KL International Marathon 2009

There are 6 OPs in this photo. Can you identify them?

Half marathon participants - Joejo

Full marathon participants - Ala, Bandit, Budin & me

It was Budin's first marathon. Now he is a marathoner! Well done bro!

Xterra Malaysia 2009

Some pix from Xterra Malaysia race in Kuantan last month. Xterra is off-road duathlon with swim 1.5km, mtb 30km & trail run 10km. 5 rebellicans involved in the race. 3 of us bean, upiq & myself did the race while bandit worked as a volunteer and budin was a "registered" participant... whatever it means, u gotta ask budin himself :P

Klang Half Marathon 2008

Did Klang half marathon with Ala this morning. Met Joejo at the stadium. He ran 10k. In fact his company "DCM Tooling" sponsored the medals. He said it made of white gold + platinum + silver and some plutonium. Boleh gadai kat pawn shop. Nice job bro! Macam lambang Superman sikit.

Tioman International Eco-Challenge 2008

13-15 May 2008 (Tue-Thu)

The disciplines include running, mountain-biking, canoeing and other exciting activities. Set within the tranquility of the island paradise participants will explore the mountain, jungle tracks, villages and the beautiful beaches of this island.

Challenges in this race relate to nature, culture and adventure – “the Amazing Race” concept, promoting extreme sports combined with traditional games, folk culture and eco-challenges.

The race will be flagged off by HRH Sultan Ahmad Shah at Kg. Salang.

Day	From	To	Remarks
Day 1	Salang	Juara	Flag off at Salang – Running and mountain biking(5 hrs) - night stop at Juara
Day 2	Juara	Genting	Canoeing (6 hrs) - night stop at Genting
Day 3	Genting	Tekek	Running - Finish at Marina

Details about the race, pls check the website www.eco-challenge.com.my

Kapas-Marang Trip & Swimathon

Just to inspire you guys especially former college swimmers. If I can do it you guys also can do.
Cikgu Adnan was our support crew. Since I was the slowest swimmer among the group, he followed me most of the time and like bandit said, he did a good job at dictating me not to give up half way. More race pix in my blog & facebook. I wonder who else in our batch has done this race before?

KL Marathon 2008

a) how not to ....

b) How to celebrate your birthday.

Dear all,

A few of us OP's ran the KL marathon, last sunday 30th April. Albeit some only did the half marathon of 21km while others foolishly endured the knee shattering pain of the full monty distance of 42.2KM.

My story is in 2 parts:

Part 1) How not to train:

NEVER come into the marathon without adequate training ie: mileage under your belt. Just because you have done it 8 times before doesnt mean that it wont hurt. No matter how many you have done them before, a marathon is a marathon. It hurts...Though you may be an Ironman, healthy virile young man, a new bachelor, or a permanent bachelor at heart with strong cardiovascular prowess, you have to train for it. The minimum required is being able to run one and a half hours continuously at a steady pace (meaning boleh borak borak sambil berlari). Also good if you had done a semi long run 3 to 4 weeks before the actual marathon. It is advised to do a run half to three quarters of the race distance in that long run.

NEVER plan the next day following the marathon with a heavy schedule thinking that you will have recovered well enough. I know of this young doctor fool who actually thought that he can do long surgery the next day...He went to RMC in the 80's 431549. Stupid fella.

NEVER run like the Kenyans and hope to win the USD 100000 prize money. If you are born in KL and have a name like Kam Kasturie or even Lim ee Van (though Stupes look like an African), you just dont do it. The worst thing is to realise at the 21st km that the Kenyans have already crossed the finish line and you're already having knee pain and a fat old uncle is overtaking you!

NEVER enter the marathon just because the guy you bullied in college is doing it. Though its a marathon, there are many other shorter distances to try your hand in first. Joejo attempted the 21km run in preparation for the next big jump. Bandit will attest that though he bullied the 431549 fella years back, maybe he just cant do the 'same things' anymore.

NEVER attempt your first full marathon at age 56......unless you are OP Chief Kutu. At his age, he managed to beat me and kam. Very well done sir! Also by the way, cikgu adnan also did the full marathon. By the time i was driving home, he was at the 2km to go mark and it was already 7 hours on the clock. Did he quit and walked home after being disqualified? No bloody way! He was among the last people on the road but yet he was still smiling away and running slowly but surely to the finish line. I just hope they give him the finisher's medal. Definitely my hero.

NEVER leave your sense of humour at home and take it too seriously. Its just a race in the end. Learn to enjoy it. Enjoy the sights and sounds.(and smoke of KL). Dont forget to cheer on the oldsters passing you by. Dont forget to feast your eyes on the skimpies too..

