A Trail Around Putrajaya In Ecotrail Putrajaya
Ecotrail Putrajaya is a trail run set in the heart of Putrajaya. Participants had the chance to explore both urban trails and forest trails around this iconic city.
Hubby and I joined the 30K category in EcoTrail Putrajaya on Saturday. With its very generous 8 hours cut-of-time, we planned from very early to just enjoy the route by walking and that was exactly what we did that day! And it's perfectly fine if others made fun of us merely walking, because we were only doing what we want to do and enjoyed the route our way.
We also had fun checking out the race route these past two weeks, following the map that the organiser had provided. You can check out the blog post here:
Checking Out The Eco Trail Putrajaya Route Part 1
Checking Out The Eco Trail Putrajaya Route Part 2
But on the eleventh hour, the organiser informed us that there was some changes in the race route which involved part of Taman Wetland and Taman Rimba Alam. Ah well... At least we didn't end up running an extra 4km like 15K participants did with the route change.
30K flag-off time was at 7:30am so we didn't need to head out too early in the morning. When we got there, my friend had messaged me, looking for me.
Interestingly, Pauline (the one in purple top) remarked - we had a selfie at Langkawi on IM 2018 weekend and this year, instead of being in Langkawi for Ironman Langkawi; we had a selfie at Taman Botani!
Yes, Ironman Langkawi was held on the same day as Ecotrail Putrajaya.
By the way, congrats to Pauline on her 5th place finish and Farisha on her 11th place finish!
Flag-off for the 30K participants.
And off we go!
Entering Taman Wetland, it was a reverse loop compared to what was earlier published but still no change in the route itself. But in races especially in trail running, race day's final route is what matters.
15K runners who were flagged-off at 7:45am passed us as we were entering Taman Wetland. None of the 30K runners could be seen anymore as they all had blitz through the run! So fast one!
We reached the first water station which was located at KM10 in 1:45:59.
The crew and volunteers here were very energetic and cheered for runners. Thank you for the cheer and support.
However, I was quite disappointed to see this first water station serving paper cups to runners to use. There were reminders in the mandatory gear announcement that the run will not provide any paper cups as part of being an eco-friendly run, and we need to bring our own personal cup. Sadly, this was not adhered to at this particular water station.
Just farther up ahead, we reached this "intersection".
We were quite surprised to see that 15K runners were required to run straight although we were already at KM10 because it meant that 15K runners will be running a whole lot of extra distance. If they turn right together with the 30K runners, they would only have an excess mileage of 1 or 2km.
For us, there were no surprises in the Taman Wetland route as we had covered it two weeks in a row.
Then we reached this section where 30K, 50K and 80K runners needed to turn left and 15K runners went straight ahead to the finish line.
Hubby helpfully informed a few 15K runners that although they had done 15K when they reached this section, they still had 4K to go!
For us, it was a familiar route from Presint 12 to Presint 1 then to Presint 14.
As we were walking to Presint 14, we saw a friend on the other side and waved to him. Congrats Jeff on your second placing!
Volunteers were placed at busy intersections to help and lookout for us as we cross the busy roads here.
There was supposed to be a water station located at Dewan Seroja but we didn't see any.
Following the route marker, we walked up to Nexus International School, then downhill, turn right for another climb. There were some markers at the intersection but no volunteers there or any markers at the top of the climb.
We decided to turn back and head back to the shops located at Presint 14 to buy some cold drinks and food as I was getting hungry.
We figured there may not be any heavy food at the next WS so might as well go rest and eat at the shops there while we are still in "civilisation".
Soya drink is sedap! Hahaha
While resting here, I checked my feet (both of them) as they were feeling quite uncomfortable. I don't have any issues of blister when I wear my Steigen socks even when I did a 12-hour walk but with this adidas trail shoes which I also wore during TMMT, I kept getting blisters. Only when I wear this shoe, I get blisters so I am so blaming it on the shoes! Hahaha
The second WS was located at the intersection where we enter Taman Rimba Alam. True enough, there were just water, coke and bananas there.
Lucky already makan at Presint 14.
(note: we had energy gel in our hydration bag but I didn't really want to eat them yet)
At the KM20 mark, we did it in 3:53:07 including our makan stop.
