New Balance Pacesetters 30km 2010

My first run of the year - New Balance Pacesetters 30km 2010 held on Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur 5:30am this morning.

Early morning 4am, I went to fetch Xion to take part in this event. We both join the 30km run and we are totally newbie for this distance. Half hour later, we reach the place and manage to get a parking which is very close to the staring point.

4:30am, it is very early. Not much people there.

Around 5am, I manage to meet with a small group of Cari Runners.

On our way to the starting point, there is another big group of Cari Runners.

5:30am, 30km race start. Before the race, I had planned to run in group with Kok Yik, Michael, Loh and two more runners. We aim to finish within 2 hours and 45 minutes (sub 245).

Due to the large number of people at the small starting point, we have to start separately and meet up later on. End up, I run with Kok Yik and Michael. Loh and the others two runners gone missing.

Three of us run constantly in the first 7km until we meet Kok Yik′s "sifu". This experience runner holds 02:40 timing for last year Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km run. So, we decide to follow his pace.

By following Kok Yik′s "sifu" pace, at least we manage to control ourselves not to run too fast in the beginning. However, this situation didn′t last for the whole race. I stop following three of them after around 20km due to my own limited capability.

Last 10km is a nightmare to me again. Most of my energy had been used. I am running with my strong mindset. Right after I run alone for a while, a girl cross me, is Jessica. I can see that Jessica also used up most of her energy during the first 20km. So, I decided to chase after her.

Every time I cross her, after a while, she will cross me back. This last for around 5km and I finally give up to "play" with her, she still have plenty of energy.

By now, I′m almost reached the ending point. Last 1km, I′m almost twitching again. I slow down my speed a lot to avoid it.

Finally, I cross the finishing line. I cannot believe what I′ve saw - 02:45:36 is show on my stop watch. I feel very happy with the result.

Then I go to claim my finisher′s medal & t-shirt.

The quality of the t-shirt is very good. I like it very much.

I′m looking forward to my next coming race - Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010, my second full marathon.