On a Sunday morning where most runners will be running through the roads and bridge in Penang, Dutamas Runners ((DRs) turn up for the Charity Nature Run organised by the students of ALC College. Yin, her mum, Yvonne, Bin and me left for FRIM at about 7.30am. Run only starts at 8.45am. We found a car park near the starting line and registered ourselves by dropping one of our bib in the lucky draw box. Most of us only registered the last minute. Since this is a charity run, we thought it will be good to run for a cause and also a change of running scene. FRIM is quite popular place for hikers, joggers and also mountain biking. There, we met up with the rest of the DRs: Wei Li, David, Shaun and Melvin. Wei Li is preparing himself for another charity run in Macau, a half marathon in the coming few weeks time. We also met, Chen, Daniel and YS Lee. Daniel and YS Lee already did a warm up earlier around the course and told us it was short of the stated 8km. They mentioned it was only 6km. (And I took their word! Story later....). Also met up with Peck Yah and her daughter who just flew back from Melbourne. Jack Toh was there too.
I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle this race as I knew my training wasn't ideal at the moment. But I knew I want to run it fast, taking this like a tempo run. It didn't really matter whether I'll finish in a good position or not, but then again, there weren't that many strong runners in the field. Most runners are either in Penang or because this event do not offer cash prize, most 'elite' runners will shy away from such events. The rest of the Dutamas Runners had a good chance of get the Top 40 finishing medals and even a podium finish.
The Route
It takes us through the trails and also some of the asphalt road in FRIM. A good change of running environment once a while and the greens in FRIM give you a much cleaner air. Of course, would have love it even more if the ALC College students organised it very much earlier than the stated time of 8.45am. We were informed that it will be brought forward but the California Fitness trainer probably did a little too much for warm up with the runners and it started slightly after 8.45am.
The Race
YS Lee reserved a place for me in the front and when the air horn went off, a few young guys started real quick heading into the trails which incidentally is a steep climb. I took my time to overtake the guys since I was expecting the hill. Once we hit the hill, I took over the lead. As Jack was following me closely, I thought it would be good to press on the pace in the hills and hopefully I can lose him. The downside is that I may risk getting tired myself and he'll be able to take over if he can keep up with me. Luckily, the sound of his footsteps start to fade and soon I was able to put in a gap.
Back to the distance. As I took Daniel and YS Lee's words that the route was short at 6km, I estimated that if I run 5:00/km pace (add in the hills), I'll finish around 30mins. But after 30mins, the finish line was nowhere on sight! The time went on and still no finish line. I was a little worried that Jack's going to overtake me, so I looked back to check on the gap, but I couldn't see him. I ran out of steam as I didn't expect that there were more slopes near the end of the race. I slowed down my pace to catch some breath and on the way back saw some of the Dutamas Runners running passed me on the opposite direction. When I saw there were more cars on the road, I knew the finish line was near, so I hung on the pace till the finish line. Soon, one by one the Dutamas Runners came through to the finish line. And they did well. I am hoping all of them can improve on their PBs in bigger events!
It was nice to know that I had a personal escort throughout the race. A guy on the bike guiding me through the route. Peet! Peet! Peet!
We stayed back for the lucky draw but we weren't so lucky. Had to go back empty handed except for the medals.
Some results today:
Distance: 9.09km (according to Daniel Tan's GPS)
Mens Open
39:07 - Me (1st) - Clap! Clap! Clap! Self praised is no praise!
00:00 - Jack Toh (2nd)
00:00 - (3rd)
00:00 - Chen KH (4th)
Medallist:
00:00 - Melvin Lim (13th)
00:00 - Wong Yi Bin (23rd)
00:00 - Wei Li (xx)
Shaun and David missed out on the medals since they have not been running for quite a while.
Womens Open
00:00 - Katie (Canada) (1st)
57:57 - Yvonne Teo (3rd)
Womens Veteran
00:00 - Yin Boey (1st) - Yin's first win! Congrats!
00:00 - Auntie Boey (SH/Yin's mum) (3rd) - she did well to beat the younger women runners!
Mens Veteran
44:56 - Daniel Tan (1st)
52:00 - YS Lee (5th)
More photos later......
Thanks to Yvonne for the photos!
The Race
YS Lee reserved a place for me in the front and when the air horn went off, a few young guys started real quick heading into the trails which incidentally is a steep climb. I took my time to overtake the guys since I was expecting the hill. Once we hit the hill, I took over the lead. As Jack was following me closely, I thought it would be good to press on the pace in the hills and hopefully I can lose him. The downside is that I may risk getting tired myself and he'll be able to take over if he can keep up with me. Luckily, the sound of his footsteps start to fade and soon I was able to put in a gap.
Back to the distance. As I took Daniel and YS Lee's words that the route was short at 6km, I estimated that if I run 5:00/km pace (add in the hills), I'll finish around 30mins. But after 30mins, the finish line was nowhere on sight! The time went on and still no finish line. I was a little worried that Jack's going to overtake me, so I looked back to check on the gap, but I couldn't see him. I ran out of steam as I didn't expect that there were more slopes near the end of the race. I slowed down my pace to catch some breath and on the way back saw some of the Dutamas Runners running passed me on the opposite direction. When I saw there were more cars on the road, I knew the finish line was near, so I hung on the pace till the finish line. Soon, one by one the Dutamas Runners came through to the finish line. And they did well. I am hoping all of them can improve on their PBs in bigger events!
It was nice to know that I had a personal escort throughout the race. A guy on the bike guiding me through the route. Peet! Peet! Peet!
We stayed back for the lucky draw but we weren't so lucky. Had to go back empty handed except for the medals.
Some results today:
Distance: 9.09km (according to Daniel Tan's GPS)
Mens Open
39:07 - Me (1st) - Clap! Clap! Clap! Self praised is no praise!
00:00 - Jack Toh (2nd)
00:00 - (3rd)
00:00 - Chen KH (4th)
Medallist:
00:00 - Melvin Lim (13th)
00:00 - Wong Yi Bin (23rd)
00:00 - Wei Li (xx)
Shaun and David missed out on the medals since they have not been running for quite a while.
Womens Open
00:00 - Katie (Canada) (1st)
57:57 - Yvonne Teo (3rd)
Womens Veteran
00:00 - Yin Boey (1st) - Yin's first win! Congrats!
00:00 - Auntie Boey (SH/Yin's mum) (3rd) - she did well to beat the younger women runners!
Mens Veteran
44:56 - Daniel Tan (1st)
52:00 - YS Lee (5th)
 | |||
| From left (standing): Wei Li, Yi Bin, Shaun, Yin, SH (Kneeling): Yvonne, Melvin and me |
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| From left: Yi Bin, Shaun Lee, David Ong, Me and Wei Li |
Thanks to Yvonne for the photos!
4 comments:
So nice to read about your experience at the run and it's great seeing all the photos :)
YS Lee finished 5th place at 52mins.
Aren't we glad that we all ran in this rather than wakign up in the wee hours of the morning to run in Penang and in wet some more.. : ))
i don't get it, Yin, how come you can post the comment here and not at mine? =P (ah, maybe use your google account?)
and btw, it's my first win also la, hehe
What do you mean you can't? Didn't you just post one?
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