Some Pia (Pushing Hard) Faces in the "Dude"thon

Here are some of photos of the run, courtesy from PM Tey:

This is the guy I was trying to hang on to early in the race....

This is the guy Iost in the final few hundreds meter, Ong Chin...


You can see me behind him in this photo


This is the Iron "Ray the Tomatoman" Dude.....


This is the Iron "Mich" Lady......


The Evergreen Veteran....Don Khor....he ran faster than me yesterday! (for your info, he is 50!)


For more photos, pls click on the link below:

1. Dukethon 1


2. Dukethon 2


3. Dukethon 3


4. Dukethon 4


5. Dukethon 5

First Race Back in KL

I'm back in the KL race scene! The Dukethon. It's only a 5km race held over a stretch of the new DUKE highway. Most of the local runners are in Penang for the Penang Bridge Marathon today. I wasn't too keen in running Penang Bridge as it'll be quite hectic for me to travel 5 hours (drive) to Penang for the run. But it was mainly the start time that deter me from running the race. Marathon event will usually start at around 2.30-3.00am and the Half race starts at around 4am. This is way too early for a race.

Ray came over to my place to pick me up together with Mich and Tey. The starting line wasn't too far out from my place. We reached the location at around 7.10am. The highway was closed due to this event. Cars are parked along the highway. I could see that a lot of top runners were there, mainly because the race was only open for local runners and it offers cash prize for the 1st (RM2000), 2nd (RM1500) and 3rd (RM1000) in the mens and womens open category. Penang Bridge Run is open to foreigners and usually Kenyan runners will dominate most categories.

Ray, Mich and Tony

A sleepy Tey, our "official" photographer

The race started in a quick pace and soon find myself in a gap behind the fast runners. Although I was like 2 lines from the front at the start, I still had to push thru the crowds to get into a better position. I just can't understand why the slower runners like to put themselves in a risk of getting pushed by standing in front at the start. I already had first hand experience in getting step on the ankle from behind and fell at the start of the race. I had bad cuts then and didn't continue the race.

Back to the race. I tried as hard as possible to hang on to the pace, but had to slow down at around 2km mark. At the U-turn, I tried to check on the runners behind me and they weren't far behind. So, when Ong Chin (a fast veteran runner, never beaten him before nor gotten near him) overtook me, I tried to hang on to him. With about 1km to go, I decided to push my pace and leave him behind. I thought I was going to have my first victory over him but unfortunately, I ran out of gas. Still managed to get 10th place in a time of 19:07.

Head over to the drink tent to get some isotonic drinks and also one of it was giving out hot dogs. Then saw a tent giving out free massage, so told myself, "What the heck, it's free." It was only a short one and it didn't feel good at all. The masseurs there are mainly trainees.

Supervisor: This is how you do your massage

I think there was a competition for modified cars, as there were a lot of Ah Beng/Ah Lian cars parked along the road. For the benefits of readers who don't know what Ah Beng/Ah Lian means: It's basically stereotyping applied to young Chinese men (Ah Beng) and women (Ah Lian), particularly in Singapore and Malaysia. These groups are known to colour their hairs, bad sense of fashion, and of course modifying their cars. So when we see modified cars as in the photos below, we usually refer it as "Ah Beng" cars, albeit a Malay version as those taking part here are mainly Malays.

So what do we have for post run breakfast? Well, these are some of the meals I missed most in my time away to Melbourne. Teh tarik (literally means pulled tea) and roti canai (I had roti pisang). These delilcacies are mainly found in an Indian-Muslim (we refer them as Mamak) coffeeshop or stall. It usually served with gravy for taste, e.g. fish curry, chicken curry. So my running mates in Melbourne, we generally don't keep a healthy diet here. Kind of like Tony a.k.a Tiger Boy, ordering his usual fries in our post runs coffee sessions in The Terrace, Botanic Gardens.

Roti Pisang (Banana Bread)

Teh Tarik (Pulled Tea)

Too bad I missed out in witnessing the World Cup Mens Kierin final in Melbourne. A historic 2-3 finish for Malaysia, with Azizul Hasni Awang taking the silver and Josiah Ng getting the bronze. But just heard from cuz, both got knocked out from the early round of the Mens Sprint.

Report from The Star:
Saturday November 21, 2009

German Bergemann prevents a one-two Malaysian keirin finish
By LIM TEIK HUAT
PETALING JAYA: German cyclist Carsten Bergemann spoiled what could have turned out to be an historic one-two finish for Malaysia in the keirin final of the Track World Cup at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne last night.

But it was still a glorious day when Azizul Hasni Awang and Josiah Ng came away with the silver and bronze medals as two Malaysians rode in a World Cup final race for the first time.

