The River Jungle Marathon 2014

Venue: Lot 1625, Jalan Sungai Tekali, Hulu Langat Batu 14, 43100 Selangor

Date: 7th September 2014

Time: 5.00am

Distance: 42.195km


The River Jungle Marathon 2014 was my first full marathon, and my objective was just to complete it with a smile on my face without bothering about the finishing time. Despite the name, this was a road run and no trail running was involved. This was a non-competitive marathon, so there's no cut-off time. Every participant who crossed the finish line received a finisher medal regardless of how long it took. 

To prepare for my full marathon debut, I followed the personalised training plan from the My Asics web app for 4 months since May 2014. My strategy for completing this marathon is instead of letting the 42.195km break me, I'll break the 42.195 km. By that, I mean breaking the marathon into smaller sections. There were 13 drink stations throughout the course with the average distance of 3km between each of them. My plan was to only focus on getting to the next drink station and not to think about the remaining distance to the finish line because it can be very demoralising.

I only had 2 hours of sleep before the marathon possibly due to pre-race jitters. I got up at 3.15am and started to get ready. I left my house at 4am and reached the venue 22 minutes later. My friend, Marc was already waiting for me. I ate my PowerBar and after chatting with Marc for a short while, we did some stretching together. At 5am sharp, we were flagged off!

I ran with Marc and we were pacing at about 7:15/km. Since this was a non-competitive run, we treated this as another LSD (long slow distance). After passing the Batu 18 police station, we turned right onto Jalan Sungai Lui. This is a narrow kampung road with mostly jungles on both sides. I could hear the sound of a river trickling on our right, but it was too dark to see anything.

After approximately 9km, Marc's  right knee started to hurt and he slowed down his pace. He told me he may not be able to complete the marathon and planned to stop after 20km to avoid any serious injuries. I took my first energy gel at the KM 11 drink station. At the KM 17 drink station, I stopped to use the portable toilet and Marc overtook me. After using the toilet, I picked up my pace and after about 1.5km, I caught up with Marc. At this point, he was really struggling and had to stop to walk several times. I stayed with him and gave him encouragement that the next drink station is not far ahead.

Once we reached the KM 20 drink station, I took my second energy gel. Marc said he will flag down the next support vehicle he sees to head back to the starting line. We parted ways and I continued on my own. The next section was a very steep uphill climb. It was really tough but the view was amazing. Eventually I had to walk the last few hundred meters towards the top in order to conserve energy. At the top of hill climb was the KM 23 drink station which also served durians! I did a u-turn and head back downhill. On the way down, I was surprised to see Marc going uphill on the opposite side. We high-fived each other and then went our separate ways. I found out after run that Marc finally managed to find a support vehicle at the KM 29 drink station.

I had a banana at the KM 26 drink station and continued on to Jalan Sungai Lalang. I started to pick up my pace and overtook a few other runners. As I reached the KM 29 drink station, both my knees started to hurt. I took my third energy gel at the KM 32 drink station and enjoyed a refreshing coconut drink.

After leaving the KM 32 drink station, I met Fedoh, a fellow runner and we ran together. We turned right onto Jalan Sungai Tekali and soon we came across another steep uphill climb. I only managed to run halfway up and had to walk the rest of the way, but was so glad to see the KM 35 drink station when we finally reached the top of the hill. The last 2km was tough because my ankles started to hurt as well and the weather was getting scorching hot. We ran together until the final stretch and I crossed the finish line with the time of 5:23:40. I did it! I completed my maiden full marathon!

Overall, I really enjoyed the The River Jungle Marathon 2014. The hills were tough, but the sights were simply amazing. The route took participants through the scenic kampungs (villages) of Hulu Langat, past rivers, jungles and hills. This run was literally a breath of fresh air compared to other marathons which are held in cities or other urban areas. The River Jungle Marathon is also a great platform for beginners to try out the full marathon distance since there is no cut-off time. Kudos to the organiser for such a great run. I will definitely join again next year.

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.