Team Malaysia Fan Run; supporting our athletes and 4:30 mission delayed accomplishment

I wrote about my 4:30 mission last year.
It was tough to achieve this pace but I didn't give up or surrender.
I keep on training and believe in it.
My 4:30 mission target was end of 2013 actually but I didn't achieve it within the time frame.
It was not an easy task to upgrade myself from 4:47 (best 10k event pace) to 4:30.
My legs, lungs and heart can’t keep up with the demand.
So this year my target event for 4:30 mission was TM Fan Run under 10k category.
The venue was supposedly held in MMU but they changed it Dataran Merdeka, in combination with Fit Malaysia (Fit Run 10k).
My friends and I were excited with run because of the cheap registration fee and new Team Malaysia tee design. It was designed by Melinda Ooi and I love it!

Parappapa I'm loving it! 

We (MARDI runners) carpooled from MARDI Serdang to Masjid Negara.
Performed Subuh prayer (berjemaah lagik) there and we walked/ran to the race venue.
Met few WARs friends along the way.

MARDI runners, not a fan of bright lighting LOL 

Anas and I entered the pen early and we got ourselves 2nd row from front.
Ariff and Ridwan came few minutes later and we stood near to each other.
Ridwan and I ran under TM Fan Run but Ariff ran under 10k Fit Run.
Since we have the (almost) same pace, my strategy was to run beside them or perhaps to keep them within my sight if they run at a faster pace.
Not many local elites were seen as few events were held on the same day.

Menyelit jap
(from Tomok's IG)

Y u so serious? Smileeeeeee!
(credit: Gme)

The power of three will set us free, ehhh.
No need to show my insignificant bicep volume, ehhh
(pre-flag off pose)

We were flagged off by KJ at 715am and I ran slightly fast for the 1st km to distance myself from other runners and ran at an appropriate pace at 2nd km.
Ridwan, Ariff and I overtook each other and our position kept changing but we were still relatively near to each other.
The route was not that easy as we encountered few hills, which caused my breathing and pace went haywire. Hill training was not part of my training schedule before the race. Dang!
Running at Putrajaya was much much easier LOL.
Dataran Merdeka was not a good place to target a PB actually hahaha.
I lead our small pack from 6th to 8th km.
Ariff overtook and sped off at 8th km.
I tried to keep up but to no avail.
The distance grew bigger and the only thing I could do was keeping him within my sight.
Roughly at 9th km, he disappeared completely.
Tak guna ko Ariff hahaahaa.  Ariff, awak kat mana, awak kat mana!
I saw the finishing gantry from the last turn which approximately within 100m.
Suddenly I heard loud footsteps approaching.
Person behind me most likely ‘buka langkah’ and sprint.
No, u not gonna overtake me at this point. Comprendo!
I didn’t dare to look behind as finishing the race was more important.
I dig deep and squeezed every ounce of energy left for a strong finishing.
I knifehand-ed, heel-to-butt-ed and sprinting all out towards the finishing line.
I crossed the line in 00:43:06 (nett time) with average pace of 4:29min/km!
Woohoo 4:30 mission was a success!
It was a PB as well!
I was super-duper-truper happy.
Let’s do the happy chicken dance, or not hahahaha.
It was a delayed accomplishment but I felt happy nonetheless.
However, I felt lil bit dissappointed with the distance as my Garmin recorded 9.6km only.
Dang, underdistance 400m.
Ah well, take it or leave it.
I took a look behind me and saw Ridwan!
He was few seconds late.
I won this time mate hahhaha.
Ridwan has beaten me in all of our races since TM Fan Run December last year.
I shook his hand and hugged him.
We had a great race session and felt satisfied.
I went to medic’s tent straight afterwards.
I vomited few times after finishing the run but nothing came out as I hadn’t eaten anything beforehand.
Muntah angin, happened due to pushing myself too much.
They were puzzled when I told them I vomited and need their help.
Perhaps this was their first time encountering this kind of problem in a race LOL.
Since they were not much of help, I said it’s ok and took a stroll around the race area.
Walk helps!
I felt better and reunited with Ridwan, Ariff and few friends.
Ariff told us he completed the run in 42 mins (1 min faster than Ridwan and me) and won the third place for Fit Run. He was awarded a trophy later.
Untunglar hahahaha. Mode: jeles.

Rakan sebaya 'pace'
Post-run pose

Wefie!

Oh yeah, we are TM Fan Run finishers!

Runners and idola!

Let's support Team Malaysia!

Team Malaysia, you have our support!

WARs @ TM Fan Run

KJ, a fit minister

Took photos with friends, 'pusing-pusing' booth and 'balik.'
Overall, I was satisfied with the race.
Apart from the underdistance issue, the organiser did a great job.
The race was meant to support our local (heroes) athletes in Sukan Asia after all.
We had a great race; pacing and support each other.
Fair and square.
Official result came out a little late.
Perhaps the combination of TM Fan Run & Fit Run 10k made them hard to sort it out.
Turned out the time difference between Ridwan and me was just by 1 second!
So close!
We got the same nett time but I started the race 1s faster than him.
Meaning that I crossed the starting bar (chip) 1s earlier than him and I was saved by the bell bar!
Surprisingly I got the 9th placing!
Hoyeah top 10.
This was not the kind of top 10 I’m aiming but since certain someone want me to embrace it, so I posted the result to social media.
My target for next year is four-flat mission and I’ll post that entry soon ;)

Lucky no 9!

PB finally!