Runcation: Hatyai - Day 3: Hatyai International Marathon

Date: 22th-24th May, 2015

Race Information
Date: 24th May 2015 (Sunday)
Venue: Hatyai, Thailand
Organiser: Hatyai Runners Club
http://hatyairunnerclub.com/

It was finally the day that we've been waiting for. THE MARATHON! well, 'the RUN' for me since I was only running for 10km hahahaha!

Due to the long walk yesterday, we decided to take the tuktuk instead. It was already buzzing when we arrived at the Stadium. People cheering, MC talking things we couldnt understand and the marching band playing. We actually reached there 15 minutes before our flag-off at 7am.

There were 4 categories for this run - 42.2km (FM), 21.1km (HM), 10.5km and 4km fun run. The theme was Run for "Happiness" and it was indeed a happy run for me.

It was also an interesting run since the route and city were brand new to me. New people, new environment and new people. As usual, I ran with my buddy, Kak Emma. But only during the 1st quarter of the run when kak emma decided to walk and jog instead. Since I can't really walk within the 1st 10km, I left her to run with own pace.

Then I jog and jog (I dont really run, ever), passing a lot more people who started to walk. This was the 1st run that they provided watermelon at the waterstation hehe. Plenty of water and isotonic drinks. I managed to hi-bye Schu at the short u-turn; as for the rest of my friends, we met at the finishing line.

A distance away from the u-turn, I felt like it was time to start walking and jogging alternately. I was kind of forcing myself to jog as long as possible and was about to stop when a runner came from behind to my side. So I told myself to keep running. After few minutes, I noticed that we've been running at the same pace and I finally looked to him. A grandpa with a sweet smile, Tae Cha. 

With limited English, we struck some conversation. He's a local, ran this marathon every year and he's 64. Hahahaha! Doubled of my age, yet he could run at the same pace as me (malu seh!). I only noticed his bib category number, 60 (mine was 30) and we're in the same 10.5km distance category.

So, unknowingly, we crossed the finishing line together :D

Thank you Tae Cha for being my running buddy! Another 10km successfully completed without stopping * proud grin *.

It was a wrap up by 8.30am for us as we need to check out at noon. Took a tuktuk back with a quick stop at a food market (dont know the name) where we borong seaweed and nuts.

After check out, we head out to our now-favorite restaurant, Salma Restaurant. Had a scrumptious lunch before leaving to the train station. 

Since it was still early (we still have 2hours before departure), we people-watched and went to the nearby Robinson Mall. I actually bought a set of pots and pan there hehe.

The train arrived at 3.45pm (Hatyai local time) and departed 30mins later. We reached Padang Besar at 5.30pm for immigration and customs clearance. We had to bring everything down except food but my bag weren't really checked haha. I think the officer decided to not dig thru everything when he opened the bag and saw that shoes and damp running attire in a plastic bag were on top of everything. We bought bagpacks so there weren't a lot of space to buy unnecessary things. 

6pm, we left for Butterworth and arrived safely at midnight.

In conclusion, this was the most laid back and memorable run I had so far. Worth a visit for next year!

2014 MAKNA Founder's Night Run

Race Information
Date: 1st November 2014 (Saturday)
Venue: Putrajaya Watersports Complex
Organiser: MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional)
http://maknafoundersrun.org/

Not much of an expectation. Why? Coz it's only 5km and I had other things to worry more at that moment (== my Kinabalu trip about a week after the run). Being only 5km, there was no timing required for this category. My brother registered for the 10km easy run.

The starting and ending point were pretty new for me as I only know that runs in Putrajaya usually started in front of the PoJ (Palace of Justice). I had my trust to my brother, the rider as he said he already surveyed the place few days before.

We reached there at 7.45pm, just in time for some warm up before my brother's 10km 8.20pm flag off. My flag off was at 8.40pm. There were a lot of booths around the area (i.e food, cancer clinic, Brooks etc) which were set up for the daytime and the night run event itself.

The starting line we a bit of a walk towards the end of the booths. Not that i mind as it also serve as a sort of warm up before the actual run. It wasn't a big crowd but i could see waves of pink everywhere! hehehe

From my perspective, everything was OK since this is a charity run. But there are few hiccups that can be improved next year; the PA system setup and the distance marker.