We entered the trail section at about 21K in our run.
It was a mix of raw trail section and some uphill sections. Uphill is okey but I hate slippery downhill sections.
This was the part where the route was changed by the organiser from the earlier route. It was more interesting than the original route so it was nice to just slowly go through the approximately 3.5K section of the trail before going back into civilisation and on to tarmac.
There was a guy who were slowly and quietly going through the route and our friend who was also taking it easy in the run had caught up with us.
Together, we walked together and chatted away.
Civilisation!
We could hear thunder on and off in the trail but no rain yet.
It felt like it had started to drizzle when we reached Presint 15 so we stopped for a rest at a bus stop there, shared an energy gel and ensured our stuff were properly stashed in plastic bags to prepare for the balance of the run.
We were joined by the guy and our friend and we sat and talked. Even shared stories about our SPM sitting kids. Hehehe
Sure enough, the rain poured soon after and it had gotten heavy by the time we reached the last WS. I ate a banana and drank some hot coffe while Hubby enjoyed some snacks that were served.
We took another long stop here, just chatting away with the volunteers and a Checkpoint staff who is also an acquaintance.
From this section onwards, we only had about 4K to go! Yeay!
But on road lah, and my feet were screaming double murder with the blister I already had.
On we trudged under the rain, and despite the pain from the blister, I quite enjoyed this last part. It has been quite long since I've experience much pain in a race. It does make you feel alive, you know. LOL
And playing in the rain? Memang fun. Lucky no lighting occurred or else we had to take shelter instead of continuing.
A friend who were doing the 50K passed us and said hi. She finished 4th in her category. Congrats again Siaw Hua!
The final section, heading towards the finish line.
Collecting our finishers' items.
We finished in 7:06:53 which is about an hour before the cut-off-time. But most 30K participants had finished well before us and Hubby, our friend, our new friend and I finished almost last. Hahaha
We had fun, we did our walk, we enjoyed each other's company and that's what matters to us.
The 30K route.
We enjoyed some refreshments at the refreshments table and then head straight home. I had initially wanted to stay to cheer for 50K and 80K runners but midway through the run, I received a freelance work offer and I better do it lah instead of mucking about at the race site.
Later that evening, we enjoyed some sate at Sate King in Kajang.
I think we deserved this! Don't you agree?
Hubby and I joined the 30K category in EcoTrail Putrajaya on Saturday. With its very generous 8 hours cut-of-time, we planned from very early to just enjoy the route by walking and that was exactly what we did that day! And it's perfectly fine if others made fun of us merely walking, because we were only doing what we want to do and enjoyed the route our way.
We also had fun checking out the race route these past two weeks, following the map that the organiser had provided. You can check out the blog post here:
Checking Out The Eco Trail Putrajaya Route Part 1
Checking Out The Eco Trail Putrajaya Route Part 2
But on the eleventh hour, the organiser informed us that there was some changes in the race route which involved part of Taman Wetland and Taman Rimba Alam. Ah well... At least we didn't end up running an extra 4km like 15K participants did with the route change.
Interestingly, Pauline (the one in purple top) remarked - we had a selfie at Langkawi on IM 2018 weekend and this year, instead of being in Langkawi for Ironman Langkawi; we had a selfie at Taman Botani!
Yes, Ironman Langkawi was held on the same day as Ecotrail Putrajaya.
By the way, congrats to Pauline on her 5th place finish and Farisha on her 11th place finish!
Flag-off for the 30K participants.
And off we go!
Entering Taman Wetland, it was a reverse loop compared to what was earlier published but still no change in the route itself. But in races especially in trail running, race day's final route is what matters.
15K runners who were flagged-off at 7:45am passed us as we were entering Taman Wetland. None of the 30K runners could be seen anymore as they all had blitz through the run! So fast one!
We reached the first water station which was located at KM10 in 1:45:59.
The crew and volunteers here were very energetic and cheered for runners. Thank you for the cheer and support.
However, I was quite disappointed to see this first water station serving paper cups to runners to use. There were reminders in the mandatory gear announcement that the run will not provide any paper cups as part of being an eco-friendly run, and we need to bring our own personal cup. Sadly, this was not adhered to at this particular water station.
