Running a dream in Standard Chartered KL Marathon SCKLM 2009

With BP soon after he crossed the finish line.

"The running I can do, even if I have to crawl every last mile." - Terry Fox (28 July 1958 – 28 June 1981).

I draw my inspiration to complete my first marathon from Terry Fox, an amputee who became famous for the Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research, which Fox ran with one prosthetic leg. His cause is what I believe in and contributed for the past few years.

From a non-runner 9 months ago, now I can call myself a marathon runner. On this day of Fox's passing away 28 years ago, I paid tribute to him by displaying a T-shirt bearing the quote above at the finish line.

I felt really happy having completed my 42.195km in 4 hours and 39 minutes. It was tiring run but when I stood on the starting line today, I felt confident that I could do it. It was a great feeling after all the hard work in trainings has finally paid off.

I couldn't sleep last night although I went to bed early. But I was not sleepy. I was eager to start running and my energy level was high. Time passed quickly and it was 3:00am. I got up and went through my checklist before I departed for the run.

I parked my car in Padang Merbuk at 3:50am and BP arrived 2 minutes later. We walked to Dataran Merdeka less than 1 km away. We met Ravin there half an hour later. Lam pulled out last minute. So it was just three of us to start.

At 4:30am it started raining. The runners were forced to take cover under the VIP tent that was just next to the Start/Finish line. It rained for 10 minutes but it was not too heavy. Then at 4:50 am the runners were called to the starting line. But just 5 minutes before the start, the rain came down again. Luckily, just as we were starting, the rain slowly became a drizzle and stopped a few minutes later.

Runners taking shelter in the VIP tent.

I took this photo with my phone camera just before it rained (again) at the starting line.

Before I started running, I told BP to do the run-walk strategy and not overdo it. He wore his knee guard and it proved later to be a good decision. I also told him that if I finished first, I would wait for him at the finish line.

Because of the rain, the roads were slippery and some puddles around. So I started slowly and cautiously. Since there were too many runners around me, I couldn't speed anyway.

At 2.5km mark (Jalan Travers), I saw Janice and James standing at the road divider. They had promised to come to support BP and I. I was happy to see them. Janice took a photo of me but she forgot the flash.

Then I passed KL Sentral on my left going to Jalan Tun Sambathan. My old office was just around the area. So it was like "home ground" to me.

At around 5km mark (approaching the first water station), I saw Tey in front of me. This was his 39th marathon! When I saw him, I thought to myself, I must be running too fast. An experienced runner like him would run slow initially. The fact that I didn't see him at start and I saw him now, so I must be running too fast. I slowed my pace a little and continue with that pace until the 9th km when we turned to Jalan Cheras.

At 12km we turned right to Jalan Tun Razak. At 14km, there was an electronic check point followed by a water station with bananas. In this marathon, the water stations were located roughly at approximately every 2.5km along the route. At every station, I was mindful to drink a cup or two. Although I have a bottle of Gatorade with me, I was saving this for later stage of the race.

I was maintaining my pace until 17km mark when I upped my pace from 6'20" to 5'30". At 19 km mark, we turned into Jalan Ipoh, heading towards the city centre. I took a PowerGel there and drank two cups of water and isotonic drinks at 20km. After that I dropped my pace back to 6'20".

At 22km mark, I was in front of Petronas Twin Towers on Jalan Ampang. From here, I saw some runners were having problem with cramps and had to stop to do stretching. The next few kms were quite flat and easy. We passed through KLCC Convention Centre and were heading for the Golden Triangle. Around this area, I met Jeffery, a master treasure hunter who is also a runner. This was his 5th marathon according him.

At 30th km mark, I reached Jalan Sultan after passing the entrance of Petaling Street. 1 km before that, there was a PowerGel station and each runner was given one. I used that immediately knowing that after 32km was an "unknown" for me. "Unknown" because the longest run in my trainings so far was up to 32km. I wasn't sure what to expect after that. I certainly didn't want to hit the wall or suffer cramp later.

The water station at 30 km was followed by a steep climb on Jalan Hang Jebat. After taking a sip, I quickly took the opportunity to overtake some runners who were walking.

At 33km mark, it was another uphill going to Jalan Istana. This was where the marathon race route overlapped with the half-marathon and 10km run. From hereon I saw some 21km runners walking slowly. At this point, my worst fear came through. The water station there was closed due to no more water. Luckily for me, I still have my Gatorade, still unopened. So I quickly opened the bottle and start drinking almost half a bottle of it. I continued to take some sips from it at later part of the race.

From here I started to overtake many runners. I saw more runners having problems. I was careful not to get too excited. I didn't want to suffer the same fate as them.

There was a water station around 35-36km mark, so I took a cup of water there. This was near Jalan Damansara (Lebuhraya Mahameru). The road here was quite good but dangerous to run on. This was due to only the rightmost lane was reserved for the runners. This is a busy road even on a Sunday. At 37 km mark, I was still running under 4 hours. There could be a chance if I pushed, I could get a sub 4.5 hours finish. But I decided not to. After all I didn't want to risk it.

There was another water station near 38km mark, but with no water. Some runners were complaining there. This was a serious matter. Some people could die because of dehydration. The orgainiser has failed to provide enough water at this part of the route when it mattered most. After the chaos on last Friday race pack collection, I already decided to bring a bottle of Gatorade and save it until later part of the race. I was glad I did that. It really helped me at that stage of the run.

The 38-39 km was an easy downhill where I took chance to up the pace to near 6'10". The last three 3km was near Dataran Merdeka, but we had to turned to opposite direction to Jalan Raja Laut first.

There was a water station at 40km mark just before we turned back to Jalan TAR heading towards the finish line. At 41km mark, I saw Hugo (my ex-Head of Department in 2005), cheering me. I believed he was waiting for Ravin whom he knew well.

With 1km to go, I was really relieved to come so far and going to finish the race. Just 200m from the end, I picked up the Terry Fox T-shirt from my brother. I have asked him to come with my family. My mom was there at the finish line waiting for me too. I couldn't describe my feeling during the final few hundred metres. Happy was an understatement. It was beyond happy.


I stopped at the finish line holding the Terry Fox Run 2006 T-shirt high and savoured the moment. Ashley and Ashton came hugging me. I felt happy and speechless for a few seconds. My wife was there too with my mom. My brother took photos of us at the finish line.

The finishing moment was unforgettable. I finished my first marathon with my family, mom and brothers witnessing the historic moment. It took a while for it to sunk in. I thanked them all for coming and the support they showed.

Then I went to collect my finisher medal and T-shirt and snapped more photos with my family. As I'd promised to wait for BP, I asked my family, mom and brothers to return home first.

I waited for BP at the finish line, not knowing how he was doing, or if his knee would hold. I was really glad to see him crossing the finish line without pain in his knee. Although he finished an hour after me, but it was still under 6 hours (his target). I quickly took a photo with him and showed him where to get his goodies.

After that we waited for Ravin at the finish line. Ravin's wife also waited for him. He came in finally with the time of 7 hours 5 minutes. We ran with him for the last 100m. This was his maiden marathon too.

It was a memorable day for me. Having finished my first marathon within 5 hours and seeing my friends completed it as well. I hope to see more friends joining the marathon next time round.

I'm sure this will not be my last marathon. I have completed this run without too much suffering. So it is a good sign that I can do more (marathons) in the future. I'm not sure my next marathon target yet. One thing for sure, this is just a new beginning for me.