Penang Run 2013 -2014 2nd Series - Race Recap

Penang Run 2013-2014 2nd Series. New Image. Wearing a Buff.

This is a race that I really find enjoyable although my Garmin lost its satelite signal at 14km and I have to run the rest of the race not knowing the pace and distance.

Race Pack Collection at Town Hall

Oh...who visited them at the Race Pack Collection

Two weeks after a trial run, the actual race day on 7 October. I did not take the shuttle bus from Balik Pulau to Teluk Kumbar, the starting point. So I get to sleep for an extra hour. I reach 45 mins before the starting time of 5:30am. And this is one race that I really did a warm up before the race. Some slow run with strides thrown in.

Finishing point of the 2nd Series, SK Sg Pinang

The distance markers and quotes. Volunteers hard at work.

The race started punctually at 5:30am and it was a bit crowded at the first km of the race. But the weather is just perfect. No haze and no rain. It was raining a few days before the race and the weather was cooler which really makes the run more enjoyable. After the first km, the runners started to space out and I could get to my normal pace. After about 2.5km, it was run up to the Bukit Genting. It was nice to watch fellow runners running up the steep slope in a group with some runners using the blinking red light. I used the blinking light from my headlamp which I put in in my Spiebelt for safety reasons. Quite a number of runners started to walk due to lack of  training on hills. But the breeze running up the hill was welcoming.

Then we have to run down the hill, certain stretches are dark and narrow. But the organiser has placed Peugeot cars with their headlamp on to brighten up those dark stretches. It was actually a great idea. At the end of the hill, it was sharp left turn into the kampung of Balik Pulau. That's when we have the sounds plus smell of nature. The cowdang smell that comes with it. But the cooling weather and nice kampung area, a flat course and very little traffic at this point really makes this run truly enjoyable for me. At that point, my Garmin lost its satelite signal. Only the time is still working. So I just have to run by feel. There was an elderly couple who cheer us along this route.  A big thanks to them, a little encouragement help us go a long way. The organiser has done a great job by having distance markers at every 2km with some interesting quotes. I could know the distance covered without a satelite signal.

The organising chairnan, Mr Andrew Loh and the MC of the event. 

The longest stretch of the run is Jalan Bahru, a 6 -7 km straight road. I realised it takes mental strength to conquer this never-ending stretch of road. So I just focus on the run, step by step. Putting on blinders to everything else. And just do it one foot at the time. It makes this route more manageable and kills the boredom of running this section of the route.

The ladies at the Secretariat at the finishing line

After the 18km mark, fatigue starts to set in. I feel my running pace has start to slow down. It is only 3.8km to the finish line. It's time to dig deep. Finally, finished the race of 21.8km in 2:33 which is 33 seconds faster than my 1st series. But still unable to dip below 2:30. But it is longer distance of 0.5km as compared to the 1st series and a much tougher route. So I did a better race this time. Most of my friends did a slower race for this series due to the elevation. The 2nd series is a much well organised race as compared to the 1st Series with distance markers and quotes. And we have plenty of food and drinks at the end of race like Milo, 100plus, nasi lemak, bread, water melon and nutmeg drink. And I just like the colour of the running vest for this series, apple green !

Not easy to be a politician nowadays. You even have to run half marathon. A great effort by YB Bukit Mertajam, Mr Steven Sim finishing the 2nd series.

The 3rd series will be the hilly roads of Balik Pulau. A 6km uphill run ! Followed by the winding roads to Teluk Bahang. Getting excited just thinking of the next challenge. Time to get into some long LSDs for the Borneo International Marathon (BIM) on 25 August.

The hills at the background

The medal for 2nd Series and two puzzle medals combined

So after the race, the next thing to look for is laksa. We decided to look for the laksa that is "in the middle of nowhere" in the hills of Balik Pulau. Very nice environment. A serene atmosphere and an experience to have laksa at this place. The taste of laksa doesn't feel great but the atmosphere makes up for it. So it is worth a try !

The Assam Laksa in the hills of Balik Pulau

2nd Series Trial Run with Durians and Laksa

Durian "Che Pui"(Green Skin) at Balik Pulau.

