The KL marathon was the 2nd marathon that I participated this year. It was held on Sunday June 27, a day before my birthday. I took part in the 10km race. On Saturday June 26, I stayed the night at Maytower with three of my children, Siti Ayeshah, Siti Sofiyah and Wahiduzzaman. The reason for staying at Maytower was because I could easily walked to the venue of the event, which was at Dataran Merdeka.
I woke up at 5am Sunday morning, showered and had my dawn prayers. I then left Maytower at 6am and walked to Dataran Merdeka, alone. I told my children to wait for me at the finishing line after 8am. I anticipated to finish my run in one and half hours.
When I reached Dataran Merdeka, there were so many runners at the starting line. They were all much much younger than me... I looked around and saw a group of runners around my age, and approached them to say 'hi'. There was this lady who looked older than me, and she has been running in marathons all over Malaysia. Wow.....
Anyway, before the race began, there was a warm up session. Aerobics. I was stuck in the middle at the starting line, and there were no room to move around to do the aerobics. Luckily I did warm-up before joining the other runners in the starting line.
Sharp at 7 am, the VIP flag us off.... So, I ran and spot a marker, and tried to follow him. He was so fast... so, I followed another marker. Then he vanished. So, I followed another marker and another and another... till I lost count!! Whatever...!
Everyone was running, there was no one walking at all.... Wow..... Some were running fast, some were slow. I was the latter. Hahaaha...
Anyway, there was plenty of uphill every 2 km. That was tough. The worst part was climbing the road uphill next to the State mosque. It was really challenging!! I almost gave up. My toes were hurting me... and my leg muscles were getting stiff!! OMG!! At my age, if I jog slowly up the hill, its ok. BUT if those runners who were years younger than I was, were slowly walking up the hill..... then there was nothing for me to be ashamed of!! When I saw them walking up the hill, it motivated me to give all my best to finish the run.
When it was time to run downhill towards Padang Merbok, my feet were really killing me.... Ouch! ouch! and OUCH!!!! Yet, I refused to give up. Then there was the pit stop. I slowed down and took a cup of plain water and drank it... I threw the empty cup onto the road!!! A privileged to litter, this once!! I hate to do it, but then, there was no waste bin in sight!! Waddaaaaa..
Then, when I reached the traffic lights in front of Bank Rakyat, I thought the run would be over, because Dataran Merdeka was just after the next traffic lights. Boy!!! how wrong was I...
The runners were turning into the road in front of DBKL. Waddaaaaa!!!!! Oh Dear God... please give me more strength to complete this race. While running, well, actually I was more jogging than running, I noticed an ambulance by the roadside in front of DBKL. The paramedics were carrying a runner into the ambulance. He was young. (I read in the newspaper this morning, that he had died. He was only 25 years old) . That was tragic.
Anyway, after passing the road between the Mara Building and Pertama Complex, the runners and I ran down Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. At the junction of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, I saw my children waiting for me. Wahiduzzaman took a picture of me running and I heard them cheering me on....
Finally I crossed the finished line at approximately 8.40am!! To know the exact time, log on to www. kl-marathon.com and look for my bib no. 24241 (F10km race). I felt quite dizzy and very very very thirsty as I walked to the 10km tent to claim my finisher medal.
Alhamdullilah, I completed the race, and InshaAllah I hope to run again next year. I must train more and not be lazy like this time... BECAUSE.... my body and legs were aching all over.... But then..
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