ntv7 Feel Good Run: We Did It!

And so, the day finally came. But before that, I have to say that this event has in fact changed my life. When I was approached to be featured as one of the "celebs" taking part in the run, I had my doubts. Mainly because, well, I hadn't run in a long, long while! Bought a treadmill last year, but it became a clothes hanger instead. The exercise bike has been treated better, but by not that much.

So when I agreed to do this, it came with a promise to myself that I'd get my butt off the sofa more often and run as much as my body would allow me. As it turned out, the decision was one of the best I've made in my life.

I started training for the event in April and to date, I've clocked in more than 80kms. And whereas in the beginning I couldn't even go 1km without stopping and walking, now I can go on running for more than 5kms. Seriously, you are all very impressed right now, right? Haha.

AND instead of just running in this one event, I entered myself into two other prior runs, including the KL freakin' Marathon (but 5km lah).

But the ntv7 Feel Good Run was something extra special for the reasons I mentioned above, and the fact that it was for 7km, the longest distance for me yet. And you betcha I was all pumped up for it this past Sunday.

Reached Sri Pentas just before 6am, and already, the carnival atmosphere had started with runners warming up and booths being set up.

Equally pumped up were fellow colleagues and celebs...

Yes, that's Naz of the Breakfast Show in the sissy pink T-Shirt. But OK lah, he's quite cool cos he ran with his daughter on his back! Respect : )

Unfortunately, I made the same mistake as I did at KLM. Because we (finance GM/nerd Johan, Aidid Marcello and me) were berfoya-foyaing in front of Sri Pentas, we only made our way to the Start line like 15mins before the gun went off. As a result, we were already behind like 2,000 people! (a total of 5,500 people signed up FYI)

And so when the race was flagged off, we had to squeeze our way through the slow coaches (who came for the T-shirt and free ice cream, apparently) and lost some very important time.

I must say I was feeling rather good that morning. The weather was cool and the adrenaline pushed me to a decent pace.

BUT, by the 4th km, I started to struggle a bit and yearned for water... Oh yeah, running while tweeting (since I was the official twitterer for the event), didn't help much either at this point.

We finally reached the water station, and I gulped down two cups of H2O before continuing with my run.


The final km was the hardest, but I got some help from Mr. Tuansenangbesar (pic below) and some cheer-leading from these people in colourful shoes...


I probably walked for about a 100m before making one last push to the finish line...

(pic courtesy of Kadok)

And I did it! 7km (7.44 on my iPod) in 55 minutes! Better than the one-hour time I was targetting. As usual, my body didn't feel THAT tired but my legs were positively wobbly. And you know what, just minutes after I finished the run, rain came pouring down. PHEW!

With my motivator Mr. Tuansenangbesar : )

Everyone who finished the run got a certificate and a medal (a shiny one!), but the event didn't end there as people stayed on for the carnival and other special performances. And in case you didn't know, entrance fees for the event will benefit various charities.

So overall, it was good personal achievement for me, but more so for the team behind the Feel Good Run. Everything was well organised right from the start and bravo to everyone who participated.

I'm already looking forward to next year!