Great Eastern-Pacesetters 30km Run

Written by Chee Wee

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It is my third road race in the year 2006 - Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km which was held on 22nd January 2006. I believe that it is the first 30km race event organized in the region & proudly to say that our prestigious club, the Pacesetters, once again, has proven on its superb organizing skill in the running events. Certainly, life is great to have the opportunity to take part in this well-organized event.

Journey to the Starting Line

After a light sleep, I was jolted by the sound of my handphone alarm at 4:45am and got out of my warm bed. Quickly refreshing up & eating the usual routine of breakfast, got everything ready by 5:10am. Took my running shoes & bag in my car; then started the car's engine & switched on the radio - the light & easy channel; listened to the music to ease my tension.

Surrounding of my house area was still quiet & peaceful; but I could feel the excitement of the forthcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration as my neighbours have put a wonderful decoration. Indeed, it was a beautiful Sunday morning! The sky was clear & the moon was generously brighten up.

Just before arriving at the car park at Lake Gardens, I saw KC & his friends walking towards the starting area. Then, before reaching the small roundabout at the playground, I saw Kelvin & Alden walking along the road. Right after parking my car & changing into my running attire, I met up with Khee Meng, Kenny Choo, Hoo Chin Cheong & others. My feeling was marvellously good & cheerful to meet up with so many friends. We were chit-chatting & walking together to the starting area, Tapak C (the heart of Lake Gardens).

The atmosphere at the Tapak C was fantastic & great. I could clearly hear the announcements made by Mr. Wan, the Immediate-past President of the Club, while depositing my bag at the baggage storage. Then, I quickly made my way to the reporting area. I submitted my reporting card before entering the cordoned off area. It was a simple checking-in system via an entrance from the Boathouse near Tapak C.

While I was intending to do a bit of stretching and walking a little around the area, suddenly, Khee Meng informed me that Eric met an accident when doing his cycling training on Saturday evening, was here to support the race. The tyre of his racing bicycle actually stuck in the drain cover while travelling with fast speed. With the downward momentum, he tumbled over resulting in scratches and injuries. You can imaging how serious the impact can be! Vivian told me that with the fall, his bike helmet was broken. My goodness! Luckily, he is okay & I wish him speedy recovery.

Without any hesitation, I went to look for him & asked him how it was happened. He told me that the incident was happening too fast & he regretted that he went for the training yesterday. Otherwise, he could take part in the race this morning. With the injury, he has to withdraw from the race. Nevertheless, we were happy to see him coming up this morning to cheer for us. I hope, he will be back to run, swim & cycle soonest.

The journey continues...

For this race, my target was simply to complete this race with no injury & if I could complete the race within 3 hours, it was surely a bonus to me! With that in mind, I started off with a strong mental strength & determination. When the gun went off, there were loud cheers right up in front and the whole group started to move quickly ahead. I was standing at the back portion of the crowd with KC & Joviet Sim.

There was a rush at the starting area especially running up the Deer Park. I had so many fast runners overtaking me right at a slight uphill slope; but it didn't bother me as I was running with KC & we met up with Tan Wah Sing & Tey Eng Tiong who were running with their steady pace. We greeted each other "Happy Chinese New Year" as the celebration is exactly a week away from today. I told myself to enjoy the run and simply focus on "running my own race".

The morning seemed particularly humid, and I starting sweating quite soon after. I felt I had started this race much slower than the normal training run pace and I hope this would really help me later on in the race as we were running through a few hilly slopes (i.e. popular double hills at Jalan Tunku & Sri Hartamas' roller-coaster etc). Nothing much eventful at this stretch until I guess not long after making the turn in to Jalan Parlimen, I heard cheers ahead of me and thank you to the cheerleaders. They were good cheering especially when running for a second loop to head onto Sri Hartamas! When I was running passing by them, I could feel a strong charged-up & it gave a boost to run faster.

Upon reaching the Bank Negara building, I saw & waved at Tony who was a committed volunteer to be the traffic Marshall in charge there. He was giving the direction to all runners, heading towards Jalan Dato Onn. Salute to all the volunteers who were so generous & kind to provide their services & perform the long-hour duties to make the event a success one.

Along this stretch, KC & I caught up with Jason Chin who I met in the recent Singapore full marathon race. We ran together for a few kilometres. We chit-chatted while running; suddenly we saw a runner accidentally kicked into one of the small domed road reflector, which was placed at the middle of road, and tumbled over. Luckily, he only got a scratch at his leg. Jason told us that he had the similar experience in one of the local races last year. According to him, it was really spoiling his mood to continue his run in that incident.

After the 1st water station, we separated & were fighting with our own battle at the famous double-hill route. I was running with a consistent pace & tried to keep it at 6min pace. Before turning to Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Khee Meng caught up with me & I was happy to see him as I thought he was way ahead off me. Later on, he increased his pace & went ahead of me. I told myself - "don't panic" as I have a different strategy in this race.

