I can't get no satisfaction**

After completing two full marathons, looks like there is nothing more to achieve. Everything else seems pale compared to the joy being a finisher in the 42.195km race. Still, life has to go on and the joints have to be spared to last to the dying days - like doing a Fauja Singh at a ripe age.
After the KL Marathon, our group of similar minded running junkies seem to find content in our weekly Sunday Bkt Aman runs followed by the thosai breakfast at Brickfields. To break the monotony, a few runs have been lined up for the future over the next few months. First on the list is 'Adidas King of the Road' on 9.9.2012. 
Predictably, seeing the name Adidas, one can imagine many members of the brand centric Y-generation coming in droves. Sure enough they landed there all geared up with sports paraphernalia up the brim that would put any every warm blooded marathon running Kenyan to shame. You name it, they have it - head sweat band, arm band for I-phone, head phones for music, compression pants and T, and spanking new, hardly worn fluorescent psychedelic hued tick embossed Nike shoes to match!
It is a good thing that they were indulging in a healthy activity on a Sunday morning rather than being slumped in a post Saturday party stupor. It also gives a good feeling to old dogs like us to this dressed to kill newbies panting, jaywalking and holding hands with their loved ones rather than chasing the clock. Guess for them it is one of their social function for them so that they update on their social media so that they can be liked by hundreds of unknown people.
The run itself was boring. The kilometres of tarred road undulating like a waking dragon was less interesting than people watching. The race started from the artificial bourgeois neighbourhood of Sunway to the dirty part of PJ Selatan where low cost flats lined the skyline. The air also became fetid with open burning in progress. The SMEs of the working class - repair shops, cottage industries and smoke belching factories paved either sides of the later of our route.
Still managed to catch up with a secondary school buddy whom have not been so active in the running scene of late. Running and chatting was a breeze until I politely asked him not to wait for me and off he went!

Again the trip back was hindered by sea of multicoloured singlet donning 10km 'just for fun' runner who were hogging (there is a reason why this particular choice of word) the roads, all three lanes. The 16.8km'ers  had to zigzag their way like a knitting needle through these boyfriend/girlfriend, fiancee, soon-to-be-married, just married, one night standers/ hit and runners, or whether their relationship fits into, who were walking arm in arm or arm to hip!

With the good organisation of the organisers, we breezed through the finish line and collected the post run goodies. The outing would not have complete without our weekly dose of thosai. And so we did. Raj and I (the only valiant soldiers of the group of 4 to grace this outing) had ours and returned home to do our worldly deeds. (unofficial timing: 16.8km - 1h42m34s, 2 minutes off last year's timing)

**I can't get no satisfaction- Even though it is bad English and coming from an English band at that, it is Rolling Stones' all time high ranked song. At the time of release in 1965, it created quite with its unpleasant lyrics.(It starts off fine with bashing of the early creep of commercialization into media. Then Mr Thick Lips goes for girly action but the girl says wait till next week as she is loosing streak (slang for menstruation!) But they try and they got by....

When I was king!

2nd October 2011....
In a bar somewhere in India...
"Sorry, Saar! Today is Dry Day - Gandhi Jayanthi - No alcohol today."

Well, it was definitely not a dry day for the 10,000 odd runners in the Adidas King of the Road race who were wet drenched with their own sweat trying to outbid their inner naysayers to complete the 16.8 and 10km road race on one the new highways in the Klang Valley called New Pantai Expressway (NPE).
The morning started with runners armed with their armamentarium of cardiac heart rate monitors, foot pod pacers, I-pods with headphones and all the necessary paraphernalia, fuel belt (not for rocket launchers, but to fuel their energy and hydration needs) as if they were off to war.
After parking their vehicles (not horses or Humvee), all contestants made it to the starting line in front of the mammoth stony structure of Sphinx-like lion-head atop Sunway Pyramid. After being flagged off at 0645h as scheduled, we went to war on foot trying to beat the challenge put up by the concrete ugly monument of modern man called highway. From Sunway, the war path took us to the beginning of NPE near Sek 14 where we ascended on the elevated road. It was a relieve to act like a king of the road on the highway weaving from right to left at your fancy as the road were closed to traffic between 0300h and 1100h. On a normal day, the warriors would have all been road kills to break-neck speeding Malaysian drivers!

The battlefield extended through the toll booth where we pass through without paying dues, like royalties. After about 9km, we retreaded down the highway and made it back to the starting pen. 

It was a well organised run with no rush and people falling all over the place trying to get their start, drinks or finishing goodies.

I managed to finish the duel of 16.8km in 1h44m while my partner in crime who seems to be improving by leaps and bounds by the run finished his in 1h35m!

Kudos to Suresh, Adidas and the organizers.