Penang Bridge International Marathon 2012

Front and rear of my PBIM 2012 finisher medal.

Today, I would like to share my experience running in the 10km (6.21371 miles) category of Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2012 which took place last Sunday morning.

Held every year since 1985, people from all over the world participate in PBIM to run across the fourth longest bridge in Southeast Asia - The Penang Bridge. This year's PBIM attracted 34,000 runners, which is a big increase compared to 27,500 last year and 24,000 in 2010.

I only started running since May 2012, and PBIM 2012 is the second major running event I joined so far. Prior to this, I participated in the 10km category of Putrajaya Night Marathon 2012 and managed to clock a net time of 1:09:07. I was not too happy with the result and planned to do better in PBIM 2012. This year's PBIM is special to me because it is the first and last time for me to run on the iconic Penang Bridge as the marathon will be moved to the Second Penang Bridge from next year onwards.

The 10km Run was scheduled to start at 6.30am along Tun Dr. Lim Choong Eu Highway near Eastin Hotel.

The route I ran from the car park towards the 10km Run start line.

I traveled to Penang with my brother, Reuben, and his friend, Tim to participate in PBIM 2012. We left our hotel in Georgetown and drove towards Queensbay Mall at approximately 5.45am. Since Tun Dr. Lim Choong Eu Highway was closed for the marathon, we had to use a different route to get there but somehow took the wrong turn (twice) and ended up being late. At 6.35am, we decided to park the car at Jalan Sungai Dua Bus Station and then ran to Eastin Hotel via Jalan Aziz Ibrahim.

By the time we reached the start line in front of Eastin Hotel, all the other 10km runners had already left. As I crossed the start line, I waved at Tim who was just behind me to run faster to catch up with the other runners. After running for a short distance, we were able to catch up with the some of the slower runners and "walkers".

As I approached the ramp to get onto the Penang Bridge, it started to get congested and weaving through the sea of people started to become difficult. Once I got onto the bridge, I noticed many participants stopping to take photographs since this is the last time the marathon is being held there. I paid no attention to the beautiful view of sunrise and took this opportunity to speed up instead. Tim overtook me as I was about to exit the bridge. I was starting to feel tired at the time and decided not to chase after him. Reuben was nowhere to be seen throughout the entire run.

I crossed the finish line and clocked a net time of 1:03:24, my new personal best. I am quite surprised with the result as I ran an extra 1km from the car park towards the start line. After collecting my finisher medal, I bumped into my old college mate, Marc, who participated in the Full Marathon category.

According to the official result, I arrived at the start line 17 minutes late but still managed to overtake 4000+ male participants. Not bad for someone who only started running 6 months ago. The lesson I learned from my PBIM 2012 experience is to always plan ahead and make sure you arrive early to marathons.