Jelita Run - Revisit

Here is a short but well written report from one of the readers:

I wrote to fill the void on the Jelita run on Sunday 30 April starting at Dataran Merdeka. It was a low-profile run and it did not dawn upon me until the morning of the run after I parked my car at Lake Garden and walked down Jalan Parliamen. Normally, I would see runners with their bibs walking towards The Square. On that morning, it was so quiet that I have to check my reporting card to ensure I had the right date and time! I found it odd to walk alone and until I finally saw a traffic police encik that my heart was rest assured.

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At Dataran Merdeka, in the first enclosure were the runners competing for 7km category, and well, one could visually count the numbers. There was an aerobic warm-up session in the field. I did not participate as I wanted to get in first. That was the first time that I ran in the 7km route and I thought that it might not be too difficult. The start was slightly earlier than 7.30am and boy, was I glad that the regular matronly announcer was not around that day. Sometimes, it is quite grating listening to her.

Back to the run again, it was the first time I could actually see the first runner for the first few kilometers. Usually, I could not even smell a whiff of the leading runners. The competition was quite stiff as there were a relatively good number of veteran runners. I was already exerting myself to keep pace as the women were running quite closely. We were staggered mid-way, which was good, and I did not feel so stressed up. The refreshment points were not well patronised that the runners would rather just continue. Moreover it was a short run.

Somewhere near Padang Merbuk area, I saw the same three runners gave us indication of our positions. I first saw them at about 4km mark. My last 100m was a sprint which saw me overtaking two runners. I came in 7th and quite pleased with myself. Funnily, with all the exhilaration, I was confused with my time, whether it was 34 or 37 minutes. There were five prizes of gift hampers only. No sweat even if I didn't manage to nab a prize. I just wanted to give the women's run some support.

Written by Geraldine

Note by KC:
The three musketeers were actually Meng, Chee Wee and I. We were doing the 20km training run the same morning. While returning from Sri Hartamas – the furthest point – we met the lady runners. Meng was counting the positions and announcing excitedly to the runners while I just smiled and looked at them. I guessed Chee Wee emulated me as there was no sound from him while running behind me.

I am trying to compute the arithmetic and also to recall who-is-who: 7th position and overtook two runners. Which means at Padang Merbuk stretch, Geraldine could be number 9th position? But the 9th position was Lisa Onn of Pacesetters runner.

According to her, she participated in Larian Bomba on Sunday 7 May and she found that her timing had not improved or maintained. “Maybe I'm just tired,” she commented in her email.