Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2009

Finally, i'm taking my time out to write about the run..

I think i did badly in this marathon.. The total distance was 42.195km but i ran only half, the rest i walked!

The main reason?
Muscle cramp! This is very common when running a full marathon, that is the reason why there are water stations and medical assistance along the route. Main purpose is to prevent runners from dehydrated and prevent muscle cramp (by applying plenty of heat rub).

I ran about 20km and started to feel my muscles pulling.. Was hoping to drink some water and put some heat rub, but, there was NO water and NO heat rub at 20-30km mark. What a suprise! The organiser (Octagon or better known as Otak-Gone) promised the runners water stations every 2.5km after the first 3km (written in the booklet), but there was NOT ENOUGH water in the race day! This is a very dangerous thing to happen, the runners like me need plenty of water after running for 20km, we need water to prevent dehydration, which may lead to muscle cramp or maybe pengsan!?

The other reasons?
Poor organising by Otak-Gone. There are many funny things to be laughed at throughout the whole marathon..

1st - NO water and NO heat rub at 20-30km mark. This is simply amazing! The organisers said they provided 50000 litres of water but i think wat happened is... 25000 litres for runners, 25000 litres for organisers? Haha..

2nd - Bad route.. There was a part where runners run through the city centre.. There is nothin wrong about that but there were many cars (they shd hd block the traffic!), and the route was very confusing.. At 1 point, i almost went to the wrong route but thank God i u-turned, and i found 2 policemen standing and chatting, not doing their job of controlling traffic and guiding the runners..

3rd - Inexperient volunteers.. It's very obvious that the volunteers are part-timers which were hired from some agency.. They don't really care much about the runners, they lack of passion! At 30km mark, i ran passed 2 volunteers, they were sleeping! I can't imagine what's more tiring then running a marathon! Besides that, my frn, Cheu Chyong muscle cramped at 28km mark, he asked the 1st aid ppl to help him stretch his leg but to his suprise, the ppl asked him: "Do u wanna give up?" Funny stuff!

4th - Lack of supporters.. Along the route, i did not see many supporters, just a few.. We need support! I need it too.. If there were ppl cheering along, i think most of us will improve our run..

5th - Low quality stuff.. The design of the finisher-T looks very normal to me, i expected somethin nice, something catchy like Singapore Marathon but it was no match.. The designs of the finisher-T and medal are ugly, and the quality are poor.. The quality of the shirt is cheap stuff, maybe it only cost them RM10 to get that shirt..

The vest which look kinda OK!

The bag..

Finisher-T (front)

Finisher-T (back)

I'll be back in 2010 (let me think twice!)

Ok, those are the critism i have.. I can't bliv i'm doing this, critising (i'm not used to it)..

Although it was a badly organised event, but i'm still grateful to have finished the run without any serious injuries.. Besides that, i found out that there are many kind hearted ppl around us, especially during the run.. Some went to convenient store to buy drinks for us, some runners willing to share their water and heat spray wif each other and i'm glad that i met those during the marathon..

Lastly, i'll still say this...

SHAKELINGAM!!!™ and PRAISE THE LORD!!!