Educity Sundown 2014: The El Nino Effect

It was hot. Excruciatingly hot. And we weren't even started running yet.

That is my first impression of the Educity Sundown that I had ran on the night of 21st June 2014. This is the last run that I will be participated before embarking on the Ramadhan fasting month. One thing for sure that got me excited about this event that this is the first major running event in JB since I started joining runs since 2012.

My preparation was painfully brutal if not almost next to none after the recent nose operation. In fact I had moved the operation forward by two weeks after being advised by my little sister who basically an ENT doctor back in Kedah. She is right all the way. After the operation my body really struggle to get the same level of fitness. It was only in the last week that I managed to clocked 22km over the period of 6 consecutive runs.

I always ran during the evening during those runs. My feeling - it will be a hell of a run in the Educity Sundown because even running 3km in the evening was painful in the heat.

This Educity Sundown is the extension from the annual Sundown marathon in Singapore. This year they decided to bring the event across the border to Johor. The place - the Educity in Nusajaya. So there is a lot of thing to be excited about in this event.

The morning of the Saturday I went to the Mall of Medini near the Legoland to fetch the running kit for both Iqbal and myself. They had set up some sort of a small expo in the middle of the mall.

And the weather was already heating up.

From our experience running the BSN Night Run last year, we had our preparation started from the evening. Running with an empty stomach will do you no good. Running just after eating also have an adverse affect. So we ate at 5.00pm. It was just about the right time to eat for a night run. 

The run will start from the Educity Stadium but all runners are being told to park their cars at the Legoland car park. At a stroke the event management managed to solve the parking & road issue since there was about 5000 runners in the event. I could see runner from Singapore and even some from KL that came. Parking space in the Legoland parking area was huge so it was not and issue.

Johor's development in the back.

From the Legoland to the stadium there were the feeder bus that would take the runners started from 5.30pm up until 7.30pm. Iqbal & myself arrived there to take the bus at about 7.15pm.

When we arrived at the Educity Stadium, it was already packed with the runners. The half marathon will start at 8.00pm but for our 12km event it will start only at 8.30pm. So there was still a lot of time for us to explore the expo.

I noticed that there were this two booth for rocktape and massage. I think the roketape was free because why else there was a long queue for the booth. Typical kiasu kan Malaysian ni.... Plus lagi Singaporean. Mana ada tak nak benda free? Ha ha ha.

And then we both noticed that the runner have these glow-in-the-dark sticks. The organizer had improved the runners safety during the run with this interesting gimmick. And of course, all of these was also free. It looked like it was in the 80s all over again inside the complex. Ha ha ha.

Waiting for the start of the 12km was particularly not well because of the sweat and hot weather. Here we have almost 5000 runners packed closely together, sweating. And we didn't even start running yet. I didn't put a lot of expectation to do any PR in this run.

Chillin' before the run.

But even then, before we start I told Iqbal,"Camner, race ek?"

Nodded, he was not surprisingly front of me after the clock struck 8.30pm.

In the first period of the run, I tried to catch up with Iqbal's pace. Pacing yourself to other runners is something that is hard to do. My intention is not to let him out of my side and passing him when he slowing down.

Big mistake.

The heat of the night is already taken its toll. Weaving in and out in the packed runners does not bode well with me. I could ignore the sweaty smell, but when my hand inadvertently touched the sweaty hands of other runners, I just can't take the icky factor anymore.

I managed to pace myself to Iqbal up until 1.5km, when suddenly my lace opened. Great - I could take a breather. When I raised up my head to check for Iqbal, he was long gone in the front. Nothing that I could do by then.

I have my hydration running belt with me for this run. Even in the early 2km, I found out that I have to make some sort of refreshment strategy for me to survive this run. Because even when I was running 2km, I sweating like it was 5km. The heat unsurprisingly unapologetically doesn't gave any pity to the runners.

The organizer will put a drink stop every 3km throughout the course. My plan is to ration my own drink for 4 stops. So every 1.5km I will be replenished. I'll drink my own drink at 1.5km, 4.5km, 7.5km and 10.5km. And I'll have the drinks at the drink stops at 3km, 6km and 9km.

When I arrived at the first drink stop, it was a big relieve. The best was that they have both the mineral water and the isotonic drink Revive (yay!). I took 2 cups and it felt sooo good.

After that after every 1.5km, I will have some refreshment and also took a bit of a rest. The heat really killing me right now. The sweat had long made my running vest stick to my backside. After all this while I was wondering that all this running vest sweat-wicking thing is just bullshit. Because everytime I ran, it seems it doesn't have any difference even if I were to run without shirt.

At 4km, my pace seems about right. By this time, unfortunately the front runners already on their way back to the finish line and passing us on their way back. There will be a u-turn at 6km. What can I saw, every runners around me just couldn't believe that there are runners that be able to beat the heat. When we were all still battling it out at 4km, they already covered twice the route.

For me it was a conflicted scene. Of course I was cheering for the quick runners, but what the h*ll we're all doing here suffering when they made it looks so easy?

Making it look so easy.

As much that I hated suffering in the heat, it was the same sigh of relieve when I finally reached the signage for the u-turn. So finally, it will be the time for me to go back to the finishing line and also for the..... drinks!!!

Drinks Lai Lai.....

The best of all, this time I managed to grabbed x2 cold isotonic drinks. The drinks never tastes so good before!

At this point, I already reached the middle section of the run. My energy seems to deplete quicker that I expected, so taking some stroll at this point didn't make me feels guilty. It was at this point that something hits me. The volunteers in this event were superb throughout the night.

The police and the Rela were really uptight covering the roads. None of the cars really stood a chance in interfering the run.

The cheering team consists of the gendang Malay team went non-stop throughout the night.

This may look like an exaggeration, but when I reached the 9km mark for the 3rd and last drink stop, I should see the remains of the 1st drink stop. I was left amazed when all the rubbish had been collected and stuffed in the bins. It was a totally five star event management level.

After the last drink stop, most of the runners already moving in walking pace. For me, this run brings out the best out of me. Sure..... I was all dried up from all the heat. Sure.... Iqbal had already passed me up in the front. But I sure as h*ll enjoyed every bit of this run. Mentally I was strong even though I can't say the same about my leg.

Yay... The stadium beckons...

When I was forcing myself about 400m from the stadium, there was definitely a twitch in my right calf. Even though it doesn't elevated into a cramp, it was definitely a sign for me to start training my right leg after this.

Cheers at the finishing line.

Survived at 1 hour 45 minutes.

RUN RATINGS - EDUCITY SUNDOWN 2014
Organizer - 5/5
This is the best run organizer that I had experienced so far. From the registration up to the volunteers until the end was top notch.
Kit & Goodies - 4/5
The running kit wasn't much but the medal is really gorgeous. All the safety aspect had been added into the run with some cool factor in it with the glow-in-the-dark sticks. The runners also got some free rocktapes.
Route - 3/5
There is nothing scenic about the route. We are running at night, nothing to see by the way. But I love the idea that the u-turn section is basically in the middle of the 12km route, so the runners can expect when we will arrive at the section.
Overall Experience - 4/5
I hope this run will continue again next year. Most of the challenges is from the heat. For sure I'll join the half marathon if this event come again to Johor!