The Nike We Run KL 2016 on Sunday, 10 April was a success. I was among the lucky 8,987 runners who participated in this monumental event in the Malaysia running calendar. I thought I'd do the recap early for this race instead of waiting for a few days like I normally do till the results are out. There are so many exciting things about this race to share with my readers, I just can't wait to get started while everything is still fresh in my memory.
REGISTRATION
Registration for the event was not without drama: one of us team members
experienced a near heart-attack 'moment' when on clicking to pay for
her registration, she was greeted with a message stating that her payment was unsuccessful. Subsequent attempts with all off the credit cards failed and her registration timed out. She had no choice but to start the whole registration process again but by this time traffic on the registration site was super heavy. She was kept waiting for three hours just to get to the payment page again. I kid you not! To say it was agonising for her is putting it mildly. All of us on the team, communicating via Whatsapp chat were
at the edge of our seats thinking the unthinkable: she will be eliminated from our team should she fail to register. It was only at the
eleventh hour that the unfortunate member managed to get a place in the
race. It goes to show that, persistence pays off.
PRE-RACE EVENTS
From the day of registration on 16 January, a specially curated 12-week training programme by the Nike Malaysia team was activated digitally, the details of which were sent to Nike We Run KL registrants every Wednesday. Not surprisingly, maximum capacity was reached within hours of online registration for each and every of their weekly training events. By the time I arrived home from work to register for the event, my excitement turned to disappointment when I found out that there were no spots left for the training session. Recalling the lesson in persistence, I answered the last call from Coach Shaharudin and Coach Sue Ling, and successfully secured a spot for training. How did I do it? Oh well, no biggie... I stayed back at the office and waited for the email invitation from Nike Malaysia to come into my inbox and that's how I successfully registered. I had the honour of meeting the dedicated coaches Din and Sue, the pacers team and Jean Pierre, the special coach of the day at Desa Park City on a scorching Sunday morning. As it was the final prep session, participants were tested with a five-loop run with a total distance of 10km. I ran with the 2:00 pacers at 5:30 min/km and managed to keep up with them for the entire exercise. I was upbeat to have found the right pacer on race day.
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| Final training session by Nike Malaysia at Desa Park City |
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| Tested these Nike Lunar Tempo 2 runners |
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| Ready to log the overdue miles on this hot Sunday, 2 April |
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| Coach Din and Coach Sue with the pacers looking really cool |
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Happy faces after a 10km workout |
This year the race pack collection was at the Race Village itself over a period of three days leading up to race day. The self-appointed representative, I went to Semasa Parking at KL Sentral on Thursday 7 April to pick up those money-can't-buy Nike race packs. The contents of the race pack were: a Nike running tee in cheerful orange with a unique registration number/ID, a multi-sport tag for the ankle for timing purposes and a color-coded wristband with designated start pen based on the participant's predicted finishing time.
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| My race pack |
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| Photo opportunity at the race collection venue |
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| First class service rendered by volunteers at the counter |
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| Main tent in Race Village which served as race collection centre before race day |
PRE-RACE DAY
Our team of four checked in at Royce Hotel in Jalan Tun Sambanthan. We chose this hotel because of its proximity to the Race Village. We booked the hotel early - on the day when we received the race guide through email. A few days before the race, we wanted to request for a room upgrade but was informed by the hotel staff that the hotel was fully booked on Saturday. I'm sure there were other runners like us who just passed on the idea of having to drive or take public transport in the wee hours of the morning on race day. This year complimentary monorail and LRT services were provided for the runners to get to the Race Village. Kudos to the organisers for the arrangement. But sleep is a luxury that I was not going to deprive myself of; I reckon that every extra minute of shut-eye goes to benefit the mind, heart and body which amount to better performance on race day. Our team of four went out for an early dinner at Nu Sentral, where we had pasta to load up the carbs, followed by a relaxing chit-chat filled with laughter and discussion centered around running. In case anyone is interested to know, my power song for running is "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas.
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| Royce Hotel |
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| Single room with King size bed |
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| Spaghetti with chicken bolognese for dinner at Sam's Deli, Nu Sentral |
RACE DAY
The Nike We Run KL morning came early as we gathered outside the hotel at 4:30. Danny took longer than expected to come downstairs due to his dodgy belly from the night before. While waiting for Danny, my cousin, Mike who's an experienced runner with numerous FM's under his belt (but refuses to be called an elite runner) showed up to give us moral support. It was a confidence booster for the team indeed. The team of four were all psyched up. Ladies and gentlemen, we were now the Fantastic Four!
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| Mike wearing the perfect matching color shoes for the race |
At this point, I'd like to introduce the team members:
Danny: Has several 10k titles, first time running a HM, only just recovered from a recent gastrointestinal problem. Goal is to cross the finish line.
