(18/9/05)-PJ HALF 10KM : Race Report

THANKS "

Istly I want to thank Ronnie , coz on Thursday , when I collected the bibs from him and after lunch as we departed , he gave me a TIP telling me that 1st 25 places will get hamper and there won't be many elites coz no cash money . I was motivated and determined to get one of this placing in order to get the "hamper" .

ALMOST RUN 21 KM RACE :

Due to signing slip up . My name was registered for 21 km race which I wasn't prepared to run that race but I wouldn't mind if there was no choice , only thing is that i'll be getting sore muscles the next 3 days and that will distrupot my trainnning . Fortunately , Jamie told me that Kien Mau ( A very fast Malaysian based in S'pore ) could not make it and I could take his place .

THE FIRST 2 KM :

It was a very crowded start and I actually waited at the front so that after the 21 km people flagged off , I could quickly wait at the starting line exactly in front . In fact ,I was literally on the starting line , the exact spot where the front 21 km runners lined up , but a few minutes later some people kept lining up in front of me and eventually those who were at first in front became about 4 rows from the front .So when the gun went off , i had alreaDy lost a few seconds trying to beat the packed "jam" . After that , there was some space after 100m and I shot off . The others have also shot off in front of me and the leading pace was about 150 m away from me .

I saw the only marker throughout the race and that was the 2km marker , my time at the 2 km marker was 6 min 7 sec tanslating to 3 min 3 sec per km pace !? It can't be true !? Have they wrongly marked it ? It did feel like running 2 km though .

AFTER MOTOROLA , JEYAN .

Before Motorola I saw this Indian guy running . He was running at a comfortable pace . I managed to overtake him before the Motorola road but he managed to overtake me again at the U turn which i think is the 5 km mark . He suddenly said to me
" This is tough" as he came by . I suddenly remembered who he was , that was why he spoke to me coz he is Jeyan , one of those who trains with me at Kg Pandan Sports Complex . ( He is a student of HELP Institute ) . I'm was glad to see someone familiar to pace with . We paced together for awhile .Together we managed to overtake a number of people .

LAST APPROX 3 KM :

I was getting out of steam already . We were trying to overtake this Mat Salleh guy who was running with an MP3 player but he didn't want to let go of his position . I then lost my fight as I was very tired already . Jeyan went on . The Mat Salleh went on and 2 more Indian guys ( one of them from different category) which I overtooked earlier started to overtake me at the last 2 km . At this time , the rain , a slight drizzle (equivalent to the 2 man-made sprinkles at Putrajaya by the bomba) also came . It was good to cool down the body but a bit slippery .

FINAL METERS

I just maintained my position and speed . There were no more runners who overtook me . Only thing was that there was a lot of other runners from the other groups along the road . As I finished the race, I was glad that at last the race has ended . The race steward gave me a card and immediately i asked him what was my position , coz there were 2 numbers on the card and I wasn't sure . 1 saw my competition number which was 28 in which i thought was my position and I was dissapointed for awhile . The race steward told me that my position was the one written on the card , 18th !! I'm so glad I achieved my target to get top 25 to get the "hamper" .

"HAMPER"

I collected my letter to get the hamper and the medal on the table . The race stewards quickly told me not to touch the medals coz my medal was already in the envelope which contained the letter for the " Hamper".

I went to the counter to collect my "hamper" , thinking that it will be the same big box just like in the Subang Jaya 10 km run , where to my surprised there were hampers for the top 30 ( I got 28th at that time) The "hamper" tuned out to be something very small which the 18th place person was to get ( Later I found out that different positions will get different sized items) . I got a very very small " hamper " consisting of
i) Hogo brand Intensive treatment and relief for Dry , cracked heels cream
ii) Hogo brand Deep penetrating moisturiser for skin
iii)Hogo brand protective cream for nails and cuticles
iv) 1 Voucher for Genting All day unlimited rides
v) A Nandoes chicken meal .

What a "hamper" . Well , Thanks Ronnie again , but I shouldn't complain . At least get something compared to the over 500 to 700 people in my category who didn't get anything .

Race analysis :

1. Average race pace : 4 min 14 sec per km pace and total time was 42 min 28 sec ( My bib number is also 28!! )

2. Compared to the hilly Subang Jaya run in June : Average race pace was 4 min 07sec per km and timing was 42 min 07 sec

3. Satisfied with position .

4. Not really satisfied with timing but not that dissapointed either.

5. Happy can run in PJ Half 10 km race again after not running in this event since 1998 ( 7 years) . This was the race which I got my 10 Km PR in 1998 in the same category so it brings me good memories .

6. I'm looking forwar to race the same event again next year and with an even better timing

7. It has been almost 1 year + since my return to running and I know I have improved coz my 1st proper 10 km race at the KLIM in March timing was 44 min 34 sec ( 4 min 27 sec per km pace)