Genting Trailblazer 2007 - Part 1

Mr. Chow of Genting, the organizer, addressing the participants

Please click here to view 150 photos by courtesy of Chan Wing Kai. I see that the photographer has a few creative shots, made possible only at the Genting Trailblazer (or Awana Trailblazer) with the abundance of mud.

There are two main categories of the event – The Mild and the Wild. Obviously, the name denotes two main flavours of “keng chow” (dynamic) challenges, much like savouring the hot and spicy plate of noodles. With the mild and wild happy faces radiate from the participants, they were really having lots of fun and good times.

Stay tune for more photos from kWeng tomorrow. He ran with the camera to bring us a glimpse of the inner trails.

If you would like to view more photos of Genting Trailblazer 2006 taken by CS Wong, ChanWK, and yours truly, please click here.
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Jesbird and friend - in the women mild category

Stretching exercise before the start of race

YeohSC and Joanne
Following the steps of stretching exercise attentively
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Photographers turn competitors - Hon You (L1) and Jason Lee (R1)

The actions begin ... Run, run, run ...

Behind every successful participant is a buddy

Joanne and YeohSC: Squeezing the water out from shoes?

Yeah! The Unfazed

The constrast

Happy moment together

Ming Penguin-2 and Chee Wee Penguin-11

Two new obstacle courses included this year

Looks like a Commando training camp

Yes, we overcome all the obstacles ... Yen Aer and Yee Hua

Elaine Wong (from Hong Kong, right) and friend

Back row from Left: Kenny, Debbie, Siok Ling, ChongYF. Ming (in yellow).
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Who is the prettiest (with lots of mud) of them all?

Gosh... this is really muddy affair

Now... who is the cleanest of them all?

Congratulations! L-R: YeohSC and Joanne; Jesbird's team; Siok Ling's team

Well Done!

Posted by KC

Gunung Apek

Do click here for latest outings at Apik Hill or Saga Hill.
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Car park to Gunung Apek (or Apik) trail. The word Apek in Chinese means elderly man. As I understand, long time ago, only elderly men trekked up and down the hill to maintain fitness. Situated near 9th Mile of Cheras, Gunung Apek trail is popular with trekkers today, young and old.

The yellow sign-board is the start of trail.

I know Eric quite some time ago as a badminton player from the adjacent court. Last Friday evening, while resting in between games, he told us that he will be trekking up Gunung Apek on Sunday morning, 11 November.
.Reaching Level 3 - Eric tackles the steep terrain with speed and gusto. Within seconds, he was way ahead of me. He is a regular trekker at this Gunung Apek trail, trekking there almost twice weekly.

Eric is most kind to show me the way. There are four trails to go up to Level 3 which takes about one hour. Most trekkers would treat that as the destination. As for the two of us, with swift pace, we took only 35 minutes to reach there.

Passing by a stream
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We actually reached Level 3, returned to Level 1 and went up again by another trail. Up and down the hills, being the first time trekking there, I have lost count how many uphill and downhill that I have been through. The whole journey took two hours.

Resting at Level 3. Eric was most happy to show me Level 6 which will take another 1.5 hours from Level 3. Since I only brought a bottle of 500 c.c. of water as told by Eric that one way is only 35 minutes, I would not have enough water to do extended trekking. We will trek up to Level 6 again in near future.
What is Eric’s profession? He is a tour operator/guide for local trips. He owns those 12-seater Toyota vans. He takes tourists – local or foreign – to the popular destinations in Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Penang, etc. You can contact him at 019- 6516 788.

Miss Chee – With heavy rainfall nowadays, it is good to carry umbrella and double up as trekking stick. Besides, it is good to ward off snakes, if any.

Entrance to the trail, we pass by the backyard of a roll of terrace house which operates as a fruit and drink stall. They even provide the facility and bruahes to clean shoes with water from stream. With heavy rainfall, the trail is muddy and slippery. There is even a changing room nearby.

Complete with tables and chairs for light refreshment.
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Miss Chee is busy cleaning shoes

The return of ...

