Running In Two Cities

I didn't join the Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon when it was held for the first time in Dec 2014. The second edition of Twincity Marathon was held on the 4th Sunday of January 2016 and I decided to enter the half marathon category to kick-start my training on getting a faster timing for my half-marathon.

I followed Hal Higdon's 12-week plan for Twincity Half-marathon and although I was unable to 100% follow the training plan, the progress I made was encouraging. In the past 12-weeks, I managed to get a PB for my 10K and 12K so I was hopeful to break the 2:30 timing this time.

But then, I made a few mistakes while running the half-marathon.

1. I only realised I've run out of coffee as I went to bed the night before the race so on race morning, I didn't have my usual cup of coffee. Or any breakfast for that matter. Hubby brought along some breadstix when we drove over to race venue but I wasn't in the mood to eat anything. The organiser had a tent where freshly cooked fried beehon was cooked, but again I opted not to eat but drank only water.
2. Half-marathon runners were served bananas, apart from water and Lucozade isotonic drinks as early as KM6 water station and bananas were available at the rest of water stations but I chose to drink only water. I also not sure why... Huhuhu
3. I went out too fast. The first 3K was done in 19 minutes. The second 3K was in 20 minutes. By 9K, what with the hot and humid condition along the route, I was unable to keep pace. 
4. I got bored. Especially along KM8-12 where we had to run in the dark and nothing much to kepoh and see. Thank goodness for the 12K runners whom we half-marathoners bumped into at around KM14(?) and running along with them, I started to pick up my pace again.

Anyways, to make a long story and whining short, I didn't managed to do a sub2:30. Damn that extra 4 minutes! Hahaha

But instead of feeling down or disappointed, I realised all the silly mistakes that I made and  with a new training plan starting next week and with a new half-marathon race date to look forward to, I am looking forward to get that sub2:30. And have fun while doing it too. 

On the race itself, apart from the fact there wasn't much to see along the route as we started running early at 5:30am, the race itself was good.

• Generous water stations located at every 3K
• Portable toilets located at every water stations (and there's surau too)
• Bananas at almost all water station (which I didn't eat. I like watermelons more. Hahaha)
• The female volunteers were chirpy and helpful. Most of them kept shouting encouragement to us runners. (Some of the male volunteers... not so much. Plus I don't like to see volunteers smoking at the water stations).
• The route has many gradual slopes which did provide enough challenge for me. (I still hate the 2K plus flat strecth towards the finish line. It's a looooooong flat stretch. Haha)
• Finisher t-shirts for both FM & HM runners. As I only did HM, I still got an extra tee apart from the event vest I received during race kit collection. Hihi
• Ice-cream Malaysia served at the last water station! BEST! I took one, then passed it to my Son to  enjoy when I bumped int him and Hubby at the final mile of the run. There were unique stuff like air jagung and sirap bandung served too!
• Entertainment for runner : fire eaters at KM3. Then drummers on a truck drove by beating their drums. There might a few I missed too...

The full marathoners had more fun. They got to enjoy freshly made roti canai at one of the water station! Jeles!

The Twincity Marathon can be a tad tough for some, Mentally or physically. Mainly because of the humidity during the early hours and then the heat as the sun starts to appear. It can be a rather monotonous route too but in my opinion, it's still a good training route towards other marathons. 

Photo credit : Clin. More photos from her at https://goo.gl/uBnHMW

As I only did a half-marathon this time, I was able to wait for my friends who were doing the full marathons to finish and cheer them on. 

The half-marathon kakis.

Waiting and cheering for full marathoners in front of the finish line. Under the hot sun.

With the full marathon kakis.

Awesome job, peeps!

With the hardworking people behind Twincity Marathon.

A bonus for full marathon runners who were arriving after 7-hours, they had special treatment for their hardwork and tenacity for finishing the race.

Volunteers put on their medals at the finish line (faster runners had to queue up for our medals unless we're podium placing runners. Hahaha), the RDs served them drinks personally some more.... So nice. 

There were special prizes for the last 5 runners who arrived (regardless whether they made it within cutoff time or not) as an encouragement to them.

A bit of drama happened at the finish line. The arch fell down as a sudden gust of wind blew. Luckily, there was no one under or nearby the arch that time. 

But I guess for some runners, they might have felt a tad disappointed as they approached the finish line, thinking the organiser had taken down the arch. But of course, they were met with a row of volunteers clapping for them as the cross the finish line timing mat.

All in all, I had a good morning. I had my run. I met a lot of friends. And I did have fun. 

So thank you organiser, volunteers and friends for a fun Sunday morning.