I just finished running a half marathon, my first ever so far. As I posted before, my previous attempt was a 15.5km run which I truly enjoyed. So i told myself I am going to do it again! What I like about running is that it teaches me life goes on even though those people or things around you might be still.

The finishing medal

Early Sunday morning, when the sky was still dark and everyone was still asleep, a group of adventurous young people and veteran were making their way to Dataran Merdeka for the annual KL Marathon organised by Standard Chartered. I am one of them so to speak. Weeks prior to that I have had my training, occasionally put off by the hazy weather. I have in my mind that I am joining this run not for gold nor glory but rather for personal satisfaction.

On the night before the actual day, I had a hard time adjusting myself to sleep early, in the end I only slept for five hours just to get up early for the run. The organizer arranged free shuttle buses from several pickup points to Dataran Merdeka, which in a way encouraging the use of public transport and at the same time easing the congestion due to road closure.

The gun shot was fired at 6 o’clock sharp. Every feet there were stampeding on the ground when they walked pass the starting point, everyone with their own goal in mind. The brief shower lightened up the spirit of every runner, bringing the sky temporarily free from haze. Kilometer by kilometer I ran, at the 10th km we were treated with banana as a source of energy. The one packet of energy gel I brought along clearly wasn’t enough.

Drinks were aplenty at every 2km interval for us to hydrate ourselves. It is during such moment you find mineral water and isotonic drink attractive. Sponges soaked in water are something everyone would die for, you see people either squeezing water out of the sponge or wiping themselves with the sponge to cool off.

From Dataran Merdeka, we ran to Brickfields, then towards Cheras before turning to Kg Pandan Roundabout. There on we ran pass Pavilion, KLCC and Maju Junction before running towards the finishing line.

Being an average runner, I managed to finish my run well below my estimated target of 3 hours. Like it or not, only runners who finished their 21.178km below 3 hours are entitled for a certificate! I am so going to wait for that certificate to be sent to me.

I completed the SCKLM Honda Half Marathon! Time 02:44:36 (UNOFFICIAL) kl-marathon.com/Contents/view/… #SCKLMarathon

— Daniel Liew (@danliew) June 24, 2012

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In short, a good run consists of good organiser (Standard Chartered Malaysia), good companion and friends who cheered me up via the Nike+ Running app and Facebook, good weather, good shoes (my Adidas Supernova Sequence 4) and good feeling.

Richard and Cholyin (top left); the crowd (top right); timing (middle left); running shoes (bottom left) and the route (bottom right)

Another run I am looking forward to end of this year is going to be Singapore’s Standard Chartered Marathon! Another half marathon for this year.

Cheers! Daniel