Cheng Yee: Ran her first HM in Nike We Run KL 2015, aims to improve her time by avoiding the use of port a potty this year which (she claims) cost her 10 minutes last year
Me: Four HM's in 2 years, all with a finishing time of between 2:05-2:07. Consistence is my middle name.
Queen: Excited to run her first HM. Goal is to beat the 4:00 cut off time and avoid the sweeper.
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| Group pic before proceeding to the start pen |
RACE DAY (part 2)
We arrived just after 5 a.m at the Race Village where I checked in my bag. There were no queues which was a pleasant surprise to me. I noted there were plenty of mobile toilets by gender and again, there were no long queues seen. The marshals were strict in not allowing any non runners/non-registered runners into the race village through which registered runners enter the start pens. The orange Nike race tee with a unique number is proof of one's identity as a registered runner. Whereas other race organisers disqualify runners without a bib, this one takes it a step further: no running tee - no run. I actually liked the idea that runners were united in color, running tee and Nike in this event.
I was ushered into my sub 2:30 pen behind the sub 2:00 group and elite runners. As the 8,987 runners waited for the clock to strike 5:30 a.m, deejays JJ and Azura roused the crowd with their animated and lively presentation style. I whipped out my phone and took a selfie, then surveyed the crowd. IT was quite a spectacle to see a sea of orange. There were many young runners age 25 and below around me. A guy behind me was wearing a head band just like mine and earbuds stuck in his ear. He was busy shooting video on his phone to capture every moment leading to the flag-off. And like me, he had the Nike Plus app on standby. And then, the countdown began: 5... 4...3...2..1...
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| Runners were guided to their respective start pen |
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| JJ and Azura were atop a wave of orange runners |
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| A selfie before flag off |
What followed next was something I have never seen in a race: fireworks! It was indeed a spectacular visual extravaganza for all. I was mesmerised by the colorful display for a minute or so and then it was time for me to move to the start line. The atmosphere was electrifying! As I walked to the start line to place my foot on the sensor, I found myself standing under thousands of sparks falling from the sky. It was an incredible experience, if a little unnerving... Confetti was splattered under the start arch which lends splendor to this extraordinary flag-off. Today, KL came to life at 5:30 a.m!
I ran at a comfortable pace of 5:30-5:45 min/km for the first 10km. There was an elevation gain at 9.07 km on Jalan Tun Razak. which I managed with a pace of 6.15 min/km. I picked up my pace again for the next few kilometers until Jalan Parlimen at the 16th kilometer. The hills got to me and my pace dropped to 6:45 min/km.
I should point out that my favourite pacer (2:00) was in sight in the first 12km of the run, but from then on, she left me behind. Or I should say I began to slow down and trailed behind her. Considerably. At that point, I realised that my goal for a sub 2:00 finish was next to impossible, but I was still aiming for a respectable time. Just Do It. I managed to keep a good pace till kilometer 14. And from 15th km my pace went progressively downhill so that I was not able to run under 6 min/km all the way to the finish line. I was rapidly burning out.
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| Elevation versus distance |
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| Pace versus distance |
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| On Jalan Parlimen where the thought of giving up was attractive to most runners (photo courtesy of Victor Chong) |
A turnaround came in the last 200 meters, wherein I drew energy from my reserves and sprinted to the finish line. And you can see that I pushed myself to the limit in this photo finish.
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| Victory is mine |
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| Physiotherapists on hand to help runners after the race |
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| Gave the lovely pacer a good chase in the course but she beat me to the finish line
At the Race Village, finishers
were treated like athletes with post-run
stretching performed by Physiotherapists from Universiti Malaya and ice-bath
to cool off their sore feet. I benefited from a good stretch of my tight hamstrings. With such VIP treatments, I felt like a champion.Come to think of it, all the participants came and conquered the 21k distance on the day 100416 were champions. Congratulations too all who ran!
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| Nike Plus summary |
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| Records fell on 10.04.16 |
Official results:
Gun time: 2:07:26
Nett time: 2:05:47
Rank: #449 Overall (M), #355 (Above 25)
Final thoughts on the race:
What I liked:
- Nice running tee with printed number
- Good looking finisher medal
- Plenty of water and isotonic drinks station with sufficient volunteers
- Friendly marshals who directed runners throughout course
- Motivational messages at every kilometer
- Well thought out route with iconic landmarks
- Stretching by physiotherapist and ice-bath
- Week by week email from Nike Malaysia on training progress
- Training programme ebook available to all registrants
I thought the event was so well-organised that I could not find anything which I disliked.
What could have been improved:
- Ankle tag with a different chip number from ID/bib number could have been labeled with name of the participant. With no other identifiers, there's a risk of mixing the tags among runners in the case of group race pack collection
- More cheers by volunteers to motivate the runners. There were few of them and they were mostly working alone.
