It's One Darn Expensive LSD

when I joined the UKM Victory Run II with a notoriously hilly route. Paid RM40 just so I can do some hill training? Can't blame Zain for grumbling about it. Darn expensive to just do hill training.

I registered quite late for this event as I was having doubts about how well it would organised. But after realising I've gotten really lazy to wake p early in the morning for my LSD (that's Long Slow Distance run OK folks. Not some hallucinogenic drugs. heh) so the only way to force myself to wake up is to sign up to races. Hence, despite my doubts I paid RM40 to run 15KM in the UKM Victory Run II.

First sign of trouble. I transferred the fee via M2U to the staff's CIMB account, filled up the registration form and waited for a confirmation. It didn't came. I contacted the admin and was informed that transfers made from other banks to CIMB clicks needed 7 days to process. WTH? How stupid or clueless does the admin took me for? There's instant bank transfer and there's GIRO bank transfer now. Instant means well... instant. GIRO took a day. Same day if transaction is done before 12 and the next day if it's done after 12pm. UKM staff never do online banking izit????????

Never mind. I guess some people still live in P-Ramlee era. So P Ramlee that they put up a blog about the run with scant information in it. Why bother? Then, the FB page that they put up seems to have no one maintaining it. Can't muster up enough enthusiasm to reply to questions there? So yeah, we all ask stupid questions there and the UKM budak maintaining it must feel it beneath them to answer our stupid questions.

Also, I don't think the organiser did anything much in terms of promoting this run. Can't even attract own UKM's students to the run?

Then come race kit collection day. Instead of the blue UKM Victory Run II tee they posted up in both their blog and FB page, we got a generic, Milo must-have-dumped-the-tees to them as our event tee.

A day before the event and I'm already complaining about the run at FB and tweeting about it. ho hum

I mean, I don't think I'm demanding but to get this t-shirt after paying RM40? They didn't even make an effort to print out the event's name on the back of the tee!

Okayyyy. I'm taking a deep breath now.

So fine. That's RM40 down the drain for me for a hill training LSD run. Have to listen to hubby grumbling about it and can't even retort back. I should've joined GCAM Group Run on Saturday and Sunday's SCKLM running clinic instead and do 8 loops around Lake Garden. That one is free. Got timing chip some more. This one? Nada.
Our run started 21min late (according to my watch). It's supposed to start at 6.30am but at 6:39am, I saw the volunteers/crews still being briefed and got onto a pickup truck to be sent to their respective station. What?????

No announcement no nothing at 6.30am. All was quiet. It was at around 6.50am that we heard an announcement that the run will start at the stadium's entrance.

I wanted to pee again at this time but as the 15K runners were so few (I think there's less than 50), I didn't want to get left behind and become the last runner to finish so I decided to hold my pee and head to the start area. So clever, right?

National mountain climber or something was supposed to flag us off but I don't think the guy who did was Malaysia No 1 climber. No offense Sir.

As you can see from the photo above, runners went to the right as they started their run. Wrong direction. We were supposed to head to the left. *slap forehead*

Barely 1km into the run, we faced our first incline.  And from that point forward, it was up, down, up, down. Flat stretches were a few. The inclines are mostly short but man, they are steep! It's steep when you gotta tilt your head up A LOT.

There were 5 water stations and four checkpoints. It was mentioned that 100-Plus sponsored drinks and Milo too. Drinks at water stations was just mineral water. ALL FIVE WATER STATIONS. The 100-Plus served was at the stadium. I guess 100-Plus only sponsored a dozen bottles for this run. Seriously.

For most part of the run, it really felt like I was doing an LSD. Occasionally saw other runners especially at the stretch where they looped back. Around KM8, saw a GC runner Azril who told me the UKM route was worse than the Dragonback route. I've never done Dragonback but now I will think of Bukit Aman-Double Hill route fondly. Hur hur

Around KM12, I saw no one in front of me and no one behind me so I was in doubt whether I followed the correct route. I slowed down and waited till I saw a male runner heading towards me. OK, so I wasn't lost. xD Further up ahead, saw a crew on motorbike waiting and I followed him for a bit. Then, it was solo run again.

