Starlight Ultra 2014 - New date!

Postponed because of Bukit Gelugor By-Election

Those hoping to run the Starlight Ultra on 24th-25th August 2014 received the news yesterday (9th August 2014). Yours truly was still recovering from running the Borneo International Marathon. In fact truth be told I was thinking of DNS-ing my 84km solo. After my BIM run I thought just maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew. What I need most was time to recuperate and train. In my excitement to sign up for the BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon FM and the Standard Chartered KL Marathon FM I had put the Starlight Ultra on the backburner. Earlier DAP strongman and Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh had passed away tragically. The by-election meant that the venue for Starlight Ultra had to be used and so a new date had to be found. The first choice proposed was 9th-10th August 2014. That would clash with the Island Ocean Marathon which many had already signed up for the combo. I was one of those who contacted the organisers on the matter.

A big thank you to them for changing the date to 23rd-24th August 2014. What that means is that those who have signed up for the Island Ocean Marathon (10th August 2014), the Kuching Marathon (17th August 2014) and the Starlight Ultra 84km Solo, will be in for the time of their running lives come August. I have run two full marathons in 8 days. I have never run 3 full marathons in 15 days. In this case it will be two full marathons and one ultra (equal to two full marathons) in 14 days! This is uncharted territory for me. Like a runner buddy reminded me this is a good test for doing the double FM in October. The 84km Solo has a 16 hour cut-off time. Of course after that I am running the River Jungle Marathon on 7th September 2014. Luckily I didn't sign up for the Penang Ultra 100km on the same day as urged by some of my friends. I am sure there will be some who plan to do both. I salute you guys and look forward to reading about your experiences.

 Am just so glad I will be able to run Starlight Ultra this year. Am just hoping the organisers will be a little lenient as I know for a fact many of us will be doing the three runs in 14 days. The wear and tear of our bodies I just don't want to think about right now.  So hopefully those who do not meet the cut-off time will have their time recorded. This is something I feel strongly about. That way I have something to show for finishing that goes beyond the medal and the finisher t-shirt. Lets hope on the day itself it doesn't come to that. Hopefully my legs won't fail me when the time comes. We had the same thing happen last year with BIM being postponed and I did run it finally. So it all worked out in the end. Am sure there will be those who are unhappy about what has happened, but it cannot be helped. Lets all us runners play our part and support this ultra. It's so wonderful that Penang now has two ultras and a full marathon to run. Happy running always everyone!