Honestly, the distance from the runners meeting point to the release point was really far. What made it worst is that the PA system was only at the release point. i still saw a lot of 10km runners (based on their bib colors) just talking and waiting behind the gate when their category has been released long time ago. The person in charge there (2person) just use their voices calling out runner and they just stand at the gate in front of the meeting point. I dont see any effort walking around the crowd.

Any way, the 5km event was run in sequence. Starting with the Cancer Survivors and school kids. Then the FancyFool group (riding bicycles, with wheelchairs, dressing up etc) and finally the runners. 

Nothing much to complain on the run itself. The group was well spread, no congestion. Just lack of distance marker. I could only see 1 marker marking 2km. So i roughly use the water station as my marker. The route was scenic (as i never run for fun in putrajaya) and the finishing line is different than of 15km and 10km.

Medal was given at the finishing line, and then straight to the goody bag collection. NOTHING IN BETWEEN. Then, I walked to the finishing line for the 10-km runners for my brother (same location at the finishing line). I was quite surprise that between the finishing line and the goody bag collection this time, there were plenty of stuff (read = FOOD & DRINKS). How can it be so contradicting for the 5km runners?

There were MILO, 100PLUS and Nestle Fitness cereal gv aways. By the time we reach the goodybag counter, we're pretty much full hahahaha. The 10/15km runners had extra a box of cereal in their bag, as well as a pack of extra food. Well, the box of cereal that my brother had was already spoilt. At home, I could see that there is a small hole near the bottom of the box. rezeki semut la tu..

All in all, it's 10km next time!

Pro:

• A lot of things to look around prior to the run. There was a carnival going on but by 8.30pm pretty much almost all closed.
• Snacks and drink provided post-run
• U still get a medal regardless of your finishing time and it's pretty.

Cons:

• PA system was not sufficient enough at the meeting/release point.
• NO DISTANCE MARKER. i used the water station to roughly estimate where i am.

2014 BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon

Race Information
Date: 11th October 2014 (Saturday)
Venue: Dataran Putrajaya, Presint 3
Organiser: Twenty First Century Sports (M) Sdn Bhd
http://www.bsnpnm.com/

Worried. That was going through my mind for this race. Why? It's due to the cut off time of the race. I need to finish 10km in 80minutes. Based on my virgin run, it took me 93mins to run 10km. So how the heck am I supposed to trim the 13min excess time???

I drove back from Penang at 5.30pm and arrived late for my brother's and niece's kenduri at 9.30pm. So dinner was late at 10.30pm. Nasi beriani hahaha (carbo-loading). Saturday was spent lazing around. Initially, I was thinking of going to SportsDirect to get a hp belt (borrow my dad's iP5) but I cancelled due to the laziness to go out.

Lunch was late at around 3.30pm and before the race, I think i ate some cream puff and snacks. I was really hungry during the race. Luckily, snacks were provided after the run.

By 6.30pm, it was already dark and by 7pm, it started drizzling. But when we reached the race venue, it was dry hahahaha! We walked around a bit and the split as the starting point for FM/HM and 10km/5km were on the opposite side of the road. I was supposed to meet my friend at the meet up point but ended up meeting other friends instead. Not having phone at that time was really hard as I hv no mean of comm (reminder to bring my pouch for next run). Well, at least I had companies while waiting for flag off.

My friends were eager to run so we headed to the front of the crowd ( i dont really planned to go upfront but what to do???). 9secs after flag off, we started. Of course, after 5mins I was running alone already hahahaha! No surprise there :p

The weather was humid and hot (now I know what they meants by Putrajaya being to most humid place to hv a run). I was sweating like crazy after only 10mins and the road felt long The boulevard was damn straight!! Distance marker is basically non-existence. I had to estimate based on the water station location (of course u need to remember the running route).

Like the years before, the organizer arranged a lot of entertainment along the route. The crowd of volunteers cheering really motivate me to keep running. There were a lot of percussion bands,  drummers and mascots apart from the (volunteer) crowds.

At the end, I was a bit dissapointed to see that my running time only improved by few seconds and there is no medal for me. But I was surprised to see everybody was given the medal regardless of not finishing in 80mins! What a relief!!