I think that's a lot of NEVER / how not to advices for this race. Perhaps when I win like the Kenyans will I write on "how to"

Part 2) How to celebrate your birthday.

Most of us celebrate by getting pissed out and doing silly meaningless things like going out for a date with that chick that you fancy and dishing out large sum of money in the hope for some fun filled activities that women call 'romantic moments' and men call 'sex'. But to a newly single 34 year old handsome and virile Kam, all that he spent was RM 30 for early bird entry fee for the marathon.

In the end, it was the same like going on a heavy date.

He got sweaty...

He got dirty...

His knees hurt...

He was smiling...

He's going to brag about it....

He wants more....

And he has a medal to show too!

Happy birthday Kam !

Ps:

Full monty: Ala, kam, OP stupes, OP chief kutu, KOP's Steve, karoline.

Half monty: Bandit, Joejo, Boot, azmar.

Warm regards

Doc Ala usat.

Beaten by a 56 year old........AGAIN!

Dear all,

Today as of 3 weeks ago, me and kam was again beaten by the 56 year old tough OP named Fadhil. Though the distance is shorter this time, 10 km compared to the last. It was still considered as junior "lopong" kena beat by senior.(Almost double our ages). If I can correct Kam in saying, Mizuno run was held on Sunday the 9th and not the day before.

There were the usual faces of OP's and KOP's (kawan). For the first time, Kam and I was at the starting line early. We were early enough to enjoy the scene, meet up with familiar faces and just about talk about nothing in particular. The race was well organised by the Pacesetters running club attracting (i guess) more than 2000 runners. It was a sight to behold at the start line (padang Merbok) seeing all the runners lined up on the road, obstructing traffic as we please. There race was well marked route passing trough the hilly sections of Bukit Tunku, an adequate enough midpoint watering station, carnival atmosphered finishing area complete with music and ample food and drinks. The only minus point that I could offer was probably the race fee of RM 30 for a short 10km was a bit too much I would think. That was the reason for me not registering in the first place. However, I managed to get a race number from Ishal who pulled out because of flu. Bean, Puzi, my dad ran as "pirates". My mother and niece Nana did half way.

Runners who ran races without registering or paying are called pirates or Bandits in the US. Whatever reason you become a pirate for, ultimately you just have to enjoy the race. Sweating it out and not getting a medal is much better than sleeping till 10am on a sunday morning and becoming a lazy fat ass.

As Kam said, it was my 10th consecutive racing weekend. It was also Zabil's birthday that day. Me, bean and some of our KOP's were at his place the night before and after a night of drinking wine and making merry, Zabil didnt show up at the race afterall! As I didnt have much of the 'jus anggur' the night before, I was able to run the next day!

We met and ran along with the usual gang, Bean the pirate, Steve my jambu bear, karoline, Vicky who's daughter Analice I injected with Influenza Vaccine the night before, 65 year old Cikgu Adnan another tough old guy who can beat Bandit (and a lot of our batchmates!) in any race, Major Kalam who is attached to ATMA and by the way just ran 50km marathon as part of the merdeka celebrations the week earlier, and many more....Ramai sangat la.

Anyway, the race was fun filled with no major drama except for a 40 something chinese guy collapsing up the hill of Persiaran Sultan Salahudin (In front of wisma Pertanian). He's okay, just a bit of heatstroke. What surprised me pleasantly the most was seeing Joejo (OP Zulkhibri) at the finish line! Apparently he ran the Klang race the week before. Well done Jo! The last time I talked to him was when his child was sick, what a pleasant surprise.

Needless to say, he, the 56 year old, the airforce major, the 65 year old teacher and around 800 plus others beat me to the finish line.

You all have fun and move your butts!

Hadir: Me, Kam,bean, cikgu adnan, Major Kalam, Puzi,Laif, Karoline, steve, Jaja, Wendy, Dhamsal, Op Fadhil, OP Iwan, Mohamed, Mei Shen, my parents, Joejo!,Vicky.

Tuang: Op Stupes, Bandit, OP Shazly, Amir, Budin, gegek etc

Warm regards

Doc Ala Usat

* Note: Sorry about the post dated 8 Sept (Sat), actually I posted it today (Sunday). I couldn't change the date setting for this blog because I didn't get full permission. Bandit, pls correct the date to follow KL date. - Kam

Mizuno Wave Run 2007

One last race before puasa next week. A'la broke the record for participating in 10 races consecutively for the last 3 months. Some people think that's insane but I'm sure it is something to proud of. We met many familiar faces like Bean, OP Fadhil & Cikgu Adnan but today there was someone not so familiar from our batch took part. Wanna know who is he, just scroll down the page. Hope this was not gonna be his last. For the benefit of our batch, I'll announce every time there is a race, so that more of our friends can take part.

