Besraya Highway On Foot At IJM Duo Highway Challenge

After a 21K at SJMC Run last week, I made my way to Plaza Toll Loke Yew on Sunday to run 13K at Besraya Highway Challenge.

It's the first edition of two races under the IJM Duo Highway Challenge Series for 2018 and the next one will be held on July 29th 2018 at NPE Highway Challenge.

Some 6,000 runners made their way too, to Plaza Loke Yew to either run 13K or 6K.

I arrived the race venue at around 6.00am and after collecting my race kit (I had made prior arrangement to get it on race morning), I joined the toilet queue.

While walking to the starting line later, I was caught by surprise when the emcees flagged-off the 13K category at 6.25am instead of 6.30am as published in the race program. But since I'm not gonna run fast or chase timing, I just walked and joined the start line a bit later.

13K was flagged-off 5 minutes earlier and I was informed that the 6K category was flagged-off 10 minutes earlier. @.@

I made my way slowly along the route, just following the crowd's pace. Got elbowed a few times by fellas who think sprinting in a packed crowd is OK. I guess they really, really want to hit their PB lah... But having sweaty arms brushing against my arm was not really a pleasant experience. Eww.

It was a sea of blue that morning on Besraya Highway as 13K category runners ran along the route and it was awesome to see it!

We were joined by the 6K category crowd at around KM4.8 when they made their u-turn and it became a sea of blue and turquoise.

I was a tad worried about the water stations being able to cope with the influx of both 13K and 6K runners but the volunteers and crew members worked hard and no complaints there.

The tables with mineral water or isotonic (100-Plus) were clearly marked but of course runners kept on asking for 100-Plus at the mineral water table. Adoi.

Along the route, I saw medic on motorbikes plying the route too, in case of emergency.

Traffic was a non-issue at this run (and later at NPE Highway Challenge) because it was a full closure for this run!

Thank you IJM!

By the time we reached KM7, we could see faster runners making their final km run towards finishing down below.

The day was hot & humid, and I struggled a bit with that but thankfully, the water stations were located not far apart. The first one was located at KM3.5 mark and subsequent ones were located 2.5km apart with the last two located at KM10 and then KM12. Generous!

Running along the KM10 to KM12 mark, runners had to run facing the sun and I just kept my gaze down and avoided looking up. Silau lah!

It was a relief to find shady stretch after that.

As I was running, I saw a group running with signs on their back and I asked their permission to take their photos.

They were running for Malaysia Lysosomal Diseases Association, which is is a non-profit organisation which advocates for patients’ rights to a sustainable health care and support system. It also raises the awareness of the general public about the life threatening Lysosomal Storage Diseases.

The organization also had a booth at Besraya Highway Challenge to create awareness on the disease.

Despite the heat and the scorching sun on Sunday morning, I enjoyed my run at Besraya Highway Challenge thoroughly.

Apart from the early than scheduled flag-off, I really don't have any complaints about the run.

Finishers for 13K category not only received their medals, but also a finisher tee.

Extra tee apart from the event tee. What's not to like, right? hahaha

The organizer was also generous with post-race refreshments. There were two Milo vans (that I could see), 100-Plus given by the cans, sandwiches and popcorn. Syiok, right?

Thank you to the organizer, PR team, crew and volunteers for an awesome Sunday morning outing!

See you guys again at NPE Highway Challenge on July 29th, 2018.

Photos taken at Besraya Highway Challenge can be viewed at Cik Arnab & En Kura-Kura Facebook page. Do LIKE and FOLLOW us for more race photos and updates.