Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011

Event:Putrajaya Night Marathon

Place:Putrajaya

Date:15th Oct 2011

Time:8:00pm

Continuing my story from the previous post......

Steve came to pick me up from my house before joining the rest of S2 runners in Acacia.We were late.I presumed Heng and Teng were getting restless as they need to be in Putrajaya earlier for their 42km event.

Just after exiting Seremban toll,we were caught in a long traffic jam due to two road accidents along the Seremban-KL Highway.Later we lost "our way" in Putrajaya due to a missed turning.Once we found the location of the event,we were unable to look for a parking place.It was almost 7:30pm and I am sure Heng and Teng were definitely started to panic.Teng parked his car by a road side while we continue to look for a proper parking lot.

I did not managed to speak to Heng or Teng as they were in a hurry to be at the starting line before 8:00pm.Steve,Lau and myself were running the half marathon which only start at 8:20pm.

We walked to the event venue,did some short warm up,went for a toilet break and bought myself a pair of Brooks running shoes.

Our half marathon event was at 8:20pm.We were together at the starting line.Immediately after the start,Lau surged ahead as he was planning to do a PB.I was running slowly due to some stomach discomfort probably due to consuming too much of 100Plus and Power bar.

The route is generally flat with few up slopes which it manageable.The organizer did well by providing adequate water stations,bananas,water melons,cheering groups with drums,men in superheros costumes cheering runners-I saw Superman,Incredible Hulk,Batman encouraging runners.There were also music stations along the route.Very good!!

Everything seems perfect for runners on that day but not for me.Personally I think the weather was a bit too hot and humid since I used to spend most of my time in an air conditioned room.My mind was not set to concentrate on running.The incident that happened 3 hours earlier keep on flashing back in my mind while I was running.It was like a "brainstorming,flash back session" playing inside my mind throughout the run.I was like looking for answers to why the guy wanted to fight with me,what if I do this or that,what should I do in the future if this recurs etc.....a lot of if,how,why and unanswerable questions.

I knew it was not my day to finish with a good results.I decided just to run at my usual LSD pace throughout the race.It wasn't very taxing to my body.The pace was comfortable.

The results (unofficial):

1)Teng 4h 57min FM

2)Heng 5h 22min FM

3)Lau 2h 4min HM He did very well but he wasn't satisfied since he did not achieve his PB.I think it was a bit difficult to do PB in such a hot humid condition.

4)Steve 2h 16min HM He did very well too!!He has improved a lot.Must have been his "secret"training sessions.He trained mostly by himself nowadays due to his busy schedule.

5)Myself 2h 13min 37sec HM

Overall it was a very well organized race.The organizer did make an effort to provide more for runners.Once I cross the finishing line,I was given a medal,a pack of foods(banana,bun and kueh),a bottle of mineral water and a nice bright red finisher T shirt.Everything was in order.Good!!

The only "setback" was the very small distance marker along the route.It was a piece of dark paper sticked on to a big white board.Maybe next time the organiser should provide a bigger,easier to see distance marker.

The official results:

http://www.putrajayanightmarathon2011.com/?page_id=1079