We were quite surprised to see that 15K runners were required to run straight although we were already at KM10 because it meant that 15K runners will be running a whole lot of extra distance. If they turn right together with the 30K runners, they would only have an excess mileage of 1 or 2km.
Then we reached this section where 30K, 50K and 80K runners needed to turn left and 15K runners went straight ahead to the finish line.
Hubby helpfully informed a few 15K runners that although they had done 15K when they reached this section, they still had 4K to go!
For us, it was a familiar route from Presint 12 to Presint 1 then to Presint 14.
As we were walking to Presint 14, we saw a friend on the other side and waved to him. Congrats Jeff on your second placing!
Volunteers were placed at busy intersections to help and lookout for us as we cross the busy roads here.
There was supposed to be a water station located at Dewan Seroja but we didn't see any.
Following the route marker, we walked up to Nexus International School, then downhill, turn right for another climb. There were some markers at the intersection but no volunteers there or any markers at the top of the climb.
We decided to turn back and head back to the shops located at Presint 14 to buy some cold drinks and food as I was getting hungry.
While resting here, I checked my feet (both of them) as they were feeling quite uncomfortable. I don't have any issues of blister when I wear my Steigen socks even when I did a 12-hour walk but with this adidas trail shoes which I also wore during TMMT, I kept getting blisters. Only when I wear this shoe, I get blisters so I am so blaming it on the shoes! Hahaha
The second WS was located at the intersection where we enter Taman Rimba Alam. True enough, there were just water, coke and bananas there.
Lucky already makan at Presint 14.
(note: we had energy gel in our hydration bag but I didn't really want to eat them yet)
At the KM20 mark, we did it in 3:53:07 including our makan stop.
We entered the trail section at about 21K in our run.
It was a mix of raw trail section and some uphill sections. Uphill is okey but I hate slippery downhill sections.
This was the part where the route was changed by the organiser from the earlier route. It was more interesting than the original route so it was nice to just slowly go through the approximately 3.5K section of the trail before going back into civilisation and on to tarmac.
There was a guy who were slowly and quietly going through the route and our friend who was also taking it easy in the run had caught up with us.
Together, we walked together and chatted away.
We could hear thunder on and off in the trail but no rain yet.
It felt like it had started to drizzle when we reached Presint 15 so we stopped for a rest at a bus stop there, shared an energy gel and ensured our stuff were properly stashed in plastic bags to prepare for the balance of the run.
We were joined by the guy and our friend and we sat and talked. Even shared stories about our SPM sitting kids. Hehehe
Sure enough, the rain poured soon after and it had gotten heavy by the time we reached the last WS. I ate a banana and drank some hot coffe while Hubby enjoyed some snacks that were served.
We took another long stop here, just chatting away with the volunteers and a Checkpoint staff who is also an acquaintance.
From this section onwards, we only had about 4K to go! Yeay!
But on road lah, and my feet were screaming double murder with the blister I already had.
On we trudged under the rain, and despite the pain from the blister, I quite enjoyed this last part. It has been quite long since I've experience much pain in a race. It does make you feel alive, you know. LOL
And playing in the rain? Memang fun. Lucky no lighting occurred or else we had to take shelter instead of continuing.
A friend who were doing the 50K passed us and said hi. She finished 4th in her category. Congrats again Siaw Hua!
The final section, heading towards the finish line.
Collecting our finishers' items.
We finished in 7:06:53 which is about an hour before the cut-off-time. But most 30K participants had finished well before us and Hubby, our friend, our new friend and I finished almost last. Hahaha
We had fun, we did our walk, we enjoyed each other's company and that's what matters to us.
We enjoyed some refreshments at the refreshments table and then head straight home. I had initially wanted to stay to cheer for 50K and 80K runners but midway through the run, I received a freelance work offer and I better do it lah instead of mucking about at the race site.
I think we deserved this! Don't you agree?
Of course you guys deserved the satay after burning so many calories!
ReplyDeleteYes, you all definitely deserved the satay! Yes, enjoying the walk/run is most important.
ReplyDeleteHehe
Delete