A rainy Hari Raya holiday run

It started to rain when I woke up at 5.30am for this morning's Hari Raja run with the SgRunners. Received a sms from SgRunner Chyarose that she cannot make it due to the rain. I went into the SgRunner's forum and shouted to all the latest at MR. By 6am, the rain had stopped, and I went to pick DO, and proceeded to meet the rest at MR.

SgRunners before the run

By 7.30am, we had Brokie, cosmic, run3, astrogal, DO, Cokiee, Tiwazz, littlefoot, ronnie, Sotong and myself starting the run from the lower carpark along the boardwalk/canoe side to Upper Thomson Road. We have decided not to run the trails as it was reported to be muddy and slippery after the many days of rain. Brokie & cosmic were leading the pack and the rest of us merrily followed from behind. run3 was also doing a good pace and soon she, cokiee and a few frontrunners turned into Pierce Reservoir. It started to rain cats and dogs, and we increased our pace and rushed to the toilet for a break, and to wait for the rain to stop. We waited for a while for Tiwazz and littlefoot, and decided to proceed along to meet them later. As we approached Casuarina Rd, we saw Tiwazz, littlefoot and Ronnie. They wanted to sit out the rain at the prata shop, and cosmic joined them. The rest of us crazy runners continued to run in the heavy rain along Old Upper Thomson Road.

Very misty and cool run along the dam

The roads were deserted, with just a few bikers whooshing by. There were relatively few cars. Brokie and run3 were pacing one another, with DO and myself running behind, followed by Cokiee, Sotong, astrogal. It was a nice run as the rains provided cool relief, and there were'nt any strong winds. We reached the main gate into Upper Pierce Reservoir (UPR) and decided to run along this instead of goining on to Seletar Reservoir along OUTR. We can do that another time when the weather is nicer. The slopes along UPR provided some good cardio workout, and the new runners like run3, astro, cokiee really enjoyed it. We ran all the way to the dam area, and then back alng the scenic route. Some nice photos were taken by Sotong, who too strategic cover under a small tree...hehe. We took a break at the tourist toilets, took some more photos, and proceeded back along the UPR road we came in. We didn;t want to stop too long to avoid cooling down too fast, and catching a chill. The way back was very nice too, and there was a big bunch of monkeys out to do their stuff. We ran past them, and chionged the slopes a bit....ha, it was shiok. We reached the main gates in no time. I had a little pain on my left foot, not sure what it was, definitely not a sprain or something....nothing serious, could still run ok.

At Casuarina Road...prata place just behind us

We ran a fast pace along the return stretch of OUTR with Brokie and Cokiee leading the pack. We reached Casuarina Rd again, picked up the boys, and had a couple of nice group photos at the strategic junction where the prata place is. This is one regular meeting point for us when we run this route. With just 4km back to MR, we decided to skip the toilet break, and ran all the way back at temo pace. It was a smooth journey back, as the roads were still relatively quiet because of the holiday and the rain. My shoes were wet by then, and I was already getting used to the water-logged feeling in my shoes after a few rainy day runs. I took them as good conditioning runs, and with this positive mental attitude, I thoroughly enjoyed all my rainy day runs. Once back, we cheered for those that came dashing home, especially Sotong, astrogal and cokiee. They really gave it their all, even for the final 100m....kudos... these people have the right attitude to perform well in their next marathon.

We did a wash up, and all drove to Casuarina Rd. The prata place was crowded, and we had to settle for wanton noodles, duck/char-siew rice, kopi/milo for carbo loading. We were joined by Seal and Kellylim who had come down to join us for the makan session. Lots of fun chatting about the run in the rain, as well as looking at the upcoming KL Marathon. I had to leave earlier for a family lunch appointment, but I was satisfied with a good morning workout on a holiday....always time well spent, especially with good running and makan kakis like the SgRunners :)


Distance Ran:16km ___Time:1hr30min____Pace:5:38min/km