Race Report: Port Dickson International Half Marathon

It was a very very very wet race. Bacin would've loved it. Pun intended. Hihi.

Event wise, this was my first anniversary since I started running. PD half will always be a nostalgic race as it was my first race ever, back in 2006.

The day started at 5:30am. Chee Yoong picked me up and we later picked Kang Kai and head to PD. The race this time is a milestone for IMU students. 5 of us were there. Chee Yoong, Kang Kai and myself took part in the 21km event and Fahmy and Tengku Kashfil took part in the 11km event.


Yeah!! Masochists United!
From left: Yours truly, Kang Kai, Kasfhil, Fahmy, Chee Yoong.

We arrived just before the crowd came, so there were ample parking spaces. As I stepped out of the car, I could see raindrops in the car headlights ray. Not a good sign. 3 minutes subuh next to the car, I then proceeded to the starting line and met Adrian. He was with Ah Fook and Ronnie, whom I met for the first time. I also met Wendy. She brought an escort along. Guess who was the person? It was Justin! Feewiitt. So sweet the two of them. Tapi tak jadi le aku nak kacau. Heheh.

5 minutes before the start, what the runners feared most happened. It started raining. The crowd became restless, and the organizers wasn't able to contain them. Ye lah, dah hujan, semua orang nak start cepat-cepat. It delayed the start for 5 minutes. Considering the commotion, I think it was acceptable.


Some pervert guys were seen wearing a sleazy smile when it started to rain. The official t-shirt was white cotton shirt. Lucky day for them.

The moment the gun went off, it didn't just rain. It poured. Tau-tau je. 5 minutes into the run, my mp3 player gave up. Shieeettt!! Lesson 1: The mp3 player is not waterproof. I ran without my 'girlfriend' this time, and hell, was it quiet and lonely.

I had trouble breathing. The cold rain triggered my asthma. I quickly took a few puff of the inhaler and I was able to breath again.

I was running at the back of the pack, along with another girl. We took turn to pace each other. After 6km, she started talking:

"Abang dari mana?"

Huh?

"Dari Seremban."

After a few seconds:

"Seremban kat mana?"

Eh, sebok la kau!

"Kat Rasah."

"Saya dah penat lah."

"Takpe, pelan-pelan je."

She kept on talking. This cannot happen. I need to concentrate!! So I waited for a slight downhill, and pulled away from her. Zaassss!!! I never saw her again, until after I made the U-turn. To the girl, if you're reading this, sorilah, saya bukannya nak sombong, but I had a race to finish.

When I reached the 8km mark, I looked at the watch and realized I'm making good progress. I kept up the pace, and by the time I reached the 10km mark, I was faster by 7 minutes than the 10km I did in Subang Jaya. Yessss!!!! That means since November last year, I've been improving!

Few hundred meters after the 12km mark, the brick bench that bear witness me quitting PD half last year, came into sight. It was the brick bench I sat on while waiting for the support van. I can still clearly recall how disappointed I was that time. As I pass the bench, I looked at it and whispered "Not this year, baby" and kept on running.

17km into the race, I started showing signs of fatigue. I was swerving left and right, and sometimes stop to catch some breath. What kept me going was the progress I was making. I was definitely faster than KLIM. A lot faster actually, that it made me doubt if they had measured the route correctly. I was motivated.

2km from the finish line. I'm gonna make it. By this moment, I have been asked to board the support vehicle 7 times. Twice by the policemen, twice by the ambulance and 3 times by the officials. "Naik bas lah. Dah lepas cut off time dah." "Takpe bang, saya nak habiskan." I can sense their frustration. To them, I'm just another runner who was delaying them. To me, this is a struggle I can't afford to lose.

The final stretch is always the hardest. This time it was different. No people cheering, no music thumping. I was on my own. As I cross the finish line, I gave out a loud sigh of relief. Thank God. I made it. And believe it or not, it was still raining.

Official time: 3 hours 21 minutes.

That's a whopping 37 minutes improvement from KLIM!!!!

[Sebenarnya nothing pun. It only shows that I walked a lot more during KLIM]


Hard-earned medals.

A few runners (whom I can only assume are from Ipoh, based on the t-shirt they're wearing) who were nearby congratulated me. One lady gave me a bottle of Glucolin. Bless them all.

All in all. It was a good race. More people came this year compared to last year. Organizers were fairly professional, but hey, this is Malaysia lah. And above all, I have improved. One gold star for Azman!! And another medal in the collection!


Lick it, eat it, bite it.