Report: Valdor Run 2004

Organized by Persatuan Bekas Pelajar Sekolah Valdor at Sungai Bakap. First time run at my kampung (Sg. Baong) on the same day also got Pesta Run in Penang. Cancel and request my good running friend Mr. Alex (meet him on Metro Run) to register for Valdor Run. This run offers more medals.

For 3 weeks consecutive, cancel my 10k races this month due to my right leg injuries. This one.. No excuses. Chen (PM8), from PaceMaker also joins the race. Zul from Taiping, could not make it. Leg injured. Najib.. On!.

Saturday
Received SMS from Chen, he was unable to locate Jawi Inn. Could not reply cause I was in Bermuda Triangle no coverage on my Maxis. An hour later, he finally found. Meet him at Jawi Inn at 6pm and we went to Valdor Run location to look for 10k route map.



Sunday. Race day!
Wake-up at 5:20am, my father also want to join with us but not on the run. 6:30am pick-up kids (they still ZZzzz..) into car and off we go.. Reach Valdor Primary School (VPS) at 6:45, find Alex as he hold my bib#. Meet Najib and pick-up Chen bib#. Alex... hey! this bujang lapuk very talkative, pepagi buta we laugh and chat until 7:15am baru nak warm-up. Before run, meet Mr. Chin, my weblog visitor.

- Thanks for the Hi, so semangat to write more on my blog.



7:40 flag-off, could not locate Chen, Najib and others, maybe they all already in-front. Start with slow jog. My leg still giving the ache. Already 1 1/2 month so tired to mention in the blog.



The route cover from Valdor Primary School to Sg. Bakap main road - Pekan Sg. Bakap - Pass Hospital Besar - Jalan (pasar malam) - Jalan Permatang Ara - Jalan Badak Mati (Long, long time ago got rhino.. mati atas jalan. Don't know what kind of rhino.. badak sumbu kaa.. badak ayeq or ayeq badak) - Jalan Kg. Lima Kongsi (Dulu ada 5 org kongsi gelap...) - and back to Valdor primary school.

Along the route.. nothing much to write.. just having fun and enjoy my own kampung scenery in the morning. Just maintain the pace... no speed workout, leg still giving a bit pain. Pass my old friend's house (Woit!! Balun.. tidoq lagi kaa...). Reach Jalan Badak Mati... road was free from cars... so quiet and morning breeze.. huh!

8km..
Chat with one apek.. looked like he also enjoy the run, siap pusing2 both tapak tangan macam org menari..

"Hi.."
"Hi...*!&@*!@^#!%@#!!%%!@" (chinese language)
"Hah! haaahh... wah! laju lari.."
"Yah! u pun sama.."
"Umur berapa?"
"50 lebih dah..."
"Okay.. apek.. pergi dulu.."

In a minute.. he potong back!.. and left me!.. huh! laju juga orang tua ni..

Look at my Timex baru 40+ minutes.. but already saw VPS in-front.

"Ceh! less than 10k..".. Start turbo full throttle..

Then saw a signboard "<-- A,C,D,E,F,G".

B?.. marshall, show right sign.. arrgggkk! Thought already finished.. then another 2 1/2km... hiyah! minyak sudah habis loh!.. slow jog. 3-4 person potong, unable to
identify which category, cause bib# only given one. Most of runner pinned in-front.

Reach VPS, heard Alauddin shouted
"Mak! Ayah nak sampai dah..."

And my wife get ready with camera...

...and smile! Your're on Candid Camera!... yeah!. Looked at my last medal of the year. Paid off!.





After the run, get together and chat with friends, Chen, Najib, Chin, Mr. Chin's friend.. forgot his name. Exchange next running event, training information, Merapu + kuning2 sket dgn Alex and also meet-up with new Malay runner, Lan from Taiping.. geng Zulkifli Jaini. Huh! from Taiping.. hey! he not came alone.. but with family and 4 kids.. Take off from Taiping at 6am. His wife was same school with my wife at secondary school.



Yeah! Sometime i treat run events as my family vacation, especially the major one or international run event. But.. sadly in Kedah, my wife's weekend is Friday and Saturday but for me.. Saturday and Sunday... aarrgghh!..



Najib finished in 9th, Alex was runners-up for B category. Champion was a guy from Nepal... don't know who is it.. May be he was a sherpa last time. Chen.. finished in top 5.



Meals after the run... Wow! can say.. a bit less compare to 10k KRI Ipoh. A lots - lots of bananas, boiled eggs, fried mees, buns, kuih pau, watermelon (yellow and red type), drink waters, 100 plus ... no need to berebut.. it's more than enough.. and after un-lucky draw, gabuih a box of drinking water!.












Thumb-up for Valdor Run 2004.. for Meals, Medals, Medical, Memento and Merry Christmas for organizer

More Valdor Run report by Chen

p/s: While running, no earthquake experience. More than 40 people were killed and hundreds of houses and vehicles were destroyed in Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak by the tsunami disaster early this morning.