NO DRAMA DRAMA JUST RUN: Halfling, half-breed or Muggle? No, it’s just a hilly half marathon 2XU Compression Run

I participated in last year edition and it was 16km at was held at Padang Merbuk. They upgraded to 21km this year (venue: Lake Garden) but unluckily finisher tee was not part of the deal unlike Singapore edition. The route was freaking hilly last year. Runners called it bukit tak masuk akal, bukit setan, bukit azab etc especially the Mayor residence stretch. I knew they will use the same route again this year but this was a necessary evil as part of my upcoming marathon training. Halfie wasn’t my forte actually, my weekly training volume or mileage not that high. Not my favourite distance.

Went to the race venue with my usual partner in crime Aizat, met friends, warmed up and entered pen early. Forth/fifth line from the front. It was a PB mission but I didn’t put high hope on a big margin. Hilly hokey. My Pb for HM was 1:57 hr at 2XU Compression Run Singapore last year. I didn’t do many HM this year and I was an epic fail at Sundown Malaysia in last April. Most of my ‘rakan sebaya’ pace has successfully clocked at least 1:45hr in their HM and I was waaaaayyyy behind them.

Cubaan menyelit hihihi

After the flag off, I ran at my appropriate pace of 4:30-5:00. Not going to do sub 4 pace for the 1st km as this was a half marathon not a sprint. Or 10k. Saw few friends overtook at earliest km. Since I knew them too well it’ll be a just a matter of them before I can return the favour hihihi. From the Lake Garden we were directed to Padang Merbuk to Bukit Tunku to Dataran Merdeka and finish at Lake Garden. It was flat and few small and moderate hills for the 1st km. One thing I love was the u-turn where I can get hi five, motivation, hand gesture or anything from friends at the other side of the road. My mood was significantly elevated and somehow helped me in running better. Met Shaidan Embee and I ran with him until 16th km where I couldn’t longer kept up with him any longer because of the hilly route.

With accidental pacer, Mr. Shaidan Embee

Elevation profile from Baman Ketama (Fenix 2)

I finally met bukit azab/bukit setan/bukit tak masuk akal shortly after that. I wasn’t too ambitious with that 1km steep uphill route and ran with a relaxed pace. The most important thing was to endure that hill not to attack it. But then my relaxed pace wasn’t enough, I shifted to slow jog. Slow jogged few hundred metres before I made a decision to resort to fast walk as it was too much to bear. Few fast runners u-turned and gave motivation to me. The sufferfest ended when I arrived at the top of the hills where the KL Mayor house situated. Took water from water station, crossed timing mat and ready to run downhill. I need to be careful running downhill as it might cause bad impact to knee, heel and joints. Saw few familiar faces struggling running uphill and I gave them some motivation. I could see the struggle from their face hehe. Bertabahlah. Some asked a question which I considered a trap question. They asked ‘jauh lagi ke?’ If I reply near I’ll be lying but if I reply far it might kill their will and determination. I replied keep on running; you can do it and smiled. Play safe hokey.

Let's cucuk some eyeballs

Nice!

Not nice! Dang it Syed hahaha

Momentum from running downhill helped me to run fast even on flat surface afterwards. My legs lost its power at final 2 or 3 kilometres. My pace dropped tremendously. Thanks to the the bukit tak masuk akal. Luckily I met Kakai and I felt happy seeing familiar face. He helped me pushing myself and never surrenders to mental and physical limit. I kept on running with moderate pace and sprinted as usual towards finishing line. Ohhh the sufferfest ended finally. I did 1:47 and it was a PB, yeay! Kemarau panjang berakhir sudah. Shaidan did 1:46, roughly 1 min faster than me. I got top 30 placing (27th), hmm not bad.

The end! Hoyeah!

My bib and hard earned hilly route medal.

Top30 result! Shabba!

It was a great event by Malaysian top compression brand (I believe so). The routes, the volunteers, the water station, the medal, all were awesome. I don’t know if I’ll participate again next year. Penat woi lari bukit tu hahahaha. We’ll see next year ;)