Twincity Marathon 2019 - Back For The 5th Year

I've joined Twincity Marathon since its second year and have been coming back since then. This year however, I only opted to run in the half marathon instead of full marathon category.

Due to a mixture of injuries, health issues, packed schedule and most importantly, laziness - I haven't been training much for the months since I completed my full marathon in September last year.

I had briefly entertained the idea of downgrading my category but I finally decided to just go ahead with my half marathon but fully realising that my timing will be awesomely bad. And it sure was. Hahaha

We were flagged-off at 5:30 am and with so many half marathon runners, I only managed to clear the Start Line timing mat 5 minutes after flag-off. So many runners!

The route was different from last year as we were back to the old race venue nearby D'Pulze. 

The first 3K was nice and friendly with not much incline. I adopted my 1K run-100m walk from the very start.

The first water station was located under a flyover near Shaftsbury Square and when I arrived, the water stations looked like they were overwhelmed and undermanned. Going to the back, I took hold of a bottle of mineral water and started helping volunteers to pour water before continuing my run.

I then realised that the water station did have plenty of tables that served drinks ready for us but runners didn't realised it and stopped and crowd the first  two or three tables located at the front. This could be rectified if the volunteers and crew were proactive enough to get runners' attention to move to other tables to get their drinks.

And that was what the volunteer/crew at the second water station did. One guy stood in front of the drinks tables and kept shouting "air wudhu in front", "more water in front", etc.

I did some shouting too along KM3 - 5 when some runners ran outside the coned-off area and kept to the rightmost side of the road, seemingly oblivious of the approaching cars behind them. Other runners also did some shouting "cars approaching" because well, some runners probably couldn't hear anything because they were listening to music. NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE THE TENDENCY TO VEER OUTSIDE CLOSED SECTION OF THE ROAD EITHER DURING RACE OR YOUR TRAINING RUNS.

Mobile surau were available from the second water station onwards and many half marathoners stopped at the second water station as we approached the water station just a few minutes after Subuh azan (for slower runners lah).

Because it was Subuh time, some cars going out from their housing area had some difficulty in continuing their journey because there were no marshalls to assist both runners and other road users at certain junctions. Marshalls could be seen as we were running in Putrajaya though.

After KM5, we ran from Cyberjaya and towards Putrajaya. Certain sections of the road from here onwards were pitch dark as the road lights were switched off. Fortunately, we got some lights from the incoming zooming cars that were plying the route.

Distance markers were available at 2km intervals and colour coded for each category so we could easily differentiate the distance markers for our own categories. Some however were obscured by marshalls because they were either standing in front of the markers or because there were motorbikes placed directly in front of the distance markers (macam at KM12). 

I'd been holding my pee for some time and although there were mobile toilets available at all water stations, there was always a long queue for it. And I don't fancy going to the toilet when I was having my period anyway so I hold it in until I reached KM14. Then I decided to cross the road and stopped by the mobile toilet located across the road. Finally, bliss. Hahaha

Although I went to the toilet quite late in the race, the toilet was still relatively clean and have water to flush. Important wei!

My tummy wasn't feeling comfortable that morning despite eating some kurma. I took a gulp of my N8 Energy gel before the start of the race so that my tummy won't feel too acidic. It did help somewhat.

I took another gulp (from the same N8 Energy Gel packet that I had consumed earlier) mid-way through the route. There were bananas being served at certain water stations but I wasn't keen on eating them.

I had hoped for some cold mineral water but all the drinks that I took from the water stations (mineral, Aquarius or 100-Plus) were lukewarm and I couldn't see any ice at those water stations. Maybe already finished la, since I was so slow.

When I reached the water station at KM15, I was slightly disappointed when I saw they only served water there. This location was where the organizer had served "roti goyang" last year. But then again, this was the 20K mark not 15K in 2018.

We then ran towards Cyberjaya again and merged with 12K runners. I was really happy to see the next water station. The "Breakfast station".

There were several booth lined up and there were even music playing there.

First table/booth served keropok lekor, hot off from the kuali.

There were even plastic bags available if runners want to tapau some to bring along their run. Hahaha

I took some and proceeded to the next booth/food truck - the Nestle truck that served cereals with milk. A runner helped to pour milk to some of us as the Nestle staff tried his best to served out the cereal.

By the time I arrived, Power Root had run out so no chance to drink that.

Then it was mineral water and isotonic tables.

I guess I had eaten more than I should have because I could still run (albeit slowly) before I reached this particular water station but I wasn't able to do that after I pass through it. Too kenyang! LOL

Bumped into a friend who was riding her bicycle to support some friends. Then bumped into her husband, and we discussed about his future trip to Japan as he cycled and I ran.

I started to walk again after he cycled away and was somehow completely content to just walk the balance of 2K towards the finish line. So lazy because so kenyang lah!

The balance of the route was nice and shady so runners were spared from being hit directly by the sun. 

As we pass in front Masjid Raja Haji Fisabilillah, I saw another friend who ran  and had finished her 12K. Stopped by and chatted with her before continuing the balance of 1K  or so and occasionally "pretended" to run when I saw cameraman.

Got distracted again by hubby and friends who were taking photos a few hundred metres in front of the finish line and stopped to photobomb in some of my friends' photos. LOL

There was a queue forming even before we stepped on the Finish Line timing mat and I had assumed it was for the medal.

Another friend approached me and we joined the queue together. First for the medal (mineral water/banana had run out when we got to the medal table but it was replenished later for other runners) then for our timing slips. We finished our run during a somewhat "peak period" hence the longish queue. The queue looked OK afterwards.

Our timing slips were printed out and for full & half marathoners, we needed the slip to claim our finisher t-shirt.

This was a great move to ensure and control the distribution of finisher items to those who actually did run and finish the run.

After getting my medal and finisher t-shirt, I chatted with a few friends before joining hubby who was taking photos in front of the Finish Line.

We only waited until 10.00am before we went back to the refreshment area in hunt for food.

As usual for Twincity Marathon, there were fried bihun and mee served for runners. Post-race massage was also available.

Sponsors booth were also dishing out items for sale at very special prices and we used our Touch N Go app to redeem some drinks at bargain prices at the booths. We got 6 packs of 320ml Karta Coconut Water for RM8 and also 8 cans of Sprite & Coca-cola too.

We even got  500g rice packs from Potboy Groceries, simply by liking their Facebook page. Hehehe

All in all, despite my really-need-to-run-better timing, I was happy doing Twincity Marathon.