KL Marathon 2005 - The 21km Race Report

Finally the time had come for me to run my first official Half Marathon (21km). This was to be done at the KL International Marathon 2005.

I woke up at 4am in the morning of Mar 6, 2005. Washed up, and took a piece of banana and a coffee to build up fuel. The previous night's steamboat dinner was great, and should provide the necessary fuel for today's race.

Went with Beverly and the rest of the 21km gang to the race start point (High Court area) at about 5.30am. Did a little bit of stretching and went to the loo twice.

With Beverly Before The Start Of Race

At 6.30am sharp, the flag off for the 21km began, and away we all went over the mats, with the ChampionChips beeping away. It was good weather and I was feeling strong. The first 2km saw quite a number of people going to the bushes to do a quick one. I started ahead of Wong, Tong Ling, Yean and the rest of the gang. I immediately trained on a few strong-looking runners and used them as pacers. At a few upslopes, I overtook quite a number of runners. The group of runners began to thin, and soon I was running easy pacing with a few 'Ang Mohs'. Very soon, we came to the first drinks point (must have been running for 4km). Took a cup of 100-plus and continued on. Went to to overtake Evelyn on a relatively steep upslope at about the 8km mark.

The KL terrain is known to be hilly, with a number of long slopes. It was at these slopes that I overtook many of the front-runners. It was mentioned by the experienced folk that the Singapore Marathon route was a lot flatter and more scenic. (I subsequently developed sores on my thighs the following day, confirming that I had to climb many-a-slope).

At this point, I spotted Yen San from SAFRA Toa Payoh. I remembered overtaking her husband about a km ago. I tailed her for another 2km before overtaking her on another upslope. I think she recognized me, and she did in fact come to acknowledge that at the end of the race later. Shortly after that, I reached the 10km mark, where I stepped on the timing mat. I looked at my watch and it showed 49min+. I checked with the official, and he confirmed that to be the 10km mark. A sub-50min 10km....that makes it official.

I picked up speed a bit, and felt a little bit of cramp in the stomach and twitching at my calves. I suspected it to be the 100-plus. We came to a PowerGel point at about the 11km mark, and I think I got a coffee flavour. Took 2 gulps, along with some water at another station further down the road. I moved on and continued running with strength.

After a while, the road merged in with that of the 10k runners. At this point, there were only a handful of 21km runners left at the front where I could see. We moved among the midst of slow-moving 10k runners, and had some problem with manouvering amongst the crowd. Managed to plod along, speeding across traffic junctions for fear of impatient traffic not wanting to stop for too long.

After running for quite some time now, I realized that there were no distance markers. I really had no idea exactly how far I have covered, and how far more to go. I started to ask the many officials along the way, and also some of the runners whom I think might know tghe answer, but no one seemed to know then. I continued running with strength, and started overtaking many 10k, 42k runners with ease. When I suspected that we were left with about 6km, I started to pick up pace again.

After another 20min, I could hear announcements in the distance. I knew we were close. I started to speed up, overtaking a few front-runners. I decided to skip the last water point, since we were so close already. Then, an official told us that 21km runners had to run another large round before finishing. At that point, I could see that many runners started to walk out of exasperation. I continued to run strong. I saw a young PaceSetter runner in front, and asked him the distance left. He said '1km left'. I said 'Great. Lets Go'. I increased speed, and left him behind. Knowing that it was only 1km left, I ran all out. At the last 100m, I managed to sprint to the finish, and looked very strong. Hopefully, the pictures reflect this good posture. I finished with a respectable time of 1hr50m45s, my personal best for a 21km, and also recorded a PB of 49min+ for the 10km. A great and satisfying run for me indeed.

A satisfied run with a well deserved finisher's medal

A check with the official results indicate that I was 35th in the veteran men's section, and the best Singaporean 21km runner as well. A memorable achievement for me.

Distance Ran:21km____Time:1hr50.8min____Pace:5:18min/km
Average HR:NM____Max HR:NM____KCal:1,500 est.