Red bean ‘tong sui’ (sweet drink) and cold ‘sar ley’ fruit juice to quench thirst. Relaxing and sitting under shade below a few banana trees while enjoying the drinks... hmmm... Yummy!!

Posted by KC

New York City Marathon

Note by KC: This Sunday morning, 11 November is an action-packed day. There are five running events that will be taking place simutaneously:

1. Powerman Malaysia (run-cycle-run) at Lumut
2. Genting Trailblazer at Awana Genting Highlands
3. IOI Community Run, Kuala Lumpur
4. Johor-Singapore Second Link International Marathon @ Johor
5. Pacesetters 30km Practice Run @ Bukit Aman car park

The hot events will be the Lumut Powerman and Genting Trailblazer. Both events are staged only once a year. Unfortunately, out of the 52 Sundays in a year, they clash on the same morning! I understand that there are 700 participants for Lumut Powerman, surpassing all previous participation record. We should expect about 700 gorgeous road racing bicycles park at the transitional area on race day.

The runners are spoilt for choices. They will have to decide which event to participate. For Lumut Powerman, Tony P3, NgaeKH, SiokBee and Eric will be participating. For Genting Trailblazer, kWeng, HonYou, Jason Lee, and a few others will be at the starting line. Chan Wing Kai will be taking photographs for Genting Trailblazer.

Here is wishing all runners a good race, enjoy the trip and have lots of fun.
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Steven and kWeng at Genting Trailblazer 2006

New York City Marathon

Note by KC: This is amazing. After giving birth to her first daughter in January this year, Paula Radcliffe is back and won the New York City Marathon on Sunday 4 November. This is really “ang mor” gene. As for Chinese women, few months after giving birth mean having complete rest and getting back into shape slowly.

The article below is extracted from Reuters.

Radcliffe, Lel win at New York City Marathon
(Adds details, quotes)

The queens of marathon: Paula Radcliffe and Jelena Prokopcuka. They look very "yow yeng" (stylo) with the sunglasses. We should emulate them to wear sunglasses in our marathons.

NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Paula Radcliffe made a triumphant return to marathon racing and Martin Lel reprised his thrilling London victory to win at Sunday's (4 November 2007) New York City Marathon.

Britain's world record holder Radcliffe, running her first marathon in two years after taking a maternity break and recuperating from injury, beat Gete Wami after a race-long duel with a time of two hours, 23 minutes, nine seconds.

"I love this. I really enjoyed being back, full stop, and racing marathons," said Radcliffe, who gave birth to her first child, daughter Isla, in January.

The top three women at the awards ceremony: Jelena Prokopcuka, Paula Radcliffe, Gete Wami.

Radcliffe and Wami, rivals for 15 years on the track, in cross-country and on the roads, waged a two-woman race from the second mile on as they left the other elite runners behind.

Wami ran behind Radcliffe, nudging past for less than 10 seconds in the final stages before the Briton surged head in the final few hundred metres in Central Park.

There was some consolation for Ethiopian Wami, whose runner-up finish clinched her a $500,000 prize for winning the women's World Marathon Majors title based on points accumulated in top marathons over the last two years.
In contrast to Radcliffe, Wami was running her second marathon in 35 days following her win in Berlin in order to stay ahead of twice-defending New York champion Jelena Prokopcuka in the World Marathon Majors standings.

Paula is holding her baby instead of the trophy

"Running a marathon in 35 days and coming in second, I feel was quite an achievement for me," Wami, who finished 23 seconds behind Radcliffe, said through an interpreter.

"When Paula made the move, I found it difficult to catch up to her. I was feeling some stomach ache."

Prokopcuka, trying to become the first woman to win three in a row in New York since nine-times winner Grete Waitz in 1986, finished third in 2:26:13.
The Latvian needed to finish ahead of Wami and in at least third place to overtake the Ethiopian in the standings.

Goumri, Lel, and Ramaala paused for a moment to enjoy their winning day

In the men's race, Lel of Kenya pulled away from Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri in the last few hundred metres heading into Central Park for victory in 2:09:04.
Lel, the 2003 New York winner who outsprinted Goumri to win by three seconds in London earlier this year, was 12 ahead of the Moroccan on Sunday.