After the disappointment of the opening round in Manchester, Azizul got his act right in Melbourne to secure his first World Cup medal for the year.

Seasoned campaigner Josiah also showed flashes of the form which took him to the Athens Olympic final in 2004 when he secured his first World Cup medal in three years.

Winners: Azizul and Josiah posing with their World Cup medals after the keirin event

Both Azizul and Josiah qualified automatically into the second round after finishing second in their heats.

Both Azizul and Josiah qualified automatically into the second round after finishing second in their heats.

Azizul, riding for Australian trade team BT Technologies, turned on the power to storm into the final as the winner of the second round heat ahead of Australia’s Shane Perkins and China’s Tang Qi.

Josiah just pulled through to the top six final after finishing third behind Bergemann and New Zealand’s Simon Van Velthooven.

Although the Terengganu-born Azizul failed in his bid to defend the title he won at the same venue 12 months ago, it was still a well-executed comeback effort from him.

The 21-year-old had targeted the keirin in Manchester but lost out in the first round where he was relegated for an infringement.

Azizul subsequently failed to make it through the repechage, riding unprepared after a miscommunication with the race official.

Josiah, who shut out British rider Matthew Crampton, the World Cup silver medal winner in Manchester in the second round to qualify for the final, was delighted with his form coming after just five weeks of training.

“I finished ahead of so many good riders and this is my first World Cup medal after so long.

“There is a big team of younger Malaysian riders training together and this is helping me to keep my level up. It’s the first time we have two Malaysians winning medals and I feel like there’s still a lot more to come,” said the 29-year-old Josiah in a telephone interview from Melbourne.

Finally Back To My 2nd Home

I'm finally back to my 2nd home (Kuching will always be my first lah). Didn't do much on my last day in Melbourne except walking around in the city. I am really going to miss the city, the people, my runs, my rides and my bike. It has been a good 3 months there but due to financial constraints I would have hope to travel a little more. Now I have to head back and make myself some money!

Elvin picked me up from Keng's place at around 9.30pm. Aaargh! He forgotten about the chocolates I bought and left in his house. Well either he has to finish it or pass it to someone who is coming back to KL. Well, friends in KL, wanted to share my chocolates with you, but looks like it's staying in Melbourne. Haha.

Queue for the Air Asia X to KL flight was a long one. Well next time do a web check-in and just drop in your baggage and get your documents checked. Faster. I was looking for Hungry Jacks to try their new Angry Angus Burger but only had McDonalds at the airport. I thought it's inside the boarding lounge but nothing much in there except some duty free stores and convenient shops. So no Angus Burger before I left the country.

I got a window seat at my request, but totally forgotten about the stand of the seat which is preventing me from stretching out one of my foot. I wanted the window seat as I want to lean on the wall to sleep, but seems I couldn't really sleep in the plane. Watched "Taking of Pelham 123" on my laptop. Good movie.

I've always like John Travolta and Denzel Washington as actors. Travolta seems to excel in both good and bad characters! He's playing the bad guy in this movie, Face Off, Punisher, etc. Then couldn't finish my latest Heroes episode as my laptop ran out of battery. So listen to my iPod for the rest of the way. My head did nod a few times when I fell asleep for a "short" while.

Reached KL at around 6.40am and bought some stuff from duty free shop for friends. Han was there to pick me up. We went straight to Alex food stall in PJ for some good old Kuching food. On the way there, we were stuck right smak in the city rush hour traffic. After breakfast, went to Mid Valley to change back my money and while there, Maxis had a promo on their broadband service, so thought I just give it a try and cancelling my celcom broadband which my sis is using now. Speed wasn't that great for Celcom.

Came home and found my apartment is so dusty as it was unattended for past months. So spent some time mopping floors and wiping windows. Still haven't unpack my bag, just feel so lazy. Couldn't wait to try out my new broadband service, but when I switch on my laptop I find every applications I tried to open seems to be lagging. Took a few minutes to open just 1 application. Han adviced me to leave my computer on for few hours and reboot it after. He says it could be window's running some maintenance work. So I showered and took short nap before heading out for dinner at 9pm with my neighbour. Came back, and find my laptop is A-OK. So far the broadband performs better than Celcom Broadband Basic that I've used before. I went to check on my "snail mail" mailbox too and it was filled with bills to pay!!!

Note: My next race will be a 5km this Sun at Dukethon.

Farewell To My Beloved Bike

I had my last ride with my bike, MERIDA ROAD 905-COM, today. A short 5km ride to the city. It's time to bid farewell as I will not return to KL with it. Decided to sell it here since I will be getting a better price here in Melbourne. Well hopefully someone will buy it at a good price.

I had it all cleaned up at Elvin's place and it sure takes a while to clean it, especially the chain. It wasn't as clean as I wanted it to be it was alright.

