Mizuno Wave Run 10K 2007 by Jamie Pang

My role for Sunday morning was to turn up early at the car park to snap a shot of the RunnersMalaysia runners participating in the 10K, before proceeding to the event area to market the Brooks Fun Run.  The plan is pretty simple - park my car at the Bukit Aman car park, take the group photo and make my way to Padang Merbok laden with the Fun Run forms and bibs. The lull during the race will allow me to "play around" with my camera as well. Sounds like a good plan. Except that I didn't count on a phone call from Tey at 8pm on Saturday night on an available bib.

I thought for 10 minutes before making up my mind. The rationale was that I couldn't do much marketing with most of the runners flagged off and I might as well get a morning run in. But I slightly overlooked the slight complication of the arrangement.

Men and women from RunnersMalaysia all ready to tackle the infamous Double Hill

Hills? Bring them on! From left: Din, Rizal and Chong

The ladies were just as ready for action too!

When I got to the car park at 6:20am, the place was already nearly full. I found a spot just next to the stalls and after hooking up with Tey, proceeded to the event point about 400 metresaway to deposit my heavy backpack. That done, I walked quickly back to the car park for the photo shoot, but not before lacerating my lower left shin on a piece of wood jutting out from a sidewalk worksite. The runners from the Beginners Group looked eager and excited, and for many, the 10K would be their first race. As luck would have it, my camera ran out of juice after 3 shots and my spares were in my backpack at the luggage holding. After the shoot, with 25 minutes left to the flag off, I hurried back to the event site to leave my camera with Phyllis.

In the rushing to and from the 2 locations, I completely forgot to eat my cereal bar and drink the can of Red Bull I brought along. My mind was on getting my warm up done in whatever little time I had left. A little bit of waiting and catching up with Lawrence, Kenneth and Chen (while observing the proliferation of GPS device usage around us), we were let off. Sharp at 7:30am with no speeches - just the way we runners like it! Before we were let off, I looked around and saw that I was standing in the first 1/3 of the starting crowd - in the 45-minute corral. But when the gun went off, I found myself in the second half of the crowd! Somehow, the crowd had flanked out to the other side of the road and were in front of me by some distance! While I didn't set any personal goals for this race - okay maybe just to finish in 58 minutes - I still wanted to do my best. There are no other 10K race strategies except to start fast and furious to clear the crowd, then slow down a tad, hold the pace and if still able, put in a kick to the finish. Depending on the level of fitness a few mid-race surges can be employed to drop some competitors.

The problem was, I was stuck way back in the crowd and was reduced to a walk! The pace became a jog only near the overhead train crossing and by that time I'd wasted close to 2 minutes. Things had to change and I ran on the outer part of the road as I rounded the Central Bank bend. After a few frustrating metres of dodging other runners, and chatted a while with Cheong, I finally managed to pick up my pace after the KTM train station. I further pushed the pace uphill and cleared even more of the crowd up to the base of Kenny Hills. I saw Choi and Kelvin up ahead on the hill and I realized how far back I'd started the race. I steeled myself up to overcome this disadvantage and really put in a sub 4:40 pace to kick past many runners here. Eased the pedal off a while coasting down the hill before pushing again into the double hill stretch. Picked up 2 cups of Endurance drinks and downed them as I ran off. Caught up to Yazizon the first climb up and held the lead over him but he passed me when going downhill and I couldn't get closer to him from then on.

Upon exiting the hills I found myself trading leads with a few runners. The final 2K were tough especially the climb up the Istana. But it got easier as the thought of the finish line. Just before reaching the downhill portion at the National Monument, the bunch of us were annihilated by Simon Cross. With his Ironman strength, he blew past us in his DS Trainers like we weren't there. Rounding the junction of the Lake Gardens, it was time to gut it out until the end. It was nice to run down the chute high-fiving it with familiar faces. There weren't many finishers to cause a congestion but with the new system, we were cleared very quickly by the volunteers as the medals and finisher's packs were bundled together, saving time. My timing of 54:33 could be better but considering my non-training mode I'm presently in, I'm quite happy. I should also be more aware of the starting area to get better starting position in future races. I still had time to savour finishing another good race with friends before starting my "job" of distributing the Brooks Fun Run forms. Positioning myself at next to the Luggage Booth, all the forms were exhausted within 20 minutes.

The happy participants ("Great job, everyone!") from RunnersMalaysia after the race

With the Pacemakers

It was a satisfactory race for me. I've not run since last Sunday's Shah Alam 10K, and it's been a long time since I raced 2 consecutive weekends.

Considering the tough route, I think I did pretty okay though the timing could've been better had I positioned myself more strategically at the start. I've not got back my endurance legs yet since I've not ran anything more than 15K in training. But that will come, hopefully, as I prepare for my final race in Kuantan in October.

Distance: 10.69 trailer
Average Pace: 5:06
Elevation: Hilly
Timing: 54:33 (Position 192nd)