Borneo International Marathon = BIM = Bring It, Man!!

It wasn't just the BIM. It was a one-week holiday, siap with interstate visit lagi.

Major draggy post with a lot of pictures.

I saved up a large chunk of my leave for this trip. Us housemen only get 8 days of leave every 4 months, and we work on weekends too. Talk about cheap labour. So as always, my cuti was a jamak (jamak, bukan jimak) of a lot of things into one.

This trip served as one of my goals for 'The Final Frontier', a getaway from work, and meeting and catching up with old friends (like literally old and longtime punya friends. Haha. Rizal jangan marah. You have more hair than I do, I give you that).

Holiday started early, 4 days before the run. It kicked with a 6-hour drive from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu. I took a cup of coffee, the first one since February. Needless to say, I was singing like a wild gibbon in the car. Caffeine has this weird effect on me, you see.

I wasted no time and surveyed the running route once I reached KK. The next day was spent buying running rations (gels and what nots) and a new running shirt. Pretty boring stuff.

Stadium Likas. Starting and Finishing line.

Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen. Very scenic. Very hot!!

Second day in KK, picked Doc Hisyam up from the airport and had dinner with him. Doc taught me a lesson on how to order soda water at a bar in a very cool way. Actually, there's no way. Haha. We initially planned to go water rafting together but due to unforeseen circumstances, rafting day was changed and it clashed with my Miri trip. Takpe Doc. More reason to come back to KK ramai-ramai again.

Then on the third day I took a flight to Miri to meet Rizal, a very close friend, the keeper of skeletons in 1203 Jalan Rasah.

Clouds preferring land over water. I need to look about this stuff up in one of those geography website.

The person who designed Brunei is surely OCD about having everything aligned.

The person who designed Sarawak (and Sabah for that matter) is surely OCD about oil palm plantation (read: money).

Disembarking on a roofless portable stairs (or whatever you call it). Wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt, rasa macam member of Iron Maiden turun dari Ed Force One.

We went to have sushi in Brunei. Rizal has this theory that economic superiority brings positive change to everything. Judging from how delicious sushi in Brunei is, I kinda agree. Sushi was too good, I didn't take any photos.

Then lepak on a beach near a supermarket that sells Tim Tam for $1.60 Brunei Ringgit. Economic superiority at work. It was a sunny day. Very sunny day.

Errr. I think I need to get a new pair of pants. This one is falling off my hip already. And wearing a Maiden t-shirt and posing with a coconut tree is.... wrong.

Dinner was at this place called 'Kinky Fat Chef Kitchen' or KFCK for short. This place is such a gila place to find. It's actually a house, located behind a few houses, in a housing area where you have to circle around to get to. Orang gila apa bukak kedai makan ulu-ulu macam nih! (Ekceli orang yang pergi kedai tu la yang gile sebenarnya)

They sell homemade burgers. They make their own meat patty and sauce. It's sedap gila, you know. Patut la kedai ulu-ulu pun orang pegi.

Rizal agrees.

As an homage to 1203 Jalan Rasah, we tried to boil water in a watermelon for breakfast.

An experiment me and Vijay pioneered.

Still failed though.

A movie and a quick goodbye, I bid Rizal farewell. Weh lepas ni kita gi cuti kat Ostrolia pulak.

Went back to KK and went straight to the Pasta Party organized by the BIM committee.

Do you see it? A lot of strong runners!

Here's a closer look:

Naahhhh harun. Badan ketul-ketul. Lean, mean running machine.

Tak cukup dengan tayang body, depa tayang baju. Marathon finisher. Ada yang pakai 84km finisher! I think finisher t-shirts should be banned when there is a gathering of more than 5 runners. Either that or during the next pre-run party, I'm gonna wear a t-shirt that says 'Massive Cock Down There'.

Sesi isi perut terus bertukar menjadi sesi kecut perut. I felt out of place. Didn't know anyone in person. Quite difficult to start a conversation because everyone was wearing this 'Haha. This guy? Running?' face.

Chewed onto some food kasi cukup syarat and left to have dinner some place else.

There were books going out cheap in Suria Sabah. Aaaaahhh. Paradise.

Went back to the place I was staying and started to set up for tomorrow.

Jam yang dihiasi dengan estimated time for each KM. In the end memang jadi perhiasan pun.

Woke up at 3:30am for the race. Don't forget your Vaseline.

