How I Wish I Was There Now!

The Australian Open is on in Melbourne right now and how I wish I was there watching it "live"! Rooting for Federer to add on his Grand Slam titles, although I think his chances are not that great as before. He hasn't played that well for a while now after the US Open lost although consistency is still his main strength. Lots of players will be challenging him for the title this year, notably is arch rival Rafal Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko. Would be interesting to see who comes up top by end of next week.

As for the women side, Justin Henin's my main bet, followed by Kim Clijster. Both are comeback players. I know a lot of tennis fans don't like Henin, but I still like her play. Single handed backhand, one of the best in women's game.

Just saw this photo in Australian Open website, wish I was standing next to the two gentlemen.

New Balance Pacesetters 30km / 20km / 10km

This is the first time I was running the 20km instead of the main event of 30km. I have been doing the 30km race for the last 2 years, but normally running it as part of my training run, where I start the first 10km really slow, medium pace in the next 10km and just push as fast as I can in the last 10km. So my time are pretty inconsistent for the event for the last 2 years.

2:45:54 (2008)

2:20:38 (2009)

Anyways, I decided to run 20km this year merely because I was feeling lazy to run a longer distance event and my mileage is insufficient to clock a good time for 30km. Overall, I felt fitter in the last few months but due to the break I took after my fall, I wasn't expecting too much from this event. Of course, it's natural everyone wants to do well in a race, so I was no exception.

I car pooled with Ooi Keat as parking would be a problem in the starting venue, so I had to wake up early at 4.00am to follow him. He was running the 30km race which is starting at 5.30am while mine starts at 6.30am. The day didn't started too well for me as I made toilet visits after I woke up and once just before the race started.

I started the race cautiously, and let the lead guys go. After only less than 1km, the lead guys were already quite spread out and there were two Kenyan runners who were having a friendly conversation with each other, "jogged' pass me before catching up with the lead guys. They were effortless! A few more kms down the road, I can't see them anymore. The start already took us through a few hilly routes and it widen up the gaps in the field. I counted myself in 8th position coming out from Tugu Negara (National Monument). I can only see the guys in 6-7th position and a glimpse of the guy in 5th.

I was expecting a lot of hills along the route so I did not pushed myself hard. After the main hill, after the Tijani aprtments, I made my move on the 6-7th guys infront of me, caught up with them just before the Duta National Tennis Centre. Only one followed my pace when I passed them. Due to my ignorant of not checking out the route properly before the run, I was expecting that we will be going through the "double hill" route.

As the guy pushed the pace faster at the Mosque, I let him go and told myself I try to get back on him later. But after only a 1-2km, before turning back to Duta Tennis Centre, he was quite a long way ahead of me and I decided I need to make my move whatever hills that is awaiting me in front. We passed the double hill turn off and we didnt turn in, and I thought maybe it's the one in front. I was wrong again. By now, I can only see the tiny bit of the guy in front of me as I zipped pass the 30km runners. The further we went, the smaller he gets. Either it's me who slowed down quite a bit or he was going faster and faster. I thought it was a little bit of both factors.

By the time we hit the final bit of hill, and I saw the sign "26km" and thought I had 4km to go, just as the 30km runners. But then a guy with a motorbike keep asking me, "20km?" and showed me a sign with 2 fingers (peace sign), I wasn't sure what was his attention. I saw some runners went pass the final turn off, so I thought I still have about 1.5km left to run, then everyone was actually pointing me to take the turn off and it looks like I had only few hundred meters left as I can see the finish line. But still I thought maybe I had to make a loop somewhere and again, but they directed me to the finish line. By that time, I didn't have time to really speed up in the last km or so. Stopped my watch, and it read 1:23:04. What a number! I felt a little disappointed with the time as the route was a little shorter than 20km but then again I wasn't expecting much from the race, so I should be happy with the result. Another top 10 finish.

Anyway, official results are not out yet, so will post it as soon as I get my hands on it. All the results I can get is unofficial results (courtesy from pm1 blog). Anyway, the race showed me that my time is still some way off some of the local runners.

