Borneo Marathon

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a good weekend. I ran the Inaugural Borneo Marathon today. That’s right, a silly and senseless 42.2 km run around Kota Kinabalu. The race was flagged of at the obscene hour of 0430hrs in the morning. We woke up early to be there on time. Bean who was doing the half marathon was flagged off at 0600 hrs, a more respectable hour. But it must be said that the sun rises earlier here in East Malaysia as compared to the Peninsular.

0400hrs in a near empty stadium

This is my 12^th Marathon I think (excluding the marathon ran in an Ironman) and I must say I was a bit disappointed with the turnout. There was hardly 100 people doing the full monty and I heard that the whole event including the half marathon and 10k runs attracted a total of 1000 runners. During this years KL Marathon, the marathon runners alone outnumber this figure.

Not too many marathoners

There we were at the starting line sizing up our opponents. Normally in a big race your not so worried about being left behind or being in the last 10%, but here being in the last 10% would make you stick out like a sore thumb! Anyway I was looking around and I saw a few people that I was confident of being ahead of. Like this elderly white guy who came alone and talked to no one at the starting area.

Surely you can beat this gentleman dude?

There were some Pacesetter members whom I’m familiar with, but even they did not come in large numbers. The biggest single group must have been the Singaporeans. The SAFRA (Singapore armed forces recreational association) sent a total of 22 runners. Another club from Singapore came with 18 runners. Where were the Malaysians? Maybe the distance and cost incurred during traveling made the number low. Hopefully next year would be better.

The race started at the Likas Stadium. And we started on the track. The route took us out of Likas Stadium heading North along the Coastal road. The weather initially was beautiful. It rained overnight with the air being clean and temperature cool. We headed North along the coastal road winding it’s way around Likas Bay as we crawled our way towards the Sabah Foundation building. From a distance you could see the flashing lights of the police out riders escorting the leading runners. Just as I was reaching the 5km mark, I could see the lead runners at the base of the Sabah Foundation Building. They were really that far ahead.

You guys go ahead. I'll hang behind a little longer

As we reached the Sabah Foundation Building, approx 7km, we turned right towards the new Hypermall in KK I Borneo. Just like I Utama. We passed that and next we passed the Campus of UNIMAS, Universiti Malaysia Sabah where my uncle Zul is a professor. This area till a few years back was just swampy marsh land. Not anymore. The road was wide and apparently it’s smooth going all the way to Kota Belud in the North. We passed along Menggatal (Itchy ) town where my uncle and auntie stays. I didn’t tell them that I was in town. I hope they wont get upset.

Itchy people live here?

I can imagine my auntie calling me on the phone and giving me lashing for not dropping by.

“Kan Mummy sudah bilang, kalau ke KK mesti menyinggah kerumah” loosely translated….”I’m very upset you didn’t bother to come and say hello!”

The thing is, it’s never just to say Hello when it comes to my auntie. They will always prepare food or bring us out for dinner and the whole works when we go there. We were here only for a short while and I really didn’t want to impose. Anyway, I will be back in December for Hari Raya Haji and definitely will drop by then.

Just after a point beyond the junction to Menggatal, we made our U turn. In case your wondering the Kenyans were already heading back to town at this stage. They were really fast!

Psst..you look at the skinny guy taking our photo...he is so slow. What on earth is he doing here?

It took another few minutes before the next runner passed me and much longer till the first Malaysian ran past me. The sun was slowly rising at this stage. Thankfully there was a thick cloud cover over it and sheltered us all from the heat. The heat in KK being near the coast can be intolerable at times. But the cloud cover also covered Mt Kinabalu and the majestic Crocker range from view.

Cloud cover. Thank god

I saw this rock formation which had different layers to it,evidence of the relatively “young” Crocker Range and in fact the whole of Borneo itself in terms of Mountainous geography. In fact Mt kinabalu is still rising by a few milimetres every year. Give it a few more centuries it may overtake K2. Unlikely I would think, as the Himalayas is also rising every year.

Layered sandwich

Anyway, it was nice to meet familiar faces during the run. There was Ravi from Singapore whom at one look you would think can’t even run around the block. Think again, Ravi has been in all the Marathons that I have entered for the past 3 or 4 years. Normally it’s a fight between him and me for first place….from behind.

Ravi

Then there was pilot Soo who stays near my house. Soo and I go back a long way. We both got disqualified in our swim section of our first Ironman a few years back. We both continued on with the race none the less. Since then Soo has progressed in leaps and bounds. Despite him being my “neighbour”, I only see him at the races and never at home.

