Report: Siemens Run 2010

By Aiman Cheah

Venue: Dataran Merdeka
Date: 18 July 2010
Time: 7.30 a.m.
Distance: 10km
Category: C - Junior Veteran (40 - 49)

Result
Time: 53:43
Position: 76
Finisher's Medal: 1 - 150

I registered for this race during the early birds period. I thought I would have a chance to get a finisher's medal since there would be 150 medal being offered. Last year, I missed some medals narrowly. To finish within the top 100 would be quite a challenge considering my present form.

Three weeks before the event, I had wanted to go to Perak. Then, I had something else. A week before the event, I offered my bib at early bird rate. There was no taker. Thanked God for that. It was a blessing in disguise as I only came to know I would be free on both Saturday and Sunday morning on Friday evening.

I woke up later than usual because Dataran Merdeka is a familiar venue. I reached there by 7.15 a.m. I quickly went to the baggage counter to leave my bag there. It took almost 10 minutes to get to my turn. As time was running out, I went into the enclosure without any warming up or stretching.

I started the race rather slowly. Not really by choice but because there were many people. It had been a long time since I saw such a big crowd. In fact, even after 10 minutes of running, the runners occupy the whole width of the road and I had to run zig zag.

This is the first road race of the year that I could discipline myself. I only stopped at the water stations. Unfortunately, I was a little distracted by the cheering group. I increased my speed as I thought I would last the distance in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. I walked for a few seconds before started to run again and finally I could sprint towards the finishing line. I was surprised to get a finishing slip indicating 76th. Other runs on the same day must have attracted at least 25 of the better runners in my category.

Generally, I enjoyed the race. There were four water stations which was good for 'fun' runners like me. Elite runners may not need water at all since it is only a 10km race. However, I am quite disappointed with the first three water stations. The volunteers could not cope with the number of runners. The problem could easily be rectified by either putting addtional table(s) or maintaining the same number to tables but increasing one or two volunteers.

Another complains is at the baggage counter. The slip given to us had the serial number. If the bags had been arranged accoring to the serial number, the volunteers would have an easier time to identify the bags instead of asking the owners to identify their bags. I had to wait for almost 10 minutes to get my bag. With only 5 people in front of me, I should have gotten my bag in less than 2 minutes because there were at least 3 people on duty.