King of Bukit Larut

    King of Bukit Larut, a hill running race was first organized last year which only consists of one category that is run until the top of the hill. This year, two more categories are added making it a 10km, 20 km and 26 km race. Even though my house is just below Bukit Larut or Maxwell hill , I am yet to climb until the peak of the hill that is 13 km by tarred road from the foothill. Really wish that I could register for the 26 km category but I have to be realistic because I have been running on flat terrain most of the time and I am afraid I won't be able to complete the race in 4.5 hours, the cut-off time. So I finally made up my mind to just register for the 10 km category. I also registered for Seok Wan in the same category even though she is not so keen. It is always more fun to have a companion in any event.

at the foothill of Maxwell hill , the starting point.

Many medals yet to be collected

Waiting for the race to start

a colleague who joins running race for the first time

A very attractive medal common to all categories

          

 

   As we have not been hiking for many years we have to force ourselves to practice going up the hill. We managed to practice a few times before the race and I finally decided to employ the method of fast walking uphill and slow running downhill. It is too strenuous on the heart running up the hill and it is to taxing on the kneel running fast downhill.

      As our category starts at 8.00 am and I am staying so near to the race site, we did not even bother to sleep early the previous night. We woke up at 6.00 am and took a cup of cereal mixed with coffee to avoid hitting the wall during race. There are about 400 participants in all the categories and by the  time I reached the starting point, the 26 km category had already started. Our 10 km category was started 5 minutes before the official time which should not have happened. I walked from the start until the u-turn at 5 km mark called tea garden. I only ran for the camera on two occasions as requested by the camera man who shouted, " run just for the snapshot , after that you can continue walking ". In fact most of the participants are walking and at very slower pace than mine. There is only one water station for 10 km category but I could only enjoy my drink while on the way down because I was panting too severely and can hardly drink while going up. I ran slowing down the hill fearing that I might injure my knee if I came down too fast. Regret to say that I overtook none but was overtaken by few while going downhill. Those who sped down the slope are young and inexperience but they will definitely learn through their painful experience. I did not track my race time but I think my time for the 10 km race should be roughly one hour and 40 minutes. I did not feel exhausted at all and perhaps that give me the excuse to register for the 20 km category next year. The medal is quite attractive and there are plenty of food for the participants after the race. The food I enjoyed most is the candoi, a famous Taiping dedicacy which I consume an extra bowl.

       Seok Wan was quite slow and probably 20 minutes slower than me but she is still better than many. The race is well organised and it is the type of race where we don't have to worry about ruthless drivers and pollution. The air is fresh and cool and total greenery along the track. The only weakness is the lack of participants. Four hundreds participants for 3 categories along a track of 13 km is definitely too lonely for the participants.  There are two many running events on the same day in Malaysia and most runners are scared of the hill. Besides that, many frequent hikers did not take part in the race because they thought participants must run up the hill. In fact, participants can just walk up the hill at their leisure pace and enjoy the landscape which consists of rich tropical rain forest treasures. My suggestion to the organizer is to lengthen the cut-off time to 6 hours for the 26 km category so that more participants can register for the 26 km category to enjoy the peak of Maxwell hill.

Yes, she finally made it to the finishing line.