Sue's Ramblings: Malakoff Run 2011

Date: 18 December 2011

Venue: Bukit Kiara Equestrian Country Club & Resort, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Distance: 7km (Garmin: 6.88km)

Timing: 34:40 (Gun); 34:35 (Chip); 34:36 (Garmin)

Pace: 5:02 min/km (Garmin)

Result: 1st (Women’s Open) (results here) (all results here)

Website: http://www.malakoffrun.com.my/v10/

Still no guts to tackle the 12km – those hills at Damansara Heights are scary. And I never learnt my lesson – 2009 and 2010. This is usually the season finale before everyone goes off for the holidays. There were also a couple of events this weekend: Rakan Muda-MMU in Cyberjaya and Malaysian Army International Run in Port Dickson on Saturday; Larian Gemilang in Puchong and Belia Run in Taman Tasik Permaisuri on the same day.

This is the third year running that the event is held in Bukit Kiara and sponsored by Malakoff. Yeah, kinda obligatory to do it since it’s a Malakoff event. Even Hero did the 7km this year; I was taken aback when he called me out at the race start. Typical of Pacesetter-organized event, the ENTIRE route was littered with upslopes and hills…make that steep upslopes.

The 12km women were flagged off at 7am followed by 10 minute intervals for the 12km men and 7km.

Km1

I was about 4 rows back (think this is about my typical spot) and saw Kim and her brother upfront. I was chatting with Mrs Moey – she’s my camel i.e. I usually leave my car keys with her rather than have it jingle in the pockets. Oh yeah…back to the race.

Here's the pic Mrs Moey took right before the flag offUpslope. ONE whole km of upslope and a bit more.

Km2-3

The route flattened out a bit, not much. I saw Kim upfront and thought of keeping in sight which I did until the last stretch at km6-7.

Km4-5

Back near the main road of Jalan Damansara/Semantan with the Shell gas station and Manulife building. Yes, there was another hill here. This was also where they had the checkpoint timing mat.

Km6-7

The worst of the hill and I actually had to power walk near the top. Embarrassing, ain’t it? The worst bit was having the 12km race leaders running (yes, running) up the hills passing you. I’m not sure what came over me and why I needed the walk break because I thought I was doing well up to this point – I felt OK (sure, there was some faster heart rate – it’s hills for goodness sake!), the niggle at the hip was nagging but not about to break, the bunion was starting to scream…what gives? Then again, I think my power walk was a lot faster than trying to “run” up this last bit. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Why yes, looking back now…I do hate myself. Need to remind myself the next time I give up mid-run! Or you guys can do it when you see me walking.

Pros:

a) Well organized.

b) Great time management – all done and dusted by 9:30 am. We can have the rest of the day to ourselves.

c) 2 (?) hydration points along the route and at the finishing, everyone gets a 500ml bottle and you can head onto the Gatorade booth if you want or need isotonic.

d) Good traffic flow management post-run: finish, get your water, walk through to claim your swag, walk through for your breakfast and dessert. They served noodles and for dessert, a choice of bean curd or cendol.

e) Time chipped! Even for the 7km this year. This is why I’m not complaining for forking out close to RM50 for race registration. RM50 is expensive for KL where the usual is RM20-30 tops.

Cons:

a) There should have been an option of having water in paper cups pre-run. I wasted a whole bottle when I only needed 2 sips.

b) Overcrowding on at the checkpoint – the timing mat only covered half the road and there were thousands of runners. It can be particularly frustrating for the faster runners whether you’re doing the second lap of the 12km or the 7km to have to weave your way through. Then again, it’s also good etiquette to keep to the left if you’re slower or walking which unfortunately many Malaysian runners have yet to adopt.

Photo log (some stolen from Moey):

Swag & Prize