Kuala Lumpur Rat Race 2005 Sept 06

By Penguin-1

All photos are up in the Internet photos repository. Please scroll down to the end of this posting to view great photos from the different cameras. All cameras were operating at different times and locations capturing different photo shots.

Note: Photos may not look as sharp due to re-size for speeding up trasmission of images via Internet. Original photos are of whopping 2,000 KB each and have been downsized to mere 30 KB !!

The Winning Team
“… and the champion of the Rat Race 2005 Top Teams is … RHB Bank!” the Master of Ceremony announced with gusto during the Dinner and Prize presentation. Immediately, my team members and I stood up. Yes! My team was the champion competing among the 98 teams.

I have not been up at the podium receiving awards for the champion team for a long, long time. Responding to the cheers of RHB staff while walking from my dinner table to the stage, I was like walking in air. I waved my hands slowly at them and put on my best smile – something like Michael Jackson did. I was jubilant. Though there was no music to welcome the runners to rise to the stage, it did not matter to me at that moment. However, one of the trekker friends could not help but think my gesture was similar to Miss Universe or Miss World was been crowned.

The remark from Tony (Penguin-3) was most interesting: standing on the stage with the other four team members, KC’s (Penguin-1) face was seen beaming with joy and Tony had to wear sunglasses to shield the radiant glow.

Of course, another runner friend suggested that it is most suitable for the occasion that I throw in a 10-course Chinese dinner to celebrate the triumph. I agreed. With that, Tony said that he will include me on all the Bank’s running races for more celebrations.

Under Pressure
A few months before the race, I was already under pressure. Tony, the Team Manager and also a runner in this event, informed me that being in the elite team, my team must win. After listening to that instruction, my legs really started to shiver. Since there was a plan, we just focus in our training and Tony double-up as the coach also.

A few days before the race, I was also under different kind of pressure: a few of the Pacesetters runner friends reminded me to take more “leng lui” (pretty gals) and pom-poms girls photos. What if they reject my request? Luckily, I was able to withstand such pressure, rest well and sleep well.

Pre-race Activities

I woke up to the sound of heavy rain at 5.45am on the race day. I was excited as the rain would cleanse the air ready for the runners in the afternoon – superb timing. Compare to the earlier race date of August 9, it was horrible to see the entire Kuala Lumpur was engulfed in terrible haze.

The three Penguin runners each drove their cars from office to the Bursa Malaysia and parked the cars just before the road leading to the car park was closed at 2.30pm. We were considered early and proceed to collect the bibs. There was a slight hiccup as the team members had not signed the indemnity cover yet. I think that was necessary as in 2004, I saw one runner was fainted and lied on the stretcher awaiting medical attention. A runner’s life is tough. If anything goes wrong during the competition, one has to bear the consequence.

I have actually pre-arranged with my brother, Weng, to assist me in taking the photos. Well, how was I able to take so many leng lui photos alone? I was most excited that his friend, Jason Lee, was also coming to help. There were five cameras covering this event: Jason Lee was using Nikon D70 digital SLR with few Nikor lenses for different shots; Weng was using Nikon Coolpix, so was Steven; Chee Wee was using Olympus and I was using Canon IXUS 40.

In the presence of Nikon D70 D-SLR, obviously, we were very excited wanting Jason Lee to take the photos. At one time, after he was seen using a telephoto lens, Meng and I were standing in front of RHB cheering team members and they started cheering only to realize that Jason Lee has yet to change to the proper camera lens. We paused the action for 20 seconds and resumed acting when he was ready.

With the limited space, warming-up was done at the car park adjacent to the Bursa Malaysia itself. So Team A and B of the runners were running in office attire around the car park packed with cars at 4pm in the hot afternoon sun. It must be the most unusual sight to the parking attendant that he was asking me: “You are running here in office attire?”

One of the reasons that I like to participate at the Rat Race was that the atmosphere was like carnival. The runners were all dressed up smartly in office attire depending on the nature of jobs and their aspirations (may not be in sync). The teams that caught my attention were the Ikea team in vibrant colours; supermen with pot bellies; “Tai Kor” (big brother) in full suits. Not forgetting the beautiful pom-poms girls and the lively music that live up the mood of all present there.

The Race

The CEO race started first at 4pm with a total distance of only 1km. This year, all CEOs clocked in much faster timing than last year. At 4.20pm, the race for executives was flagged off by the FTAAA official without any sound amplifying equipment. “One, two, three” and we just sped off.

