Park Run at Gunnersbury Park of London

Paul, Xin Yi and Wan at Gunnersbury Park before the run

After running the park run at St Peter, Sydney this is our second time running a park run, As the run at St Peter was not tagged so this is actually our first official park run. We reached Gunnersbury Park which is a big park with a very big field and long jogging track early as we have free transport from Paul who has run 10 park-runs so far.There are about 3 hundreds plus runners and most of them are quite good runners. So this is our second run in London after London Vitality 10000 but a first for Xin Yi who missed the London Vitality 10000 due to fever. As usual we were the slower ones and finished our 5 km run in 33 minutes. Paul did not wait for us and ran with his own pace as he wanted to maintain his time of sub 25 minutes. When we reached the finishing line we were each given a chip which was later scanned together with our park run membership bar code. This will enable our time to be tagged and compared with other runners. 

slow runners

Dashing towards the finishing line

Below is my result sent my Gunnersbury parkrun:-

Gunnersbury parkrun results for event #238. Your time was 00:33:59.

Congratulations on completing your 1st parkrun and your 1st at Gunnersbury  parkrun today.  You finished in 288th place and were the 181st male out of a field of 346  parkrunners and you came 11th in your age category VM55-59. Take a look at this week's full set of results on our website. Well done on your first run. We have set  this as your PB.+ others lining up for chips to be scanned while we celebrated. .

       

Vitality London 10000

We are not the only Malaysians running in the marathon

It is every serious runner's dream to be able to run in London Marathon but many including me will not qualify for it as the timing requirement is quite strict. But, There is still chance to run in the streets of London just like those London Marathoners did and under the same London Marathon organiser. The marathon I meant is the 10 km race held every year in downtown London. I had been planning to visit London and Europe and since there was a 10 km race in London which coincided with the date of my visit, so why hesitate to make it a go. I registered very early for the race called Bupa London 10000 which was later changed to Vitality London 10000 to be held on the 30th of May, which is a Monday but a Pubic holiday in England. Actually the 10 km race is a major running event in London and are participated by world class middle distance runners from England and other countries. Three of us from Malaysia and my brother Paul, a permanent resident of UK registered for the race. Paul ran for charity and he managed to raise 250 pounds for Breast Cancer Research. As for us we just paid a registration fee of 28 pounds each to participate.
We departed for London in the morning of 29th May and reached London in the evening on the same day due to a time difference of 7 hours. The flight was a direct flight but it still took 13 hours for the journey. I was not tired as I had enough sleep during the flight and ever ready for the run the next day. But Xin Yi was down with fever while in the plane and did not show any sign of improvement when we reached  London.  She had no choice but to abstain  from the much awaited event. It is real regret she could not join us in the run and also could not get the finisher T-shirt which would only be given after the race. We stayed at Paul's place at Brentford and it only took us less than 30 minutes by metro train to the starting point at Buckingham Palace. There were more than 10 thousands participants and we were divided into three categories perhaps based on our 10 km timing. I could see most of the foreign runners  grouped in the yellow category or the last group which only started the run 20 minutes later than the first group.

Just reaching 3 Km mark

We were standing almost at the last row of our group and not long after we started running the top runners were already running back to the starting point. Our aim is not to compete but enjoy the atmosphere of the events. There were many cheer groups along the way mostly from charity organisations cheering for those runners who run for their cause but there were many bystanders who also shouted and cheered for us. The whole streets of London which formed the route of the race were fun-filled with many brass bands from different churches playing familiar music to enhance the atmosphere. We passed by many historical buildings and streets such as British Parliament, Big Ben, Trafagar Square, St Paul Church ,10 Downing street and Westminster Abbey. We stopped at many locations to snap photo with those prominent buildings but we still did not finish last. Our finishing time is about 1 hour 18 minutes but we still managed to beat five hundreds plus runners. We were given our medal and finisher T-shirt after we returned the timing chip. I really enjoyed the race even though we were more of enjoying the scenery than trying to race with others. The carnival-like atmosphere brought about by the supporters, bystanders and the brass bands were really something to remember for a very long time. 