Riding history with the bike:

* Multiple rides in Putrajaya/Cyberjaya/Ulu Langat

* Bukit Jalil - Port Dickson

* Batu Caves - Ipoh


* Powerman Malaysia, Sri Manjung

* Around the Bay, Melbourne

What will I be riding next? Maybe this.....

BBQ No.2: Alissa's Crib

As soon as I made it home from BBQ No.1 (I mean the run @ Canning Reserve), took a quick shower and waited for Den & Andrew to come pick me up. Keng couldn't make it as he has exam the next day. Reached there and we were just in time to eat. Elvin was the Master Chef for the day. Jo and Kim came over later and as everyone has left, Uncle Malcolm and Tua Koh came by. There were plenty of food on the table and by the end of the day, I had some 'ta pao' (packed) food for me and Kheng for our dinner.

Alissa wanted to have the BBQ not only for my farewell but also to celebrate Arina's birthday, which falls on Tue (yes, her birthday is actually today).

BBQ No.1: Farewell Run With Cool Running Gangs

My last weekend in Melbourne is finally over and just a couple more days before heading back to KL. I had my final group ride on Sat and yesterday was my final run with the Cool Running group. I've already been through a few runs with them and with their friendly & "must have" coffee session right after run makes it so much easier for me to blend right in.

Bennie suggested a new running trail for us, Canning Reserve-Brimbank Park. It really feels great to see different parts of Melbourne through running (or cycling). The trail runs along the Maribyrnong and it offers a really scenic view. His wife, Ruth, even agreed to prepare some food and drinks for post run. Grace, came to pick me up in front of the apartment in the morning, together with her husband, Kevin and her two youngest children. She has 7 kids mind you and a real fast mother indeed. She did a 3:45 in last year's Melbourne Marathon and now she is preparing herself for Boston Marathon April next year. However, due to her injury, "a pain in the butt" she refers it, she couldn't run with us. Hope she recovers soon. There were a lot of mountain bikers who shared the same trail as us but road was wide enough for a passing manouver.

There were 9 of us, Di, Morley, Warren, Michael, Baz, Bruce, Bennie, Terri and me who ran that day with Grace opting to walk with her husband and two children along the river bank. Bennie's wife, Ruth and their 2 children joined in later bringing the food from home.

Chit chatting session as a warm up before the run

Michael's not only good in giving running advice but on how you should drink water from the tap

The big climb

Now, for the main event. Yeah, running was just a side show.

We have plenty of food & drinks on the table, homemade pancakes, fruits, homemade breads, crossaints, coffee, juice, etc. We took a group photo before we left, but still waiting for Bennie to post it up before I can download it.

To all Cool Running Runners that I got to know in such a short time: It was fun running with you guys and will surely miss the Sun morning runs and the coffee session after. Who knows our path may cross again one day.

Last Group Riding In Melbourne

Today was my last group ride with my cousins and also Josiah & Liam. We head out to the usual Beach Road but today was a good day to ride and there were more riders out there. We just cruise along the way till a group of cyclists which include two pro grand tour riders went passed us. And all of a sudden, they decided to follow the 'train'. We were going like 36-40km/h, but it was good to tail behind. The pro riders were from Team Columbia-HTC and the other from Cervelo Test Team (Simon Gerrans. He is first Australian to calim a stage in all three Grand Tours). At least my last ride here, I got to ride with Grand Tour riders eh? How often will this happen? Maybe never, but it happened today.

We didn't tail them the whole way but made an earlier u-turn back to the city, as we don't want to burn Josiah out, just before his World Cup Track race this coming week. LOL! Actually they did couple of sprints but each time I was the only one with no answers to it. On the way back, there's this funny conversation by the guys. I was actually behind having a conversation with an Aussie white guy. Conversation goes like this (something like this), and they are talking out loud at a traffic light stop:

Den: Liam wants a white girl

Jo: Liam wants white girl? Oh, my mama warns me against white girl. My mama says, "Never get married to a white girl, they'll divorce you"

Then I was like, "Oh shit, what is the white guy going to say about this?" i just pretend he didn't hear that.

White guy actually spoke, "He wants a white girl? My son is in Bangkok looking for an Asian girl!"

We stopped for a while at a cafe on the way back to the city. Thought of going for the Christmas Parade in the CBD area but when I got back it's already past 11.15am. It starts at 11am but takes me 50 mins to walk to CBD.

Tonight Den and Andrew made pizzas at Jo's place. It was going to be another Wii night. Jo just got DJ Hero and by the look of it, it''s a fun game to have. I got to go get one of this when I go back. As I got to get up early tomorrow for a final run with the Cool Running Group, Ieft earlier.