I ran along with another guy, a Singaporean who works in KK. From what I gather from him due to the recent increase in crime rates in Malaysia, Singaporeans are becoming more reluctant to visit us. The latest incident was when a couple in a Ferrari convoy got car jacked. He also told me how they are often ‘cheated’ or charged more than usual when they are in Malaysia. It was bloody embarassing to hear this but it is true I suppose.

You make new friends all the time

I met a jovial guy also from Singapore whom I talked with for some time. He was doing his second Marathon. He was happy trough out the run even though he was already in pain. Then I met Dr Chin, an Orthopaedic surgeon in a private hospital in KL. He is 52 years old and I was immediately impressed. Firstly he is in that age and would later on leave me trailing behind. As a doctor especially one working in the private sector and managing to do all this stuff was even more impressive. As I have always said, Doctors are generally boring and non adventurous people.

Dr Chin leaving me behind

We talked a lot. About life in private practice. About running and much more.At the 28km mark I began to complain about pain in my left groin. I thought it was my hip joint “trochanteric bursitis” or some other fancy diagnosis. Dr Chin corrected my by telling me of a simpler diagnosis : Sprain of thigh muscle / Sartorius in particular. By the way, just in case you want to look smart at parties or even trying to impress the chicks….Sartorius located in front of your thigh is the longest muscle in the human body.

So what’s the treatment for this Dr Chin? I asked him

“Very simple Hisyam”, he told me. “Berhenti buat kerja kerja bodoh maca lari Marathon!” Simply mistranslated…” YOU ASKED FOR IT! STOP DOING ALL THIS NONSENSE OF HURTING YOURSELF!" With a wicked smile he ran ahead.

He left me at KM 30 onwards.

After we made the U turn we made our way back along Likas Bay passing the Sabah Foundation Building once again and headed to town.

Yayasan Sabah

The course was well laid out. The support crew were a jovial lot giving encouragements all the way even though your nearly last. They had good communication between stations, water stations were adequately manned and stocked. Can't complain about the organisation really.

Support crew

Plenty of water

By now the lead runners for the half marathon were already heading back to the stadium. We passed Likas stadium and continued our way into town.

Into town

We passed the coastal road passing the KK port and the KK markets. After that it was straight along the waterfront. It was still early in the morning and the markets weren’t open yet. There were people bringing their goods to the market to sell and everyone cheered us on. At this point the route was the same with the 21km half marathon and the 10km run. Suddenly the roads were full of people in various stages of their run. The marathoners at the 30km mark, the half marathoners heading out at the 8km mark or those heading back at the 14 km mark. It was excellent seeing so many other people other than myself suffering in the scorching heat. It was only 8am but the sun was already giving me a nice tan. I passed Mariana and managed to give her a Hi-Five. She would eventually get second place in the half marathon race.

I passed Bean much…much later. After town we continued with our slog southwards towards Sutera Harbour on the coastal highway. It was scorching hot at this point.

Smart guy. Obviously it works, he's ahead of me!

More and more people were overtaking me now. At Sutera Harbour we turned right entering it.I thought it was just a short distance but we went almost 3 km in. The beauty is the view at the end.

KK across the bay from Likas

Gaya island

Exiting Sutera HArbour, we turned right toward Sembulan /Sempelang. It was a struggle now. A lot of people were suffering from the heat including me. After the U turn at Sembulan, it was just pure slog. My average speed at the beginning hovered between 9 to 11km/hr. Now it was 7 to 8 and dropped further to 5.5 when i walk / hobble my way back to town.

Sembulan lama

From here onwards it was just the reverse of the route before but the only difference is that it was hotter! Even the marshals and volunteers were seeking sympathy from the sun.

Uncle, your so slow....hurry up please

The last 5 km was just unbearable. Walked and hobbled my way into the near empty stadium.

Piece of cake...

Am I the first one to arrive?

Bean was ready with the camera to snap me, but so was I. I crossed the line after an embarrasingly long time after the start of the race. The Kenyans have already showered, got a foot massage, ate lunch , took the prize money and was on their way to Nairobi when I finally hobbled across.

No dude, your almost last!

I checked my watch. I had burned 3243 Kcal. Total of 6 average sized meals worth of energy. Though I was in pain, I just can't describe the feeling of pride and satisfaction upon crossing the finish line. True, you curse and swear that you won't do it ever again, but it will all go away once you cross the finish line.
Err....see you in Penang for the Marathon next month.....

Overall a VERY fine day indeed

PS: The elderly white guy and the older doctor both completed ahead of me..!

Warm Regards

Doc