All through the run, I kept on thinking about finding a toilet as I had been holding my pee from the start of the run. After a while, I told myself to stop thinking about peeing and just run. Because of this, I wasn't hydrating well. Scared to drink lest I need to make an emergency stop to search for toilet.

At this point, I was fervently hoping the route is under-distanced. LOL

No such luck.

Faced more inclines at around KM13.50. Hills on hills. Up to Dataran Gemilang or something. *cries* Then from the top of the hill (can see the stadium and other runners finishing their run down below) it was  a decline. Wheeeee.... But tarak much energy to pia anymore.
The last 400m was done on the stadium's track. Maintain posture. So near yet so far. Huhuhu

Finished my 15K run at 1hr 54min. Passed my water bottle to hubby and sprinted (owh, now got energy to sprint pulak?) to the toilet. Wanted to pangsai also, but the toilet was being cleaned. I actually asked the cleaner if it's OK to barge in the toilet since cannot hold my pee already.
Pee already, wash sweat off body, drank Milo and 100-Plus, helped arriving runners by showing the way to run as they approached the track (most including me got confused since the area outside the track was filled with runners that had already finished, Milo van and tents too).

Took photos with Rashid (he managed to get no 7. Top 4 was all Kenyans. Congrats Rashid!) and his friend. Loitered around a bit then decided to head home.
Ran 15K, didn't stop at all WS to drink (it was just stopping to get the checkpoint rubber bands) and didn't even finish my own Ribena drink. Why? Need to pee punya pasal lah.
What did I get for the run?

4 multi-coloured rubber bands at the checkpoints. I will use these rubber bands and will think of this race. heh

One dinky Milo t-shirt.

Two pens.

Wow! Such an awesome goodie bag! NOT!

Overall, despite good reviews on previous year's UKM run; this year is such a letdown. The organisers from previous years all had graduated izit? If they are doing this for their credit point, I give them a big fat ZERO.

Race organisation was mind bogglingly bad but still, a big thank you to the volunteers/staff/crew/students manning the water station & junctions for spending their mornings for us.

Route was a tough one. Which was great for those wanting to put in hill training. I suppose I can call this my hill training run except that I walked most of the steep ones. Wuss! hehehe

Anyway, I'll run in the Alpha Run on June 22nd. RM8 race only. No medal but they promised they'll give out t-shirt. No t-shirt also I don't  mind. It's RM8. See you there. But not before I do the 16K Mizuno Wave Run next week first. :)

Comments

  1. Wowee!
    It looks so panas! No sunburn, I hope?

    Kesian la, the t-shirt looks sad!!! And pens??? What's this, Hari Sukan for primary school is it? No offence but ouch, RM40 can buy a meal for the family lor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most route tepi hutan so shady. Nasib baik.

      Kan? Sad tee. Sad "goodie bag".

      I should've just used the money borong All Sports drinks and bring them to GCAM group run! At least I can get 40 bottles to share with you all! LOL

      Delete
  2. RM40 where is it gone to? T-shirt - rm18, pen at cost maybe rm2, bands? ....

    I think they earned another rm10 fee from everyone.

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  3. From your reading, the race was not that organize.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its not easy of course to organize a race but runners do have expectation with the fees that they paid for. :|

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  4. So this the one your ranting about la the GIRO thingy. The staff is from dinosaur world or what. If say 3workings days still ppl csn believe la this one sampai one week ..money laundering ka? Money go one act hen another and another baru arrived

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rm40 is expensive. Staffs kasi salary to themselves or what

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    2. No proper signboard nothinv. Sien lo like that

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    3. Make it club funds for next year kot... Next year no need to do. Can take a break. :/

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  5. Rm40 hmmm well I could have 8 bowls of curry laksa
    Got ppl terberak during running ? Lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got people "ter" a lot of things while running.

