Pacesetter’s 5km Run and Happy Merdeka

I wanted to write a Merdeka post but suddenly my verbal diarrhea skills failed me. All I could think of wasn’t something very patriotic or non-cynical. So instead of risking myself having to eat “kali peng” (curry rice) in ISA, I’d better stick to something nice and fluffy like my inaugural 5km run in Putrajaya. Yes…that’s nice and safe so here it goes! Inspired by Kennysia’s KL Marathon and Penang Bridge Run!

I was “persuaded” to join the 5km Putrajaya Breakfast Run organised by the Pacesetters Club and signed up grudgingly for it without realising I was going to be having an adventure-filled day the day before! By the time I found out, it was too late to pull out and tofu me had to go on my virgin run, despite never having ran in a very long time!

Sunday morning saw me bright and early signing up at their booth.

Collected my number (which I didn’t know how to pin on!). If you’re a 4-D fan, the first letter is ‘D’ not ’0′!

Start with some warm-up…

And we’re off!!

It was quite interesting watching how some people ran. Some burst into sprints the minute the signal was given while the more experienced runners paced themselves. Some walked and others half-ran and half-walked and little girl next to me who was constantly egged on to run by her mommy kept asking when she could stop to walk! Her constant pleas to stop to walk echoed mine but I was “made” to keep running at a constant pace.

A friend made an interesting observation about the runners. He said it was a little like life. Some burst into great speeds at the beginning only to slow down halfway through while some started slow only to speed up towards the end to win and others kept a consistent pace throughout. So which are you?

I plodded on, half dead most of the way. That was when I realised that when you’re almost ready to give up physically, the mental strength to go on takes you further than you would have been able to physically. No wonder athletes say that running is a race with yourself, not with anyone else. It’s an internal challenge to keep going even when your body is crying out for you to stop.

5km later, the finish point never looked so good! I was parched dry and luckily the organisers had a wonderful treat of sweet and juicy watermelon waiting for us!

I don’t usually eat watermelon but that particular watermelon never tasted so good!

We were asked to trade in our numbers for a food pack. For RM2 which we paid at the start of the race, we got this! I was very impressed!

Clockwise from the top: A bottle of mineral water, 2 curry puffs, a slice of marble cake, a pack of fried mee siam, a banana, an orange and 10 packs of Nesvita 3-in-1 instant oats!

So did I enjoy the run? Well, it wasn’t too bad for an inaugural run. Although I felt like dying most of the way, the endorphines at the end of it made me feel really good! That, plus the lovely breakfast and watermelon treat provided by Pacesetters!

Will I do it again? Hm…I’m not sure!

Having said that, do have a Happy Merdeka and do enjoy your long weekend! Tomorrow morning while you’re eating your nasi lemak, dim sum, roti canai and sipping on your hot teh tarik, do pause for a moment and think what this day means to you, besides getting a public holiday and getting to enjoy a myriad of food everyday! I know I would.