Here’s mud in your eyes

 

I did not really plan to join the Genting Trailblazer this year, thinking gonna stick only to short races and Half Marathons. Next year, gonna do Full Marathons and some introduction trails run.

As fate would have it, Ijam the Clown was looking for a partner in a Duo for the coming Genting Trailblazer. I started doing some research by looking for information at Genting Trailblazer main web site, youtube videos of last year event and Nik’s blog about his adventure in 2009.

I lied if i tell ya’ i did not get excited running thru muds and forest. Plus there’ll lotsa RBUs peeps running this event; Yim with his mystery gurl, King Mambo with King Fisher, Zaki the Sarong Runner with Ziff, Macam Bagus Team - Ian with Ziggman Che Daud etc. I’m so gonna miss all the fun if i missed this!

So without further due, i accepted Ijam invitation to be in a team competing in Genting Trailblazer. We both virgin at this, so we’re really do not know what to expect, excepts for the mud running+swimming adventure. I registered our team today and was issued with Bib No# A0077, how appropriate as we both born in the 70’s and if you really notice and add our last digit of our birth year (2+5), you gonna get number 7; A0077 is the perfect bib number.

So a fair warning to all teams out there, we’re gonna tickle you, one by one on race day. Actually Ijam will do all the tickling, coz he’s the Clown King:)

Shape Nite Run 2010 – Race Kit

I arrived at Wisma OCM around 10.20 am to collect the race kit, as usual at this early hours not many peeps around to collect the race kit.

I was in and out of there in mere 5 minutes, no hassle and no issues. Gave them my receipts and collected the race kits (mine and missus).

Team Kiasu is back on business (err where’s Yim, anybody seen him since Hong Kong?). I was given bib number A0003, meaning that i was the the 3rd person registered for Men Open category. The missus did way better, her Bib number B2001 confirm her as the 1st person to registered for Women Open category, and race is not started yet :). Can’t wait for the goodies..

Good luck peeps and see you there in Putrajaya. Don’t forget to vote for Ziggman Che and watch out for special appearance of Ijam the Clown Runner and Zaki the Sarong Runner.

The Race Kit consist of:-

• Reebok Vest (a bit different from your normal running vest), i loike very much:)
• Personalised Bib Number (with your name across it).
• D-Tag timing Chip (i guess this is the standard for timing chip system in Malaysia nowadays).

Mine

 Missus

Certificate

I ran to set my soul free, I ran because i’m a free man – R.Y.

I almost forgot about this certificate, it arrived yesterday after few months.

This should be the benchmark of running certificate in Malaysia with all the glorious details of a runner accomplishment on that event. Maybe in 20 years time, i might look back and think how on earth did i managed to run the distance.

I going to keep this memento as my time capsule for my future grandkids.

Siemens Run 2010

It’s a day to remember as the SRU made their debut appearance, i am talking about the Sarong Runners United (SRU) led by Zaki and supported by KA. Ziff and myself weren’t too eccentric for this gig, talking about eccentric Ijam was nowhere to be found, but his twin brother came running on his behalf as Ronald McIjam, congrats Ijam! I think Kak Jenab@Catwoman will have no problem making you as her protégé.

Pre Run

I woke up around 5:15 am, had quick shower and lite breakfast with hot Milo and a bun. After subuh prayer, i rode off for Dataran Merdeka around 6:15 am. I decided to take my bike (not bicycle!) this time to the event for parking convenience sake. Arrived at race venue around 6:30 am and directly parked my bike in front the Church.

Met the rest of the RBUs and FMVs at water fountain area, all the usual gang was there and Zaki was ready to run barefoot with Sarong, all hail King Sarong. Ijam arrived later as Clown Runner and all hell broke loose with the lambungs and laughters.

The Run

Running at Jalan TAR (Photo: Atuk-Z)

Made our way to the kandang 10 minutes before flag off, saw Shah, KA, Ziff and Zaki few rows of runners behind me. I skipped Seremban Half just to be in the best shape for this run, my motivations were to get Sub – 1 hour run and maybe a shot on those limited Siemens medals. 7:30 am sharp, all the runners from five categories was flagged off and it was fast and furious start, most everyone zig zagging runners in front of them.