"There are many ways of killing a rat," Lel said about his tactics. "I can say that (Hendrick) Ramaala and Goumri really gave me a hard time."

Goumri was shoulder to shoulder with the Kenyan as they headed for the Central Park finish but could not match his final kick. Ramaala of South Africa, the 2004 champion, finished third in 2:11:25.

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya, who won the Boston Marathon twice in addition to the 2006 Chicago race during this two-year period, had already wrapped up the first men's World Marathon Majors crown to claim the $500,000 jackpot.


Paula Dominates!
Paula Radcliffe of England led wire-to-wire and Martin Lel of Kenya kicked ahead in the final mile to win. This is the second ING New York City Marathon victory for both winners.

Top Women 20071. Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 2:23:092. Gete Wami (ETH) 2:23:323. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:26:13

Top Men 2007 1. Martin Lel (KEN) 2:09:042. Abderrahim Goumri (MAR) 2:09:163. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:11:25

Posted by KC

Brooks Fun Run 2007

Please click here to view 213 photos by courtesy of Chan Wing Kai, Pacesetters photographer.
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Brooks Fun Run which was held at FRIM on Sunday 4 November 2007 was organized by Runners Malaysia.

Many happy faces

Warm-up exercise before the run

The flag-off

Happy runners

Listern attentively to tips on running shoes

Pacesetters runners and friends

Brooks Team

Posted by KC

Climbing Klang Gates Ridge

Sunday 4 November morning was a day full of activities: Brooks Fun Run at FRIM, Kepong; Terry Fox Charity Run at Lake Gardens; training run by Pacesetters runners starting at Bukit Aman car park (in preparing for the Singapore International Marathon) and my short climbing trip to Klang Gates Ridges.

Beh, Tan, Jason, Lim and KC

Jason, Kelly, Tan, Beh, Cynthia, Lim.

There were only a few trekkers as most runners would either be busy participating or preparing for runs. The weather was superb with an overcast sky and with cool breeze blowing. According to Kelly, she even checked with the Meteorological Department on Saturday, the day before, that it would not rain on Sunday morning.

Can you see someone (in yellow) standing there?

There was one boulder that was dislodged from its bed (somewhere near Point A above). Strategically position at the top of the vertical trail, if it started to roll down when trekkers were below, then tragedy would happen. The photo above showed three trekkers were below. Lim and I were thinking hard how to secure it. Since we were at the steep side of the hill, it was difficult to maintain balance while trying to carry it up. So we decided to throw it downhill when all trekkers below were stayed clear of the way.

From the peak, we could see that development is slowly encroaching the forest land. I presume in another 10 years, the surrounding would be developed.

While walking towards our cars, we have a better view of the entire ridge that we climbed. Point A is where we started and Point B was the target peak. From ground level to Point A is a steep ascent that required much energy and everyone was sweating profusely. In between two points, we were actually trekking at the top of the ridge.

Written by KC

Attempting the Final 32km Training Run

Note by KC: Here is a training report from MMR – a maiden marathon runner – who will be running the first full marathon in Singapore International Marathon (“SIM”) on 2 December 2007. A committed and disciplined runner, MMR has been dutifully following the training schedule – normal run, short run, tempo run, long run, etc. And finally, the third and final 32km training runs on the weekend of 28 October 2007.

Here is wishing MMR a successful run in your first full marathon in Singapore. With all your training, you will sure cross the finishing line.

The report below refers to the two cloudy and rainy days and finally one sunny day spanning from 22 to 27 October 2007 where MMR had not seen the sun for long time as it rained thrice in a day.

Written by MMR

Thursday

Yesterday there was a much needed short respite from the rain from about 5.30pm onwards. You should have seen the speed I changed into my running gear and dashed out of my office. All my colleagues saw was a whoosh into the bathroom and off I drove swiftly to the gardens for my much needed run.

