Malakoff Penang 26KM - Mar'27, my first race for 2011

I completed my first race of the year @ Malakoff Penang 26KM 2011. This is my 2^nd time participating in the race, my first being 2010. The 20+ hr rain nearly put a damper into the participation. It has been raining & pouring since 26^th March 8am and was still having occasional pour as of 3.30am. Thank God it stopped around 4am and stayed away until the very tail end of the race ! Amazing but true, sounds like bomoh at work. Hehe.

My time = 3 hr 08 min 41 s, with pace of 7.23min/km, and speed 8.30km/hr. This is much better compared to last year’s time of 3:31, so that’s an improvement of 23mins. My 5km splits : 5km/35min (35mins), 10km/1:06 (31mins), 15km/1:46 (40mins), 20km/2:22 (36mins), 25km/3:00 (38mins), 26km/3:08. I had blistered feet and calf muscle cramp (both calves) at around the clock tower turn (18^th km). Anyway, I managed to hold on to that until the finishing line. Overall, the event were well organized, Kudos to Malakoff and the sponsors, except for 2 observations : #1) Lack of isotonic drinks along the run. We were mainly provided with Spritzer mineral water and even Revive cups were filled with mineral water. It’s towards the 2^nd half drink stations that we have 50/50 split of isotonic drinks. #2) St John Ambulance presence were scarce. I recalled only seeing 1 along the way, ie near the clock tower. I saw 2 guys grimacing in pain due to the cramps. The only way the St john Ambulance people could help was to provide a towel as cold compress and a pail of water ! They did not even have the simple muscle ache spray ! Gosh.. luckily I carried with me to last me through the run.. So, Yoko Yoko – never run without it.. My new tagline.. LOL !

The drink station locations : 5^th km @ Lembah Permai, right after the Vale of Temp winding roads, 10^th KM right after Tanjung Bungah Hotel, 15^th KM @ tail end of Gurney, 20^th KM @ half way of Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, 24^th KM @ Jalan Sepoy Line

The medal - 2011 (L) vs 2010's (R)