Near the runabout towards Bank Negara, i saw a very familiar red vest but the Bib says Men Senior Veteran. Inching closer towards the red vest confirm my suspicion is was the famous Nik the Pirate King. Said hello to him and saw Shuk breaking away from the other runners in front, tried to pace him but he was too fast for me, he was gone in seconds. The route for the early kilometres of the Siemens run was a dream route for me as we had our LSD few weeks prior SCKLM. I’m glad that i joined the GKL for the LSD run as i can anticipated the route for this race.

The first water station was horribly unprepared for us runners, the volunteers were to slow filling the cups with plain water, i just did not stop to waste anytime, decided to take my drink at the next water station. Met Shah around Jalan Mahameru, about 5 or 6 km, said hi and paced him for a while. Lost him around Padang Merbok and i’m not sure whether he’s in front of me or at the back. I was really pushing my limit here and i knew it, it was a good race as i did not stop to walk even drank while jogging, it’s a short race and don’t waste time walking. After entering Jalan TAR from Jalan Raja Laut, there was few cheers group in front Sogo and nearer to Dataran Merdeka. There were cheerleaders and music groups cheering for the runners, good job there organizer!

Photo (run2chuah.multiply.com)

Milo wait for me..

   McIjam and the SRUs

I push on with all my energy as i ran nearer towards Dataran Merdeka, did not even have time to smiles at cameras. At this time as i saw many runners completed their race, my hope of getting a shot at those limited medal seems diminished. Few hundred meters from the finish line, i saw the digital clock and read 59 minutes, i sprinted all the way as i was trying to make my first objective – a Sub – 1 timing. I completed the 10km race with the timing of 59’41 (official time) / 59’36 (net time), yay i made it in one piece and within 1 hour. Then someone handed me a card with position at 327, i was dazed and bit confused on why this guy giving me the card? The riddle solved when another table upfront traded my card for the Siemens medal, unexpectedly i made it on getting those limited medals..yay.

http://www.hooha.asia/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=676:category-men-open-a&catid=122:siemens-run-2010&Itemid=242#comments

After that i saw the Queen FMV waited for her loyal subjects..he he. Thank you Kak June for taking my photos. The rest of the gang arrived later and we had a blast taking photos with the RBUs and FMVs, in addition the new SRUs and McIjam. Congrats Ijam you’re a celebrity runner now, we had request from other runners to take pictures with our gang, no kidding. Atuk Z later dropped by with fresh Mangosteen, thanks  bro :). To all RBUs, FMVs, SRUs, you guys rock! For the rest of you who missed this event – Diket, Det (hey man when is your blog gonna be up and running?), Deo, Yim etc – you’re missing out on a great fun. See you guys later in the Shape Run!

My first 10K medal

The Finisher medal is exactly the same mould with Putrajaya Night Marathon’s 

Queen FMV with her loyal subjects. 

20 years not to late for sunat. Introducing the SRU

Siemens Run 2010 – Race Kit

The race kit collection went smooth today, i arrived at Wisma OCM around 10.15 am. It was still early and there was less people around at the collection centre. I was hoping for a good day and planning to avoid long queue plus the infamous Friday traffic jam.

I bumped into Det a few minutes later, he was collecting eight running bibs for his friends and no he was not running for this event. He was happy to help collecting the bibs on behalf of his office mates, i assume he’ll opt for trails running practices this weekend, Genting Trailblazer coming up soon.

The organizer divided the centre into two areas, one for online payment and the other one for manual payment; which is a very good idea indeed. After collecting my race kit, i went over to the online area to collect Deo’s race kit, a friend of mine bought Deo’s bib. Wham bam thank you ma’m and it’s all done within 15 minutes time. The race kit consist of the traditional cotton bib number and colourful running vest.

Good luck to all of you running either Telekom Museum run, Siemen run or even the Ipoh International Marathons.  If you happens to be in Dataran Merdeka on this coming lovely Sunday morning, watch out for some of the RBU's running with unique attire. Go Ijam ! Go Zaki! Go RBU!