A nice finisher T-shirt and a medal as remembrance plus some food were given

 

NTCRC 22.6 km run across three states

After the race at the starting point

This is my second running race for 2016 and also my second time running half marathon across three states from Nibong Tebal to Parit Buntar and Bandar Baharu. Seok Wan and I both registered for 22.6 km category. We Lined up at back of the pack as I was preparing to just pace slowly with Seok Wan all the way to the finishing line because I had not totally recovered from my Achilles Tendonitis. Even though we were slow we were still capable of overtaking some very slow runners. While we were running along the highway towards University of Science, a young man paced together with us and started a conversation with us. We ran and chatted few km until we parted at the bridge from Parit Buntar to Bandar Baharu. We stopped at the bridge to snapped some photographs. The bridge was built due to a ferry accident which claimed 29 lives mostly secondary school children in 1972.

The river which serves as boundary between Perak and Kedah.

After the bridge, I stopped at the water station to have refreshment while Seok Wan did not stop. I thought I would be able to catch up with her but to my dismay our distance became further and further apart. Usually I will consume two or three packets of energy gel running a half marathon but I did not bring any this time. Perhaps I had forgotten about the requirement to run a half marathon after a long lull. I began to feel fatigue after about 10 km.  I really hoped that there would be banana or bun station in front . A banana or a small bun will definitely help me to replenish my almost depleted energy. No solid food was provided and I finally realised I had hit the wall.  I still had almost almost 8 km to go and I had lost sight of Seok Wan. I really felt like giving up but my mind wanted me to continue. I reminded myself that determination is key to finish a long distance race. So, my tired legs continued to move my heavy body forward until I was almost 4 km to the finishing line where I stopped at the bus stop to apply some muscle pain relief cream. A volunteer on his motorbike was very quick and efficient and  came up to offer me a free ride back to the starting point. It will be a total disaster for me in my running career if I were to accept his kind offer. After applying the cream, my muscles strength recovered a bit and it was less stressful for me to jog. There was no dashing across the finishing line this time  but it was a relief that my time still did not overshoot the cut-off time of 3.5 hours. So in the end determination still prevails. This is the first time Seok Wan finishes a half marathon ahead of me but her time which exceeds 3 hours is still no reason for jubilation.     

Migratory birds viewing at Parit Buntar

These are some of the thousands of yellow head egrets having their summer retreats here.

Parit Buntar Kampung Run

Running between a canal and the sea

When I spotted a marathon running event so close to my home town I did not give it a second thought and immediately registered for the run. The running event was held at the seaside of Tanjung Piandang called Bun Pecah. I had been to the place before and it stretches for almost 10 km from Tanjung Piadang to Kuala Kurau, my hometown. I registered for four persons but only three of us turned up because my wife was out of sync with running after a long lay-off. So I only have the company of my sister, Lan and her teenage daughter, qian but they only run for 5 km whereas I am running 12 km. Lan's house is less than 1 km from the starting venue and that is the reason I invited her to take part in the event.

Trail Run with the canal on your side

Tanjung Piandang is a sleeping hollow and not many runners know about the place.  But I am quite surprise it managed to attract about 1500 runners with some of them coming from Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The 12 km category started 10 minutes late and we at first ran through a Chinese fishing village before we turned into the seaside trail. We ran along the raised embankment covered with harden soil and gravel with the sea on our right and the paddy field on our left. The scenery was really breathtaking and most of the runners seemed to forget about running and stopped to enjoy the scenery and snapped photo. The side of the embankment facing the sea were full of concrete pillars piled into the soil to prevent sea erosion and those endless pillars really made the seaside more intriguing. We did not run the whole stretch of the seaside or else we  would have run until my hometown, Kuala Kurau. After few kilometers on the embankment we turned into the paddy field tracks. The harvesting season was over now and there was no paddy plants to be seen. After a few kilometres in the paddy field track we finally turned into the tarred road which leads us to the finishing line hardly 200 metres away. There are gifts for lucky draw and my sister, Lan stayed back after the run hoping to lay her hand on at least one of the prizes but luck was not with her even though she had four lucky draw tickets.

