Bidor Half Marathon 2009

Greetings everyone!

Just a little update about my weekend excursion to the little known but heartwarming town known as Bidor, in south Perak. I was there with fellow running enthusiasts Le Min and Roderick for... The Bidor Half Marathon 2009!

We left from the IMU to Bidor at about 4pm. Along the way, we stopped by at a local pharmacist to purchase PowerBars and PowerBar Gels to be used tomorrow. It was out first attempt at 21.1KM and we weren't taking any chances.

Getting to Bidor wasn't too hard. As a child, my dad would make a pit-stop at Bidor during our trips up North to Penang and Ipoh. I remember eating their famous Chicken Biscuits, Herbal Duck Noodle and Wantan Mee for breakfast whenever we travelled up North in the wee hours of the morning, while we'd buy water jambu and guava on the way back to Kuala Lumpur. Fond memories, I must admit.

That's us (L-R: Le Min, Roderick and myself) at the Sungai Buloh R&R, having our customary Satay Kajang Haji Samuri and A&W Root Beer.

The drive took us about 2 hours, at my pace. It was highway all the way and the weather was good. The shadow cast by the ominous Gunung Liang East & West greeted us as we passed by Tanjung Malim and soon enough it was time to exit the North South Highway for Bidor.

Le Min, snoozing all the way while Roderick and myself tried hard to stay awake.

Once entering the town, it's amazing how much the town hasn't changed since my childhood days. The roads were busier and a KFC has popped up, but the roadside hawkers and green grocers were still around while the colonial buildings remained unchanged, albeit a new coat of paint.

Not much time to reminiscence on the past though. We entered town and proceeded to look for Tukang Jahit Mexico, who has our running numbers for tomorrow's race. While looking for the shop lot, we came across the starting line for the Bidor Half Marathon. The gateway demarcating the starting line was still being erected, using metal scaffolding and construction items. Absolutely hilarious! Yet, highly impressive.

Finally, Roderick is dwarfed by something.

After asking for directions from the locals, we found the shop tucked in a little corner off the main road. While walking along the back roads, you can really see why I still have so much fond memories of Bidor - the traditional bicycle repair shops, coffee shops thronged by locals enjoying their coffee and the Taoist prayer shops which sells paper effigies and huge jossticks. Man, I hope these places don't disappear in the future..


We registered ourselves with the owner of the shop in my broken Cantonese, of whom we found out was a seasoned runner himself! We collected our running numbers and free T Shirt, before making a move for dinner.

LODERICK KONG! Just like how a Chinaman would pronounce it! HAHAHAHA!

My ticket to tomorrow's race.

After dinner, Roderick suggested that we check out the route for tomorrow's race. On the way into town, we did see a few signages which indicated the route for the run, and we decided to see where it would bring us. We got into my car and soon drove from the starting point, following the signages along the way, knowing that this is the route we'd be running come 630am Sunday morning.


To put things into perspective, the map of the route was misleading to say the least. The first 10KM was relatively flat, albeit a few uphills and downhills. But the final 11.1KM was a real killer - it looked like the Mizuno Wave Run all over again! It was so hilly that even my car had problems going through all those windy uphills and downhills, I can't imagine running this route the following day! What made things worse was the fact that we had to run the same route twice, meaning that we had to double back on which ever way we came from, to complete the entire 21.1KM.

I can't explain how it felt like, finding out one demoralizing fact after the other as we drove on. It was like someone was conspiring against you from the very start. Whatever consolation we had proved to be false hope and that sucked. The idea of running the entire 21.1KM the following day sucked even more.

We reached town and parked the car in front of the Start-Finish line. All of us, were silent and deep in thought. Even Roderick, for once had nothing to say. The whole car was completely silent. It was then, when the feeling hit me.

Fear.

I never felt it before, the feeling was so foreign that I wasn't sure how to react to it. The 1 hour 50 minutes Jimmy took seemed impossible, while the 2 hour 30 minutes I budgeted looked even more impossible! I made the Number 1 mistake that I always told my juniors not to do so - I underestimated the route. I was expecting a flat and fast route all the way and I didn't bother training for uphills in the past, only to regret the day before the competition.

We decided to call it a night. Roderick and Le Min were fast asleep while I spent the rest of the night reflecting over Sunday's challenge. I didn't want to give up half way during the race, hell no! But then again, I have to be realistic with my chances. All those uphills seemed to have seeped every ounce of motivation from me.

Then again, it's amazing what a phone call, a few SMSes and a magical running number can do :)

Just give it a shot la, Ray Mun.

Roderick and Le Min had no problem sleeping at the Community Hall.

We woke up on 5am the following morning, with hardly enough sleep. Last night's worries were still lingering but there's little to do but to run the race. And finish it well.

