Penang 2nd Bridge Marathon 2014

Running a Full Marathon on the newly completed Sultan Abdul Halim Mua'adzam Shah Bridge, second Penang bridge or the longest bridge in South East Asia is really my anticipated running event. I have registered to run in Ipoh Half marathon too which was held on the same day due to change of date. I had to choose Penang Bridge Marathon as I am running full marathon and furthermore it is always my preferred marathon. I always register to run full marathon on Penang Bridge because it has a long cut off time of 7 hours which is within my ability to achieve. Besides that, I don't have to run together with other vehicles on the road inhaling their smelly exhaust. I also can feel the sea breeze from strait of Malacca and enjoy the breaking of dawn. 

Three of us in the family took part in the race but Seok Wan and Xin Yi registered to run in 10 km. We only started our journey to Penang on 15th Nov at 2.00 pm as Seok Wan had to attend to her official duty in the morning. I was thinking I could use the 2nd bridge to go to Penang Island and collect our race packs at the base of 2nd bridge but I was shock the bridge was closed to traffic when I arrived at the entry point of the bridge. I did not expect the bridge to be closed at 3.00 pm which is a bit early compared to last year marathon where the 1st bridge was only closed at 10 pm. So I had to use the 1st bridge to cross over to Penang Island and by the time we exited the bridge it is almost time for Xin Yi's flight to land at Bayan Lepas International Airport near to the 2nd bridge. Xin Yi was taking a flight from KL to Penang for the Marathon and family reunion. The plane arrived on time and quite a number of the passengers were here for the sole purpose of running the marathon. The base of the 2nd bridge at Batu Maung was only few kilometers from the airport but there is no signage at all to show us the direction to the bridge. I wonder why the government could spend more than 1 billion Ringgit Malaysia (RM)  to built the bridge but can't spare a little bit more to enhance the accessibility to the bridge. 

Luckily we had our GPS from the mobile phone to guide us to our destination. Without the GPS it will be a tough job to find the way as it passes through the Bayan Lepas free trade zone. The race site was a bit messy with loop holes here and there and the place looks like a swampy area just filled up by gravels. The ground at the site was soggy and it was raining though not heavy. I really hope it will not rain during the marathon race.  We collected our running packs with ease as there was no long queue maybe because we were too late, exceeding the stipulated time of 4.00 pm. I was a bit disappointed with the organizer for running out of L-sized running vest which I requested for during registration. This is really the first sign of poor management on the organizer and I started to put the organizer in perspective whether they can organize this grand event up to public expectation.   

Trying out the XL running vest only to realize that it fitted me perfectly.

This is our room at Red Rock Hotel. Bed is big enough for three persons but only two pillows are provided

In the two previous marathons we stayed at our time-sharing Georgetown city hotel but it is a bit far so I tried to book hotel near to the bridge either at Queensbay Mall or Bayan Lepas but almost all the reasonably priced hotel rooms were booked. I have no choice but to book a hotel near to Komtar which is a picked up point for free shuttle bus to  the race site. I managed to book a room for two with breakfast at Red Rock Hotel in Macalister road. It is about 0.7 km to Komtar bus station or 10 minutes walk. I booked the room through booking.com at a price of RM197 which I had paid online and I was shock during registration that I had to pay another RM50 for surcharge. Luckily I pursued the matter further prompting the supervisor to come over and pointed out the receptionist's mistake that my hotel room booked through booking.com is fixed. The room was quite big and can easily accommodate 3 persons. I don't I really need the bed because I had to go to Komtar to take my free shuttle bus at 11.30 pm to be on time for my race at 2.00 am. It is always wise to give an allowance of  an hour for travel using the unpredictable free shuttle bus. 

Runners boarding the free shuttle bus at Komtar

At the bridge toll at Batu Kawan on the mainland.

The bus from Komtar to the 2nd Bridge took about half an hour and I had one hour to loiter around the race site. There were live band featuring Penang local singers , Malay dances and fashion shows and minutes before the Full marathon open category flag-off,  there was a display of fireworks. My full marathon veterans category was flagged off at 2.00 am sharp. I started my race near to the starting line to avoid blocking from runners in front and I realized it is really a good strategy but I just run with own pace and many runners overtook me from behind. My mission is just to complete  the race in 7 hours and I did not bother being overtaken. I am already over the age for competitive race and I considered my marathon run as a test of my mental and physical endurance. I did not feel too tired because I took energy gel every 6 to 7 km to replenish my depleted energy in time. The cold breeze from the sea also help to cool down my body. Tiredness only crawled  in when I almost reached the other end of the bridge that is 21 km into the race. When I crossed the toll gate I felt it is time to rest after running 21 km so I sat down to enjoy the piece of bun provided and consumed a cup of water and a cup of isotonic drink. I forgot that it is unwise to consume too much liquid in a race but who cares since I am thirsty. I also did some  stretching and applied a packet of cold gel on my strained muscles before I resumed the long journey back to the island. 

Every step after 21 Km is a struggle because I never train more than 21 km except the full marathon in Singapore back in May. My pace is only slightly faster than walking and brisk walker can easily beat me. I employed the breathing I used while doing snorkeling at sea. A deep inhale followed by a loud exhale. It works and I can control my fatigue and keep on running at tortoise's pace though but this attracted a lot of funny stares from those walkers I overtook. It is quite boring running on the second bridge because there is nothing much too see on both sides of the bridge. To kill my boredom I betrayed the proper running technique of not looking downwards while running. I ran looking downwards at the white sideline on the road and run along it. When I was half-way on the bridge,  6 to 7 sweeper buses passed by carrying all those who could not complete the race within cut-off time. This is the first time I saw sweeper bus sending disqualified runners back to the starting point. When I reached the 5 km mark to the finishing line there was a big crowd of 10 km and 7 km fun run participants. There is a sea of people in red or blue but most of them are walking blocking those who wanted to run. As this is at the  elevated part of the bridge and there is no difference for me between walking or running , so I walked from 5 km mark until I am  almost 1 km from the finishing line then only I started to run. I managed to finish the race in 6 hours 49 minutes which is my personal best result after 3 full marathons. I think my result can be better if not of the big crowds of 10 km walkers. Seok Wan and Xin Yi were waiting for me at the medal booth when I went to claim my finisher tee and medal. They are faster runners who always line up just behind the starting line so they did not face problem of being blocked but the elevated bridge is too tough for them to produce their PB result.

crowds at the 5km turn for 10 km category

Penang Bridge big walk ??

mum and daughter pacing towards the finishing line. 

Even though I have my PB but I am still ranked the last 30%.

After 42 km , Can't even stand straight.

Well, there are a a lot of complaints about this year's Penang Bridge Marathon such as too many participants ( 62000),  participants started walking from the beginning, not enough shuttle bus until some participants could not reach the starting point in time, sweeper bus dropped its passengers at last 5km point for them to continue with their race because of big crowds,  no signage to show direction to the bridge,  few km markers,  not enough medal,  shuttle bus without label to show where they are going ,  no marshal to control crowds boarding shuttle bus after race until passengers had to scramble up the bus like refugees ,  10 km runner given 42 km finishers tee and so on.  Despite all the poor management of the organizer,   we still enjoy the run and we will definitely take part  next year but we sincerely hope things will improve then.