      Come la. Experience it yourself. :P

      Delete
  6. the thing about runs organized by uni students is well, expect them to be lateeeee.
    I did a few runs organized by uni kids and semua lewat start. Janji start pukul 7, pukul 7.10 baru budak2 tu muncul. Tu belum start lagi tu..
    But I have to agree tha goodie bag is lousy la for a 40 ringgit race.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha yelah kan... dulu masa Uniten run pun lambatttt. ada ke start at 8.20am? Adoi la.

      Will be prepared for next Uni organised run. :)

      How are you & baby doing now? Bila baby nak trenen lari merethon? :P

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  7. lousy goodies lah.. and those four colorful rubber bands are considered goodies?? aiyoh, how thoughtful for the organizer to think that you need to tidy up your messy hair while running!! hahahahaha!! and that lousy Milo tee, errr, could it have been leftover stock from some contests etc??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those rubber bands were actually check point ribbons. They didn't give out ribbons and instead gave us rubber bands instead. No time to cut & time those ribbons kot.

      Yeah, I am suspicious that the Milo tee is leftover to some events or something. Bad, right? :(

      Would not have minded too much if the fees wasn't on par as some big races. RM40 & I can actually enter a race with timing chip and better goodie bag elsewhere! @.@

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    2. yalah, that RM40 can buy a few snacks bento already~~ hahaha!! :D

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    3. Kan? I wanna more snack bentos. Then one I got last week wasn't enough. LOL

      Or buy two bowls of ramen with RM40. :-D

      Delete
  8. 15km run!!! Impressive!!! =]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. :)

      It's part of training for my SCKLM half marathon in June which will be my 8th half marathon since 2012. :)

      Delete
  9. Hiaz!!! Didn't get to meet you when in KL. I heard you work somewhere near the hotel I was staying...

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  10. How on earth do you continuing running when you need a toilet? All that stuff sloshing around with every bounce!

    I had a similar problem during my recent Sumida River walk, especially along its upper parts. It was getting hot, I was walking for several hours, I needed to drink water, but the only "toilet" around was the river itself.

    I could've tried to find a convenience store or garage, but that was too much schlep. So I didn't drink anything until I got to my destination (a station), where I emptied the vending machine of water and C.C. Lemon. ;)

    You can't do that (not drink) while running, though, I guess? Amazing that your body can consume so much liquid and yet your bladder won't take a break!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, after spending just two weeks in Japan, I find the need to enter an actual store to buy a drink so much of a hassle!

      Vending machines in Malaysia. Prepare to take risk of inserting money that won't come out again and no drinks either.

      Dehydrating is a problem but not as bad as over-hydrating. But the thing is, when the tongue lolled out for moisture, it's hard to even fake an attempt if running. :-D

      Delete
  11. CONGRATULATIONS to all the Malaysians who completed the Comrades Ultramarathon in South Africa! Yeeeeha! Vrystaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes!!!! 5 of them made it. The last Malaysian runner made it with just 20sec to spare. :-)

      on behalf of the runners, Thank you fellow jungle woman for your support & encouragement. :-)

      Delete
  12. Man in Malakoff shirt03 June, 2013 10:39

    What, u doing LSD pace?? try to pace u, fail in the middile and my Polar watch said i done maximum trainning. seems i need to train more...

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    Replies
    1. Now who is this? You just made me very happy. LOL

      Man... I walked most of the inclines...

      I need more training too.. T___T

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    2. I'm the person who wear light blue shirt and only manage to follow u until km 9..

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    3. oh hi. :-)

      I thought you were in front of me? Though lost you somewhere after that.

      You joining Mizuno Wave Run next week?

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    4. U overtake me at pond area. Want to stick with u but my heart rate spike to the max. Darn.. Not joining mizuno as registration closed before closing rate. I usually prefer register last minutes, because prefer chepest and less crowded event. But i didn't expect this low participant at this event. Haha

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    5. Ah yes, I remembered. Tu pun sbb downhill. I like downhill. Uphill jalan kaki je la. :-D

      Less crowded events are nice but last week one was like... OMG, ramai ni jer? O.O

      Neways, I'm also looking forward to another low key (kot) event at Alpha Run. :-)

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  13. Kelakar lah your "previous organizers graduated izzit?" Hehehee...
    Hills on hills. Hmm. At least you lari jugak ni so training jugak lah. Today, I am officially scared of this weekend's race. Training ntah apa2 :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gila rolling hills at UKM Mille. Now we know how Rashid & Aizat train. Mental!

