Virgin BIM 2012

“Never curse the fall. The ground is where humility lives”

Finally i made it to the 5th edition of B.I.M. and what better way to commemorate my 12th Marathon by running my Virgin B.I.M. The most overuse word that i heard on B.I.M. was it was a “hot” race/Marathon, so be prepared to run a hot race and get sunburn.

This year B.I.M. event was almost DNS due to the passing of one Andrew Voon last year, he was the man behind the brainchild of B.I.M. The new team that organised this year B.I.M. did a fantastic job, even Andrew Voon would be proud i bet.

Race kit collection

This year route was reverse than last year, FM runners would be running from Likas Stadium towards the town area to Tg. Aru before reverse back towards UMS and back to the Stadium.

The weather at 3 a.m. that morning was perfect, it rained the night before. So it was cold morning at start of the race. I was giving it a shot at that sub 4 finishing. It has been quite long time since I last ran a full marathon (Chiang Mai Marathon, Dec 2011) and honestly I forgotten how to pace for a Full Marathon run.

Nevertheless, i prepared a sub-4 pacer note as guidance. The first 5 km was a confuse run, i’m not sure whether i was going too fast or too slow for that sub-4 pace, it was dark and couldn’t see my pace at Garmin watch. In addition, my right leg somehow felt weird and stiff..dang!

Then i started pacing with Teh Poh Chye (TPC), i overtook him after 3km, before he decided to overtook me a few minutes later. Then my pacer came in the form of Jiki, female Sabahan runner (friend of Bibah). She won 3rd place last year in Women Open (42 km), so i started to follow and pace with her after that.

At one point, she took off her MP3 earphone just to confirmed with me whether i was Bib’s friend that she met earlier. Confirmation done and she casually said that she wanted to follow my pace. What? Are you sure? I don’t even know what i’m doing here..he he. ; i said quietly. But the first 14 km was perfect, we were pacing with each other and took turn to lead the group (Jiki, Teh Poh Chye and Yimster).

Pacing with Jiki

Somehow i knew this was too perfect to be true. Disaster soon struck at 14km, right after i took Power Gel at 10km. I got stomach cramp and was reduced to walking, i just couldn’t muster a proper run. Then i started to vomit air and that’s was the end of my race for B.I.M. and the word DNF linger around me like a disease. Many runners started to overtook me, including Erwan Kassim who later finish in superb 3:59 . He did stop by and asked about my conditions, i just waved him to continue his race. The pack – Jiki, Yim and TPC was gone now ! Well it was worth a try anyway, maybe i pushed too hard too soon – i just couldn’t maintained that 5:16 pace; I guess i really need to improves my stamina before running the next FM.

It was the worst feeling ever, i was so gutted and just gave up ! I felt like hailing a cab and going back straight to the Hotel – rest and sleep and try to forgot about this disaster Marathon.

But then after resting and drank few cups of 100 Plus at the Water Station, i decided to continue the run – what the heck, lets finish this, take the medal and Finisher Tee, live another day….there’s always another race !

I decided to make this into a fun run, just run and having fun at the same time. I ran slower pace now to matched my Ultra pace and i stopped at every water stations and drank 2 cups each time. I high fived every volunteers that cared, thanked the traffic policeman at each junctions and shouted encouragement at few runners that needed it.

After 20km around Likas Bay, Karen caught up with me and we decided to pace each other, i had to increase the pace little bit as Karen could turn her turbo engine anytime during the route. During these times, the HM front runners started to overtook us, one by one.

After we passed Yayasan Sabah, I bid farewell to Karen as i made my way to Shell station for my Subuh prayer. I felt hunger pang after i completed my prayer and decided to have breakfast at McDonalds located beside the Shell station. Well it was the first time for everything, at least for me. After breakfast and a 20 - 25 minutes break, i continued running and bumped into Jaja and her friends. She was running the HM, so i found myself pacing another friend. It was a brief pacing as HM U-turn was located few kilometres earlier than 42km. I bid good luck to Jaja as i inches my way towards UMS.

After the U-turn, the sun was up in the sky, fortunately it was just getting warm, so i had brief moment to escape from the sun and finish this race. I saw a lots of walking Zombies at this time, making their way towards the Stadium. I just paced slowly but surely passing the Zombies and encourage them to continue running, which prompt some of them to restart running again. These guys are the unsung heroes of every Marathon, their determination to finish the race in spite of their own struggles are priceless. Everyone had their own Marathon stories, and every stories are special.

I shouted at Fazli the Flash when i saw him coming towards me, but he didn’t hear me coz he was too focus in his running. I had to spray my water onto him before he responded. He was looking good and wearing all black which i assumed is a tribute towards his friend – Saiful the CatMan, who could not join us running BIM this year.

I met Kuchalana on the way back to the Stadium, he looks steady – i have no doubt he will completes his quest of 3 Marathons in 2 months. Near 1Borneo, i saw Bibah and she was struggling, gave some encouragement before continue my run. This was her 2nd FM and the first in her home ground – Sabah. I bet she will finish this no matter what, i never doubt human will power !

As i arrived at the roundabout towards the Stadium, i found myself surrounded by hundreds of 10km runners in a sea of yellow. Thankfully, the road was wide, i ran on the far right where there were less runners, i wanted to keep my pace without having to zig zag around the other runners like SCMS.

I crossed the finish line in the Likas Stadium for my 12th Marathon in 4:46 , i was greeted by another friend; KD the Medal Girl. I was happy to met many friends at BIM as this was my first Full Marathon for the year.

Arman completed his Marathon followed by Bibah around 6:30 hours, the Flash was running his own race and completed around 5:15 . Congrats to all finisher and those brave enough to leave behind a rosy life and attempted to run a Marathon.

Pro: 

• Abundance of Water, 100Plus at water stations (every 3km).
• Superb job by the volunteers, cheering and supporting the runners.
• Big bad ass Finisher Medal
• High quality Finisher Tee (NB)

Cons:

• Not enough distance markers
• Not enough sponges
• No energy gel at KM33, only bananas.