Doing 'number 2' was damn frustrating that morning. Arrgghh. Apasal la tak berselera nak keluar. Had to run with few extra grams. Dah tengah-tengah lari baru la terasa. Terasa apa? Terasa nak berak la!

The next 5 pictures were cilok-ed from Doc Hisyam's blog.

The race was brilliantly organized. Pre-race instructions were clear, distance marker every kilometer, water stations every 2 kilometers. The route was designed in such a way that no matter how far back a runner is, there are always runners around. And volunteers! They even have volunteers to cheer you on! Amazing! People were chanting 'Bole bah kalau kau!!' while we were running.

Water stations serving 100Plus and mineral water. Supply was always enough. Two supply stations along the 21km route served bananas. I took a drive along the running route few hours after the run and all the mess was cleaned up. Not a single sign of a marathon taking place few hours earlier. Amazing job organizers!

Runners coming and going. A very fun atmosphere.

Did I tell you it's hot?

Yaaaaa. Itu dia. Running with a bottle in hand macam budak sekolah. Kalau tarik Ezi Bag, lengkap for back to school. The adidas climacool running shirt is awesome!! The technology that keeps you dry really works. Mana tak. Harga hampir sama dengan dua kali on call. Do you think they make climacool underwear?

I actually had a hydration pack belt on, tapi the tugging at the perut made is so tak selesa. In the end pegang jugak botol tu. The hydration pack became a useful device only masa nak 'ease myself'. So I had both hands free to manipulate the hosing apparatus to aim accurately.

Doc looks too good, so he had to sembunyi half his face when taking the photo, just so that I can outshine him for a moment. A very cool company to hang out with. Nanti balik KL kita pi Plan B Rock Kapak, Doc. Thanks Doc H for the pictures.

I was aiming for a sub 3 hours, but that was shooting for the moon lah. Kalau budget ikut training, memang ngam-ngam habis. Tapi tak pernah try pun. Kejadian sebenar 3:28:03 (official time) for a half marathon. Hahaha. Officially juga the last man crossing the finishing line within cut off. Read that. WITHIN cut off. Wow. That's a first. Selalu hujung-hujung dunia, mau dekat 4 jam. 4 jam tu orang buat full marathon.

I was actually off by 3 minutes at the first 4km. Lepas tu baru jumpa running pace yang dicari-cari. At U-turn, the time at hand was 1:34:++, kira memang ikut budget lah. Tapi sampai je 11 to 12th km, bonked gila. Terus run, walk, run, walk. Belasah je. Memang uncharted territories pun.

Consolation was I didn't experience any muscle cramps and was able to hold my hands up high and smile when crossing the finishing line. Kalau dulu, pedulik. Nak tercabut nyawa rasa.

Post race, terus cari tempat nak soru.

Marry Brown is soooo much better than KFC. I don't know why their chain is not as extensive. Marketing kot. Oit, Marry Brown. Here's a suggestion for your tagline. "Some people say our chicken tastes much better." Nah! All you need is one idiot to try your chicken and actually liking it, and the the word will spread virally. Serious ayam korang lagi sedap.

The next day jumpa Hady for dim sum breakfast at Karamunsing Capital. Kerja kat Hospital Kota Belud dia nih. On call boleh kata every night (doctors know what that translates to. Heheheh). So sekarang ni minum air pun kat Starbucks.

Hari Selasa baru drive balik ke Sandakan.

Driving into the clouds, macam my little pony.

Stopped at Kundasang for a breather. Fuuhh. Cantiknya. Cerah terang-benderang, tapi sejuk. Kalau dapat minum Teh Boh mesti best.

Entrance to Kinabalu Park.

Asyik berjalan sorang je. Tak bosan ke?

340km and 6 hours of driving back. Enjoyed every km of it. Sapa cakap jalan kat Sabah tak bagus? Korang je bad drivers, tak tau nak appreciate jalan.

It was an awesome 7-day trip. Could have actually done more, but who is keeping count?

With the conclusion of BIM, I've checked all my goals in 'Final Frontier'. Is it really the end? Of course not! Kita set goal baru la. Blueprint tengah... errr... printing.

Last one to mark an achievement on the Final Frontier album. Training resumes... errr... soon.

Malam tu tido pakai finisher t-shirt. Maklumlah, first time muat pakai finisher t-shirt without having to sedut perut.