The Come Back Kid

Work is in progress to process the photographs. Stay tune…

Running in the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon (“KLIM”) event always have special meaning to me. I ran my first full marathon in KLIM in 2004. That was a good start to gauge what my capability was. Nevertheless, with the timing of 4:26, I was satisfied to complete my maiden marathon then.
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After seven marathons later with the best timing of 3:51, I run in the KLIM 2008 on Sunday 30 March with a mixed feeling – I ran 10km only in this event. I felt great to complete that simple 10km with a timing of 55 minutes. But I was not complaining. In this KLIM, I finally recovered from my heel injury sustained for more than a year since my last Singapore International Marathon (SIM) in 2006 – out of action in road running events.

Dayabumi Car Parking

I decided to do something different. I decided to park my car at the basement car park of Daya Bumi Building (which is very near to Dataran Merdeka) since the nearby parking would have been filled by those full marathon and half marathon runners starting at 4:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. respectively.

I arrived at the car park at 5:45 a.m. Yes! I was early. I wanted to wave at those friends who would be running in the half marathon category. Approaching the car park, it gave a strange feeling as there weren’t any runners or any moving vehicles there.

When I approached the entrance of the car parking, pressing the auto-gate button gave no response. Oh No! I have to park elsewhere. After making a big turn, caught in the traffic jam at Federal Highway (closure of road for the full marathon), I finally parked at Padang Merbuk car park – which was almost 500 meters away.
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2007 record was two minutes slower

Champion of Marathon Runners
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The 10km run attracted a very good turn-up. At 6:30 a.m., runners began to enter into the starting area. The moment was getting tensed with the announcement of top marathon runners approaching the finishing line. The fastest one retuned with a timing of 2:15. The champion was a Kenyan runner keenly pursuit by another Kenyan runner who was only a few meters behind. Subsequently, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th… until 11th – all were Kenyan runners. By that time, the 10km run was flagged off at 7:00 a.m. sharp.

Adidas Response CSH 16
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The first 500 meters was difficult to run fast as there were too many runners. I have to maneuver within the crowd to overtake those slower runners in front of me. I was wearing my brand new Adidas Response CSH 16 running shoes, courtesy of Mr. Krishnan of Adidas Malaysia.
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For the entire run, I did not push hard. Seeing a friend in front, I just run my own race and not trying to overtake him/her. I was most satisfied with the Adidas running shoes. It was a very quiet running shoes with superb cushioning. I truly enjoyed my run knowing that for every step forward, the impact was cushioned by the new shoes.
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Water Station

It was exceeding requirement. There were three water stations for the 10km event: the first one located at Jalan Bukit Binking; second one near entrance of Kuala Lumpur Tower; third one along Jalan Sultan Ismail before we turned left to Jalan TAR. Since the 10km route eventually merged with the half and full marathon routes, these water stations were also serving half and full marathon runners. I saw wastage by the 10km runners by throwing away the unfinished bottle.
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Chantelle Wong running in 2007 KLIM (middle)

Adidas Water Sprinkler System

The water vapor cooling system (of previous years) became a water sprinkler system. It was located Opposite Concord Hotel along Jalan Sultan Ismail. A runner would run through a short stretch of showers, sure would wet and cool the whole body.

At the Finishing Point

Getting used to running half or full marathon, I went to the wrong filtering path without much thought. Luckily, I was reminded by official to run at the correct track for 10km finishing area. There were only five runners in front of me waiting in line for the registration. I was given a certificate and a medal. Another 15 minutes later, I could see that the queue was almost 100 meters long.
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L-R: Hoo, Weng, Steven, KC
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Photographer

The usual photographers from Pacesetters were Jason Lee and Chan Wing Kai. I saw ChanWK was running in the 10km and later started to take photos while still donning his running vest and shorts. Since I was not taking photos, I have the time to chat with other runners’ friends. Standing near to the goody bags collection point was indeed a strategic area – sure would be able to see them and shake hands with them.

Pacesetters Booth

I have a difficult time looking for the booth. It was located at the far end across the field. From far, it looked like a bungalow lot with lots of land surrounding it. One has to walk across the field to reach there. I took the opportunity to renew my membership for another three years which entitled me to a Pacesetters yellow T-shirt of quick-dry material. There were many runners registered for membership and for the next running event – New Balance 15km Run.
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It was indeed a great morning participating in the KLIM. Not only that the run was fun, I was there meeting friends and talking for another three hours, much longer than I run. Long time ago, when I was running only 10km races, I thought that I would never be able to run a full marathon. On Sunday, I was running 10km again. This time, knowing very well that it is possible to run full marathon races.

Written by KC
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Note: All photos above are filepix taken in KLIM 2007

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