Goodbye Africa, Hello Brasil.

The FIFA World Cup 2010 ended last Monday morning with Spain emerged as the latest country to hold the gold cup as World Champion by beaten the Nederland. Spain followed France footsteps by winning the double – European Champion in 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, France won the Cups in 1998 and 2000.

Amazing isn’t it, yours truly had predicted Spain as no. 1 contender to win the World Cup long before Paul the Octopus and Mani the Parakeet stole the spotlight. Read my entry here. 

On the whole the 2010 edition was a huge success, despite few refereeing mistakes which need to be rectify through the introduction of latest technology, with many fans calls for the Goal Replay to be introduce in the next edition.

Although my favourite team - die mannschaft @ the German team lost the semi final, they won the third spot by beaten Uruaguay in a pulsating game, which should be considered as the Final that never were. As in 2006, Germany retains 3rd spot but the young players they have will last another 3 world cups, considering most of team are in early 20’s. The Golden Boot winner and also Best Young Player of the tournament – Thomas Mueller is only 20 years old.

The fans was hoping the big stars players such as Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Messi would leave a big impact in the tournament, but all of them flops with the rise of new and young superstars such as Mesut Ozil, Sami Khadira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luis Suarez, Hernandez, Dos Santos etc.

Spain is the worthy champions in my view, they beat Christiano Ronaldo’s Portugal at round 16, at Semi Final they beat free flow young Germany which took out Messi’s Argentina earlier, then at the Final they beat the Nederland’s Golden generation which sent Brazil home at Quarter Final. You can say Spain is the winner of the winners and the only team to win the World Cup after losing its 1st game. Another interesting fact, although New Zealand went out earlier in the groups stage, it’s the only unbeatable team in the tournament with three draws in three games.

Good bye South Africa, see you soon Brazil in 2014 and my next prediction is that Brazil will win this cup at their home soil. By that time, i’m sure Paul will already be “sotong goreng tepung” eaten either by the Germans or the Dutch, or maybe both.

Congrats Ijam

Dear Ijam,

Congratulation on completing your Gold Coast Airport Marathon 2010, with the time of 5:09:58 (Gun time)/ 5:06:18 (net time).

On behalf of the RBU, we are very of proud of your achievement. Some of us RBUs (especially me) are secretly planning to enter the 2011 race, i am not sure whether Nik the Pirate King will try to upstage his Sundown achievement recently, if he does it will be another loot pirated outside Malaysia and Singapore..and some says Batam!

We hope you will arrives safely this coming Thursday at LCCT, we are very sorry not able to give you  kompang or bunga manggar welcome as most of us are working on Thursday, maybe you should come back on the weekend?

Many of us are eagerly waiting for your blog updates, which we are sure will be full of funny captions and pictures  of Australian babes in the land down under. We hope to see you soon in Seremban Half Marathon and Ziff asked me to remind you about his Revive water, did you drink his Revive water? He could not find it with his race pack which you registered.

Warm regards,

RaY.zeef @ malaya

Reunion

Note: This is not a running entry.

We had our class reunion yesterday, batch SPM 1989 from SAMURA (Sekolah Menengah Sains Muar).

The chosen venue was at Restoran Ani Sup Utara in Seri Kembangan, the two months old Restaurant are owned by our school mates – Mohni and Nazri, we choose it’s as our way of supporting friends in the business endeavour.

We just met most our class mate through Facebook recently and decided to do this reunion, unfortunately only six of us could could make it this time around. Well it’s better than nothing. Sometimes i need to pinch myself that 21 years has passed since our school days, seems like yesterday.

The food was great, the conversations amongst friend was delightful, to top it all Germany won 4 –0 against Argentina! We had front tables to the big screen, thanks Mohni and Nazri. I am sure there will be more meetings between old friends after this at your delightful restaurant.

  Zaidi, Fairas, Ritalaily, Hishamoodin Ali, Saiful (Pal) and yours truly.

The owner – Nazri and Mohni