Ekiden Run 2012

So on Sunday, it was the first time for me at a different kind of running event, the long-distance relay! It was first mooted by one of our Larian 40 Taman runners and I thought, hey why not?

And so, we formed a five-man team, M.Zul, Fadli, Daud, Ayiem and Mie, and called ourselves "Coklat 40 Taman". Haha. "40 Taman" for obvious reasons, while we added "Coklat" cos Mie's a chocolate entrepreneur.

I reached The Palace of Justice, Putrajaya around 6.45am that morning. The plan was to have some light breakfast before the start so I didn't take anything at all at home.

But as it turned out, things were already getting chaotic as the organizers were trying to get people on buses to take us to our respective stations based on our running turns. And I have to say that I did not like how the organizers were shouting at and ordering people around over the PA system. Come on lah, granted there were a lot of school kids and first timers, but the intonation was all wrong. We paid to participate, so please have some respect!

Anyway, I was the assigned 2nd runner for the team and so I got on the bus and headed to the station. My distance was going to be 2.8km. All of us were running slightly different distances with a total of 15kms.

The mixed category started at 8am sharp and a few minutes later the front runners arrived at our station. Fuh, those guys were really sprinting the first 2.4km! Damn fast.

Our Open category started at 8.10am and after a good time, the sash was handed to me from Mie. My own route was pretty good which went downhill, then a flat stretch before a slight uphill and past a bridge. But of course the heat was pretty punishing by that time.

Anyway, I maintained a consistent pace before sprinting the last few hundred metres. I even recorded my fastest mile ever, according to the Nike + voice!

After passing the sash over to Ayiem, I picked up the food pack before taking the bus back to the Start/Finish line.

Only the first 100 teams would be granted medals and we did it, coming in 90th! Well done Coklat team! But most important of all, it was a good experience for everyone and we bonded even further on the day. Awwww... : )