The Day I Really Found Out That 'Impossible IS Nothing'

The long awaited SC-KL Marathon 2010 finally came and went yesterday.

Did I finish?

YES!

Did I get my 10K finisher's medal?

YES!

Did I finish under 1:30?

NO! I timed myself and it's around 1:34. I think they were being generous or had an abundance of stock. But it's 10.383 km okay. Why there is an extra few hundred metres I don't know. They can easily trim that distance from somewhere along the route. The hilly bits were kinda awful.

Shiny, plated steel. My 3rd medal.

(Please ignore the doodle on my palm)

My legs are feeling a bit sore today, but nothing unbearable.

My trip started on Friday afternoon, was at the airport early at 1330 hrs for my 1545 flight. Anyway, the weather was bad and affected our aircraft from KL and we were delayed first to 1645, then finally took off at close to 1730. I arrived at BackHome at around 2150 hrs. Gahhhh. I felt really tired and hungry.

Went out to look for something to eat - wanted some pizza - but nothing was available in the neighbourhood. Tuty told me there's a big screen at the Dataran so that was where I walked over to. Watched a bit of the first half of POR v BRA. The screen was so clear and sharp you could see CR the Queen's beads of perspiration. Anyway, sadly my dinner ended up to be a bun and a bottle of water from Carrefour Express.

I wish they have this in KK, Football Under the Stars. But we know who will hog the field la :)

SATURDAY : Queue to collect race pack at Stadium Titiwangsa - fast and efficient. I went with Boyd and Ryan after meeting up with them at KL Sentral. Took the monorail to Titiwangsa and got a little lost looking for the shuttle van, no signage seen. Best part is the pakcik told us 'Stadium Titiwangsa? Sini takde stadium'. OOOOOkayyyyyy. But we weren't lost actually; just on the wrong side of the road.

Sponsors' booths with stuff for sale. I, er, bought something.

At the stadium we met up with new friends Kaydee (running the Half) and Pui San (running the Full). Kaydee got the adiNation vest for me, thanks! After dropping off Boyd and Ryan near TAR area for them to find a hotel, we proceeded to CapSquare. As I haven't had lunch yet they kindly teman me to eat.

Back at the hostel later in the evening - unpacked and got the gear ready. Nothing fancy at all in the race pack. Just your bib, vest, D-Tag, runner's booklet, and an NB voucher in the event sling bag. The Full had a face towel. BIM was better I thought. Anyway I chose to wear the adiNation white vest. The SCKLM vest was a white New Balance.

The back of my vest.

D-Tag on.

SUNDAY : The LED screen welcoming runners. Finally drifted to sleep at around 2200 after tossing for an hour plus. Woke up at 0350 ahead of my alarm. By 0415 I was out of the hostel, only to turn back to get my cap because it started drizzling.

Runners were walking around, waiting around, warming up. Then the heavens opened up and showered the Full Marathoners as they were flagged off at 0500 hrs.

Yeay for the pacers! From 3 hours to 6 hours.

Managed to bump into Kaydee in the crowd. Boyd was already in the pen. Eh why is my face shiny so early in the morning? (I think it's the sunblock)

There he is, smack in the middle!

I think this was the Half start. Taken from the big screen. Very clear oh..

Yes, sometimes we need a friendly reminder :)

The before-race pic. Waiting and killing time before our respective turns. By the time 0700 hrs came by just before the flag-off, I had been on my feet for three hours! I should've sat down somewhere.

The after-race pic. Both pics from Kaydee :) thanks, Girl. I had to quickly rush back to the hostel as this was already close to 1100 hrs. Bade farewell to Kaydee who went to look for Pui San and Boyd. Oh, the queue for the bag collection was horrible. I was getting fidgety because I was so hungry!

I believe I inhaled this Whopper Jr in three breaths. Finally had food at 1100hrs.

My mantra for the week was at first 'Impossible Is Nothing'. Then it was 'Just Do It'. Then I settled for 'No Fear'. Finally, on race day, it was reduced to one word - FIGHT. Yes :)

(please excuse the wobbly penmanship, it was kind of dark) Every time I felt like stopping I lifted my hand, looked at it and chanted. Next time I will write it with a big bold permanent marker.

The marathon had its share of unfortunate incidents - RIP dear runner :(.

Good Things :

• I had fun! 3rd medal!
• Met new friends!
• Met old friends!
• Freebies from sponsors - Breathe Right, 1/2 power bar before race, Anlene pack, Tiger Balm rub.
• Nice cool weather.
• We (10K) were flagged off by M Rajagopal! Yeay! (Not some overweight VIP)
• Overall, in the grand scheme of things, the event was okay.

Not So Good Things :

• race pack was very basic
• very crowded stations, only on one side of the road. I had to skip the 2nd station.
• no water/100plus left at finishing line
• no bananas (free or for sale)
• no food! (food-deprived me)
• big event = many runners = congestion + human jam
• I didn't camwhore that much. Tired ba..

Worst Things :

• queuing up for over an hour to collect our bags. Boo!

Would I do it again? Yes, two more events this year, as I've promised myself. And, maybe next year is the time to aim for something bigger :)