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Thursday 12 February 2009

Report Larian Mesra Rakyat DUN Chempaka

By Aiman Cheah Tiong Chap

Date : 8 February 2009 | 7.30 am
Venue : Dewan Orang Ramai Pandan Jaya, Jalan Pandan 4, Pandan Jaya, Ampang, Selangor
Distance : 6km

This is my first running event of the year. Last week was my first 'biathlon'. With only ten medals being offered for the men veteran category, I was eyeing for the final medal. Only ran twice within a week Wednesday and Friday. It was a mission impossible to do better than 5.5 mins per km.

I was quite early arriving at the venue. My bib number was VL12. Only 12 participants in my category! If I could keep 2 runners behind me, then I could still go home with a medal.

The race started after 8 a.m. I had expected this as this event was not meant for getting best runners, but rather was more of a community event. It was a mass start for the men's category. Nevertheless, there were many good runners.

My students sped past me at the start. I kept cool because they were not experienced runners - their first road race. They would certainly need a few races to set the best pace for themselves. I overtook them after a kilometer and never looked back. I was in trouble too, despite the slow pace.

The first lady overtook me just after 7 minutes and I took a breather a minute later. Then started to run again and I had a total of 5 stops until the end of the race. The final stop was quite unbelievable because I would normally have a strong finish regardless of my fitness level. I was not mentally strong to hold my pace. I was given a slip which showed that I was 9th. So, there was a medal for me after all.

No, I did not run better than the 3 other runners. I was actually the last runner in my category. I hope that this would not be the beginning for me to be in think kind of position in future races.

My daughter took part in the colouring contest and did not fare better than me either. Taking the last placing too!

My students who had missed the medal in the running event encouraged me to take part in the tug of war citing that there were not enough participants. Not wanting to disappoint them, I obliged. Unfortunately, we were in different teams.

Any way, I was in the adult team and they were in the teenagers' team. Sadly, their team lost. My team won but I didn't get a medal because only 10 were available when there were 12 members in the team. So I got choc wafer, a packet drink and a small packet of tiger biscuits in lieu of the medal.

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