Andrew has invited me to try to do a final trial run for the Penang Run 2nd series on last Saturday 22 June 2013. Since I will be doing a long run of 20 km this week, so it may be better to try out the trial run. After my previous experience with the trial run of MPSP Larian Hijau last year, I know I will be the last running. Since I am such a slow runner and most of the runners that come for a trial run will be experienced runners. There are more than 10 of us for the trial run where many of us are not familiar with the route and thankfully we have Ms Gan that have waited for me at every junction when there is a turn. If not, I will have been lost a few times.

The run up Bukit Genting picks up after about 2km and you have to run another 2 - 2.5km to reach the top. And then it is downhill all the way. The problem is it is dark when you are running up the new highway and when you are running down. Thankfully, I brought my new headlamp which I was holding it in my hand. But running up this section alone needs a lot of mental strength. But the toughest route is Jalan Bahru after reaching the mosque. It is a straight and flat kampung route of almost 6 - 7km and a real mental test. My brain almost check out at the end of the road. This 2nd series the final distance is 21.8km or could be longer since you have to run into the school. And it is definitely tougher than the 1st series. Will have to see if I could perform better at the actual race day on 7 July 2013.

Penang Run 2nd Series Trial Run

Since it is a trial run, it will just be a slightly faster LSD. And I have arranged for my family to me pick up at the finishing point of the 2nd series, i.e. SK Sungai Pinang. Our plan for that day is going for durian feast and laksa at Balik Pulau. It is durian season and Balik Pulau is famous for durians ! When we arrived at  Balik Pulau, it is too early for laksa as the stalls are not open and we could not find any durian stalls around. So end up eating chicken rice and hokkien mee (prawn mee) for breakfast. Then we realised that the old market is already closed and there is a new market after asking the locals. The elderly auntie told us that there is a new market and the Durian Festival is just opposite the new market. But we wanted to try the Peng Siew Durian Farm which Andrew has recommended.

Fruit Stall opposite the new market for the Durian Festival

He has given me some road instructions on whatsapp and we just could not find the place although we almost drive up a hill. But he told us that it will be near Sacred Heart High School. We give up looking after driving up and down and unable to locate the farm. Then we decided to go to the new market and we found the row of stalls mainly selling durians which is for the Durian Festival. We just simply choose a stall and pick two durians, which is "hor lo" and "che pui". Two durians costing RM76 and the "che pui" which has only two pieces of durian fruit inside costing RM20 is really pricey. Which we Chinese say "Eat Gold".

Durian at the Fruit stall opposite the new market

As we have plenty of time on our hand, we decided to give the Peng Siew Durian Farm a try again. We  drove along the road based on the instructions Andrew has given. We reach a row of new shophouses on the left-hand side of the road. And we decided to ask for more directions. Fortunately, we ask the right person this time and he gave us a precise location which is only slightly further up. There is no signboard on the outside. Just an iron gate and a durian tree. When we drove in, the place is full of cars. Yup, we found it !

Peng Siew Durian Farm

Durians at Peng Siew During Farm

Nice Peacock at the farm

Haven't taken durians at a durian farm all my life. Nice environment and it will be ideal to bring young children as there are some animals on the farm. The biggest attraction is the peacocks. You can probably see some snakes hanging from trees. And I actually saw a monitor lizard walking around the farm leisurely like his own house. The durian farm also sell other fruits like rambutans. But the durians are much cheaper than the stalls we have at the Durian Festival. And they sell fresh eggs just collected from the farm. This durian farm is definitely worth a visit ! Will be back the next time.

Fresh eggs for sale

After the 2 rounds of durian feasting, we are definitely full and have to buy a few packets of Balik Pulau's laksa for supper. It is always great to weave in some sight seeing and "makan-ing"(feasting) with a run after you have burned so much calories.

Map of the farm taken from the back of the name card

Xtreme Marathon

Xtreme Marathon by TVB Hong Kong.

A documentary made by TVB Hong Kong on two extreme marathons. One in North Pole (North Pole Marathon) and the other in Sahara desert (Marathon des Sables). Extreme coldness and extreme heat.  It is a joy that at last the Hong Kong Television is getting interested to do documentaries on marathons. In the documentary, two Hong Kong actor, Kenny Wong and Oscar Leung are selected to participate in the event. I wonder if the actor knows how tough and dangerous this assignment is. But I understand the TV station bought a hefty sum of insurance for this documentary.

