The Sorcerer and Bug slayer!

Finisher trophy

So, my inner demon was at work again. This time he got some help from his minute friend of the electron microscopy type. Bogged by an intestinal bug, I was losing precious electrolytes. I had two minds of making it a DNS (did not start) for health reasons. That is when my haloed friend turned up. I thought I was not running for my life or living to run, so run as much as I could and then I can always take the shortest way home! With that defeatist outlook towards completing the race, I armoured myself ready to slay the demon in me.
The race, this time around was chaotic. My suspicion of the demonous businessmen making headway in the arena of recreational appears to be true with every race. The registrants keep growing bigger but the goodies gets smaller! Somebody must be laughing all the way to the bank!

The Sorcerer

Starting off was a non-event, minus all the pomp and usual excitement. I had to wait a good 4 minutes of crawling to clear my chip on the mat. As I started running in the back of the pack, I kept bumping into others and getting away from the pack proved futile. I thought it was either I was getting slow or the runners were getting younger and faster but of course the real reason was the sheer number! Nobody actually had any space to run. It was beelining and beehiving all the way and I thought it would clear after the treacherous hills, it never did materialize. The 10km fun runners were at it again - jaywalking, wiping their profuse sweat again and again and chit-chating, holding hands. Even at 20km mark, runners had to manouvre themselves away from others' sweaty bodies and posteriors!
As for my running, as if manouvering my sub-optimal lethargic body through the crowd was not difficult enough, I had to combat the humidly hot climate of 28 degrees C and still air. After 9km, the going was getting tough. Power gel popped in then proved its mantle by 12km and slowly its effect waned by 15km. With all the shuffling and shoving, I almost wanted to saunter off to my car to drive back home....
Being the lazy runner that I am, I just continued with the pack albeit at a slower pace. Negativity to stop came in many forms. Seeing the St John Ambulance's paramedic at km 15 performing CPR on a collapsed runner did not boost anyone's confidence.
Dragging my weary body, against all odds, managed to complete the race but a much slower than usual timing. Oh, what the heck! The first outing as a senior Veteran did not have to gone well. But it will definitely be the last outing in Brooks! The much sort after run in the grandiosity of the National Stadium also never materialized. Like what someone commented, "The nearest we got to the stadium, beside the car park is the toilet!"

I thought I've seen it all...

Brooks Half Marathon 2012
Modern technology does not always come to the rescue of man all the time. This I discovered when I had overslept because the 'pm' dial was pressed instead of 4.15am alarm which was supposed to be set. When my fellow running buddies turned up at my doorstep, I arose from my beauty sleep. Missing my routine early morning routines like a hot shower and answering nature's call, I had to get ready in a jiffy after a brief freshening up.
The aura of the National Stadium cleared up all the sleep in our faces. Packed like sardines, the half marathoners started. I had to wait at least 3 minutes before crossing the starting timing mat and to wrestle another 4 km before breaking loose from the hoggers.
Raj was nervous with his debut half after finally being bitten by the running bug and foolishly signing up for the half challenge after managing to dodge it a couple of times before with excuse of work and lucrative remunerations!
The challenge took us from Stadium Bukit Jalil to ASTRO, North-South Highway, KESAS, IMU, Seri Petaling and the killer stretch of undulating slow inclining hills and troughs around Taman Gembira and the stretch parallel to the MEX highway. The route back past IMU and Bukit Jalil park was irritatingly slowed down the jaywalkers of the 10km'ers and charity runners but we prevailed. The final stretch of run was in the tracks of the National Stadium. A chance we, in our mortal lives, will never get to run on. The mere ambience of the brightly lit stadium complete with the the colorful tarmac track just juiced up whatever little ATP and glycogen that is stashed up hidden in our muscle spindles! With this renewed rejuvenation the trio of us completed our early morning challenge, not with our best of times due to the grueling nature of the course but still having energy to perhaps run another 10 km more!
We see interesting antics of people and view of places (and pretty young thing too) during these runs. I thought I had seen it all when I saw runners running barefoot or with Skeletor-like minimalist shoes until I saw a guy overtaking me in his Japanese slippers!