Nike Run 2010 (KL edition) –5km

I was still in two minds over whether to do the race up until the moment I woke up on Sunday as my ligament was still bothering me. I walked down the stairs to test them out and they held up ok; there was still some pull and ache but no pain. I decided to take it easy to keep the ligament in check; plus I found out Phua Hui Chin (one of girls I bump into regularly in the Singapore runs) was also doing the 5km event – yeah zero chance when running against the Singapore girls (but you already knew, didn’t you?). So it was huge (ok, make that MEGA) surprise when I found out I came in second in the Open category (Hui Chin placed first in the U-25 which category I had forgotten about). Hey, coming in second running injured and slow-mo (27:58 min – I was that snail pace!) gives you an idea of the depth (or lack thereof) of the field. I guess everyone was in the 10km event. Anyway, the prize winnings were super duper good! RM750 of Nike vouchers and a glass plaque and I even snagged another tee for SW! Great outing!

Kei Ming was supposed to pace me as I wanted to hit a 5min/km pace but I guess he got lost in the throng of runners. I found out later he came in at 32 minutes. Kei Ming and a few others ran over to Lot 10 for the Hooha 10.10.10 run after finishing the Nike Run.

Good:

(a) Walking distance from SW’s place! This meant I could park there, use the loo and take a leisurely walk down the road to Jalan Binjai/KLCC. It took me all of 8 minutes to get there. One funny incident on the way there – someone in a passing car honked and rolled down his windows and asked where I had parked. My reply: my house!

(b) Road closures or partial road closures.

(c) Easy online registration.

(d) Convenient race pick up pack venue – I was in and out of Avenue K in 10 minutes.

(e) Sufficient water stations but as usual, I skipped this and “gorged” on 2 bottles of water after the run.

(f) Loads of porta-loos so there was no queue.

(g) On the whole, well organized event.

Bad:

(a) The Running Deo put it nicely – an overrated event.

(b) Expensive registration fees (RM50) for a dri fit Nike top (no, it was a cheaper and poorer quality cousin of those you find on the rack) and a finisher’s toy (I got Ari!). Some of the SgRunners commented that “I fear the worst for the Sg run”, “Looks worse than McD’s giveaway) etc on seeing a pic of it. Since I got RM750 worth of vouchers, I cannot complain too much. In any event, Mandy shall be the beneficiary of Ari once Hero has snapped a pic.

(c) For a hyped-up event, I was surprised that there were very few booths or goodies at the end point – a Nike booth and performances by a few local bands/singers (ok, I’ll concede that this is “unique” but hey, they had this too at the Energizer Night Race earlier this year), loads of bananas and water. Only the VIP tentnage had breakfast items dished out by Delicious – they had initially barred me from entering it until I was confirmed a podium winner. This is so different from the Pacesetters’ organized run where you can have your fill of Milo, bean curd dessert, soy milk, Powerbars, cendol, choice of breakfast (e.g. nasi lemak, fried noodles, roti jala). All this for registration fees of definitely less than RM50!

(d) The partial road closure along Jalan Ampang meant I had to battle noxious fumes.

(e) Naturally the prize presentation ran late (about 45 minutes) and I missed my pole practice.

I walked back immediately after that and headed to the gym in Lot 10 for a short date with the elliptical before showering and heading home. I had too much restless energy to nap in the afternoon and decided I had to get out of the house. I ended up watching “Eat Love Pray” at Tropicana City Mall before dinner. It’s the typical chic lit and happily ever after stuff – my kind of stuff.

Photo credits to Tey, Moey and PT Lim