IMD & wifey were very nice to arrange almost everything for me. From race registration, booking of accomodation, collection of race bibs to to-and-fro coach tickets, they've got all that nicely done for me. I just had to appear at the respective places. I'm reli very thankful to them.
Ok, let's start from Singapore to Kampar
9pm - i was still at the bus stop near my place. Earlier on, I saw bus#961 whisked past :( My coach was scheduled to depart at 10pm! Well still, stingy me refused to take a cab to Golden Mile. Since my place is so near, i was confident i cld reach in time. So i took bus#14 with the intention of alighting opp Suntec then perhaps take a bus/cab. VERY wrong choice. I shld have trusted my instincts. #14 passes by Orchard Road before reaching City Hall and traffic condition was (of course) bad on a Fri nite. To cut the story short, i alighted at NTUC Income Bldg, boarded a cab in the middle of the traffic, searched for Konsortium in a frantic rush & finally got seated on the coach 5 min prior to departure *phew*
See my happy face on the coach *wink* For the 1st time, I got my own TV on a coach!
After the madness wears off, i slowly realised...it's my 1st time travelling ALONE to Msia. Gosh! I always tried to avoid gg to Msia and Indonesia on my own cos i dun feel safe despite been there umpteenth times.
Almost to Kampar
20min after we stopped at Puduraya, the driver suddenly told me to go over to the other (less "sud"-looking) coach. Reason being i was the only one left in the coach who was gg to Kampar. Duh. Anyhow, i was too sleepy to argue. Thankfully, the trip after that took just an hr odd.
Kampar (eve of race day)
At 6:05am, the good news is I finally reached Kampar. Bad news - The coach stopped me in the middle of a quiet street that looks like Kreta Ayer. Later on, i learnt that it's actually Kampar town. I tot the coach wld alight me at the hotel doorstep *frown* Some ray of light in the darkness - there's a couple & 2 cabbies with me. I asked the couple for directions & they suggested me to take a cab to the hotel. The estimated fare was MYR10. Hmm...seems like i din have a choice. I checked out the rate with the Chinese cabbie uncle & he quoted MYR8. Eventually, i voluntarily paid MYR10 since he seems like a kind soul. He tot i was there for studies. Hehhe...very flattering. At my age, I can still pull off as an uni student. Must be at nite so uncle can't see me clearly :P
I checked into the room in a jiffy and KO in no time. Yes, i must mention at this point. This hotel that we were staying - Grand Kampar, apparently is the best hotel in the area. In spite of my fatigue, I was impressed by what i saw when i stepped into the room - spacious, clean and comfy.
12.00pm - i woke up cos my stomach was growling for food and the strong sun rays were shining thru' the windows (hee, i was too lazy to draw the curtains). Went to the nearby kopitiam for wanton mee. The food is so nice and cheap there. I had the noodles & home-brewed barley for MYR4!
Roamed around in the vicinity. Nothing much...just houses and provision shops, bakery and some basic neighbourhood facilities.
Oh ya! I saw a granny cutting her grandson's hair. So cute. Don't think many of us do that in Singapore now. I was too paisei to go near so just quickly took a snap from far. See lah...never aim properly.
1.30pm - i was back in the hotel room cos there isn't anything much to see and the weather was reli hot. Looks like it's not gonna be that easy a 21km if the same weather persists tmr.
2.15pm - IMD called. They have reached the hotel. I went to the lobby and was surprised to see a big gp. There were 14 of them - 10 gers and 4 guys.
After they settled in, we went to recce the hotel gym and pool then proceeded to Kampar town. It's a small town and things were slow. We went to eat ice kachang at this empty coffeeshop. I only drank hot milo in case my tummy reacts badly. Before we were even halfway done, they started to close their gates for the day. That was 5pm.
We left the place, walked a little more and headed back to hotel for shower. I took these quick snaps. Kinda liked them - A certain kind of nostalgia...
At abt 7pm, we returned to the town for dinner. Settled for this restaurant, wanting to try the famous Curry Chicken wrapped in Bread (akin to Singapore 933). The staff showed us in. Loud karaoke music greeted us as we laid foot onto the 2nd floor. OMG! We were gate-crashing into a wedding dinner! No wonder the "customers" were looking at us weirdly. We were all dressed in tees and shorts...hehhehe. We sat for a while and decided to go off since no one bothered to serve us after 10min.
The dinner at the next place was reasonably tasty and cheap - only MYR8/pax for 2 types of noodles, 1 fried rice, 1 fish, 1 vege and 1 curry chicken bread. Hit the small pasar malam and returned to hotel. Tam jiak me wasn't full and bought KFC drumsticks. I enjoyed my part 2 while the gang had desserts at the cafe opposite our hotel. Hit the sack at about 11pm.
Race Day
Woke up at 5am. Washed up, took some raisin+grain bread & milo that i've brought from SG. Left for startpoint at 5.40am.
The atmosphere was quite nice at start point. The organisers played some music and things were orderly.