Concrete pillars serving to protect the shore from sea erosion

Running through paddy field

After 12 km

We ran almost fully on village trail and hardly any cars to bother us. The only setback is the earthed trail along the seaside which totally dusted my running shoes. I hope I did not inhale too much dust from running along the trail.This is a very enjoyable run because I have the opportunity to really appreciate the beauty of a place so near to my hometown and at the same time enjoying my morning run. I was wearing a GPS watch but I did not even set the watch to measure my running pace because speed is not my main concern of taking part in a marathon run. I was pushing myself a bit harder this time but my time for  12 km is still roughly a miserable 1 hour 25 minutes. Since I hardly improve on my speed perhaps it is better for me to just run at my leisure speed in my next marathon run.

Lan and the trophies for the winners

Park run at South Bank of Brisbane, Australia.

The narrow jogging track at kangaroo point

After spending almost one week in Sydney and achieving our goal of running in Sydney park, We boarded a train to Brisbane. The journey was almost 14 hours but the nice scenery we saw outside the train was enough to compensate the slight discomfort on the train. My main aim of coming to Brisbane was to attend Kai Yang's graduation ceremony and also visit interesting places including a run along South Bank of Brisbane river. We stayed on the 67th floor of Meriton Service Apartment which allowed us to have a panoramic view of Brisbane city. What attracted me the most was the long jogging bridge along the South Bank of Brisbane river. South bank was very near to our apartment and we decided that we should at least run once along the river bank. On our second day in Brisbane, we walked from our service apartment at Roma Street to South Bank via  Kurilpa Bridge which only allows pedestrian and cyclists to pass. 

We can never keep up with pace of the Aussies

The bridge is just a few hundred metres long and within minutes we were already at the other side of the river or South Bank. We started our run at the entrance of Kurilpa Bridge to Kangaroo points  roughly 4 km away. The jogging track or jogging bridge along the river bank is really fantastic, the tarmac is even and there is absolutely no pothole. There were many joggers and cyclists but their tracks are separated. It is very safe and fresh air all the way running at South Bank. We ran at our leisure pace and we were really no match to those seasoned runners sharing the same jogging track as us. In fact their fast pace really inspired me to run faster. Besides having a breathtaking view of the meandering river and the skyscrapers on the north shore we also passed through the Arbour or Bougainvillea canopy, Griffith University, the street beach , The Cliff Boardwalk where cliff climbers were seen doing abseiling before we reached kangaroo point via steep stairs from the track. 

The Arbour, Bougainvillea flowers on artistic arches

The staircases to Kangaroo point above

City Botanical Garden and Eagle Pier viewed from Kangaroo point

We stopped at Kangaroo Point to enjoy the the city view before turning back and ran across goodwill bridge to City Botanical Garden next to Queensland University of Technology. We ran through the Botanical Garden along its beautifully patched jogging track roughly 2 km. We stopped our run after coming out from the Botanical Garden. From there we walked another two km back to our Service Apartment along the busy city streets of Brisbane. We did not time our run but the run was easily more than 8 km. We had slight sunburn due to the scorching summer sunlight of Brisbane. We don't have to bring along drinking water as there are water sprinklers along the South Bank Park and City Botanical Garden to serve as our water stations. We really enjoyed our run as we were running on our own and there is no urgency to complete the run within certain specified time. My thumb up to the Brisbane Municipal council for building such a beautiful jogging tracks and bridge at South Bank for the well being of the residents. I like Brisbane city especially South Bank and it is a pity for those who stay near South Bank but do not make use of the facilities so meticulously created for them.

Beautiful Brisbane city with its bridges and jogging bridge along the river.

   

Park run at St Peters, Sydney

I spent nearly two weeks of holidays from 1st Dec to 13th of Dec in Sydney, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast of Australia. As I always include a running event in my travel itinerary, I tried to register a competitive running event in one of the places I visited but there was none that coincided with the date of my visit. At last I stumbled upon the Park Run held every Saturday at different locations in Australia. Only Sydney's Park Run could fit into my travel itinerary. So Seok Wan and I  registered to be members of St Peters park run group in Sydney so as to satisfy our urge to run in Australia. The run is only 5 km and as members we were given personal bar code which could be downloaded and printed online. The bar code will allow our time to be recorded and we can run in any of the park run held all over the world. 

