BIM 2010 - My feedback on the event

First, I would like to congratulate the organiser for the overall successful event. Thank you to all the crew, volunteers & sponsors too for the time, effort and sponsorship to make this an event to be remembered.

The good or positives:

1. Ample water and isotonic drinks at the water station. Water stations were located roughly 3-5km apart.

2. Got free return bus transfer from hotel to stadium. Very important for runners who came from other countries or states.

3. Nice flat race course, scenic at some parts.

4. Strong number of crew and volunteers. They were friendly and cheerful. Also encouraged the runners along the route and urged them on. Note there weren't many other people care/bother/cheer/watch along the route.

5. Distance marker at every km.

6. Nice medal design.

Areas for improvement:

1. No finisher T-shirt after race. Finisher T-shirt for full marathon has become a norm. So BIM can consider this next year?

2. Race for full marathon started 4 minutes late.

3. Race course was not certified by AIMS. I tend to believe that the actual course length was in the range of 42.6 to 43km. This was based on the recorded distance on my GPS and other runners' GPS. This could be partly due to the runners were directed to run on right side of the road (not necessarily the shortest path). In actual survey or measurement of the route, I believed the shortest path is measured to get the usual 42.195km.

4. Lack of atmosphere surrounding the run. Partly due to lack of participation I think.

5. The split time of the runner at key points of the race was not recorded. This caused the full result to have no split times other than the finish time. Last year, split times at key points were recorded and full results showed this. This also meant that manual checks were needed to ensure runners ran a fair race.

6. Lack of refreshment station after the race. Maybe I was comparing with the runs held in KL or West Malaysia. Perhaps watermelons, or even bread were not too much to ask?