Are we there yet?

From the outset, things were not going as planned. With a bout of diarrhea and loss of precious electrolytes, I experienced stiffness and soreness over the knees and feet. On the race day, the newly replaced Garmin GPS watch went kaput on me and the music pod went on strike. So it was me left to fend for myself. For pacing, it was left to me to run pacing to feel and for auditory stimulation I was made to listen to my body!
Even though the organisers boast of 60,000 participant in this inaugural race in the new Penang Bridge, the starting line had only a thin crowd waiting to be flagged off at 4am. The runners were released in batches all the way from 1.30am to 8am depending on the length of the races and their gender.
Whilst waiting at the starting line, an old friend from KL appeared from nowhere. After the initial cursory, he complained that there was not such of eye candy for him to lay his eyes on. I told him that he was in the wrong category, the veterans. That itself was his motivation to spring forward from the starting line to catch up with the younger category who was flagged off an hour earlier!

pre-run carbo loading.

If the organisers thought that by staggering the release of runners, the congestion would be averted, they were totally wrong. The slower inexperienced runners were all over the place after we had crossed about the 7km mark. They hogging the road, walking in fours across the road practically blocking the road. Some made sudden unannounced 'pit-stops' at their whims and fancies in the middle of path. Many wasted calories were spent on everting clashes with haphazard movements of fellow runners. Perhaps, the instruction manual of the run should also include a little education on running etiquette. Just like how, by default, escalator uses in developed countries stand on the right side to keep the left side free for users who are in a hurry.
Sometimes nonsensical remarks can annoy you. Even as early as 3km into the overzealous cheerleaders would scream "You are almost there' when you have hardly started!
Along the way, I put on my philosophy cap...
That was a time in man's history not very far in our past when the Orientals left technological and engineering feats to the Western civilisation. They had an innate opinion that they were not up to the mark of Western giants when it came to technological wizardry. Over time, with available opportunities, the Orientals have come up to stand shoulder to shoulder at the same playing industrial fields. Just like that, some time ago, many (at least I did) thought that participation in an endurance running race like the Half or Full Marathon was no child's play. Obviously, the taboo seem to have been broken. Many participants, who do not fit my bill of a well prepared runner or with the correct predisposition, were taking the plunge. But, of course, they have to start somewhere. I shudder to think (hopefully I am wrong) that that was the reason for 4 speeding ambulances that interrupted the flow of our run on that humid and still morning!
The three musketeers in our running group completed with decent times. SK came out top of the trio, as usual with a sub-2hr feat. RS did his PB at 2'13" and yours truly at 2'17".
The lay out after the finishing line was much to be desired. The dimly lit grounds with soggy slippery mud devoid of markings to exit the grounds was not type of reception we were expecting after our adrenaline rush.
Slowly we wriggled back to our ordinary lives to do what ordinary do come Monday morning with the memories of an unwinding weekend.

P.S. Another member of the running gang attained the status shared by 1% of the world population - to complete a Full Marathon. RvS completed his inaugural first FM in 5'15".

Weekend retreat!

They say they had a record of sorts, 44,000 registered to partake in this nostalgic run. Unfortunately, on the ground level, the number of participants at the half marathon did not seem to mirror that fact. Parking was a breeze relatively unlike last year and start off did not require knocking each other blind to pass the starting line.
The numbers were made up by the 10km'ers and fun runners mainly. Even the marathoners did not stand out.
After deciding to make it as a big boys' weekend out, the 4 members of the running gang drove up in the luxury of a 8-seater SUV to Penang in spirit of clean healthy fun. After reaching the destination and fulfilling filial obligations, we settled in for the night. The excitement for the day was too much for most of us to catch a single glimpse into slumberland!
Being deprived of proper sleep for more than 24 hours, we stepped into our sporting gears at 0130h to conquer the bridge once again. We could not have asked for a more conducive weather- a cool 25 degrees C and a light breeze. The only annoying thing on that morning was stench that emanated  from the stench of the decaying gooey substance sea bed of  the low tide.
The run started with a good head start with a cool zephyr and a slight drizzle to shower good blessing on the morning foot warriors. All 4 runners in the group ran at their own comfortable pace. Even though on the outward everyone appear not to be aiming high in their achievements, deep inside secretly everybody wanted to outdo their own selves. Each in their own way and strategy tried to outdo themselves and fought their inner demons.
Having their own story of agony to tell, each and everyone of the group actually outdid their previous outing. SK, I think, did his personal best of 2h5m with fainting spell and cramps afterwards; Ravin even though hampered by calf muscle cramps equaled his previous PB of 2h8m; yours truly at 2h14m, better than the past few recent HM timings though short of his PB; struggling through his abdominal cramps Raj achieved his PB of 2h16m!
Jubilant at their weekend conquest, the gang returned to their daytime jobs - sore with muscle overuse, tired but eyes wide awake with the euphoria of the achievements and adrenaline rush as well as post  run endorphins chatting boisterously and laughing all the way back to the capital city to meet another challenge - living in the real world....

http://penangmarathon.gov.my/portal/live-results/#b=RECDSTBL,R4NYFA8Z,RK6YGAW5,RHE5TKMY&v=ptrack

The sad tale of the over the top first wife!

This year's Penang Bridge International Marathon was a quieter affair than its usual pomp and lustre. Missing most conspicuously was the loud music and unnecessary announcement on the PA system which kept occupants of nearby hotels fuming mad. Maybe because this Bridge run is the last one on the soon to be the old bridge.

This bridge which I had the honour of seeing its conception, development and expansion (to 6 lanes) has slowly attained its limit of capacity. In a way, this bridge, which was the brainchild of the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, has reached senescence gracefully and is now like in the case of a first wife who is soon going to lose her glamour and attraction to the soon to appear wife No. 2. The new wife, in this case, being the Batu Maung to Batu Kawan New Penang Bridge.
Even though the Malay term for being left to marry another is 'madu'. Honey is also referred to as 'madu.' But believe you me, any first wife will vouch that it is no sweet feeling playing second fiddle in spite of what the societal and religious pressures may dictate.
Today, even nature was moaning the loss of prominence of this second link to the mainland. The night (early morning) was gloomy with not a single whiff of breeze. Temperature was at uncomfortable level of 28-30 degrees Celsius and humidity stickily high for the early part of the morning.

With that background, the whole running gang (of five) drove up to Penang for a weekend bonding time. Not being at the top of their physical condition, everyone was whining about their physical disability, ranging from swollen ankle to sore feet!

Only when the race was flagged off, did we realize about the adverse running conditions that we had put our sorry self into. Gone are are cold early morning sea breeze and the drizzle that the rest of the country had. The route was long and straight surrounded by pitch blackness of the night, at 3am, with not much view to see. The slow incline which took almost 2 kms to peak was no child's play and the humidity made it twice as hard. 

Gruelling the adversities just like the calamities that they had jostled in their lives, the gang laboured through J-2'02''; S-2'10''; FG-2'19''; Rv-2'35''; Rj-2'37''.

Scorn of first wife

Madu Tiga