7am - race was flagged off. As usual, the 1st 2km was my warmup hence pace was slow. The sun works extra hard in this little town. It started scorching us at about 8am. I was nearing my 10km then. Took a look at my watch - it read 1:08. Was rather demoralised, thinking "I am still running at this timing for 10km after all this while?!" Caught up with Yee Hua's sister at this mark and tried to pace each other for some time. Pep-talking myself to get rid of any negative tots, i picked up my stride and trodded ahead.
At 19km, i finally managed to overtake this 40+ y/o couple who was running together. I had recognised the lady at the beginning kilometers cos she was not dressed in the usual runner's attire & was running in a seemingly comfortable pace. However, i just couldn't catch up with her. I even lost her for some time. After passing them, i cut another 2 Safra ladies. That reli felt motivating :P
The final km, i was chasing this Safra lady. At some point, i was 2-3 strides away from her but she always took off as i was closing in. The last 400m was downslope & i dun wanna risk injuring my ankle cos of an ego to "win". Afterall, i am here to compete with myself. 10m towards the end, she sprinted & finished ahead of me.
Yee Hua & IMD were waiting for us at the end point. The latter was standing by with his videocam. I slowed down slightly to catch my breath. Can't look too unglam for any picture opportunity...hehhehe.
Thirsty me quickly searched for h20 after crossing the finish line. The endpoint tents were so clearly-labelled tat u won't get lost. Runners' welfare was also well taken care of. There was even (free) food like nasi lemak, curry puffs, packeted water (straws given), isotonic drinks, coconut ice cream and chocolate milk provided. Goodie bags containing instant noodles, cereal mixes, muscle cream, aspirin, "beauty" pills were handed out to the finishers. After some stretching, i collected my medal and finisher cert that was neatly wrapped in a plastic sheet.
IMD clinched a 9th position in the men's open cate. Well done! After getting his 2nd Bidor trophy and bidding goodbyes to Vincent, we drove back to Grand Kampar Hotel.
After Race Tots
I clocked 2:24. It's a PB cos my last KOTR timing of 2:18 can't be considered (highly suspected to be under-distanced at 19.6km). Ain't very satisfied abt my result cos was hoping for 2:20. But hey! What more can i ask for? Miracles don't always happen when u dun put in the effort to train specifically for an event *ah bish*
This is one race that i pep-talked quite a lot to myself. I was at a dilemma. On one hand, my ankle injury is not gone totally hence i had to pace myself patiently and not go too fast. Kept telling myself not to accelerate too soon. On the other end, i wanted badly to run under 2:30 in order to clock a sub-5 for my next marathon.
Route - i enjoyed this race tho there were a couple of gradual upslopes. Thanks to the regular hill trg, i could cope well. At certain parts, i had this feeling that i was doing an adventure race...passing by village houses, old folks' homes and plantations. Felt like River Kwai's running leg, nice.
Support - the organisers had in place everything a runner needs in a race (at least to me). Traffic control was good. Sweeping bikes and ambulances were available. Distance & route markers were prominently placed. Distance markers were spaced every 1km towards the last 5km.
Others - I enjoyed the company of Yee Hua's friends & family (her sis). They are a warm & fun bunch. Some of them are fun runners and i always prefer to mix with such a crowd...not so competitive and they just run to keep healthy and most imptly, being happy doing smtg fun with a gp of kakis.
This is definitely one of the best organised small-scale races i've been to - a race organised by runners for runners :) Kudos to the organising team and support crew!
Kampar (after race)
Showered, checked out and went back to the restaurant that we din managed to try the popular Curry Chicken Bread. To our disappointment, the so-called specialty was not that fantastic aferall. The bill was also more expensive than the nite b4. Nonetheless, we still finished all the dishes. Look at our hungry faces and the fatty pork :P
We splitted with the group and proceeded to Yee Hua's place b4 gg to Puduraya where we took our coaches back to SG.
I tot the ride home was gonna be smooth but mm-mm *shakes head* I got 2 bad scares. After the food break at Lucky Garden (the one with the koi pond), i couldn't find my bus! I walked from one end of the terminal to the other in search of it but to no avail. Jialat...Did i exceed the time and the bus left without me??? But i dun recall hearing any announcement of my bus leaving. I asked another 5 star bus driver who was nearby and learnt that my bus is filling up its tank at the gas station. Imagine my relief.
We waited for 10min or more for the bus to arrive. When it did, it nearly knocked me down with its front mirror. @$@!#$@$%@! I was reli angry. I was writing some stuff hence din see the bus driving in. The idiotic driver din even bother to slow down or sound the horn to warn me. He did not apologise but appeared "scared" when i tried to take his picture as he got off the bus. We waited for another 15min on the bus before he returned from his break.
All the delays led us reaching Golden Mile at 11.45pm. There was no bus or MRT service by then. I had to take a cab. Now, i got less $ to feed my piggy bank again :(
Was very tired when i reached home. Took a quick shower, dumped my dirty clothes into the washing m/c & immediately slammed onto the bed. I slept so well that there was no dreams :)
