NB-PACESETTERS 15 km 2007 Race Report

I had never planned to run the NB-Pacesetters 15km race. My first and only parcitipation in this event was back in 2004. I knew the route was hilly and I feared that I would make my injured knee worse. Secondly I was not very sure if I could even finish the race in a reasonable time. My longest run since Feb 2006 was the SMART Tunnel (14 km?) in Feb 2007. I had never run more than 7 km in my daily training runs. How was I suppose to be able to run 15km?

As luck had it, on Sunday evening on 29th April, a friend of a friend had registered for the race but could not make it. The friend passed the bib and reporting card to me (Bib no A405). That meant I had to go to the race.

Yesterday At 5.30 am I waited at the Klang stadium for the friend. There was supposed to be three people travelling with me to KL. We waited until 6.00 am for one guy to show up but he never did. Calls and SMS messages to his mobile phone were not answered as the mobile phone was switched off. We decided to leave at 6.00 am without him.

We reached KL at about 6.25 am and started to look for a parking spot. We found an empty parkind spot behind the "PAM" building. We rushed to the starting line where there was already many runners gathered near the starting line. I was doing some stretches when a "bang" went off. I looked towards the start line banner and notice smoke coming out from the starter gun. Everyone started walking towards the starting line in a cheerful mood.

The route started with a 500m long run downhill before the familiar uphill run towards Bukit Tunku. I had run on section route many times before and reminded myself to pace properly as there was still a lot of hills to encountered. When I reached 5 km, I checked my watch; it read 32 minutes. The next 5 km went along the steeper sections along Langgak Tunku - the infamous Double Hill. I met Martin@aka Lonerunner here. We briefl said hello to each other before he ran ahead. I was struggling a bit here but mentally I reminded myself to run as long I could.

At 10km, I had run 65 or 70 minutes. At this point where I face another hill (2nd loop) I ran out of gas . I walked and run from 11km to 14 km. Hordes of runners overtook me when I was walking intermittently for about 2 km total (20 minutes). In a race like this where there are many "professional" runners, there were very few who walked. My spirit lifted when I saw the 13 km signboard and the downhill slope. At this point, I had been on the road for 1 hr and 30 minutes. My knee was hurting, my left ankle sore, I wanted to pee badly although I was very thirsty but the end was near. I mustered a final effort to run the last one km to the finish line.

Approaching the finishing line, I saw CM Teoh and boy I was really happy to have completed ny longest run in 15 months. My time was not that good - 1hr 42 minutes compared to my run in 2004 (1 hr 28 minutes). But the important result was I knew I had a chance to complete the Penang Bridge Half Marathon Race in June.

After the race, I met Cheong, Josie and Yong and took some photos. At the tents, I didn't come across other Pacemaker runners except DK. I did meet a whole bunch of the Pacemakers later at the main road.

Surprisingly I didn't feel very tired after the race. I guessed I didn't really run that hard. Officially I am now the slowest Pacemaker runner but hopefully that will change next year.

As usual the race organiser and volunteers did an excellent job. The NB-Pacesetters 15kn race remains a race made for runners. I also liked this new route better than the old route through Taman TasikPerdana for its more challenging route.