GE Pacesetters 30km 2008

The Car Journey

3 cars assembled at SAFRA MF and drove off at 7pm to RV with a 4th car near APB, for my first night drive to KL for a run. After crossing the Tuas CP, we headed straight for our seafood dinner at Gelang Patah. Adam had pre-ordered crabs. That began the makan parade for the next 2 days. We took more than an hour to devour lots of seafood, before realizing it was late, and we had to rush. With PS and Alber taking the steering on the MPV, we zoomed ahead in the dark of the night, but still it was nowhere near the speed if we had travelled in the day. By the time we reached the Coronade Hotel, it was 2am. Halfway through our baths, we realized that there was no water due to the bursting of water pipes in the previous day. I was so poofed from the long drive that I knocked off at 3am without bathing....

Day 2 (Makan & Shopping)

I woke up at 9am, only to find out there was still no water. Then received a call from DO to say that we were contemplating shifting hotels...*shudder*...I was concerned that our plans would go awry...after some pow-wow, we decided to stay put and hope for the best. Off we went to Jalan Alor for some very expensive Wanton Mee...but the Char Siew was very good (in my opinion). Did a lot of roaming after that, and visited the new shopping centres, but ended up eating more dessert at Food Republic. Met the bunch of SgRunners shopping for foodstuff, and advised some of them to get large bottles of water as backup. Met Andy, who had to shout at me a few times before I could recognize him...all because of his geeky specs lah...haha.

The 'Happening' Food Alley - Jalan Alor

A large group of SAFRA MF and SgRunners gathered at the hotel lobby at 6pm for a parade down Jalan Alor to the recommended restaurant...W.A.W. We had to occupy 5 tables, and we had so much to eat that we had to offer food to the other tables. Again, we had frog legs...hehe. After the feast, we walked along the street to look for the famed 'Rainbow Sago'....we sent out a recce force to test a certain stall, and eventually found the 'one'. It was not bad, the Rainbow Lolo, and other types of Lolo....hoho....We took some nice photos, walked a little to look for foot massage, before splitting up from the main group and went on to...u guessed it right...San Francisco Cafe for more drinks and light makan....wow...

Back to the hotel at 10pm. Pinned up the bib and prepared the fuel belt. Was still wondering what to do with the wrongly printed race T (instead of 30km, I got a men's T that said 10km). Brokie, DO, xdd and a few others also had this problem. By that time,clean water supplies had resumed at the hotel...we could clean up and sleep easy. By the time I got to bed, it was 12am.


Race Day

Woke up at 4am, and really feeling the effects of 2 nights of sleep deprivation. Went down to the lobby at 4.45am, and the bus was all ready to take us to the start point. We did a rough count, and estimated to have 90 runners from Singapore needing to go from Coronade to the start. I joined the first convoy of mini buses which took 15min. At the race site, it was time for group photos and queue-ing at the loo. Bought a box of PowerGels at very good price, with 2 extra packs thrown in as bonus. Spent lots of time chatting with familiar faces, mainly Singapore runners....so didn't do any warm-up nor stretching at all.

The race started unexpectedly at 6am, and all shuffled forward only to meet the first of the many uphill climbs of the day. Expecting this to be a hilly route, I have chosen to run conservatively. Spotted some familiar faces like Ee Ah Seng, Roda who were running close by. The first 4km was through the quiet housing estate, and as I was navigating yet another upslope, someone tapped me on the shoulder...it was Prata...haha...he offered to run ahead to place orders of Prata for me at the halfway point...:)

There were ample water points along the way, but distance markers were almost non existent. I just ran as I felt, without regard to pace nor time. A series of uphill climbs after 5km, and the huffing n puffing began. The weather was cool and the sky was still dark when I finished the first 10km, ending back near the Lake Garden Park. I felt I ran longer, but it was just close to 10km.
It was then just a blur as I tackled more slopes, eventually entering the industrial area. It was here that I met so many familiar faces, SAFRA runners, SgRunners, MR25 Runners, PaceSetters and also some old running kakis.

Finally! Way out from the rolling slopes @ Industrial Area

The industrial stretch was really 'mental', with its many rolling hills, and it even had a slight change of U-turn point, with even more upslopes. Alan Chao and I thought for a moment we went the wrong way. Because I brought my own gel-mix this time, I kept the Powergel that was provided. It was a long way out back to the main highway....and I could see many tired faces in the midst. My legs felt tired, as I chugged along.

Once out from the industrial area, it was more upslopes and with about 7km left to go, I started to push the pace a little. I was happy to finally spot a distance marker...'4km To Go'...wow...my time was showing 2hr25min then. At the final 3km mark, I passed a few familiar 20km runners like Passion, Jaime, Yean, Adam...didn't see Bev though. Told them to push on for a bit more, as i did my best to maintain momentum. After the final long upslope, I was into the Park entrance. I opened up my steps, and put up a decent pose for the finish in 2hr46min. This was a good 7min off my 2007's time of 2hr39min....wah, either I have slacked, or the course was tougher. I felt that it was a tough workout, and many of my fellow runners agreed.

PassionRunner's farewell race...*next at Sundown*

Some of the speedsters like Bug, StarDust did very fast times. Prata did well with 2hr45min. Bev completed her 20km in a respectable 2hr16min. I had 4 cups of iced milo....yummy... Gathered around near the finish line chit-chatting and taking lots of group photos. Had a very good Japanese Buffet at the Equatorial Hotel before driving back to Singapore, reaching home at 8pm. This was one very tiring KL trip for me.

Distance: 30km__Time: 2hr46min__Pace: 5:32min/km


Photo Slideshow from Brokie's Cam

Photo Slideshow from Passion's Cam

Photo Album from Tey's Cam

Photo Album From MF Runner's Cam