7.30 am at the starting line. Look at these people. Don't cha wish to be there too?

Our Mr. Macho Cikgu Adnan. He's 65 this year but look at those arms, they are bigger then mine.

With Chief Kutus OP Fadhil. Not bad at all for 56 years old guy. He looks no different compare to us in our 30's

We were surprised to see Joejo was there! He's still as fast as before. Wish there were more of our batchmates in the picture.

PJ Half Marathon

Another activity this week. Me, Ala & Azmar took part in PJ Half. We registered for half marathon but I was so very late arrived at the starting line, we decided to join the 10k group. Sorry Ala, sorry Azmar.... it was my fault. :(

Dah lewat sangat ni, kita follow 10k punye route lah, belok kiri jom?!

Mana boleh geng, kita pakai nombor kategori "A", kena la ikut kanan

We're dashing thru the crowd, tapi nombor kena kasi tanggal la

Beaten by a 56 year old OP....

Hi everyone, last week i ran the Adidas King of the road half marathon race with Kam.

It all started at 0530hrs when I received an SMS from my mum that she and my dad werent racing that day as my dad had a sudden attack of upper respiratory track infection. Both my parents are keen runners/ walkers now and they have been joining me in various running events around Klang Valley this year, albeit that they only do the shorter version like 7 or 10km. Its quite refreshing that both of them are health fanatics and literally can beat some of my batch mates half their age! Mummy is 60 and atuk (dad) is 64. Anyway, there I was, on my way to Sunway Pyramid in the wee hours of the morning to where the starting line was. A few years ago I couldnt imagine myself sleeping at 10pm on a weekend and waking up early (in fact earlier than working weekdays!) in order for me to race. Somehow the memories of me stagerring home at 4am after a late night's out drinking just a few years ago seemed like centuries ago.

After the RV with Kam and as usual for him to use my car as his storage space (helmet etc ), we made our way to the start line. It was awesome. There must have been five thousand people there! The whole NPE was closed to traffic and people was wandering around the highway like it was a pasar malam. The 21km race was flagged off first at 0645 by Samy Vellu. Im sure he wasn't too pleased that toll collection was halted from 0500 till 1000hrs that day. Me and Kam started at the back (as usual). No use being in front and getting pushed around and worse still being later overtaken by a 60 year old auntie! I didnt know how i was going to run the race. I did the Seremban Half marathon 2 weeks earlier in good time (below 2 hours) and just last week raced in UM Duathlon. Should I take it easy this time and take it as a training event? After 2 km I realised that I was not in good form and repeating a sub 2 hour half marathon in 2 weeks was just wasnt on. In fact, my aching skinny thighs told me to shut up and just jog along. I pretended to Kam that I was taking it easy and was going to pace him. "You go ahead Ala, aku slow je today" he said. "Takpe, kita lari together today, we take it easy" was my reply trying hard to make it sound that running slow today was by choice and what a wonderful guy I was to keep him company.

As of any races, you see people of all make , sizes and shapes. You find the auntie who sprints along passing you and make you look like a pussy...cat. Then you find the serious runners with the ultra gay running vest with slogans like Impossible is Nothing, Running For life! and all the other fancy crap. Not to mention the ultra short running shorts! Just like Maradona in 1986. Then you can see the amateurs, girlfriend just dumped by the bum boyfriend trying to rebound, the cancer survivor who wants to prove they still have it, the triathlete with their body hugging suits, the skimpies with their sexy attire ( Im not complaining) and the fat ass struggling along ( think of Bandit...)

We ran (jog) along at a good pace of 10k /hr. Caught up by Azmar who started late but managed to catch up at 4k. I must say that Azmar has really improved a lot on his running. This especially when his first race was the Subang 10 km last year.

We cheered people along especially familiar faces, while some are just any strangers we meet on the road. There was this Mat salleh we met at 6km who was jovially enjoying himself, especially when he is 65 years old and managing to be in the middle of the pack. By the 8km mark the initial crowd of runners had been separated by their own different paces. Its only now you can tell who was actually running and who was struggling.

