Standard Chartered KL Marathon - My inaugural race (Half-Marathon) !

June 26th (Sunday) - Took part in my very first SCKLM which has attracted a total of 22,000 participants across all categories.. I had planned to run a FM but ended up with just a HM.. In fact, I have registered for both categories, kinda a freak accident as I forgot I have already booked a FM in Feb and then I ended booking a HM in March.. Anyway, with my flight in the afternoon, no way I can finish up the race, refresh, check out from hotel and hop on a bus to go to catch my flight back.. Too high risk and no time for me to recover. So HM it was !

The race kicked off at 6.15am but I was already up and exercising with the FM folks as early as 4am ! The FM was flagged off at 5am. Kinda bored while waiting for another 1 hr 15 mins.. I will not go to starting line-up so early if my race is not ready.

Distance : 21.46km

Timing : 2:18:31 (chip time), 2:19:28 (gun time) ==> a PB !

Pace : 6:45mins/km

I did 26mins for first 5km, then 32mins for 2nd 5km but by 10th km, I was already tired out.. But the urge to register a PB pushed me on.. At 17th km, I picked up my pace and the last 3km was pretty tourturing as the sun was out and pretty hot at that time.. In fact, the home stretch of last 500m was a real challenge as it was the converging point of all categories and with 5km and 10km participants 'walking' in, you have to zig-zag and weave in between the people to run..

Must say this is among the best organized, if not the best race I have run in.. With water + 100 Plus drinks + ice packs almost every 4km along the route, and with mobile toilets strategically positioned and many marshalls and volunteers cheering people on, what can one complain about the race !! Keep up the great work Standard Chartered !

Pretty satisfied with my race though I was hoping to do a 2:15 and I was pacing the pacer for some distances before I fizzled out at the 16th km !! :( Anyway, always a next race to better my PB and look forward to !

I will surely be back for the race next SCKLM 2012... But wonders if it'll be HM or FM !

Up next - Penang Veteran 10km run @ PISA !

My post-race meal.. lots of nasi lemak from the hotel (Swiss Inn @ Petaling Street) !!

22,000 runners @ Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 !!

22,000 Participants This Year!

Breaking last year’s record, the Standard Chartered KL marathon announced today that nearly 22,000 runners have signed up to compete on 26 June. Upon the close of registration at midnight on 31 May, runners registered for in each category exceeded those of last year by nearly 4,000 participants.

Runners representing 78 different nationalities and 35 countries worldwide will join the nearly 19,000 Malaysian runners from across the country on race day in the city of Kuala Lumpur. Interestingly, the male to female ratio remains exactly the same as last year, with 38 per cent female and 62 per cent male participants.

The full marathon category achieved a nearly 32 percent growth in participants totaling 2,437 runners in comparison to last year’s 1,855.