Fiesta Muzium Telekom Run 2010

I found out about this run from Kei Ming during our adiNation Training Run on Wednesday and only decided to go for it on Thursday – call it an impromptu decision and the goal was to log on the miles. Despite this, the competitive side in me refused to give in and I finished in 37:51 minutes for sixth placing, missing out on a prize.

Good:
(a) Negligible registration fee (RM10) and you get a recycle bag with a cotton tee with “Muzium Telekom” imprinted on the front, a packet of tissues and the participation certificate (yeah, you don’t necessarily need to run to earn this one!).
(b) Partial road closure with the traffic police manning even at major intersections like Jalan Sultan Ismail – Jalan P Ramlee, Jalan Sultan Ismail – Jalan Ampang, the road in front of KLCC, Dang Wangi, Jalan Raja Chulan. I didn’t have to weave or stop once (unlike the New Balance – Pacesetters Run in January when I had to run across Jalan Bukit Tunku to get across to Parliament or the heart stopping skidding noise Kei Ming and I heard during the Cyberjaya Energizer Night Run).
(c) Less than 10 km! While it was billed as a 10 km run, the actual distance was about 7.13 – 7.14 km – everyone would have PB-ed at this race. Of course whether this point is a good or bad is debatable but frankly, I was glad it ended at 7 km since I was totally spent after conquering the hills at KL Tower and Bukit Nanas. I guess this somewhat counters Stanley’s point of “the organizers will never learn” with respect to distance and upkeep of time. Hey, at least it was 1 km more this year, so technically they did take home one lesson.

Bad:
(a) Late start at 7:30 am and an even later time (I heard it was 11:30 am) for the distribution of the finisher’s medal. It is puzzling why they cannot give out the finisher’s medal as the runners come through which is the norm for all races.
(b) Narrow pathway for the start and finish while great for officials (shaded and all) but this is a disaster waiting to happen (think stampede).
(c) Killer hills at KL Tower and Bukit Nanas – this should have been billed a hill run! I would think one hill would be more than sufficient for such a short distance – even the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon (42km and 10km) only had one hill.
(d) Larger capacity water bottle at the finishing point notwithstanding that the iconic 300 ml KL Tower inspired bottle was a showcase for Telekom. I had to grab two bottles and I do not think the organizers had intended for each runner to take more than one.

Here are the pictures from Tey’s blog showing Sylvia Moey and I at the start. For once, I did not look shag or too knackered! I cannot say the same for the one from Sylvia’s mom at the finishing point.