Men Open 30km (GPS - 29.37km) :
1'49.56 - Samuel Tarus Too (1st)
2'05.10 - Mark John Williams (2nd)
2'05.23 - Richard Habeya (3rd)
2'08.02 - Ning Wen Long (4th)
2'09.04 - Philip Kipruto Limo (5th)
2'09.09 - Barry Lee (6th)
2'12.03 - Jasni Khairil (8th)

2'12.46 - Chow Yew Wei (9th)
2'14.04 - Ben Swee, Pm50 (00th)
2'17.50 - Bryan Lee (00th) PB!
2'17.55 - Ronnie See, Pm1 (00th) PB!
2'21.44 - Stanley Cheong, Pm53 (00th) PB!
2'32.22 - Kenny Tan, Pm27 (00th)
2'34.30 - Lee Weng Khong, Pm35 (00th)
2'36.53 - Zulazlan Shah, Pm43 (00th)
2'41.09 - Ahmad Farid (00th)
2'44:11 - Abdul Azri
2'48.39 - Kevin Chow, Pm32 (00th)
2'49.35 - Liew Chen Kwok (00th)
2'50.33 - James Wong (00th)
2'53.06 - Ghejanthran
2'55.28 - Fong Sai Siong (00th)
2'55.45 - Danny Chong (00th)
2'57.30 - Kee Guan Chye (00th) PB!
2'59.38 - Ryan Teoh, Pm17 (00th) PB!
3'08.00 - Tan Ooi Keat (00th)
3'09.35 - Abu Soffian, Pm44 (00th)
3'12.02 - Khairol (00th)
3'14.22 - Syahril Kamaruddin (00th)
3'15.55 - Jeff Ooi (00th)
0'00.00 - Chen Keat Hoong, Pm8 (00th)
0'00.00 - Naresh Kumar, Pm37 (00th)
0'00.00 - Gunaselan Rajagopal, Pm39 (00th)
0'00.00 - Hong Zi Shen, Pm60 (00th)

Men Junior Veteran 30km :
2'04.22 - Ong Chin (1st)
2'06.23 - Manat Pakathong (2nd)
2'08.08 - Frenz, Tobias (3rd)
2'08.32 – Don Khor Ngee Leong (4th)
2'08.37 - Malachy McAllister (5th)
2'46.34 - Choi Chik Choy, Pm42 (00th)
2'47.01 - Lee Yee Sum, Pm12 (00th)
2'49.00 - Low Kim Houn (00th)
3'02.46 - Loke Shu Sun (00th)
0'00.00 - John Tan, Pm30 (00th)

Women Open 30km :
2'12.09 - Chemweno Mary Yepchumba (1st)
2'18.49 - Peris Chepkech Poywo (2nd)
2'22.07 - Amutha A/P Arumugam (3rd)
2'23.35 - Julie Foreman (4th)
2'24.56 - Michele Tan Bee Kiang (5th)
2'43.00 - Jessica Tang (9th)
3'05.00 - Lee Yee Hua, Pm51 (00th)
0'00.00 - Kong Yen Erl, Pm41 (00th)

Women Veteran 30km :
2'18.58 - Hayley Holle (1st)
2'31.29 - Tan Lee Chin (2nd)
2'34.24 - Julia Lim Lee Ching (3rd)
2'34.28 - Yong Lai Chee (4th)
2'40.52 - Carmen Leong Ban Yeik (5th)
3'35.00 - Nik Raiha (00th)

Men Open 20km (Anyone has GPS measurements??) :
1'07.10 - Charles Maina (1st)
1'07.11 - James Maregu (2nd)
1'07.46 - Ruburn Kummar (3rd)
1'15.00 - Mohd Azarizal Bin Aziz (4th)
1'20.27 - Alvin Lim Guo Hua (5th)

1'23.04 - Khoo Yit Kiat, Pm28 (6th)
1'35.39 - Meyappan Manickam, Pm58 (00th)

1'37.28 - Suresh, Pm47 (00th)

1'39.56 - Adam Loh, Pm29 (00th) SB!

