Raintown half marathon

A lady leading the pack, compliment from the organiser

After the dismal 2013 Taiping International Marathon organised by inexperienced organisers, this year signifies the revival of marathon events in Taiping. There are four running events in Taiping this year which is a record and I took part in three of the events. Out of the four, Raintown half marathon is the event which attracts the most participants including runners from Kenya. The organisers really put in a lot of effort to organise the event well and they really succeeded as evident from positive responses received from the runners after the race. The routes for the various categories are well planned especially the 21 km route which consists of slopes, elevated flyover, industrial estate, new village ,Taiping town centre and finally the scenic lake garden with its rows of centenary rain trees. The race started early where the traffic volume is still low and provide the runners with plenty of fresh air. Besides that 10km and 21 km categories are given timing chips which only happen in very large running events. Finisher tee was provided to runner who completed the 21 km run and this made it comparable to big running events with rich sponsors. Perhaps Taiping Municipal council, the organiser is trying to improve the tarnished image of Taiping in organising marathon event.

I am afraid I am running too leisurely

I took part in the 21km category while Seok Wan run in the 10 km category. My race was flagged off at 6.30 am while the 10 km 15 minutes later. I could not run fast because I am still not fully recovered from a minor Achilles Tendinitis due to over training. But I am quite happy with my result of 2 hours and 38 minutes because I also stopped few times to snap photographs. My timing is only able to beat 35 percents of the runners. Seok Wan is much better even though she hardly train for the event. Her timing of 1 hour 15minutes in 10 km ranked her in first 25 percents of the best runners.       

Seok Wan in her Chiangmai marathon Tee reaching the finishing line