adidas KING OF THE ROAD 2008 by Jamie Pang

Other than a 4K on Tuesday, and an insignificant 3.6K run with the beginners on Saturday, I really rested for this race. I was only 70% confident of acquitting myself well and didn't set any expectations for a PR. My stomach rebelled on Saturday and even though I'd done all the necessary toilet business prior to my leaving the house on race morning, my gut still felt very uncomfortable when I got to the parking spot just in front of Quality Hotel. With wads of toilet paper in my hand, I went into the dark hotel but all the toilets were locked. How about that for hospitality?! While wandering the area in exasperation, I bumped into Frank and Lionel.

Everyone seemed to be hunting for toilets but there wasn't a single mobile toilet in sight. However, when you gotta go, you gotta go. I knew that if I didn't relieve myself, I might as well don't race. The organizers didn't count on the resourcefulness of runners. Suffice to say that I managed to find a discreet but undisclosed location to make my deposit. Then I sat down by a kerb near the starting area and chatted with fellow runners. With 30 minutes to go, I walked back to the car to change into the race gear. I handed the Lunar Trainer their maiden race. I was confident, despite logging just 4K in them, that both of us will have no problems going the distance.

Finally it was time to make my way back to the holding area to wait for the start. It was nice to see Mohan (who is going to be off to Songkhla and Berlin next) and SP. I also chatted up Abu, Chee Wee and Ngae. A short while later, police sirens marked the arrival of the Selangor Menteri Besar (Mayor) who was there to flag us off. He received extra cheers from the runners as we passed. Frank and I were positioned so far back in the crowd that there that those behind us were just hanging out and didn't really care for the race. That was how far back we were.

1K into the race and we started to move up the pack. We bumped into Haza, Lawrence, Mohan (again) with his camera snapping shots of my Lunars, SP and Uncle Sonny. I also caught up with Wong Sifu who was running his first race since the 2007 Penang Marathon (gasp!). My familiarity of Shah Alam is practically non-existent save for my knowledge that the city is home to some rather rich people, have plenty of hills and roundabouts. Not to mention factories too. Except for the first, middle and last water stations, I managed to grab drinks at all the rest. Just a cup at each station as they were inadequately manned and therefore the dispensing of refreshments was slow. Sponges were adequate but they weren't really needed due to the very nice, cool and overcast weather. It was just nice to run.

I just ran according to my feel. I exerted a little self-restraint as I knew that any other strategies will render the late stage of the race very painful. It was good that I had Frank for company nearly the entire race. We passed some familiar faces along the way including Cikgu Din, Azwar who was ambling along. The stretch in front of Concorde Hotel was memorable. Shortly after being passed by Loong who ran the 10K, Ming drew up with Frank and I. We were attracting much glances and looks due to the Lunars. My Distance Vest with the Aerographics also stood out in the crowd, which made me a very visible target! When we overtook people, I noticed that eyes immediately went to the shoes. So when Ming drew up alongside we were running side by side with no one within 20 meters ahead of us. We were going at a brisk clip sweeping past the others - what a sight the Lunars created! Unfortunately Ming was way too strong a runner and pulled away gradually and Frank and I were again left to our pace.

I found myself digging deeper after the 13K mark and resorted to popping a Powergel. There was still some distance still to run. I deflected negative thoughts by drawing attention to my breathing which was still relatively comfortable. This strategy made covering the miles and passing the time easier.

With 200 meters to go I came across a group of boys with clipboards taking count of runners' footwear. They called out the brand of shoes as runners passed and when they called out Nike (when I was sprinting up the hill), they also passed some comments on my rubbers, well mostly foam! I saw Ming cheering on the sidelines as I approached the finish line but everything else was a blur. Only then did I look at my watch. My finishing time was 2:00.02 just 3 seconds past a sub-2. My position was 75th. The distance recorded by the Garmin was 22.21K while the SportBand recorded 22.4K. That translated to an average pace of 5:24 (slower than my 5:18 recorded for RMAF '08). Interestingly I was faster in this race than at the 22.3K Penang Bridge Run back in 2006, when I did 2:11. Having collected my finisher's medal Josie, who ran the shorter distance, greeted me but I was still a little winded from the uphill sprint to be coherent. Then I was handed a certificate and walked over to the open space to cool down and wait for Frank. <Yards from the finish. Photo courtesy of Chan Wing Kai

He came in soon after and we caught up with Charles (62 minutes for 10K), Kit (1:59) and Anil. They ran really well. I walked back to the car to change and guzzled down a liter of fluids. I congratulated John and Wai Mun for their accomplishments - I believe they finished top 10 in their categories! It was then that I realized that I was given a 7K finisher's medal instead of the 22K! Not wanting to get into a confrontation with the SAAA officials, I decided to just pack up for home since the family was waiting for me to take them for a day out.

Now about the shoe. In a word, amazing. Who would've thought a skimpily constructed minimalist shoe can have enough cushioning and stability to be worn by a middle of the pack runner like me? And for a half marathon distance? But the Lunar Trainer passed the test with flying colours. Due to its lightweight nature, I didn't feel like I was wearing clogs and so was able to focus on the race, all the more critical in the late stages of the race. If not for my bothersome calluses on both of my big toes… I really need to take care of those 2 trouble spots. I can't wait to take them out for a 30K soon. There were minimal soreness to my legs the next day.

Thanks to Frank who endured a torturous 4-hour race kit collection. The waiting was worst than running the distance. Visit his blog to read his report. You can also read Haza's report here.

• Traffic control was just enough. 2 roundabouts required some hand signals from us runners to tell the drivers that we're coming through. Our driving lessons came in handy!
• I can't remember but there was a drink station (somewhere after crossing the Fed Highway the 2nd time) where only 1 volunteer was present. He was naturally struggling. I skipped this stop.
• The last drink station was like a campsite. Hundreds of students were literally standing there drinking cups and chatting. I also skipped this stop.
• No mobile toilets. Where I did my big business, I was more concerned with muggers than being seen by fellow runners. Many other runners fertilized the crops in their own resourceful ways. Quality Hotel had their washrooms locked up except the one next to the Surau.
• My finisher's medal was engraved 7K. I passed the correct chute and yet there was this error. Quite unforgivable when I'd just ran 3 times that distance. Since I'd already walked some distance away from the finishing area before I looked at the medal, I saved myself more stress by just driving home instead of getting locked into a verbal war with the officials.

Jamie Pang
Aug 11th 2008