Larian Hari Keputeraan Sultan Azlan Shah Kuala Kangsar 2011 ( that's a mouthful..hins hins)

I love this race.
I love it so much, I'll tell you again.
I. Love. This. Race.

They made everything easy.
Snap, snap, snap, done.
I wish all other races would be like this.

Last year, the Kuala Kangsar Double Bridge run was a small affair. I remember there were only 10 of us girls in the Women Open Category. They only had one water station and a truck would follow us runners with men standing at the back offering, " Water? water?" and hurled bottles if we agreed to some.

This year, initially I thought it'd be the same.
Tapi bila tengok guestlist di FB, wah, kemain lagi.

Picking up the bibs was hassle free. No lines, no glitches. They got my name right.
Perfect.

Race day morning, mak ai, ramainya umat.
It was nice seeing familiar running faces in a small town all together racing.
Blogger pun ramai. Cap Ayam pun ada. Not to mention the usual running people you see in FB.
Meriah woo.
Pastu buat aktiviti biasa la. Mingle mingle.

Starting line: Raja Nazrin  was on time. On Time! I guess you're only  fashionably late if you're a politician. Ha.
So he gunned us off with a smile. I'm not actually sure whether it was he who horned us off because I didn't actually see who held the air horn, but I can be certain I saw his face before the air horn went off . ( what a useless piece of information) .

Ok, let me tell you one thing. I was really sure that they were going to use last year's double bridge route. I mean, this is Kuala Kangsar. Small town. How many routes can they come up with?
I even took a picture of the running route but didn't even bother to look at it. But then again, I'm useless at map reading anyway.

 Mari berjoget

Last year's route was flat like your grandmother's lempeng. But ladies and gentlemen, leave it to Pacesetters to actually find a HILLY route in small sweet Kuala Kangsar.
It's like , 'Give them hills, after that more hills. Make sure on top of those hills, got hills some more!."
Okay, I'm exaggerating. You know how I hate hills.

They made us run up the new Kuala Kangsar bridge ( can't remember the name) two times. Then after a nice stroll in the pekan, they made us run up Bukit Chandan.We had to run up and up and up and up and the drums and gamelan that they nicely arranged by the side of the road synchronized with the pounding of our feet.

We ran up and around the Istana. I was looking up at one of its windows and imagined one of the royals pointing down at us and chucking, " Look at those idiots."
.

I had no major aim for this race. Like I said, participation was overwhelming and I see fast female runners all around. So what I planned for, was to  maintain a 9:30 minute/mile pace throughout the race. Wan Won agreed once again to be a pacer as he was still a bit sore from the whole SASTIEC thing. I thought I could do this sebab ingat route cam lempeng kan?

Tapi bila itu hills mari, cam biasa la. Berterabur.

Pujuk hati ni. Relax. Jangan tensi tensi. Naik je.
Tapi penat wo.
Wan Won makin ke depan. Signalled me to follow.
Aku plak makin ke belakang.
Bila naik incline, mamat-mamat askar potong laju je.
Huish.

When we came back into town, I seriously thought the race would be over soon. But the kakak volunteer told us there was 3 K to go.
Longest 3K of my life.
Did I mention I felt bloated. Did I mention that I felt a flu coming a day before but blocked it somehow with my trusty antihistamines.
Well, that all came back to me in the final 3 K.

Pastu nak tambah best lagi, final 1K matahari keluar dengan sangat teriknya. Adoi.
Then I saw the Finishing line.I saw Yim with his green sarong from afar snapping pictures.
My husband said, if you can smile, you can definitely step up.
I smiled but my feet felt too malas to bukak langkah.
I felt, what's the use, it's not like I'll get podium ke hape.

I crossed the finishing line.
And the officials congratulated me.
Handed me a no 5 placing card.
Ha? Really?
Korang pikir, bosan la minah ni.
Balik-balik, tak sangka.
Tapi betul la, I was really surprised. Wan Won lagi teruk, siap cakap kuat-kuat, " Aik, betul ke?"


Tapi betul la kot. Dapat la jugak aku amik hadiah dari anak raja yang putih melepak tu. Isteri dia lawa woo. Korang mesti cair tengok. It's the closest we can get to Prince William and Kate Whats-her-face..
Okay, stop rolling your eyes.
Almost closest.

 I seriously don't remember smiling that wide

 Nice, huh? I think it's pewter. Heavy as hell.

Tapi best la race ni. Bukan sebab aku dapat hadiah. It was genuinely one of the best organized races I've ever participated in.
After race food and drinks were aplenty. Goodie bag collection went smoothly and prize giving ceremony was done really fast and early. Not to mention the good company.

 Gambar senget-senget ngan Pui San mesti ada.

 With Speedy Doris. She got No 8 in her category but she was 4 minutes faster than me. 

Shows how fast the girls in Jr Veteran and Veteran categories are. Wow. 

 With Yin but no Milo Ais..heh heh.

 I went straight up to Kak Ida Izumi and told her I loved the race ( she was part of the organizing committee)

Best thing was : A finisher's shirt! Brooks!

And I have no idea how they managed to pull all that off with only RM35 running fee.
Congrats Pacesetters! You guys are the best - except for your hilly routes.

Tapi hari ni saya tak lari lagi. Saya demam dan tersumbat hidung. Saya rasa tak larat nak bekerja.
Bila rawat pesakit, saya akan berbunyi syrott syrott.
Gross kan?
(Nasib baik saya pakai mask)

Sekian.