PJ Half Marathon review

I feel there's good reason to write about the PJ Half Marathon which I ran on 7th December 2014. Running  for the first time in the annual race organized by the Selangor Amateur Athletics Association, on my own home turf was a symbolic representation of how far I have gone on my running journey. As I stated in my earlier post, I started participating in running events at the beginning of 2014, ran one HM, one 12k, three 10k and one 8k - there's no turning back since then.

The PJ Half Marathon in December was great cap to the year that was filled with moments of joy, exhilaration, excitement, wonder, pain and frustration in running. This run was all the sweeter for me because I was able to run with my cousin for whom I have deep respect. A seasoned runner who's done multiple FM, HM and triathlon competitions, he came to the event to run with me (never mind that he wasn't registered) on an early Sunday morning when he could have spent a lazy morning with his family in KL. I was honored indeed and determined to give my best in the 10k distance category. 

I should also mention that my sister ran in the PJ Half Marathon too. It was her first race and first 10km distance. Despite her initial misgivings about registering for the 10km event, she was ready to take on the challenge on race day. She also brought along a running partner to spur her on..

The flag off was at Kelana Jaya stadium, - a site where I used to go for jogs in the evenings many years agoI felt deep satisfaction that I could run early in the morning, on the normally busy roads of Petaling Jaya. It was still dark around 7am and there was little traffic in the Free Trade Zone of Sg Way. I felt like a king on the road as the traffic policemen directed traffic in order for us runners without worrying about being in the way of vehicles on the roads. .

I managed to run side by side with my cousin for the first 2km. I was well aware that I should keep the first few km as an easy, but the effort it took for me to keep up with him was quickly burning me out. I decided I would do my own pace and by 2.5km, my cousin was way ahead of me. Nonetheless, I felt settled into a steady pace by 4km and actually felt fairly good. My legs were nicely warmed up and I sensed that I had enough energy to go all the way to the finish line.

I picked up speed by 8km in SS3 area. Before I knew it, my cousin was visible to me again in the distance... He saw me, slowed his pace, and signaled for me to catch up with him. Seizing the opportunity. I increased my pace... And catch up with him I did..... and I could almost hear We Are The Champions playing in the background. We ran side by side all the way to the finish line...

This was the one and only race in which I achieved a negative-split and did not feel burned out after. I attribute my accomplishment to the presence of a more experienced runner to motivate me..

Results:
Time: 51:03 (PR for 10km)
Rank: 64 out of 485

dashing to the finish line

En route to a new PR in 10k race