Larian Bendang 2015

Larian Bendang is an annual event held in conjunction with Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah's (YSB) Karnival Amal Hari Penyayang. This year the run was held on May 30 and I was glad to participate in it.

In spite of the problematic left knee with which I have been battling, I decided to run the 11km distance in the Men's Senior Category. 'Bendang' means fields in Malay; strangely, I wasn't familiar with this word until I came to the state of Kedah, arguably the rice bowl of Malaysia. I wanted very much to run through the fields in Alor Setar - a place I now call home - as I have done in the past along with some elite runners of the Alor Setar Jogging Club members. I knew the risks of injuring the knee further but I felt it would be wrong for me to not participate in the perhaps the only major running event in Alor Star..

The event was graced with the presence of the chairperson of YSB, Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz biti Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah. Her royal highness was accompied by the Mentri Besar of Kedah, Dato' Sri Mukhriz Mahathir as the guest-of-honor.

The warm-up exercises were the longest I have ever had to do. I couldn't help but feel as if I was in an aerobics class led by a team of four exuberant female instructors. I'm sure all the enthusiastic runners felt the warm-up session was fun if not too lengthy. It went on for 30 minutes

The race was flagged off at 8am, by which time the temperature soared to the early thirties.
I felt the sweltering heat as soon as I broke into a stride. I decided to go slow and steady; after all this race for me is not about time, but participation. By the third km, I was severely thirsty. I kept looking out for a water station along the way but alas, there were none to be found for another 4km. The only water station available was at the 7km check point. I must have suffered the symptoms of dehydration by 5km as my pace went from 5:30 to 6:00, then 7:00 and 11:00 when I started walking for 30 seconds. Sweat was pouring out of me and I could feel a burning sensation in my legs clad in running tights. Walking helped to cool my body down.. I battled with fatigue and increasing weakness. Please give me water was my mantra....

The hydration station finally appeared and it provided water in sealed plastic cups. Somehow sipping water from a straw just didn't quench my thirst enough. I poured the last quarter onto my head to cool down.. and it felt like I just doused a fire..

From the station, I entered the much-awaited-for paddy fields. This was probably the most scenic part of the route but I was too exhausted to savour the beauty that greeted me. The heat was unrelenting so I just pushed myself to concentrate on getting to the next checkpoint by adapting a run walk run (mostly walk at this point). From the front of the pack, I quickly dropped to the middle and I was in fact, relieved to see some of the runners whom I passed by earlier, now passing me by... Good luck to them...hopefully see you at the finish line later, if I can  make it.

I did eventually cross the finish line and helped myself to copious amounts of 100 Plus...


This was one race which required the most effort from me. I was overcome with relief when I crossed the finish line and was glad that the race was over.

Distance: 11.4km
Time: 1 hour 8 mins

Viper Arena 2015

 

I'm looking forward to my first Viper Challenge, the Viper Arena 2015 at Stadium Shah Alam on May 23. From what I gathered so far, the Viper Arena is a lighter version of the original Viper Challenge, which consists of a 21km course and 20 obstacles. The Viper Arena with the hashtag challengethedark is a 7km course with 15 obstacles held in the massive Shah Alam stadium in the darkness of the night. According the the event guide, the Viper Arena features a totally different terrain from the previous iterations of Viper Challenge... As it's my first attempt, I don't know what to expect and I think therein lies my anxiety.

I'm hoping to find other challengers with the same start time of 2:00am...

Not for the faint hearted

Forget fear, worry about mud...

Outside the stadium where participants were seen stretching and warming up

Updated (27.05.15)

I decided not carry anything valuable on me so I left behind the iPhone, which I normally carry in an armband for the road races. As I anticipated the course to involve running, jumping, climbing, crawling, scrambling (and falling) I reasoned I should check my phone at the bag drop counter. Losing or breaking my phone is just unthinkable and the memory of my phone crashing one me is still fresh.  I was well aware that I would not be able to take any shots of the course but better to be safe than sorry, heh..

There were 15 obstacles in total and there was one in particular which I enjoyed very much - the mountaineering challenge. In this challenge, participants had to climb a wooden wall (around 10 ft high) by placing wooden pegs into the holes in the wall to propel themselves all the way to the top. This challenge involved teamwork in which two members let the challenger step on their thighs so that he can reach for the first hole in which to place a peg. Once he reaches the top, the challenger would remove the pegs and roll them down for the next challenger to use.

The challenge which I failed miserably was the one that involved rope climbing. Participants had to climb a hanging rope from the ceiling at a height of around 3m. When you reach the top you ring the bell next to the rope. As it was the third from the last challenge, my endurance was at dangerously low levels.. Try as I might, I kept falling.. .(I later learned from the tutorial video on the Viper website that the trick is with the skilful use of your legs to grip the rope.. If only I had watched the video before the challenge!!) Note to self: get as much training tips from the organizer for future endurance challenges..

I survived Viper Arena 2015

In conclusion, I would say that the Viper Arena was tough and challenging, but wickedly fun.