On 26th of July 2009, 3 miracle milers including myself took part in a run organized by PSDC in conjunction with their 20th Anniversary in Penang. The route was fairly short, only 6.5km and it seems like goodie bags are our reward or motivation factor to make us run the race instead of having a cool morning walk around the factory trade zone. I know this marathon would seemed like kacang puteh to most of the runners out there but I'm would think otherwise. Regardless of what others may think, I still think that this is a race to achieve my miracle mile (although it's just 6.5km..) in a good time. :)

So I woke up at 6am (I wouldn't say I'd had any sleep at all..seems like I could not sleep at all before the race...maybe I was too excited or too anxious..mixed feelings perhaps..) and went to fetch Justin as the organizers encouraged carpooling. We got there at 7am and mingled around the registration booth while waiting for Syarizan, our new miracle miler member! Our first bumiputera member! Hehe..

At about 7:15am, Syarizan arrived and 3 of us started warming up before the race. I took no breakfast, only drank milk + water which means not much energy for me. Last time worse, just had curry mee for my dinner and the next day I ran my first half marathon at Penang Bridge. :) The race started at 7:30am sharp when I started my ipod nike + to keep track of my race and my Street Fighter 4 soundtracks started jamming in my ears for the extra motivation boost!

The race started off relatively fast for me because my goal was to finish the race within 30 minutes so Justin and myself could make it to church at 9am thus we have a mission at hand! Justin was following behind me for the first 1 km but soon dropped off following his own pace later on. Lost Syarizan at the starting point. I guess I'm all alone and it's all about speed. No strategies needed. Just run as fast as you can.

I paced myself at 5 mins 20 secs per km for the first 3km and after that I find myself slowing down a little to catch some air as I was running under the influenza influence...Thank God, it's not H1N1..:P I ran with a group of indians and with some hardcore running aunties + uncles. No matter how fast I sprint or do a fartlek, these aunties and uncles always seemed to be faster than me.Pai seh..(When I told my friend that I lost to aunties and uncles, they wanted to 'un-friend' me straight away)

There are 3 runners band to collect throughout the race although it's only a short distance but however, I guess there are many short cuts in that area. That's why they need you to have 3 gelang tangan if you want to claim their goodie bag. At the 4th km, I was given the 3rd gelang and I started sprinting because my Ipod tells me that I'm 1km away from achieving my new 5k record. (I set 5K as my distance in my ipod so I can gauge my time for my 5k run) After hearing Tiger Woods congratulating me, it dawned on me that I still have 1.5km to go for the real race. A reality check on myself, I found myself stopping and slowing down after that sprint and some of the runners started overtaking me.

Inspired by the spirit of Pia, I decided to give it all and run! Picked up some pace and overtook some of the indian runners. As I approach the finishing line, I decided to sprint all the way and I managed to clock a 36"37 for my 6.5km run. Insignificant to most of you but to me, it was mind-blowing because I never ran a marathon to record any time as I usually run just to complete marathons.

After crossing the finishing line, grabbed my goodie bag and sat down resting and waiting for Justin to arrive. He made it at 45 mins and we just went off after he grabbed his goodie bag. Nope, we was not gentleman enough to wait for our final miracle miler. However, she smsed me that she did it in 55 mins later in the night. It was a good run and all of us did it under 90mins! (That 90mins mark was set by the organizers in order to motivate all the runners to run below that time stamp if they wish to get the goodie bag..)

Next stop: Adidas King of the Road!

*Note: Forgot to mention that the route was nice and flat.*

"What are you running for?" - that is the official tagline for the Siemens Run 2009. Say it with attitude in front of the mirror and you can feel the human spirit rise to the occasion, pushing me to break my limit and claim the victory prize. Sing: Weeeee, are the champions, my friiieeennnds.

Inspired yet? Though I must admit my tag line became more like "What for you run?" as I bulldozed through a hectic week. Driving home after a work-related dinner function at 11.45 p.m. before race day, tired, half-opened eyes and brain shutting down, I couldn't help but wish for the run to be held another day.

