The Chaotic Race @ Brooks Half Marathon

This was my third time running at Bukit Jalil... The previous years, this annual run was sponsored by Bareno...  You can read about my previous runs here and here... But this year, one of the top running brands, Brooks stepped over and became the official sponsor and title for the race...

Somehow this time around, the traffic was crazier than the previous years... Captain and I carpooled and got to the carpark at 5am and there was already an awful crawl... So both of us were stuck in the car for a good 20 mins before entering the carpark and quickly ran into the stadium... 

And since this year's race started inside of the stadium, there was a superlong crawl for the 21km runners since the space that was allocated to us was just too small... So by the time we were flagged off, I've lost about 3 mins or so from the guntime after crossing the start line... Nevertheless, it was good to bump into the familiar faces at the start of the race... 

 

Good seeing you ladies again :)
With Pui San, Kay Dee and Captain...

Pic credits to Pui San

They've changed the route this time around but of course all of the hills from last year's route were included! Pretty much walked at all of the hills... Haha! And the fact that all of the km markers were incorrectly placed too as my Garmin was recording an extra 600m for everytime I passed the marker... Extra workout for the legs then ;)

(And here comes my angry paragraph :P) And there were a lot of impatient motorists... Malaysians should be taught a lesson or two when it comes to being civilised motorists when there's a race going on here... It's not like the roads are closed everyday for a friggin' race! There were a lot of honks and shouts going on! I pity the policemen and volunteers that were just doing their job at manning the traffic... Even at one of the hills, I saw a Proton Saga just droved off recklessly to the side (where the lane for the runners were) and almost hit a few runners as the driver was trying to avoid the car from the opposite direction!!!

And that's when I totally lost the will to run and get a decent timing... At the start of the race, I was aiming to get a sub-2:15... But after seeing that incident, all I wanted to do is just walk and not care... Did a lot of walking after the 14km marker... 

Of course when it comes to the cameras, always better to be all smiles ;)

Pic credits to Tey 

So, I crossed the finish line with an official time of 2 hours 23 mins, a mere 2 mins of improvement from last year's race... Felt so crappy after the race as I had to climb the stairs (as if 'walking' through the hills weren't enough! :P) and exit the stadium to get our drinks and fruits which was located outside of the stadium... 

But thank God for the friends that I bumped into and the good breakfast company after the race :) 

With my G sisters - Captain and Drama

Pic credits to Drama G 

 

The Gs with Meor (watch out! will outrun you one day :P) and Abang Yim

Pic credits to Drama G

With the beautiful couple, Dzul and Ena :)

Loved the running dress!

Pic credits to Drama G 

During my last 5km of the race, I finally met hot mummy, Nik Raiha and I told her that she was in our 'uniform' as she was wearing polka dots skirt too! :) We chatted quite a bit and she was telling me about her half Ironman adventures and how she is going to do her first full Ironman challenge at the end of the year... 

To Nik - I supersalute you!!! InsyaAllah, I'll become like you and attempt one Ironman challenge on one fine day :) Good luck for your upcoming half Ironman in Singapore this weekend! And thanks for injecting a lil' running spirit when I was feeling dejected and making my last 5km a good run :)

With Nik Raiha and Captain

This race was also a good wake-up call for me as I should really start training for Sundown! Gotta start conquering all of the hills again! ;)