The gardens were lovely. After such heavy rainfall, the grass was greener and all the leaves seem to be smiling at me, beckoning me with all their droplets of rain still resting on the leaves, tree barks and grass. The green was never greener and with so many shades of green to admire. Even the monkeys were happy with the slight break in rain and were all out sunning themselves (not much sun though) and were all spread out sitting on the grassy slopes trying to dry themselves.

The flowers were smiling at me too. The air was clean and crisp and the flowers, grass, leaves and trees were literally so happy (with the short break in the rain showers) that they smiled. What a wonderful feeling!

There were not many people in the gardens because of the rain, save for the die-hards like yours truly. It was very pleasant to run, nice and cool and I finished about 12km, 8 km of which was a tempo run *. There was a group of Indian guys (I have not seen them before) playing football and when they ended (quite dark at around 7.20pm) they saw me going for my final loop and they said, "Don't go, so dark already!" Obviously, they were concerned for my safety and thankfully I returned safely from my run, one can never be too careful nowadays. It was a good run yesterday, I was glad that that none of my legs were hurting. Exhaustion and tiredness are normal but so far, no aching parts yet.
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* Tempo run: Despite being a little tired, I managed to “con” myself into running about 11 km (just short of the 11.6 km required) as it was now getting dark very early in the evening. The gentlemen at the park asked me as I was doing my loop. "My friend says how come you do not sweat? You must run more loops." I am hardly ever soaked like other runners. Either I am very fit where my body cooling system is very efficient OR my sweat pores are all clogged up!

Friday

Right now there seems to be a break in the rain showers again. Today, it stopped raining so it is nice to see blue skies for a bit. I have decided to rest today and tomorrow for the 32km on Saturday – the final 32km. From next week onwards I will start to taper a little, week by week.
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Saturday

The cool mornings from the evening and night showers caused me to oversleep this morning but still, better late than never. Chomping down my peanut butter and nutella sandwich, my thoughts went to attempting the 32 km run, a formidable task to my mind and body.

The gardens was abuzz this morning with activities as a school was holding its cross annual country race. Kids ranging from 6 years to 17 years with their parents all looked ready to GO! I picked up on their energy and off I went...

I broke my run into 3 manageable segments of which a break was scheduled in each segment with tempting treats of chocolate and isotonic drinks. The monotony of the long run was punctuated by the excited screams of parents and kids of the cross country race. Learning how to manoeuvre around hordes of runners was good practice for the upcoming SIM where some 40,000 runners were registered.

As the sun slowly fired up (finally I see the sun after soooo many days of rain), the category of the cross country races changed from kindergarten to juniors to teens. And soon enough I had passed my 20 km mark and was still feeling good. I am feeling good running long nowadays and actually look forward to it! It is now the “highlight” of my running week since I am able to take my time and not “rush” – we rush so much nowadays in everything we do, everything has to be done in the push of a button/an instant that it is nice to slot in 3 – 4 hours of just your “own” time, reconnecting with myself and just be at peace and quiet with oneself.
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I am reaching the 30km mark and I am still feeling good and strong. Sometimes there are still doubts playing in my mind that I must have been MAD signing up for such a gruelling race and I hope to exorcise these demons from my head soon.

I feel much more confident now and I should be ready for my maiden marathon in a month’s time for SIM.

Good luck to all the fellow marathoners attempting their first OR numerous marathon! See you at the FINISH LINE!

Written by MMR

PC is Online Again

After almost a week of absence, my home PC is finally repaired – up and running. I am not sure whether it is the quality issue of the PC or the way I use my PC. After using for three years as a casual user, the mother-board is faulty and the only solution is to change the entire mother-board.

The other headache is to restore the software running in my PC. I was there at the PC repair shop and I actually spent almost four hours there witnessing the installation of various software.

Let me share with you how Microsoft controls the license for the operating system. After Microsoft XP software is installed into my PC from the OEM (original equipment) CD-ROMs, a 16-digit genuine key is input. It was obtained from the sticker at the side of my PC. Another 16-digit key is generated by the system. The repairer than telephoned Microsoft and in return, another 16-digit activation key is given and input into the PC. This activation key is then transmitted to Microsoft server. Once the hand-shaking validation process is in order, the server would then download 86 program patches or upgrades!

Written by KC