We were all alone running in the vastness of Sydney Park

Enjoying the scenery while running at our leisure pace

We did not notice this and continued straight another two km

Great!  We had run at Sydney park, Australia

The Park Run which I took part was held on 5th Dec at Sydney Park of St Peters, a suburb of Sydney. The Run started at 8.00 am but we were late almost 20 minutes due to unfamiliarity with the train schedule in Sydney. I was at Sydney Central station and instead of boarding a metro train to St Peters there, I travel to town Hall to board a train to St Peters. That mistake cost us at least half an hour of delay. When we reached the starting venue, some of the fast runners were already coming back. Even though we were late we still participated in the run. The park run organiser briefed us about the track to follow and comforted us to just run with our own leisure. We started our run by following the arrows shown along the track and everything was smooth until we reached the 4th km mark. I was anticipating the finishing line soon but it never appeared. We made a second mistake by over-running the designated 5 km. There were marking on the track asking us to dash to the finishing line but we missed it and continued running until we realized our mistake 2 km later. By the time we returned to the starting point, most of the participants had left. That is the beauty of park run where we can continue running after the designated 5 km distance. Perhaps the organiser thought we wanted to run more than 5 km and did  not bother us.  

Even though we did not run together with the other park runners and get to know them but it was still a new experience for us running in the vastness of Sydney Park. There were quite a number of joggers who came with their dogs and kids. After the run we had our breakfast at the cafe in the park. There is even a toilet next to the cafe where we changed into our dry clothes to board a train back to Sydney Central and then by Light Rail Transit ( LRT) to our hotel at Darling Harbour.  

So that is our first park run and we are not sure when we will be able to take part in our second park run as the nearest park run to us is in Singapore. 

Penang Ultra marathon 2015

50 km runners registering and checking of running gears

After three full marathons in my credentials I thought it is time to go for greater challenge in my running craze. So here I am registering for the 50 km category in Penang Ultra Marathon 2015. I registered as an early bird with an exorbitant fee of RM 130.  I was quite confident that I would be able to complete the race within the cut-off time of 8 hours 30 minutes since I could finish a full marathon of 42 km close to 7 hours. There shouldn't be any problem for me to cover the balance of 8 km in one and the half hour.  I was too optimistic and over confidence and I did not train as hard as when I was preparing for my first full marathon. I ran three or four times a week covering a fixed distance of about 10 km on flat land. I thought that is the only preparation I needed never knowing that I have to invest in running gears too. I only realized that after being informed by the organizer of the compulsory items required. So I spent RM 260 on a backpacker with a water capsule, running flash lights ( RM 35 ), emergency blanket which I did not know where to get but finally got it from the organizer while collecting my running bib one week before the race for RM 7 a packet.  I did not buy a new head lamp since the old head lamp I have is still functioning well. We are also required to bring along a whistle, plasters and alcohol pads and spare batteries. Those were the items which increased my burden but not put to use at all. In fact there is no necessity for us 50 km runners to carry spare batteries because we only run the most 4 hours in the dark and new battery can definitely lasts longer than that. 

I booked to stay at Georgetown city hotel for two nights, my time sharing hotel. It is only a few kilometers from the city hall at the Esplanade where we 50 km participants have to gather and register. The 84 km round island and 100 km challenge categories will start their runs at the registration site at 9.00 pm but we 50 km category will have to take a shuttle bus provided to Balik Pulau 45 km away where we will start our run at 3.00 am. Our starting point is the fourth checkpoint of the 100 km and 84 km categories. From then on the three categories will run on the same route until the end except the 100 km where there is an additional 16 km up and down Penang Hill. My initial understanding  of the 8.5-hour  cut-off time for 50 km category is totally different from what the cut-off time of the organizer. In actual fact, the 50 km distance is divided into five checkpoints and every checkpoint has its unfriendly cut-off time. This is the second time Penang Ultra Marathon is being organised and last year only 58% of the 50 km participants managed to finish the race and earned their medals and finisher tees. I was not so optimistic that I  would finish the race in time after knowing the true nature of the run.

MY first checkpoint is CP4

I left my hotel for the Esplande at 11.00 pm sharp as the duration for the registration is from 11.00 pm to 1.00 am the next morning. I was surprised there were not many participants and we were kept waiting until the registration was closed. I could see about hundred odd participants and I was right as there were only three shuttle buses to take us to the starting point. I think the organizer must be very disappointed with the poor response of the 50 km category as the target is 400 participants. Well, that is not my concern as my main worry is whether I can complete the 50 km race.