Upon reaching the National Monument, kept looking out for familiar faces but did not noticed anyone until I was nearly coming out from the said monument that I noticed Tey, the ultarmarathoner who was running with his strong & steadily pace! We acknowledged each other when we almost reached the Jalan Parlimen's traffic light; that meant we began to run the 2nd loop back to Bukit Tunku, towards Sri Hartamas for completing the 30km route. It really gave me a boost while running side by side with Tey as I know he is a very consistent runner & sets a good pace. It would help me to perform my run better.

I followed his pace & continued to run comfortably with no panting, just felt really good. Very sad that I was not able to hold on & keep the pace with him. After a while, he disappeared. Well! I just had to continue with my own run.

Before making a u-turn back at the Sri Hartamas, I saw many faster runners were returning the other side, including those 20km runners. I noticed Ronnie who was running at the opposite side of the road. We acknowledged each other. Ronnie was sick in the past three days & was running with a bad cough for the whole run. I was told that he didn't meet his target in this race, but he was already a "hero" to all of us, to turn up for the race. He always showed a highly sportsmanship & positive attitude towards his performance in running. I am pretty sure this is also applying to the way of his thinking & behaviour.

As a matter of fact, I met up with him at the parking lot before changing my wet running attire to the dry short pant & t-shirt. He told me that he is nearly giving up in the race; so difficult to run with the bad cough! But this is a small matter; compared to our dear friend, Terence's heath condition now. I respected his statement. In our lives, they are so many challenges (so called PAINs) waiting for us to conquer...& also one thing for sure, we must also know how to love our bodies. Just like Azwar said in the blog. : "LOVE YOUR BODY!".

Surprisingly, I felt really good at this stage of the run, by now I was running at the returning side of the road. Met up a lot of friends, who were giving some good encouragements & I heard Alden shouted to me : "Good run." Thank you Alden for there, it gave me some extra energy to conquer the hilly slopes at the Hartamas Shopping mall. I was running in an easy momentum, I could only show up my hand to say hi to them while my body in its auto-gear mode. At one stage, it became quit tired to greet each other along the route. But, on the other hand, it gave me a positive energy to my body.

The sun had started to come out by the time I was making a return trip from the Sri Hartamas. I came cross that dehydration situation which definitely is a bad feeling & I always make sure that I drink before feeling thirsty. I had cultivated the practice to drink sips of water regularly throughout my runs. In this race, my appreciation went to the organizer that sponsored the Powerbar Endurance drink at each water stations. This provided me with sufficient hydration. There were total of seven water stations for the 30km; five for the 20km event.

Last 3KM - Finishing Line

At the last 3km, my quadriceps developed a slight discomfort which I couldn't figure up what it was. Anyway, it didn't bother me. I just carried on with my running but was very conscious of my strides. During the return route, I noticed more & more participants walking & stretching by the road side. Some of them really looked exhausted.

When I felt to take a walking break, I told myself that don't give up here & I must give it everything I had. I saw a lady runner who was running with a leg cramp but she didn't stop. It really gave me an assured encouragement to continue my journey. My breathing was really hard and body were burning, but yet I could not stop here, I must continue to push on it.

When I saw Tony who told me that there is another 1.5km ahead; keep going! It wasn't too far away from the finishing line. But, it was a totally different ball game when the body is in an exhausted condition. Hence, at this stage, it would become a mentally "mind over matter"; told myself to let the mind does the work for the last few KMs.

I was struggling with my running pace. It was so hard to keep up with the pace. Before reaching the Lake Club, I heard a familiar sound called my name from the back, KC was running towards me and had intended to run with me towards the finishing line...so nice of him! But then I was already in a struggling stage and I got no choice to tell him to go-ahead, don't wait for me as he could finish the race with a better timing.

Coming back to the Lake Garden stretch, towards the finishing line, I could hear the music and sounds coming from the finishing line...LIFE IS GREAT. I felt the energy from the upbeat music flowing through me and for the first time in the race, I subconsciously picked up the pace a little towards the finishing line. I wondered if that could be the adrenaline that flowing through my body giving me a "runners' high" feeling. Besides that, I heard Eric shouted my name at the finishing line. Thank you, Eric for the support.

Conclusion

I clocked 2 hour 55 minutes unofficial finishing time in this race. I hope to participate more long distance races to improve my physical endurance. I was using the right strategy (i.e. pacing & fueling), perseverance & mental strength that had gotten me to the finishing line! I believe that a quality run will get one faster but to last the distance, it is still down to mileage.

Have a warm and healthy Chinese New Year celebration!

Cheers,

Chee Wee

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