2'04.10 - Kelvin Ng, Pm2 (00th)

0'00.00 - Daniel Tan, Pm3 (00th)

Women 20km Open :
1'35.06 - Naiyana Rakkhaphan (1st)
1'38.11 - Haslinda bt Dolah (2nd)
1'43.45 - Seah Bee Lian (3rd)
1'44.15 - Michelle Looi Mei Yan (4th)
1'46.01 - Sally Margaret Purser (5th)
2'16.13 - Carrie Teong, Pm61 (00th)

Men Open 10km (GPS - 10.5km) :
42.43 - J Karthik (1st)
42.44 - M Thanasekaran (2nd)
43.58 - Wong Jiunn Jye (3rd)
45.20 - Fauzan Ismail, Pm24 (5th)
49.40 - Wong Kei Ming, Pm55 (11th)
50.00 - Nazib Ngainin, Pm14 (00th)
68.00 - Lee Yin Fook, Pm40 (00th)
00.00 - Calvin Chan (00th)

On other note, there some complaints from the 30km runners that they ran the wrong route. Even Don had argued with the marshall on bike that he is going the wrong way, but insists that he was right. In the end, he and a few runners with him decided to use the route they thought was right. Even Casey also claims that he had ran almost 40km. I saw he was of the lead runners during my run. Not too sure what position he was in after run, didn't want to ask him, cause he look really pissed off. Don was pretty pissed off with the marshall too. Well lets see what the post mortem of the race will reveal (if there's one).

Photos courtesy of Runwitme & KK Pacer.

My First Blu Ray Movie(s) Purchase

Just received my first blu ray movie purchase. Two movies actually. Limited Edition Box Set of "Batman Begins" & "The Dark Knight". It burned a hole in my wallet, but only my first purchase so far. Both are good movies to keep it as collection. How I wish they could just reduced the price for blu ray movies. I found this seller in KL online. If I had bought it on retail in shops, I would have probably need to pay double the price.

I think I am using my PS3 more for playing movies than playing games!

So who wants to come over and watch it, let me know ya.....
(price of ticket inclusive of complimentary foot massage. LOL!)

Food, Food & Food!

The recent trip by Zandi to KL on New Year's eve, turns out to be an eating trip for her and us. It's all about food, food and food.

The moment she arrived to KL Sentral, I took her for Sarawak Laksa and Kolo Mee in Pandan Indah. Then at night, with Han being our main food GPS, we went to a place so hidden along Old Klang Road that you never thought of going. But the dishes that came out were excellent. Don't ask me what's the name of the restaurant as I don't read mandarin. Well you can read it yourself if you know how. The photo outside the restaurant is below.

The entrance

Han holding gifts from Zandi:

The instant noodle from Taiwan and whiskies from Scotland

Sorry, I'm pretty ignorant on the name of the dishes. So I can't name it. Wait till I get it from my gf, Zandi or Han then will let you guys know. Haha.

Three hungry customers!

After dinner, we stopped by Pappa Rich in Old Klang Road for some drinks & desserts.

On the second night, Ooi Keat became our GPS for food. Well, we got lost a little bit trying to find the restaurant he mentioned but we found it in the end. The restaurant is called Restoran 88 @ Sunway Mas Commercial Centre. It's near Aman Suria.

 

Not too sure why Geoff & Zandi is staring at the ceiling?

OK & Su speaking medical language

Some of the dishes we ordered that night

The next day, we took Zandi to test out the famous Ampang Yong Tao Foo for lunch. There were a few shops there and we just randomly picked one. Zandi was pretty please that she finally had her Apmang Yong Tao Foo after hearing & talking about it for a long time.

The lunch didn't seem to satisfy her hunger, we proceeded to Great Eastern Mall and had our desserts at Alexis.

Before she went back, took her to Kiew's Brothers to buy some dried meat for her to take back to Singapore. We had a drink at a cafe next door before sending her off to KL Sentral. 

After all that food that went into my stomach, I felt so lazy to go out for dinner. I took the Taiwan Beef Instant Noodle she gave, for dinner. This is good stuff. There are basically few chunks of beef meat in the instant noodle.

Raising My Profile

It was a surprised when I received a few calls from friend asking me, "Hey, how much did you pay Pacesetters to get your face printed on the cover of Footloose?". Then I thought, "Oh, it must be my article on Melbourne Marathon 2009". I didn't give much thought about it as I thought it just something "small". No big deal about it.

Only today did I find out what they meant. It is a "BIG" picture, basically the whole cover of Footloose! Ok, I got to put this BIG, BIG!! Thanks Michael Gan for making this happen. And thanks to Kenny Tan for giving me a copy of Footloose.

The cover - ok I didn't have that smiling face all the way! Just for the cover!

The 1 page article

Not only that. Wei Loon (The Star) also wrote an article today on the Saucony Pacemakers Network Run 2010. My name is in it, although am not the champion lah! Haha!

