there will be a dedicated event photographer that will take your finish line photo. So, when you're running towards the finish line - pose with your best look.
Last year my photo look ridiculous. Since I'm enjoying so much with the run this year, at the last 500m I ran earnestly to get the best running pose. Hihi... poyo jeeer.
RUN RATINGS - STANDARD CHARTERED 10KM 2013
Organizer - 5/5
Best giler... The logistic was the best. There were also the tent that can be used as surau for Suboh. A lot of improvements compared to last year.
Kit & Goodies - 5/5
The shirt, the medal, the goodies, the foods. No complaint at all.
Route - 5/5
The organizer must stick to this year's route for next year's event. Don't change it, please!!!
Overall Experience - 5/5
Best! Best! Best! My best event this year hands down. Tahun depan masuk lagi. Mintak2 kat Indonesia jerebu kurang tahun depan. Itu jer.
In my running calendar for 2013, I had already enrolled into the Oren Sport Run for the month of September. Do you know how difficult it is to go up & down from Pasir Gudang up to KL? And for September I need to go to KL twice. It does seems ridiculous, but the reality is that most of the running events held in KL.
Erm, back to the run. In this event, Iqbal & Firdaus are leveling up to the 21km (half marathon) event. Both of them was quite nervous about the whole thing & quite relieved when the run had been postponed.
"Ada 3 bulan lagi boleh prepare", kata diorang.
This Standard Chartered Marathon is the largest running event in Malaysia & even the logistic issue of the participants going to the Dataran Merdeka is a headache for the organizer. This year, they have organized for the LRT to operate early in the morning to bring the runners to the Dataran Merdeka. This proved to be the better step compared to last year when they provided several feeder bus. Kudos for the improvement.
 |
| At the LRT station at 5am. |
When we arrived at the Dataran Merdeka it was about 5.30am. While waiting for the Suboh azan, I looked around the area. There was a lot of runners around the Dataran Merdeka. The starting line for the full marathon & half marathon will be at the Dataran Merdeka, while for the 10km it will be near the Jalan Parlimen. Actually by the time we arrived, the full marathon had already started & the half marathon will start at 6am. For Iqbal & Firdaus, their heart were thumping because of the anticipation. Real hard.
 |
| Runners at the Dataran Merdeka |
 |
| Sembahyang Suboh on the field |
After finished Suboh, I quickly preparing myself & went to Jalan Parlimen. Since I'm the only one signed up for the 10km event, the there was less pressure for me. This year I signed up for 10km speed category, an upgrade from last year's 10km cruise. There are 3 categories for 10km each year - speed, cruise, and leisure. My decision to run for the speed category was spot on. Since we started earlier, when I arrived at the finish line later on, there was not many runners yet so the line for the goodies were short.
Walking slowly to Jalan Parlimen, I noticed something. All the 10km runners same as me were walking towards the same destination. It was a sense on camaraderie of sort. I was also be able to do some warming up by jogging to the starting line, something that I found hard to do recently with my runs. Asyik sampai lambat je pagi-pagi...
 |
| Brothers & sisters in arm to the starting line. |
The starting time for the 10km speed will be at 6.30am. Which is perfect for me. I could pray Suboh, preparing myself, do some warming up & walk to the starting line without rushing. And the time also perfectly early for a 10km run.
When the signal start for the runners to run, surprisingly I need about 3 to 4 minutes to get from the back of the pack to the start line. I thought there would be lesser runners for this category. I was wrong. It seems though that there were also a lot more runners that Iqbal expected in the half marathon because he also face the same situation as I am.
From the start of the race I am quite cautious with my pace & my energy level. The reason was because when I had run in the 10km event last year, the route went thorough the challenging roads of Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. I had ran some events that covering that roads & the last of them was the KL 10k Road Race back in April. And that was not a great experience for me to repeat since after the run it had inflicted some pain to my left leg.
And after running about 2km, I realized something. We're not taking the same route as last year. I think the organizer had put the route course in our starter pack, but I never read that. We're not turning into Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. That was when I started going excited with this run.
In most of the runs that I had joined after June this year, I didn't doing seriously enough. In the beginning it was because of the after bulan puasa effect. It need a lot of effort to regain my fitness back after the Raya. After that the stress from work effecting my usual evening runs. This resulting in me running in those events just to complete the run without any target. Which sucks by the way.
But in this run, I started to regain back the enjoyment that disappeared in recent runs. So much I'm into the runs that I didn't even stop to take any photos along the way. But Iqbal did during his half marathon, and the looks were gorgeous.
When the distance already reached 8km, it seems in that the route will enter the Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. There was the last drink stop just before we entered the road. I braced myself for the worst when we went through the road.
 |
| Into the abyss |
Fortunately, we just ran 1km through the road. (Well, I should know this if I just read the notes beforehand). My body feels great & it will be just 2km to the finish line.
It was a misconception about the distance about this 10km run in the first place. The actual distance that the runners need to cover is over 10km. Actually it is more about 11km to be precise. Since I had the experience from last year, I didn't exert my self unnecessarily when I'm almost at the finish line.
From the beginning up until I'm at the Jalan Raja Laut (9km into the race), I didn't stop for rest except at the drink stops. When the GPS that I had with me showed that I had covered 10km, I started slowing down & walking all the way to the finish line.
There was no reason for me to run faster in this event. I'm alone in this category & recording a PR in this event was not in my target. Plus the cheering along the road was worth taking some photos.
 |
| Buskers along the road for this event |
 |
| 500m to go!!! |
When I touched the finish line, the time that I recorded was only at 1 hour & 33 minutes. Nothing to shout about (my last year's time was better) but I'm proud with myself for finishing the run.
When I finished the race, it seems my decision to join the 10km speed category have an advantage. Since we're completed the run early, there was not much people at the stalls at end of the race. I even got a photo of myself at the Seiko photo booth (even though I need to queue for almost 1 hour).
The best about this event is that it will post you performance & result online. I'm not really proud with my timing - I'm only at the 6431th place among the 10km runners, but it good to know that I had passed more runners than others passing me. Not bad for a half ass effort.
 |
| Iqbal survives the half marathon after 3 hours |
A note of advice for anyone who want to run at the Standard Chartered Marathon next year. At the end of the race there will be a dedicated event photographer that will take your finish line photo. So, when you're running towards the finish line - pose with your best look.
Last year my photo look ridiculous. Since I'm enjoying so much with the run this year, at the last 500m I ran earnestly to get the best running pose. Hihi... poyo jeeer.
RUN RATINGS - STANDARD CHARTERED 10KM 2013
Organizer - 5/5
Best giler... The logistic was the best. There were also the tent that can be used as surau for Suboh. A lot of improvements compared to last year.
Kit & Goodies - 5/5
The shirt, the medal, the goodies, the foods. No complaint at all.
Route - 5/5
The organizer must stick to this year's route for next year's event. Don't change it, please!!!
Overall Experience - 5/5
Best! Best! Best! My best event this year hands down. Tahun depan masuk lagi. Mintak2 kat Indonesia jerebu kurang tahun depan. Itu jer.
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