I then waited for my brother at the 21km (HM) finishing line. There I could see different kind of walk after the run (and a lot of runners being wheeled to the medical tent as well) - limping, walking barefooted etc. These runners must have had a hell of a run. most of them are drained out but looked very satisfied (and relief!) to finish the race =)

My brother finished the race at 3+ hrs, after resting for about half an hour while eating; we drove back home. And due to the high adrenaline, I ended up sleeping at around 4pm (3+hrs of sleep) and my brother didnt slept at all that night hehehehe.

Pro:

• A lot of things to look around, i.e selling booths (GNC, Brooks etc)
• A lot of entertainment along the route- bands, cheering, people dressing up
• Snacks and drink provided post-run
• U still get a medal after the cut off time!

Cons:

• Most of the booths closed at around 11pm. So those running for HM/FM doesnt really got a chance to look around when they finish the race (well... not that they hv the energy to do so)
• NO DISTANCE MARKER. i used the water station to roughly estimate where i am.

My 1st Run, ever..

So, i'm no longer a virgin in running.

My 1st run was supposed to be the SP Half Marathon 2014 (12km Fun Run) but the run clashed with my dear cousin's wedding. Hence, 2XU Compression Run 2014 became the one.

When the organizer released the route, I had many thoughts. Why did I choose this run?? It's hilly. It's at the Botanical Garden, Bird Park and Parliment area. Only then the name "Competitive" 10km Run makes sense.

I blamed all of this on my friend, Nadiah, who forced me to register for 10km instead of 5km. I was nervous. Nadiah is a seasoned runner, so this should be easy for her. She even ran half marathons, for Godness sake!

The event was scheduled at 21st September, 2014 (Sunday). I actually ran without much of a preparation. I had my cousin's wedding in Melaka on the 12th & 13th, then to Tioman on 15th-18th, another cousin's wedding in Kelantan on the 19th. So, the fact that I 'skipped' exercising for more than a week didn't help me to calm my nerve down.

Anyway, getting there on that day was nerve recking. Flag off for 10km run was at 6am, and i reached there around 5.40am due to the roadblocks. There were hundreds of people (there were close to 2000 runner as Nad's bib is 4:1123)

The host announced that whomever aiming for prizes need to be in the 1st wave (Wave? huh??). Well, I don't need to. My aim was to finish the run under 2hours. There are medals for all finisher :)

At flag off, I bid Nad farewell. We'll be meeting again after each of us has finished our run. I saw a glimpse of her at the 1km mark, then she's gone. Surprisingly, I managed to run all the way past the 1km, altho slowly. I could hardly run during my crossfit run although it's just a 600m around the block!

The route was clearly marked at every km. So i set my self to go by 1km distance with an average pace of 10min/km. Here's what i talked to my self at every mark hahaha:-

1km- Wow! I maanged to run that far w/o walking?!?
2km- Darn, already started to climb for the hill. I'm walking already.
3km- ure good, liyana. ure meeting the 10min/km pace. Keep it up!
4km- 3/5 of the race more, then ure done!
5km- OMG! I would hv finished if i signed for 5km run instead of this!! ~47min @5km.
6km- how come ure very far away from the 5km mark?!? i hate these hills -_-'
7km- 3km more to go! to eat the gel or not? eat laa.. yummy, green apple flavor is quite nice..
8km- 2km to go. all the way downhill, but seriously i cannot run anymore.
9km- i can see the entry of Botanical Garden. it's the last km! I should really thanked Nad for this.

10km/Finish- run for the last 200m hahahahahaha! i crossed the line, grinning :)
i finally finish my first run!! And i don't feel like dying.

Of course, Nad out run me. It's a huge difference for an 18min gap.

Overall, i'm really proud of myself! 

Tq Nadiah for pushing me. Tq Crossfit. That one particular WOD: 3.2km-row-1.6km-row-0.8km-row 0.4km: was really awful.

Race Information
Date: 21 September 2014 (Sunday)
Venue: Taman Botani Perdana
Organizer: Pink Apple
http://2xucompressionrun.com.my/index.html

Pros:
Clearly visible distance marker
Water station at every 2.5km-3km

Cons:

Nothing really : )

Can't wait for my next run: BSN Putrajaya Night Run on 11th Oct, 2014.