When I first read about this run, what interested me the most of the finishers medal. It will be a four piece puzzle, because for each serie you will get one piece of the puzzle. Once completed, you will be given the map of Penang to add to the centre of the puzzle. On another hand, would I want to go back to Penang for four times just to run a 21k race?!?
Weighing several factors, I decided to go for the run anyway. Yes, it will be a heavy "Saturday drive up, Sunday run, then bathe and then drive back to KL", but the i) point-to-point run and ii) circling Penang island got the better of me.
This time, I didn't set myself a target time. I will treat it as a forced LDS (Long Slow Distance) and as long as I go below 3:30 qualifying time, I'm fine. One dilemma was where to park my car. If I park at the start, I will need to find transport from the finish. If I park at the finish, and take the shuttle bus to the start (provided by organisers), I must arrive before 4:00am. The run is at 5:30am.
I decided to park at the start, I wanted more beauty sleep at least. So there, I drove to the starting line at Esplanade, Padang Kota Lama and reached at 5:20am, just 10 mins shy of the start.
Starting Line at 5:25am
I stretched (something I usually don't do but I felt I had to), I jumped around, and made sure my heart rate was above 110bpm right before start. One uncle was having two helium balloon with the writing "3:00 pacer". I guess anyone who wants to run at his pace can follow him, but the organizers confiscated the balloon saying it was hazardous. Hmmm....
Then the gun went off, I started my run, at an easy pace (so it seemed to me), but after 4km and passing two mosque but it wasn't time for Subuh prayers yet, I noticed I've been doing sub 7mins/km which to me is not an easy pace. Then I saw one girl detour out of the road to a mosque, I followed suit.
Mosque at 6:10am
I joined the jemaah on the last rakaat after the rukuk, so I had two more rakaat before I am done. Two other malay runners was with me at this time. We had our "hello, how are you, where you from" session as we're putting our shoes back on and then off we went.
The runners were spread nicely, no traffic to run past each other. Though the organisers didn't have motorcycles following runners to ensure everything is fine, or any medics along the way, I have to say that they did a great job that at every junction there's someone to control traffic.
Scenery at 6:37am, about 7km in. Runners are sparsed.
The entire journey was not really eventful. It's more of a run to spend time with yourself, in a way. I didn't do any contemplation. I took this event purely to test out a "walk-run" style and see how well it works. Then we started to approach the junction for people heading to Bayan Lepas or to the bridge. No one took care of traffic here. We're at the mercy of the traffic, making sure we can cut to the divider as soon as there were no cars.
Penang Bridge / Bayan Lepas divider at 6:42am
The sun is up at 7:04am, people around my pace level are walking. :D
PSDC Building at 7:18am
Not only did I take walk breaks. I even had several "stop and shoot" breaks, where I totally stop to get a photo that's not shaky. This building brings back memories of my 2008-2010 job, a building that I frequently have my meetings. What's nice about this is that, back then I used to stay where the starting line starts, and always drive to my meeting. Today, I arrive the building in nearly 2 hours of running.
Final water station at 7:52am
Another thing I really liked is the water stations along the way. Though it's quite far apart, usually one per 3km, this run had water stations after 4km during the first three stations, and then they started to come closer. In all I think there was 6 water stations in total, or maybe 5, I didn't really count. What I liked about the water station is that they provide you with a glass-covered mineral water instead of those water poured in cups. Eventhough I carried my own water bottle, I grabbed both the mineral water and the cupped isotonic drink. The mineral water I use to fill up my own water bottle and drink up the isotonic drink.
Road to Teluk Kumbar at 8:12am
Way before this photo was taken, I was already at "cramping" state. That is, if I tried to jog, the muscles will start pulling heading for a cramp. So yes, I did the entire 20th and 21st km walking. No medics to spray my legs like I had in Bidor Half Marathon. After passing Bayan Lepas, it's actually about 2-3km of empty roads until we arrive at the finishing point, Sekolah Menengah Teluk Kumbar.
After crossing Finish Line at 8:18am
The moment I crossed the finish line, you are automatically in a queue where they will give you your bread and mineral water, and your finisher's medal and then you're brought into the open area. I kinda like this, but for a smaller running crowd like this event of course. At least you don't have to start looking around for your breakfast and your finishers medal.
The First Medal Puzzle, and my shoes. I took it off to treat my blister.
I was genuinely surprised that despite taking my sweet time running this time, I was slow by less than a minute and a half compared to Bidor (Half Marathon timing). However, this run ended up being 22.1km which is 1km extra of a Half Marathon. For the first time, I developed blister on my left foot's small toe. Maybe I didn't wear my socks and shoes on tight enough. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the run.
It's not easy to take care of a full 21km length, so kudos to the organisers. I ended up walking nearly 2km back towards Bayan Lepas as there were no taxis in Teluk Kumbar. So, next serie, I will park at the Finish Line and take the shuttle bus to Start Line eventhough I have to be there at 4:00am. At the start line would probably sleep and set alarm to wake up at 5:15am. :P
Finished the race at the bottom 50% percentile. Sigh....