So who wants my autograph? : ))

Monday January 11, 2010

Local runner Muralinathan retains title in his category

By NG WEI LOON

GHANAIAN Richard Habeya stole the show at the fourth edition of the Saucony-Pacemakers Network Run at the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur recently.

In completing four laps around the 3.06km course, Habeya led from the start to finish and posted 52:24 to emerge as the champion in the men’s 17 to 29 years category.

Runaway winner: Tan emerging as the top finisher in the women’s section for the second consecutive year.

Although the men’s 30 to 34 years section winner K. Muralinathan matched Habeya in the opening loop, the local challenger failed to sustain the pace and allowed the frontrunner to pull away for an untroubled victory.

However, Murali’s effort of 53’06 was enough to retain his title in the age-group for the third consecutive year.

Pacemakers captain Ronnie See said the participants felt the fatigue tackling the gruelling 170-step climb on the course and suffered at the closing stage of the race.

Foreign domination: Habeya crossing the finishing line unchallenged

“Previously, it was a relatively flat course of 2.3km around the lake. This year, we increased the distance to accommodate more participants. They found it very challenging and it was reflected on their lap time. Most of them were slower after the half way mark especially in the final two laps,” he added.

The event drew 190 runners in seven categories - women’s 34 years and below, women’s 35 years and above, men’s 17 to 29 years, men’s 30 to 34 years, men’s 35 to 39 years, men’s 40 to 49 years and men’s 50 years and above.

This year, the organisers - Pacemakers - included another three age-groups in their annual event.

“Besides introducing another additional category for the fairer sex, we separated the men’s runners aged between 30 and 39 years into two sections due to the overwhelming response. It was an interesting affair in the men’s 30 to 34 years with the competitors registering respectable timing,” said See, who set up the http://pm1.blogspot.com to cater to avid social runners in the Klang Valley.

In the men’s 30 to 34 years section, it was a tight contest for the second and third placing with Khoo Yit Kiat (54:35) edging Tang Yew Choy (54:37).

In contrast, Michele Tan Bee Kiang cruised home as the runaway winner in the women’s 34 years and below section.

For her second victory in the annual event, Tan clocked 43:05 in the three-lap race to finish way ahead of Haslinda Dolah (50:00) and Sylvia Moey (52:43) in second and third respectively.

Besides the contributions from the running community to host the run, Excel Chemical also renewed their partnership to support the event.

Currently, Pacemakers have about 60 active members going through the paces regularly at two venues - Lake Gardens and KLCC - in Kuala Lumpur on weekdays.

RESULTS

WOMEN’S

34 years and below: 1. Michele Tan Bee Kiang 43:05; 2. Haslinda Dolah 50:00; 3. Sylvia Moey 52:43

35 years and above: 1. Annie Lee Khum Chiew 53:26; 2. Agnes Chin 57:40; 3. Maybel Chung 58:36

MEN’S

17 to 29 years: 1. Richard Habeya 52:24; 2. Jasni Khairil Jamaluddin 53:16; 3. Tang Wern Tien 1’00:34

30 to 34 years: 1. K. Muralinathan 53:06; 2. Khoo Yit Kiat 54:35; 3. Tang Yew Choy 54:57

35 to 39 years: 1. Rozmi Yunus 56:33; 2. Kenny Tan 1’01:01; 3. Leow Choen Beng 1’01:28

40 to 49 years: 1. Ng Say Heong 55:07; 2. Alam Shah Ismail Ahmad 58:11; 3. Daniel Tan 1’00:02

50 years and above: 1. Chuah Seih Seng 1’07:00; 2. Peter Goh 1’11:13; 3. Tan Choon Seang 1’14:59

Just Arrived!

Since I had my certificate for Melbourne Marathon sent to Kuching address, I just got it from my uncle today. He was here for holidays. It came together with a Results Booklet. It was nice to compare your timing against others, know your position, how many runners taking part, etc.

The certificate

Results booklet

My results

Some may be asking why my cert says position 560 and why in the book 511? Cos there were 49 female runners in front of me!

Some of the statistics from the race:

                       Started        Finished       Total Entries

Marathon           3857             3797               4125

Wheelchair          3                  3                    3

Half Marathon    7416             7345                8312

10km                4884             4834                5679

5km                  2744             2744               3135

197 (Male) & 14 (Female) runners finished did a sub-3 hour timing.