This was the second time I am running the Rat Race. Every time when I run, I would say that this would be the last attempt. Meng (Penguin-2) and I are marathoner and not sprinter. Imagine we have to run hard and subject the lung to pump at maximum capacity from start till end. I still remember very well that Meng’s classic statement in 2004: "running a Rat Race is even tougher than running a full marathon" to the bewilderment of those at the dinner table.

Unlike other long distance races where I would enjoy the journey and admire the scenery while running blissfully, this was a different ballgame. It was so tough that I was just focusing on the road and counting the remaining minutes to reach the 20 minutes – the estimated time required to complete the race. I was running and puffing hard. At times, I was doing self-check to see whether I could sustain the pace or increase a little harder. I was really thankful to all the training runs with Pacesetters runners in order to be able to run that fast.

The terrain of the Rat Race was quite interesting. It was going downhill from the starting line for almost 500 meters and then flat most of the distance. However, the runners have to negotiate two up hills, one at the Shangri-la hotel and the last one was going up the ramp 100 meters before returning to the finishing line.

Another reason that I like to run in the Rat Race was the presence of cheering teams. For a short distance of 5km, there were almost 10 cheering teams welcoming and cheering the runners. Runners love cheering teams as running pass them was really a fantastic feeling.

Instead of slowing down to engage high-fives with them, I would automatically run faster than normal because of the invincible force generate from the screaming sound that super charged me. You have to run there to experience it. Whereas in the normal running races held in Kuala Lumpur, we hardly find any cheering team.

Chee Wee (Penguin-11) who is working at Menara ING (situated along the running route), was really supportive. In his email to us, which was too late to be read before we went for the race, asked us to pause when seeing him holding the camera, and not to run too fast when approaching him, in order for him to capture some good photo shots for us. He must be wondering that when we passed by him, we actually ran faster (just to show off a bit that we were still running full steam ahead).

Another Penguin runner who assisted in taking photos was Steven (Penguin-5). He was stationed at the junction of Shangri-La hotel in front of the RHB cheering teams. According to him, the cheering team members would provide dramatic backdrop that lived up the mood. When runners passing by, the cheering team members would start to cheer and he captured the running and cheering moment together.

While running, I met Eric Teo, a Dive Master and a Pacesetter runner from the Bukit Gasing Area Group. As informed, he came and supported us and we really appreciate his cheering effort during the race.

At the Finishing Line
The uphill run in front of MUI Plaza (Jalan P. Ramlee) was a terrible one. The area was congested with traffic and runners would have to breathe harder competing for oxygen with the vehicles stuck in traffic jam.

All the hard running paid off. I got number 15 position out of 500 runners. However, I was the slowest in my team.

I could not see Miss Nancy Lai, one of Pacesetters Club’s darlings, during the race. She was representing HSBC last year. But after crossing the finishing line, Meng told me that she was running too. To re-capture the 2004 scene, the three Penguin runners took a group photo with her.

Unpleasant Encounter
One unpleasant moment that I encountered at this event was after the race, with shirt fully drenched, I wanted to take photos of those remaining runners returning to the finishing line. With the presence of the uniformed men (looks like army guys); however, they shoved me back when I cross the line a little. I saw one uniformed man signaling to his colleague to elbow me out of the area. I felt like being treated like a criminal.

I love the beautiful slogan from my recent Mount Kinabalu climb: Take nothing but photos; leave nothing but footprints. I was trying to find an unobstructed view to take photos and not causing trouble. Besides, the runners are management staff.

Moving Forward
The much anticipated Rat Race 2005 was over. Since RHB Bank is holding the Challenge Trophy, rest assure that RHB Bank runners are there to defend the title next year. And does that mean that the Penguin runners would run again for Rat Race 2006?

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Jason Lee, Weng, Chee Wee, Steven and Eric Teo who came to provide the assistance and the support. Hope to see you next year.

Click here to view 45 photos taken by Jason Lee with Nikon D70 digital SLR

Click here to view 64 photos taken by Penguin-1 with Canon IXUS 40

Click here to view 51 photos taken by Weng with Nikon Coolpix

Click here to view 18+3 photos taken by Steven with Nikon Coolpix & Chee Wee with Olympus

Signing off,

Penguin-1