A historical breakthrough, a podium debut on the Malaysia Day

Malaysia day, 16th September is a great day to run and race.  This is a way to commemorate history by doing something healthy. A tribute to Malaysia and our forefathers for their hardwork in uniting us all.  As far as I know only one race usually held on that day, Larian Oren Sports Bandar Diraja Klang.  Gme participated in last year edition & it seemed fun.  Aizat registered early in 10k category and asked me to do so. This run got 10k and 5k category and trophy will be offered to the top 10 winners. The registration fee is cheap. Somehow I felt reluctant as I had already registered Reebok One Challenge which will be held 2 days prior to this event. Reebok One Challenge was a revenge attempt, I vowed myself to do better as I didn't do my best last year.  After did some not so serious research, I concluded there's some super-duper-truper slim chance of me getting top 10 placing in 5k category for this Oren Sports run. I registered 5k as I believe 5k will be perfect for my recovery run after the Reebok One Challenge. Thanks to my favourite Penonton blog, I could see the previous race results. Unluckily there was no timing for 5k category, only name and category. Ah well, let’s get rich or die trying (50 Cent album name).

The run

Route map

Oh, trophy for top 10 winners, nice!

Race details

Our bibs. Many thanks to Romzy Liu for colleting our race kit.

Few days prior to the Reebok One Challenge, I decided to DNS this event. I didn't train well for this obstacles running. My mileage not that high as well.  20.95km with obstacles is not a child's play.  I can finish this race within the stipulated time but it won't be a great one. The concept is focus, for greater good. I DNS ROC with hope to do well in the Oren Sports run.

Flag off, credit to Run and Explore

It was drizzling at the race venue (Stadium Padang Sultan Sulaiman). I entered the pen once all 10km runners crossed the starting line. I was standing in the front row, my usual strategy. Few familiar strong and podium faces were there.  Lil bit terrified. I'll do my best, podium will be an added bonus. My target for this event was 20 min with 4 flat pace. We were flagged off at 7 am. I ran sub 4 pace for the 1st km before slowing it down to 4-415.  After 2km plus running, we met this high hill. Dang, I didn't equip myself with hill training. I ran that nasty hill with a moderate pace, didn't dare to attack it.  Not so ambitious this time.  Durex Play safe.  This hill sure going to make my target 4 flat pace fail. I kept running and tried to maintain 4-415 pace. However, 4-415 pace actually was a heavy burden to my body as I didn't well accustomed to this speed. Thought of giving up kept coming to my mind. It was a battle inside of my mind.  I endured and maintained my running form.  I didn't dare to take a glance at my gps watch. I was elated upon seeing the stadium.  My suffering is about to come to an end.  I increased my stride upon reaching the synthetic track and sprinted for the last 100m. All out, all might. I reached the finishing line huffing & puffing.  Oxygen, oxygen, where art thou. I did 5.45km in 22:46.43min with 4:11min/km average pace. It was a PB but I failed to get my target pace, no thanks to that hill. Plus it was a (little) wet morning (alasan sangat hihi).

Final sprint! Such a wet morning. Credit to Run & Explore.

Trolled, no thanks to UltraJoll hahaha

I didn't know my placing until I was given a piece of paper with a number written on it. It was a 10! Freaking 10! Huhuhu felt want to cry already. Tears of joy. I achieved something that I wanted all along, a podium placing. I worked hard for this, endured rigorous training (which always caused sore muscle), ‘jaga makan’ and also asked His help. My prayer got answered this time. Syukur! I went to the designated tent for winner verification and I was given a potential no 10 winner tag. Nice! I take a long look at the tag; my hard work has paid off. I messaged my family and few friends letting them know my winning. If you reading this and you got my winning message, meaning you are pretty special to me hihihi. I whatsapp-ed to few groups and congratulation wishes kept coming. So happened Epito won 7th place in 10km category.  Romzy, Aizat, Nyun and Azni arrived at the finishing line few minutes later. Took photos, took my trophy from prize giving ceremony and went home. Aizat & I didn’t bother waiting for lucky draw as we were not much of lucky lads. Penonton blog did write an entry about this race result, link here.

Potential winner tag hohoho

Bib, medal, winner's tag & Santai Pace Runner tee, a great combination

Podium at last! Nasib baik sebenarnya hihi

Top 10 winners in 5km category. Far left no 1 and far right was yours truly no 10

Speedy Epito won 7th placing in 10km category. Idola kelajuan!

Bib, medal and trophy. Thanks to this Asics GEL Hyper Speed 6 racing flat

Wefie with my partner in crime. I still owe you that Johnny Rockets burger hohoho

Otai pun masih berbisa

Group pic

I consider myself previously as an elusive elusive elite as I usually got top 30 in non FM race (refer here). Now I'm upgrading my title to a pseudo-elite LOL. Hopefully this wasn't a one hit wonder. Why pseudo-elite? Coz my timing wasn't that good & if I race at bigger scale event I believe I might not stand a chance. Look like an elite but actually not LOL. Looks can be deceiving after all. My target is getting top 10 spot in a large scale event.  I guess no shortcut for this except train hard & smart. By the way, I love reading this blog post entry, http://crazytomatoman.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-first-individual-top10-trophies.html. So inspiring. My experience kinda similar to his.

I've decided to collect trophies starting this year.  Medal is too mainstream & I have truck-load of them. Not that I'm not appreciating their the bling-blings but it's not wrong asking for something better. I love all my medals. It marks my achievement since the day I started running again.  Love them more if it's limited & I worked hard in order to get one.  Every medal has its own unique history. However, trophy is hard to come by.  Being a mere finisher is never enough to secure one.  It's a combo of hard work+strategy+luck.  Usually they don't come in bulk. Most events offer trophy for top 3 or top 5 and few top 10. Top 20 is the rarest breed.  Imagine competing with thousand or hundred competitors for super-duper limited memento. The winning prize obviously so tempting but being an underdog, winning a prize seems asking too much. Pushing too much luck. Let's start small & move one step forward after that (Jordin Sparks - One Step At A Time). Ah well, this is going to be my 2015 resolution ;)