Saucony Pacemaker Network Run 2010

It was tough waking up on New Year's Day to run a race especially when your mind is still in bed. Had to go toilet twice in the morning as I was having diarrhoea as I wasn't watching my diet. Anything goes. Just felt lucky that I didnt have the urge to go during the run but I do feel tired.

Quite a big turnout for the event. Familiar faces and some new ones. I was standing near the starting line hoping to get a good start. Pretty cool to have chip timing for this event. Normally, you'll only get chip timing for big races. Only one water station each lap, which is just after the start/finish line for this 4 laps event (3 laps for women). Each loop is approx 3.08km (12.32km).

Kelvin "The Boom Box/Speaker Man" Ng was there as usual to brief the runners. As the 'air horn" sounded, most runners started off conservatively except one super rabbit, Naresh. He just sped off like there's no tomorrow and took with him a few runners. Jasni, Murali and the eventual winner Richard soon followed to lead the race. I had trouble keeping up with their pace and soon I could not even smell their smoke!

In the few first laps, gaps were close. Of course, by the time we reached the start of the 2nd lap, the top 3 were already about 30s ahead of us. The time of 4th to 7th place were less than 20s apart. I was practically holding on the 6th place before 2 guys dropped places in the 3rd lap. One of the guys from the 40-49 group, Say Heong, was pilling the pressure on me for most part of the 2nd lap. As I reached the top of the stairs I tried to quicken my pace as most runners are gasping for air at the point. It paid off. He dropped his pace and I managed to put myself in a safe distance going into the final lap. I didn't look behind to check who's near me and tried to push on the pace. I knew that I've been dropping my pace for most part of the 2nd and 3rd lap. After the final stair climb, I looked behind to check who's behind me and saw no one near, so I knew I was safe for 4th placing overall. The final few few hundred meters were all downhill. I clocked 54:35.

My lap timing
Lap 1 - 0:12:41
Lap 2 - 0:14:03 (26:44)
Lap 3 - 0:14:08 (40:52)
Lap 4 - 0:13:44 (54:35)

The start

1. Stair climbing - looking good

2. Stair clilmbing - still doing ok

3. Stair climbing - A killer!

A nice fountain at the background

Receiving the throphy for my 2nd place finish

Winners in my category (Mens 30-34)

Results for Mens 17-34

Next Race: Pacesetters 30km (I will be doing the 20km)

Energizer Night Race

The Star - Wednesday December 30, 2009



Runners to don headlights in Energizer Night Race
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will have a second night marathon with the Energizer Night Race in Cyberjaya on March 27.


The brand manager for Energizer, Joshua Leong, said that the race would be different from the Putrajaya Night Marathon, which will be held on Feb 6, as the runners would don headlights supplied by the organisers.


“The headlights made by Energizer will be distributed to all runners and this will add to the excitement of running with the crowd at night,” he said.


“Our hope is to reach out to recreational runners and we expect about 5,000 runners to take part in the race.”


Energizer Night Race is a global event held since 2007 and it has created waves in countries like South Korea, Argentina and South Africa.


However, only the Malaysian edition of the race will feature the full marathon (42.2km) while others featured runs only up to 10km.


The half marathon (21.1km) and 10km race will also be featured in the race in Cyberjaya.


“We will also have stage performances by bands to liven up the atmosphere of the event as we expect the last runner to arrive at the finish line by midnight,” said Joshua.


Runners can register on the official website www.energizernightrun.com.my starting from Jan 10.

Other info:-

The minimum age for entry is 16 years, and there is no upper age limit. Those interested to run are encouraged to practice from the time of this announcement, advises Rustam Affandin Zaihan, the President of Pacesetters, an athletic group which is the event organiser for this race.

The circuit will appear something like the shape of the number eight. Medical assistance will be set up every 5 km, with water stations. Before the race commences, there will be a mini-concert, with local indie bands performing. Sports trainers will also be there to help participants warm up before the night run.

The entry fee is RM 50 for Pacesetter members (an athletic organisation which has been around for 25 years), RM 60 for the public. All registered particvipants receive a limited edition Energizer adidas running vest and many other free merchandise . Among the sponsors are Schick; venue sponsor, Cyberview Sdn Bhd; and Cyberview Lodge Hotel as the official hotel. There are discounts for runners who wish to stay the night.