Kenny Wong and Oscar Leung

It is a 5 episodes (30 mins) documentary which also emphasized on global warming and wasting of earth resources. Oscar Leung was selected to participate in the North Pole Marathon which he has to run 9 laps on the floating ice for 42km at the North Pole. They were allowed to go into the resting tent after every completed lap. They are six men and one woman from Hong Kong which accompanied him on this adventure. The six men are all experienced marathoners but not Oscar Leung. He has not ran even a half marathon before. He says he has only completed two training runs of 10K. You can see how torturing he felt after the 3rd lap. And after the 4th lap, he just couldn't run anymore. He just decided to walk the rest of the marathon. He almost give up after the 8 lap not even wanting to complete the last lap. He is afraid that he may die if he did last lap. Eventually, the photographers actually accompany him to complete the last lap. He finally completed the race in 11 hours and 10 mins.

This is what Oscar Leung commented after the race which I have tried my best to translate it to English.  "In beginning, my initial intention of running this race is wrong. I wanted to compete with other participants and win the others. Running a marathon is just like life. You are not competing with others but with yourself. There is no winning or losing. Only whether you can do it or not. If you can't do it, it does not mean that you can't do it forever and you have failed. The next time you can do better. The most important thing to remember is to persevere and not be influenced my things and people around you. Because as long as you don't admit that you lose, you will never lose. This is my greatest inspiration from the race".

North Pole Marathon

Kenny Wong participated in Marathon des Sables at the Sahara Desert. It is a 240km race for 7 days across the Sahara Desert. From the documentary, I think he did not run the full race due to the difficulty and dangers of the race. But he did fully complete the last day of the race which is a marathon distance. One of the interesting thing that I remembered about the documentary is he has to bring a small syringe that is required by the race organiser. The purpose of the syringe is that in the event of a snake bite, you are supposed to use the syringe to draw out as much venom as possible from the bite to prevent it from circulating to other parts of the body. One of the memorable part of the race is running in the night underneath the stars of the Sahara Desert. This remind me of a similar incident at the marathon in Langkawi where we were running underneath the stars near the Langkawi airport.

The 28th Marathon des Sables

If you are interested in understanding the two marathons and the dangers of global warming, give this documentary a watch.

Brooks Pure Drift

Brooks Pure Drift.

Currently, this is my favorite shoe for racing and long runs. It has a huge toe-box which is great for my wider feet. In addition, it is extremely light and you can actually take off the insole if you want to have a barefoot feel. I prefer leaving the insole inside which only has a 4 mm drop. This is one of the minimalist shoe by Brooks. I used to run in a pair Brooks Pure Connect but I got injured when I go on my long runs. I have ran a full and a half marathon in this pair of shoes. I anticipate I will run another half and full marathon in this pair of shoes in the coming months.

View of the shoes from different angle

It has also a soft landing due to the materials of the sole. I would stick to this pair of shoes for quite a while. We will be buying a similar pair when this pair wear off and hopefully I can get a different colour from the one that I am wearing. A friend suggested that I buy two pairs of different colours so that I can wear a different colour for each feet. A suggesting worth considering. The main disadvantage of this shoes is that the life span of the shoes will be shorter due to the materials used. In addition, the traction of the shoes is not that good if you intend to use it for trail. It is basically a pair of shoes that is suited for road running.

What? Another marathon?

After my Langkawi marathon, the first thing I told Andrew is I will never run a full marathon again. It is just too tough. Then I continue to say that this statement will last for a week before I will start to change my mind again. Running a full marathon is tough but it is a challenge that keep coming back to lure you into it.

I have mentioned before that I will only run two full marathons a year. So far I have only registered for two, ie The Island Ocean Marathon, Langkawi in April 2013 and the Penang Bridge Marathon in November 2013 which will be running on the new bridge. I have resisted the River Jungle Marathon which is offered as a combo series with the Island Ocean Marathon and of course, the KL International Marathon as it is just one week after the Penang Run 2013-2014 2nd series. So I thought my running timetable for 2013 has been set. Two full, 3 half and one 17K. Keep me fit for the whole of 2013. Although many of my friends do at least 4/5 marathons in a year or more.

Borneo International Marathon.

