Most runners aren’t competing for first place. They’re competing against themselves, either for a better personal time or simply to finish. Life is similar! While it may look like a race against others, the only real competition is yourself! Rather than looking over your shoulder to see how everybody else is doing, focus inward to see how you can evolve!
First of all, allow me to congratulate all of you that has braved the KL CITY DAY HALF MARATHON 2024. It was indeed a huge event with no less than 13,000 participants, not counting the manpower involved in the whole event proper. No matter which state of achievement you did, you all deserved a big pat on your back. Extra shout out if this is your FIRST ever proper running race – remember to sign up for more in the future and make this a healthy option in your life.
Needless to say, my emotions were kicking into overdrive at this point. On race day, I woke up at 2am, forced some peanut butter and bread and some coffee down, while my stomach felt like it was flipping over. Hubby and I took a one hour drive to Dataran Merdeka KL. Managed to get parking and went straight to the porta-porties and we walked to the started point without any hassle. At the starting line, I felt like a lion waiting to be let out of my cage. I was tip, roaring and ready to go! Ready to race? Indeed! I was ready to rumble!
The flagged off was about 10 minutes delayed, and around me I could hear few runners grumbling about it. But that didn’t bring my spirits down,”This is insane”, were my last words before we took running , trying to soak it all in!
CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHY: HEYJOM (Don’t miss out! Download now or visit) https://photo.heyjom.com/kualalumpurcitydayhalfmarathon2024
CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHY: HEYJOM (Don’t miss out! Download now or visit) https://photo.heyjom.com/kualalumpurcitydayhalfmarathon2024
I was enjoying the crowds and cruising along happily putting no thought into what lay ahead. Running in the city of KL was truly amazing! Marshalls and traffic police were on duty, roads were closed to ensure the runners’ safety. All I thought about was how this was my day. I had done the hard work and deserved to be there and it was absolutely splendid!
I stopped at the first water station, oh my, it was quite messy with runners shoving and pushing, only managed to get one cup of water, so I kept on running and hoping to get to the next water station for more water only to be disappointed. At the 9 KM water station, NO WATER! Alamak! Runners were dehydrated, angry and frustrated. I kept running but noticed that so many runners ran into 7 Eleven, KK Mart, mamak shops to queue to buy water and some cool isotonic drinks.
The first several miles were great. I felt good. Breathing and legs were working together. The hills weren’t to bad but I knew what was ahead. The route was altered slightly after that. We reached BUKIT TUNKU! The hills, how do I put this, a nightmare, the stairways to hell. I could hear the runners around me saying “this is it”, “oh Nooooooo!” as we climbed out…..But we soldiered on……after winding around Bukit Tunku, I suddenly felt something shift in my body. If you’ve ever heard a runner talk about “hitting the wall” or “bonking”, that was exactly what happened. My body just quit on me. Then, I’d switched gears in my brain, it’s now mental running! I got this! I am not going to stop! I can do this! I can! I will! and yes, I was able to re-focus! Then I remembered the song “The Climb by Miley Cyrus”, this was the exact situation I was in, Just like life, it’s has its’ ups and downs! A half marathon is like life, it’s a journey, not a sprint! You could never enjoy a down hill for too long because you know there was going to be another uphill soon after!
After we conquered Bukit Tunku, the race went by in a bit of a painful blur. I was just focused on keeping my legs moving. I kept repeating my mantra….However victorious I felt coming off of Heartbreak Hill, those last couple miles were still so hard–and VERY humbling. There was no escaping the mass of people, though the crowds opened up enough to where everyone could start running their intended pace. I settled into a clip that felt easy and sustainable, which turned out to be way slower than everyone around me. Now I was the one getting swarmed. This trend continued for probably the next few KM. I got passed and passed and passed. For whatever reason, people had this tendency to cut in front of me after passing, rather than just continue straight ahead–like it has to be human nature or something, because there was definitely enough space to not cut in front of me–so I constantly had to adjust my stride to not trip over anyone’s heels as they skirted and elbowed their way around me.
As I continued on, I passed people that were likely way faster and fitter than me, but had been reduced to a shuffle or a walk. I had been there before. I wouldn’t wish those awful-feeling KM on anyone. At the same time, I felt empowered and proud of myself for keeping everything together that far into the race. Sometimes you don’t need to be the fastest or fittest to get to the finish line first.
There is always something weird that happens in a runner’s body when you know you are approaching the finish line. There is always this weird reserve of energy that comes out you. You speed up and use everything you have left. (you may have heard runners call this “the kick”) and that’s what happened!
I DID IT! I MADE IT! I FINISHED IT! I walked through the crowded finish chute feeling relieved and proud of myself. While I lined up gracefully and accepted my much deserved 21KM Half marathon medal and finisher T-shirt and went off in search of my “sole’ mate-a.k.a hubby, who’s a fast runner and always targets a PB sub-2. Then a minute or two later, everything started to hurt. My muscles, my joints, my feet, my tendons. We didn’t hang around long, took our victory photos, did the dance of joy and drove home to Seremban.
The race organizers was spot on and I have not a single bad thing to say but maybe on just the water stations please. Otherwise, the water stations were exactly where they were supposed to be, the transition from getting your medal to collecting the finishers’ T-shirt was so seamless and hassle free. A huge kudos and congratulations, dear organisers and not forgetting the Freelance photographers, for capturing the awesome run-tastic moments for us!
And with that said, good job to each and everyone of you for actually being out there running, walking, crawling!!! YOU ALL DID AWESOME!
chrisywong.com 