The half marathon route took us west along the NPE from Sunway pyramid towards KL. We would be running on the highway and would make a u turn at Kuchai lama interchange. En route we would be passing Kg Medan and Tungku on our right as the run ascends on to the elevated portions of the highway. Basically we were running on air...3 storeys above!. We would later pass jalan Gasing interchange on the left (and Bukit Gasing and parts of PJ). It would be straight on passing Kg Kerinchi and Angkasapuri on the left. At the Bangsar toll interchange, we would take the right fork towards Kuchai lama and Taman Desa. The U turn was somewhere along this point.(km 10.5). As me and Kam was approaching km 8, the front runners, 4 tall lanky africans were on their way back on the other side of the highway! Crap.By the time we reached half way, they would probably have finished!

Anyway, for the majority of people, running a race is not about racing. Its just between you and the road and accomplishing your task. Its about the satisfaction of crossing the finish line. It about the finisher's medal. Its the free T shirt and the goody bag. Its about impressing your work mates at work. Its about a way of life. I sound a bit gay dont I? Well racing makes you a bit mushy at times.

As we were making our way to the half way point, runners from the opposite side(returning) was cheering us slow coaches along. Specially to this one old chinese guy called Bruce running ahead of us whom everyone seems to know. Looks like you dont have to be fast to be a star I reckoned to Kam. Out of a sudden we heard "Come on doc! you can do it" from the other side of the road. Some of them were my friends but some people I dont even know. It seems like our faces have been a regular feature now at races that people tend to recognise you....despite not being the star athlete.

We crossed Azmar again. Followed by Ariff. Then abang kamal; the ironman passed along. Followed by another friend Jaja and then I got the shocker of my life..There was OP Fadhil of batch kutu...56 years old and roughly one km ahead of me and Kam. "Alamak bro...boleh kejar ke ni?" We arrogantly thought we could, but somehow it didnt happen. The U turn was a relief and after reloading ourselves with fluid and some food we were heading back, this time the mood was upbeat. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves cheering on the slower runners yet to reach the half way point and chatting up with other fellow slowbies.

The last few people making up the rear was really struggling, yet you could see the determination written in their faces. We even stopped to cheer on our friend Mei Shen who was just reaching the 9 km mark. She happens to be a good swimmer and strong cyclist, but running was just not embedded in her genetic make up. People say she runs like a duck...well you need to see for yourself. As usual, she was smiling all the way. The last guy....I mean really last, (you can tell as there was a police car being driven slowly behind him. With an ambulance, just in case!) was this slightly overweight and well-nourished young chinese kid. (Politically correct way of saying fat). He was struggling and I really hoped that he would make it. We cheered him on. No reply, nor any facial reaction. That's usually bad news. Never mind, we continue on. We managed to chat up with a lot of people along the way. We also talked about old times, mostly RMC stories and what our mates are up to now. We 'exercised' our eyes at the skimpies slowing along. We patted the uncles and aunties that were slowing down by this stage.

At km 19 or so we met with this young chinese kid with a bright red t shirt with the words "Powered by Jesus" boldly on his back. Probably some church group or something. "Perhaps I could use some of the power?" I asked the kid. We held hands for a bit (hoping for the power to transfer) and we cheered him on. I've seen him in other races before and he seems like a good kid. If only mat gan and Mat Kong was there, it would have been serene.

We crossed the finishing line at 2hr 9min. A good run.

• Azmar: 1hr57 PB! PB:personal best
• OP FAdhil 2hr 5min (prev best PB 2hr 40m at KL marathon 07)
• Others: jaja,ariff, Mei shen completed the race in good time.
• Vicky completed the 10 k race
• Kam:2hr 9min PB!(2hr 30 in seremban)Improvement!
• Me: 2hr 9min PW! (you translate yourself)

Recent races:

1. Penang marathon 24thJune
2. Siemens 10k run 8th July
3. Seremban half marathon 15th july
4. Port Dickson TRI 22nd july (Sad tragedy fellow OP)
5. UM Duathlon 29th July.

Upcoming :

1. PJ half 12th Aug
2. Desaru half Ironman 18th August
3. Subang Jaya 10 km 26th August.

Hope you guys, OP and KOP's (kawan) have fun and dont forget to get your buttocks moving!

Doc

UM Duathlon

First duathlon organized by Universiti Malaya. The turn up was quite good - a few national level athletes showed up for the event. The course was 5km run, 20km cycle and 5km run. Sounded "easy peasy" but really, it was quite tough with long uphill, wet & uneven roads, sharp turns and lots of bumper. There were several OPs took part in the race. But Bandit & Boot missed it this time around, takpe next year ada lagi.

Budin de Macho & OP Stupe Ironman-to-be

Ala sengih sbb bnyk aweks cun

Budin & Ala, running uphill

Doctor Hisyam in action.... well done bro, u saved another life today

With OP Chan, an ATMA Cadet. Err... Budin jgn rapat sgt nanti Stupe marah