Report: Adidas King of the Road
KOTR.. - For the first time running on Dataran Merdeka and 10km route.. it's tough!, I tot, i could renew my PR here. A lot of hilly roads there, flyover sana, flyover sini, pusing jalan to flyover..fuh! the worst 10km i had, before i just run/training on flat road only. You know laa.. Kedah, banyak paddy field so all roads are flat.
Reach KL by FireCar on Friday morning with whole family. Straight away to Wisma OCM to pick-up bib#, got nice number A145.. lucky # for a medal hah!?. and free T'Shirt wow! impressive!. It's in blue color with 3 yellow lines and still got price tag RM49.90... huh! Register fee only RM15 and get free RM49.00 t'shirt.. balik modal laa..
Sunday 5/9/2004 7.00am - Thanks to my ex-classmate for driving/lodging to Dataran Merdeka. Warm-up a bit and get ready at starting line. Suddenly, meet-up with Ronnie (PM1) & Azwar, cit-cat a bit... BANG! sudah start lari... try to catch-up with them... fuh! laju betul! hantu!
My target, just running on my own pace, turbo skit went i can, finish and get medal while stocks last. Pass 2km mark, the road sudah bentuk lain... dia congkit ke atas.. congkit ke bawah.. congkit atas, atas dan atas... then bawah and bawah.... (bukit-bukau). 25mins running, my breathe sudah bunyi... something wrong here... cepat sangat rasa pancit! A lots of runners sudah potong.. panas.. panas! i'm turbo sikit until 30mins run, and pancit terus.. gosh! byk betul bukit.. Along the way and potong orang.. meet-up with a few familiar faces, who're running 21km in IIR04, Ipoh. Just said hi & chit-chat a bit... potong!. But mostly a lots of runner potong aku.. ceh! Within 40mins of running, i'm just doing run-walk x 5 times.. until finished line.
Crossing finish line... gosh! so lega. Ingat aku tak mampu sampai. Able to grab Certificate for completion within time given & nice Adidas car sticker.
Before rush back to Shah Alam, sempat to meet my running group from KL (der pacemaker group), which i never see them before. We just ding-dong, ding-dong thru email & weblog only. Nice to meet you all, especially Ronnie, Azwar, KetamBatu, Bernice, Julian & others (Sorry guys forgot your name laa..) in front of clock tower.
P/S:
Friday 3/9/2004 9:30am - While waiting to pick-up bib# at Wisma OCM @ Hotel Grand Olympic, sempat tengok ones of Olympic Inspiration story in ground floor, pics of Tanzania's John Stephen Akhwari in 1968 Olympics Marathon..
At 7:00 p.m. on October 20,1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the exhausted marathon runners, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia - looking fresh as when he started the race crossed the finish line, the winner of the 26 mile, 385 yard event.
The remaining spectators were moving toward the exits. Suddenly they heard the sound of sirens and police whistles. All eyes turned to the gate. A lone figure wearing the colours of Tanzania hobbled into the stadium on a leg he severely injured in a fall. Each step he took on his bloody, bandaged leg was a step of agony and pain. As John Stephen Ahwari hobbled around the 400-metre track the remaining spectators rose and applauded him as if he were the winner.
In a later interview John was asked, "In view of your injury you had no chance of winning a medal, why didn't you quit?" He replied, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it."
..for me "I did not send my ass to KOTR, to start the race, but to finish it." And may be I'm not a pro-runners like Yu Fang, Baskaran or Arul, but for me.. deep in my heart "I'M THE FINISHER!".. Are you?
- some of pics from KetamBatu, TQ -
Reach KL by FireCar on Friday morning with whole family. Straight away to Wisma OCM to pick-up bib#, got nice number A145.. lucky # for a medal hah!?. and free T'Shirt wow! impressive!. It's in blue color with 3 yellow lines and still got price tag RM49.90... huh! Register fee only RM15 and get free RM49.00 t'shirt.. balik modal laa..
Sunday 5/9/2004 7.00am - Thanks to my ex-classmate for driving/lodging to Dataran Merdeka. Warm-up a bit and get ready at starting line. Suddenly, meet-up with Ronnie (PM1) & Azwar, cit-cat a bit... BANG! sudah start lari... try to catch-up with them... fuh! laju betul! hantu!
My target, just running on my own pace, turbo skit went i can, finish and get medal while stocks last. Pass 2km mark, the road sudah bentuk lain... dia congkit ke atas.. congkit ke bawah.. congkit atas, atas dan atas... then bawah and bawah.... (bukit-bukau). 25mins running, my breathe sudah bunyi... something wrong here... cepat sangat rasa pancit! A lots of runners sudah potong.. panas.. panas! i'm turbo sikit until 30mins run, and pancit terus.. gosh! byk betul bukit.. Along the way and potong orang.. meet-up with a few familiar faces, who're running 21km in IIR04, Ipoh. Just said hi & chit-chat a bit... potong!. But mostly a lots of runner potong aku.. ceh! Within 40mins of running, i'm just doing run-walk x 5 times.. until finished line.
Crossing finish line... gosh! so lega. Ingat aku tak mampu sampai. Able to grab Certificate for completion within time given & nice Adidas car sticker.
Before rush back to Shah Alam, sempat to meet my running group from KL (der pacemaker group), which i never see them before. We just ding-dong, ding-dong thru email & weblog only. Nice to meet you all, especially Ronnie, Azwar, KetamBatu, Bernice, Julian & others (Sorry guys forgot your name laa..) in front of clock tower.
P/S:
Friday 3/9/2004 9:30am - While waiting to pick-up bib# at Wisma OCM @ Hotel Grand Olympic, sempat tengok ones of Olympic Inspiration story in ground floor, pics of Tanzania's John Stephen Akhwari in 1968 Olympics Marathon..
At 7:00 p.m. on October 20,1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the exhausted marathon runners, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia - looking fresh as when he started the race crossed the finish line, the winner of the 26 mile, 385 yard event.
The remaining spectators were moving toward the exits. Suddenly they heard the sound of sirens and police whistles. All eyes turned to the gate. A lone figure wearing the colours of Tanzania hobbled into the stadium on a leg he severely injured in a fall. Each step he took on his bloody, bandaged leg was a step of agony and pain. As John Stephen Ahwari hobbled around the 400-metre track the remaining spectators rose and applauded him as if he were the winner.
In a later interview John was asked, "In view of your injury you had no chance of winning a medal, why didn't you quit?" He replied, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it."
..for me "I did not send my ass to KOTR, to start the race, but to finish it." And may be I'm not a pro-runners like Yu Fang, Baskaran or Arul, but for me.. deep in my heart "I'M THE FINISHER!".. Are you?
- some of pics from KetamBatu, TQ -
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