I managed to prepare and train for the race a week before, taking on the concrete outbacks of Mont Kiara after work. All that running, the pain, the strife and wobbly knees just to get from Point A to Point B within a set time. Sore feet and out of breath, but I must get "that thing I am running for".

Fast forward to race day, I reached Dataran Merdeka at 6.45 a.m. with barely four hours of sleep. Hwei and I looked for the TMM dynamic duo of Andrew and Danny who promised to meet me by the flag pole. I couldn't wait to meet them and get my t-shirt. I'm a total noob when it comes to race freebies but that is not "that thing I am running for".

Race time

The race officials called and there I went standing two metres away from the starting line. I looked up towards the clock tower showing 7.08 a.m. Race time? 7.30 a.m. Good thing I had my trusty earphones and handphone / radio player to keep me company. Always good to run with some great music.

Then the DJ played Beyonce's "If I were a boy"... just the adrenaline pumping music I need to get myself motivated for the race. Next song. Maybe they'll play "Eye of the tiger" after this. 

No luck, up next was Rihanna's "Take a bow". Hmmm, it'll be difficult to motivate myself when listening to these beats. 

....

7.15 a.m.        15 minutes to go. Maybe I can finish top 200.

7.17 a.m.        This race is not so long. Maybe I can finish top 100.

7.18 a.m.        Ya, I've run this route before. Maybe I can beat those behind the starting line.

7.29 a.m.        See you all at the top 10. *Bang! Run run run.

7.37 a.m.        I'm not tired at all.

7.49 a.m.        I feel great. I could run forever.

7.51 a.m.        A hill? Look at me skipping.

7.53 a.m.        ....

7.55 a.m.        Tell me again why do people torture themselves for this?

8.04 a.m.        Why can't people just drive? It's much easier than running.

8.07 a.m.        What for you run? What for you run?

8.08 a.m.        No one slowing down. Must... not... lose....

8.09 a.m.        Maybe I should take up cycling. Lance Armstrong makes it look easy.

8.16 a.m.        Hill? Jog slowly. Lots of trees around.

8.26 a.m.        Civilization! I see the main road now. Say hi to the nice policeman.

8.28 a.m.        Go up and down the hill and I'll be at Dataran Merdeka already. So close.

8.29 a.m.        Hey guy, I see you have brand new lime green jogging shoes. Show off. Watch me overtake you hahaha *evil laugh.

8.29 a.m.        Ooops, almost tripped. OK, just look up and smile. Nothing to see here.

8.32 a.m.        Alright! I can see Dataran Merdeka already. This race is funtabulous.

8.32 a.m.        ....

8.33 a.m         Why are we running the other direction?

8.33 a.m.        We're heading to Sogo????

8.38 a.m.        It's that guy from the starting line. Run faster! Must ...  maintain ... position ....

8.43 a.m.        Out of breath. U-turn. Finally.

8.44 a.m.        Must get "that thing I am running for".

8.45 a.m.        Guy in veteran category slowly overtaking me. I really need to train harder.

8.49 a.m.        Why are people playing Chinese drums by the sidewalk? Is there a sale going on? Kamdar looks closed.

8.51 a.m.        Cheerleaders!

8.54 p.m.        Nearing the finish line already. Legs don't fail me now.

9.04 a.m.        Finished! I'm the king of the world.

....

So I didn't finish in the top 10 as I imagined. Probably took 1.5 hours to complete the course. Not quite the Olympic material you might expected. Well, at least the other TMM members had fun.

Kudos to Siemens for organising a great run to aid the underprivileged. May the funds raised be a blessing to the beneficiaries as they reach out to those in need.

I headed straight to the goodie bag section after finishing. No, this was not "the thing I was running for". I moved from the goodie bag line and went straight to get ...

A thick cool cup of iced Milo. Minum Milo anda jadi sihat dan kuatttt. I can't imagine a more satisfying reward after a good run. So, "what for you run?"

Special thanks to PM Tey and Danny Chan for the pictures.