      I sampai sakit perut nk run(at walking pace jer pung) at some inclines. Alasan utk stop jln tu... Kononnya takot tercer ber...ekeke

      You can do it this Sunday Millie! You are one tough cookie. :-)

      Tak pun, LSD pace pun lari juga. Kannnnn?

      p.s. Dh dpt bib for SCKLM?

      Delete
  14. Oh, a long ranting about this UKM run.

    It's such a turn off when you paid so much and the returns sucked!. I don't understand the run, but I understood the pain.

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    Replies
    1. I recalled you weren't satisfied with Taiping marathon last year, too. I guess there is one bad egg in every 10?

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    2. The races that are organised by non-runners usually have tell-tale sign of becoming a "bad" race.

      Taiping marathon has a bad race organisation but thank goodness for lovely Taiping people who made the run fun. :-)

      Delete
  15. Milo t-shirt? Why on earth they gave something irrelevant to the run?

    At least the t-shirt must have the word, "UKM" la.

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    Replies
    1. Right?

      Can always do manual "printing" on the t-shirts. Not a lot of runners, no need to do a lot what...

      Delete
  16. Aiyo! That word LSD really made my heart skipped! Kena tipu dei. Jahat la Mak Rempit.

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    Replies
    1. Anay! You so naughty one ah? Why? Need some LSD to get high? :-D

      Delete
  17. I will send you a bag of rubber bands so that friendship will be erat and you will think of the sender everyday. LOL

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  18. wow! takotlah dgr hills on hills tu.. but u still going strong lah kak lina.. eventhough walking pace ke tapi timing masih ok tuuu... congratss!!
    memang kene training double hills selalu compared to flat route saje for increasing timing shot kan? wahh.. hehehe..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rashid did warn me psl hilly route tu b4 the run tp dia ckp ada 2 rolling hills jer. Yeeeeelah sangat. Mcm tak berenti naik turun bukit.

      Boleh cover line pacing sbb naik bukit pace 10-11min pasty turun bukit pace 5:30. Tak berani nk laju lagi sebab ada route downhill dia steep sgt, takut jatuh tersembam. :-D

      Pastu masa lalu kat padang bola control macho, paksa diri lari pace 6:30. Lps tu pancit nmpk bukit last sekali, terus jln kaki balik. Ekeke

      Mmg kena byk wat hill trenen la. Nak run selamba naik bukit cam Ejah. ;-)

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    2. Puyoohhhh!! Ptt le timing u mantop.. siap macho pace lg kan dlm ukm tu.. hahaha

      Ye la skg ni kene bnyk buat trenin hill nnt scklm u pnye route double hill kat km36 tu boleh buat selamba lah mcm ejah! Tetiba potong org kat situ..

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    3. Saya tak lari full kat SCKLM mcm Nannoor! Yeay Selamat.

      Route HM SCKLM ok Bett... Good route for PB. I Takde bukit. ekeke

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    4. Soo let's peebee at scklm!! :)-

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    5. Jomssssss. :)

      Target pace sub7:00 Bett ^^

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  19. That doesn't qualified as goodie bag :( sounds more like a collection of leftover stuffs...

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  20. well, at least you enjoyed your run. That's the most important of all.

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  21. Still had to vent it out because I sure don't want over-charging runners for a sub-standard race to be a norm in future.

    I can enjoy a run by running alone or with my running kaki, FOC. :)

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  22. Aiyohhh this year run was lousier than last year one. Really tarnished UKM's name one for sure... Poorly organized, super cheapo cotton running tee (Hari Sukan Sekolah mana ntah punya leftovers), bikin malu UKM Graduates runner je... Sigh... W

    Well at least you can come n run here again for your LSD + rolling hills.. The hills are alive here... LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jom jom. Sure kaki jadi kuat klu hari2 trenen rolling hills UKM. ekeke

      Delete

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