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| Sunrise at Langkawi. Photo taken at 22km of the marathon. |
This my first trip going with a group of runners for a run. And my conclusion after the trip is "It is fun". Runners understand each other running jargon and jokes. We also know that what we need to eat before a run and the rest and sleep that we required. The Island Ocean Marathon (IOM), Langkawi is the first marathon on the island of Langkawi organised by The Marathon Shop. The other marathon organised by The Marathon Shop is the River Jungle Marathon(RJM) which was actually offer as a combo series. Two marathons at a cheaper price.
Eventually I decided to only run the IOM which is in Apri but skip RJM in September as I will be in overseas in September and I wanted to run the new bridge of the Penang Bridge International Marathon in November. Trying to limit myself to two full marathons in a year for the time being.
We departed to Kuala Kedah on early Saturday morning and have a detour to Sungai Petani for breakfast. On arriving at Kuala Kedah, we met quite a few runners from Penang also taking the same ferry to Langkawi. A few of them is wearing the Malakoff Run t-shirt which is absolutely striking in colour. There are 7 of us in the group and we managed to rent a 7 seater vehicle. We have wanted to make this trip to be a "makanthon"(eating feast), "minumthon"(drinking feast), "chocolatethon"(buying lots of chocloates which Langkawi is famous for imported chocolates) and finally a marathon.
We have our lunch at a Italian restaurant in Kuah town, and what to runners eat for carbo-loading? Spaghetti and pizza, of course. And I just realised that runners can really eat. No dieting for us. After lunch, we started buying chocolates and drinking some imported beers which is extremely cheap selling at only RM3 per bottle. We can't be drinking at night so now is the time just to drink some imported beers and headed to our hotel. However, we are split into 3 hotels. Andrew and me was supposed to be staying at the TM Resort, Langkawi which is only about 1 km from the starting point at the Resorts World, Langkawi (formerly known as Awana Porta Malai, Langkawi).
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| Resorts World, Langkawi |
The resort only has only 16 rooms and we have booked through Agoda more than 3 months ago. Unfortunately, the management has really screwed up our booking and our room has been given to somebody else. At that moment, we are damn tired and wanting to rest. We wasted two hours and at the end we just give up, cancel the booking and requested for a refund. So we are left with no place to stay and extreme tiredness !
Fortunately, Andrew has a friend who has booked Holiday Villa at Pantai Tengah which is very near to TM Resort and his friend's roommate cancel his trip and he is staying alone. So he called him and we managed to check into his room by just having an extra bed. Holiday Villa at Pantai Tengah, is a much better hotel. In addition, we also got a free upgrade to a RM520 room. A blessing in disguise !
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| Holiday Villa, Langkawi |
After checking in we are just too tired to enjoy the hotel. We just took a shower and go for a short nap. Later we took a trip to visit the starting point of the race at Resorts World, Langkawi. Then it is dinner time at Pantai Cenang. The runners are really a group well connected people. Within a short time, a big group of us are gathered at this chinese restaurant in Pantai Cenang. 4 tables of runners of which two tables are from Penang. Unfortunately, no drinking session because of the run tomorrow.
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| At the starting point of the event |
There is no time limit for this event and this event should not be called a race. No finishing time and no timing chip. The organiser mentioned that they will wait until the last runner complete the race if that person doesn't give up and continue with the race. So timing is not critical in this event but more for fun, the company of runners and friends and the scenic view of Langkawi. This kind of set the atmosphere of the event where you are not running for a PB (personal best). So a number of FMVs (Full Marathon Virgins) actually registered since it doesn't has a cut-off time. How wrong they are when they run this marathon ! The route is definitely not for first timer !
To be continued ....The actual day of the marathon...
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