But because of the election on 5 May 2013, the Borneo International Marathon in Sabah was changed to 4 May 2013 and then was just postponed to another date. Then they reopened the registration again probably some participants have to drop out since the date has been changed. It was finally postponed to 25 August 2013. Why do they have to reopen the registration ? And the timing is just perfect. In addition, I have wanted to visit Kota Kinabalu this year or next year. The flight fare to Kota Kinabalu is  less than RM200 for to and fro. So I will get to go on a holiday and run a marathon. What a perfect excuse !

The stars are all aligned for this marathon. So quickly go online and register but it is the full registration fee, RM130. This will be more of fun marathon rather than a PB (personal best) type of run. I was telling my friends, all my races seems to be more for fun. And this marathon, a lot of "Penang lang"(Penangites) will be there. Andrew has promised to take us for cheap seafood. And I heard it is a flat course as compared to hilly terrain in Langkawi.  So 3 full marathons this year, one in April, August and November. Definitely not another full marathon for this year !

Running Unites People

Runners United to Remember.

"Running unites us and brings us together because, in the words of the great Bill Rodgers, "We sweat the same. We struggle the same." Running is a simple, primitive act, and therein lays its power. For it is one of the few commonalities left between us as a human race. Toeing the starting line of a marathon, regardless of the language you speak, the God you worship or the color of your skin, we all stand as equal. Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people ran." (Dean Karnazes, Why Running Matters).

Penang Run 2013 - 2014 1st Series - Race Recap

The first piece of the puzzle medal. 

A half marathon three weeks after the Langkawi marathon. I noticed my motivation for running is down the dumps after my Langkawi marathon. The lack of motivation is really bad when I was doing my usual runs for the past 2 weeks. My mind and body is screaming for a rest. But this is start of the 1st  series and it is the first piece of puzzle medal so no chickening out. Or should I say no DNS (did not start).

The Penang Run 2013 - 2014 series are all point to point course which means it doesn't loop back to the starting point. The organiser has arrange for transport from the finishing point, SMK Telok Kumbar, to the the starting point, Esplanade. We have to arrive at the finishing point before 4am, 1.5 hours before the start of the race which means I have to wake up at 2am and drive to the place before 3am. Reaching SMK Telok Kumbar, I noticed that they are already a lot of runners waiting at the school. The bus transport was not too much of a problem and we arrived at Esplanade quite early. Then it is waiting for the race to start. Most people who took the bus transport really is lack of sleep.

Runners waiting to be transported to Esplanade

The start of race at 5:30am and I always thought that the race will running on the new highway towards  the Jelutong expressway. Until we start we running through Beach Street and subsequently towards Jelutong Road, then I realised we will be running the old route towards Teluk Kumbar. This old route is actually quite historic as we run across the heritage zone of Georgetown and running past one of the famous mural (where the sister and brother were on a bicycle) and then the older houses along Jelutong Road. An interesting road to run on. Then after we past RECSAM, the route gets a bit boring  where we will be running along the route to USM and towards Bayan Baru. The most inconvenient part of the route is running past the big Bayan Baru roundabout. The traffic was heavy at that time. And we have to run pass the factories at the Bayan Lepas area and also the airport. The fumes from the factory buses are a bit choking.

The famous mural at the Heritage zone of Penang

Heritage Buildings along Beach Street

The hilly part of the course comes in the last 2km after reaching the Teluk Kumbar town. The road at the town is pretty narrow and slightly heavier traffic. You have to really be cautious running across this area. After that we finally get to the hilly area of the route which is shady at certain stretch and I really enjoy this part of the route. The highest slope comes in the last km of the route and a lot of runners actually walk at this slope. This is properly due to lack of hill running. I finally try to pick up my speed at the last km of the route and I don't have problem running up these hilly slopes which is not that difficult comparing the rolling hills at Langkawi.

At the finishing of the race

But it is a race that my body and mind are complaining due to inadequate recovery after Langkawi marathon. I have never entered a race where my mind is already complaining at 4km of the race. Fortunately, it gets better after 6km and the last 5 km is also tougher than usual. Couldn't make it in less than 2:30 but finished at 2:33 according to chip time.

It is still a well organised race except for some traffic controls at certain parts and the distance markers which I don't remember seeing any.  The first piece of the puzzle medal is in the bag. Time to really give my legs and body a rest and looking forward to have a more enjoyable race at the 2nd series on 7 July 2013 which is on Georgetown Day, a public holiday in Penang.