Larian Hari Malaysia MAKSAK 2013 - Run Report

Malaysia Day Run

I managed to find parking behind the Civic Centre just after 6am.  For a run with such a massive 5,000-strong turn-out I had expected that parking would have been at adventure.  As it happened many runners arrived late.  In fact, when we were flagged off I even saw families getting out of cars and some struggling to put their running bibs on.  Of course these were the people who were there to participate for fun.  After all this was not a ‘real’ running event like Spring Live Active Run, which saw everyone arriving on time.  The usual intensity of such a run just wasn’t there.  I too mingled with friends.  The unthinkable happened! I had forgotten my trusty camera.  So any photos you see below are all courtesy of my running buddy Reuben Su.

Since this was basically a government run and was organized by the Civil Service Sport, Welfare and Recreational Council (MAKSAK), it was an entirely different sort of crowd.  Yes the speedsters were in attendance.  They had come to win prizes.  The run was divided into men and women open – 10km, men’s and women veteran – 8km, men and women senior veteran – 5km and VIPs – 3km.  Many students took part. The Open and VIP category had 10 prizes each, while the veteran and senior veteran had 5 prizes each.  We only learned of the latter after the race.  No need to guess who got the biggest looking boxes of prizes.  There was also a lucky draw.  Fifty prizes were given out – mostly electronic goods.  A VIP won the biggest prize of a 42” smart TV.

For signing up for free we all got t-shirts and baseball caps.  Before the start of the run they handed out a goody bag which consisted of a butter bun, an apple, and two 500ml bottles of water.  Those who wanted more could even ask for more.  No guesses on what yours truly did.  The run unfortunately lacked marshals towards the end when all the runners converged.  We had to brave the intersections at a couple of points.  There was one water station and it was for all the categories.  For the 10km runners it meant that they got their 500ml of water at km7.5! Remember many of the 10km runners were school kids who weren’t seasoned long distance runners.  I just took my bottle and ran with it.  Since there was no pressure to finish fast I did so in 49:50 for 8km.  The next day I would be doing the Run for Peace and it was also 8km.

Did stay back for the lucky draw.  Alas didn’t even come close.  I won’t go into how the winners were selected.  Those who were there can tell you more.  Made a couple of new friends.  Some people would later inform me that they saw me there but they didn’t introduce themselves.  Please do so next time.  I am really a giant teddybear!  We were given two certificates at the finish line! One was of course for the Malaysia Day Run and the other was for another event, the 10,000 Steps Sarawak Merdeka Walk, which was run concurrently, and I didn’t even know that I had also participated in it.  Such are the surprises in store in government runs.  It sure looked like everyone had a blast.  It was nice to see people run with their families. Many looked like they needed to run more often.

Me and Reuben Su flanking Frances Ngu

 

Crowd of red hats waiting to run

 

Squint to see Frances receiving her 9th prize