50 km runners arriving at the starting point

While we were on our way to our starting point, I could see the slower runners struggling on their way to their next checkpoint. Our starting point was at Genting Primary School in Balik Pulau. When we reached there, some 84 km or 100 km runners were seen running into the checkpoint compound to be registered. Those were the faster runners who definitely qualified to continue with their run. I was anticipating some light refreshment at the starting point to fill my almost empty stomach before the race but there were nothing. Only water and three-in-one coffee but there is no cup. I did not bring any bread and had to quieten my stomach with a packet of energy gel I brought. We were flagged off at 3: 00 am and I was a bit uncomfortable carrying the backpacker with 1 liter of salted water and wearing a cap with headlight. I only did not feel the existence of the extra burden on my back and head after running for a while. My time is in fact faster because I did not stop to drink at water station as in other marathon races. I was quite strong from the beginning until my first checkpoint or CP5. That is 14.3 km in 1 hour 45 minutes or 7.34 minutes per km. In fact I was 25 minutes ahead of the cut-off time at CP5. After taking my drink and replenished my water capsule with 100 plus, I continue my run towards my second checkpoint or CP6 hastily.

I thought the slope is manageable and try to run slowly uphill at first but the hilly winding road all the way up for 6 km is really out of my imagination even though I had used that stretch just recently while going to Penang National Park. From slow run to brisk walk and finally I found myself struggling to continue forward. I sighed and sighed and hoped that the uphill task would come to its end but the peak was like unreachable. I was overtaken by runners after runners. Most of them just ran past me quietly perhaps struggling too except one sweet runner with her European boyfriend who encouraged me to keep going. Thanks for the encouragement but I had hit the wall and the only solution is to stop my race at the next checkpoint. I was totally relieved when I reached the peak. My tiredness just vanished and I could run again but only slowly. More runners overtook me making me almost a lone ranger in the darkness of Teluk Bahang durian orchards and fruit farms. I ran slowly downhill and finally reached the scenic Teluk Bahang reservoir with its great expand of water and the soothing cool breeze. That really killed some of my tiredness and that really enhanced my desire to continue with my race till the finishing line. So I continue to run but a bit faster this time hoping to reach my second checkpoint in time but I was too slow during uphill and I reached CP6  eight minutes late. A volunteer at CP6 informed me without any sign of empathy that my participation was cancelled. So my ultra marathon was ended prematurely. I had run a total of 27.6 km with a time of 4 hours 8 minutes or 8.99 minutes per km. There were instant noodles and 100 plus at the checkpoint but I was too late for the last cup of the instant noodle and had to drink as much 100 plus as possible to ease my thirst and hunger.  A bus was already parked outside the checkpoint waiting for few more disqualified runners to arrive. When I boarded the bus it was almost full with passengers who looked so sombre and tired maybe for failing to achieve their dreams. So am I but who dare say he has never encountered failure. A failure is definitely a stepping stone to success.

Even though I did not complete the race but this run is totally a new experience and a good training for me for greater challenge ahead. The only regret is firstly,  I struggled to finish 27.6 km but my effort was not recognized. Perhaps the organizer should allocate timing chip to the runners and the chip is scanned at every checkpoint. In this way our distance and time can be traced and e-certificate can be issued to us based on the distance we covered as recognition of our achievement even though we did not complete the whole race. 

Secondly I think the cut-off time for the Teluk Bahang hilly route should be extended maybe by 20 minutes. This will definitely allow the runners to run slower downhill to avoid hurting their knees. From what I observed many runners were running too fast downhill because they were too slow while going uphill. 

Thirdly, the organizer should start the 50 km category earlier maybe at 1.00 am to avoid the heavy traffic at Batu Feringghi narrow and winding road. 

Finally I would suggest the organizer  not to knock out the participants too early and this can be done by increasing the total cut off time to 9 hours since the route is hilly. The last cut off time of 1.5 hour just for distance of 5.6 km is too long and the total distance is not 50 km but 51 km. Maybe that is reason few participants registered for the race in contrary to what the organizer's intention in promoting Penang's scenic countryside.     

The run is fun and muscles cracking and I will give myself another try next year  but I will surely train harder this time especially on hilly route. See you next year Penang Ultra Marathon.     

My new running look

Water station at our staritng point