Roderick and Le Min, at the Start-Finish line before the race.

Brooks. Asics. Brooks.

All warmed up and ready for the race.

I can't explain how running the entire 21.1km felt like either. Running a Half Marathon is very different from running a 10km road race. "You'll get to see more things" as Ren Yi puts it. Looking back, I felt that it was more of a mental challenge than a physical one. You gotta have the will to soldier on when the going gets tough, with such a long distance to cover and I was glad I found it that day. I was fortunate that Roderick and myself decided to pace one another too - he'd pace me on the flats while I'll push him on the uphills. We paced at about 9.5 minutes a mile (1.6km) for the first 5km, before gradually increasing our pace or slowing down whenever we hit an uphill. I still can't comprehend why he calculates his distance in Miles! Pfft. That aside, I think the most important lesson that was drilled into my head was understanding that we were running our own race, not someone elses. We overtook a few, and a few more overtook us - it didn't matter.

Running at this pace was much slower than my normal 10KM speed, which allowed me to notice more of my surroundings. The skies were clear and we could see the mountain ranges. The air was fresh and clean, our breathing rapid but clean. Some runners were deep in concentration, others huffing and puffing away, their faces writhed in agony. So much pain, so much suffering to endure but yet, they persisted - each of them were running for a cause only they themselves know.

The most worrying part of the race occured when I hit a stitch at KM11, right before the water station. It disappeared after a while but the fear persisted. The final 10KM of the race was a real test of will power - the will to finish it well, the will not to stop or slow down. It really, really needs a whole lot of mental discipline, especially whenever you feel like quitting when you hit those slopes. It was an internal battle of sorts, with the mind telling the body not to quit. And of course, all those shouting to myself helped too :).

On a personal note, the most inspiring part of the run was pushing pass the 17KM mark and seeing the signage which went "4KM To Go!". 17KM was my personal best and surpassing that mark was a real morale booster, it gave me a good shot of adrenaline when I needed it. Then again, the most mentally torturing part of the race was the final 3KM. Seeing the signages slowly count down from 3Km to 2KM and finally 1KM was a real torture, the harder and faster you run, the slower the distances seem to tick down!

With all that said and done, nothing felt better like tearing down the final 100M. For a moment, the entire 21KM I ran didn't seem to matter. There's something special having the finishing line in sight, with your arms swinging in full motion and you holding your breath as you take that final sprint. Everything that you ever thought of doing as your approach the finishing line, from promises to poses, all go out the window. All that pain and agony seems so far away. It's something that can't be explained, only experienced.

The finishing line, something I thought I would never see.

And when you finally cross that finishing line, it feels like a burden being lifted off your chest. Just like that. You inhale deeply as you reach and rest your arms on your knees. You can finally sit, resting your aching feet and letting all that blood rush back to your arms which have been stone cold for the past 2 hours or so. You start to regain your senses once again, one by one - feelings like the abrasion on your thighs, the soaking wet running shorts clinging to your skin.

The feeling is surreal.

That's when reality checks back in. What made my day was my timing - 1 hour and 55 minutes, something which I doubted from the very beginning. My positioning - 90th. Not bad at all! It was my first shot at a Half Marathon, and a damn hard one I would say. I guess I proved to myself that boundaries are always meant to be broken, and these boundaries are set by no one else but ourselves.

Woohoo!

I was met at the finishing line by Ren Yi, who completed his 10KM run in 46 minutes, his personal best. He came in 13th position, just 3 places of a Top 10 trophy. Roderick came in soon after, finishing 98th with a timing of 1 hour and 58 minutes.

Roderick and Ren Yi.

Sharing a lighter moment after the race.

Soon after, Le Min made her way across the finishing line. It was her first attempt at 21.1KM as well, and she did it in an impressive 2 hour and 15 minutes. Not bad at all!

Le Min.

36th position overall. Good job, Le Min!

YOSH! Roderick, Ren Yi, Le Min and yours truly (with his truly magical running number :) )

After rehydrating ourselves and taking a few photos, we chose to warm down at the Community Hall, far from the presence of the crowd. It was the sort of peace that I needed, to reflect on a day's running which I thought was impossible, even before the race started. The aches from my joints were more apparent, which reminded me of my journey this morning. A journey of self discovery, and more importantly, a journey of rising to a challenge when the tough gets going.

Posing for the cameras.

After that, we changed back into clean clothings and had a quick brunch at a local coffee shop before heading back for KL. Roderick and I were excited at the prospect of running the entire 42.195KM in the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 that we began discussing future training regimes during the drive back to KL while Le Min had her customary snooze along the way.

Till next time, cheers!

Yes, that's Le Min sleeping in the background =p