We run for our suppers!

Energizer Night Run 2014

Kuala Lumpur

Ambil selfie dulu! Pre-Run

We just signed for the jest of it. The distance was about the same as our weekly Sunday morning runs and we avoided all the stresses and the preparations doing it. We did not have have leave our homes 2 hours before the event, crack our brains of where to park our vehicles, the waiting, listening to all the public service announcements and meaningless VIP speeches of self glorification. 20 minutes after leaving our homes and we would be on road with our hearts pumping and minds awoken by the adrenaline filled juices. In 2 hours, we would have completed the run and would be seated at our favourite thosai joint indulging in sinless food.
Then why sign up for this 15,000 strong night run at all? Especially after a long day's work and enduring the whole day's humid conditions our tropical humid city. It was all as a prelude and excuse of meeting up for a post run night out!
After the last Energizer fiasco in Sepang two years previously, we were expecting much. With such a big turnout and the  venue being right in the smack of the city and narrow roads, logistics was not going to be easy.
The wait at Dataran Merdeka which seem like eternity finally came to an end at 8pm, so we thought. No, they were still with their upbeat music with their DJ with the mike obviously too close for comfort to his gap was still ranting motivational grunts to get the crowd spirited. Then just when you thought it was over - a speech, a never ending one where the speaker got the Mayor's name wrong! Then the fireworks where everyone had to strain their neck to watch. Then the horn blew. A good 3 minutes elapsed before we could pass the starting mat. After what seem like eternity, the crowd came to a standstill trying to traverse a tunnel. "A tunnel again?" screamed a runner who was almost at standstill after being caught in a near stampede situation in the Sepang F1 circuit tunnel!
It took almost 3km along Jalan Kuching for the crowd to ease. The geniuses amongst the runners decided to look cool by annoyingly placing their headlamps on the arms and backs posing a great annoyance as it irritantly flashed in a stroboscopic manner on others. Luckily none of them had stroboscopic light induced seizures!
The roads were less crowded as we headed towards Bukit Tunku at Jalan Duta. Thanks to the organisers who thought that closing half of the narrow road and using another quarter to distribute drink added to the obstacle. And some of the novice runners who thought that it was their birthright to stop at will in the middle of the road and show public display of their affection by hanging on to the hand of their loved for life did not make it easier on the knees which had to endure the frequent change of force, speed and direction of forces ponded upon them.
There was not a single moment in the run that I felt that visibility was an issue. With adequate street lighting, nobody needed to grope in the dark. That is why none of my friends in the running group donned any.
The long ordeal came to an end back at Dataran Merdeka. After cooling down, we were headed for our late supper, the highlight of the day.
Lesson of the day: No more of this short hype-filled glorified night runs!

Sing for one's supper
Work for one's pay or reward, as in entertaining visiting scientists is part of the job; you know I have to sing for my supper. This metaphoric term alludes to wandering minstrels who performed in taverns and were paid with a meal. First recorded in 1609, it gained currency with the familiar nursery rhyme, "Little Tommy Tucker, sings for his supper" (c. 1744).