Jason Lee likes photography as hobby. Equipped with a Nikon digital SLR D70, he was able to demonstrate his artistic skills when taking a few of the photos shots. Due to re-sizing (by me, of course) for faster transmission of images over the Internet, the photos may not look that stunning as in the original photos.
I resorted to walking after running for every 500 meters. I was too exhausted in running the final segment of the race under scorching weather in the late morning. Unperturbed by the grueling condition, I did my very best and pressed on aiming to achieve a better timing.
When the going got tough, I was inspired by Shawn, who completed her Desaru Half-Ironman race on 17 Sep 2005 with a timing of 6.5 hours. My self-talk encouraged me that if she could conquer the race starting at 10am, I must complete this race! After all, doing the Powerman was easier considering that in Half-Ironman race, every racer is to swim 2km, cycle 90km and finally, run a Half-marathon in the hot afternoon.
Running the final 10km was most satisfying. Most of the other runners were tired too and a few were limping with muscles cramp. They ran as though they were running in slow motion. Overtaking them one after another was really the motivating factor to maintain the pace by putting each step forward in a mechanical manner.
I was in great form without symptom of leg pain or muscle cramp. Slowly but surely, I ran past the Putrajaya Convention Center and heading back to The Boulevard. I could see the white tents of the starting/ending point from far. And within minutes, I could hear the announcement and music from the loud speakers. And finally, gathering all my energy, I dashed over the finishing tape in 3 hours 55 minutes. Yes, I made it in sub-4 hours!
To the Starting Line
At around 6.30am, Tony arrived in Chiam’s car. Almost at that instant, I saw Lim FW arrived and later followed by another lady racer called Maria who parked her car next to mine at the Dataran Putra, Putrajaya. While exchanging greetings, we were busy assembling our racing bicycles and then posed for photo shots together. Chaim was not participating in the race; instead, he was there equipped with a digital camera to capture the event.
We cycled slowly to the starting area. It was almost two kilometers from the Dataran Putra. Without knowingly, there were two open-spaced car parks about 200 meters away.
When Tony and I entered the transition area around 7am, I was surprised to see Terence (Penguin-6) and Meng (Penguin-2) were already in there. I was even most surprised to see that Penguin-6 donning in PowerBar specially designed one-pieced jersey and short clearly revealing the pot belly. It was really a rude awakening to see Penguin-6’s body size fit the description nicely of a Penguin runner. I told Tony jokingly that with our body sizes, we are the grossly under-nourished Penguins.
Standing at the starting line waiting for the super-charged moment, I had the opportunity to greet Shawn, Jessie, and Pacesetters runners: Thomas, Ong of FRIM and Bernice. Thomas was spotted with a striking red biking jersey with black dots in the size of a plum. While talking to Meng, I saw that he had already put on his gloves ready for the biking segment later.
At 7.30am sharp, the Powerman race was flagged off. My heart was beating faster and the adrenaline was pumping hard. Yahoo!, the race had begun.
In the Race
The first 10km of the race was to run along The Boulevard. While running, I was admiring the government office buildings at both sides of The Boulevard. Without any vehicle on the road, it was indeed a pleasant change from the other races. I love running here.
All runners were making U-turn at the roundabout and then heading to the Convention Centre passing by the starting area. Though The Boulevard was flat, there were two up hills approaching the Convention Centre.
The landscaping at the entrance of Convention Centre was beautifully decorated with grasses and plants in neatly arranged designs. The flowers that are hung in the divider of the road were really bright red – a rare view to behold. And on the far end, there is a beautiful bridge in the shape of a clam.
At the last two kilometers in the first segment of running, I have the urge to complete the runs quickly and start the biking segment. I find that it was more comfortable in cycling as I could rest a little with the help of bicycle gear system.
Completing the first 10km runs in moderate speed was fairly easy. All racers were directed into the bike transition area. Since I was wearing the running shorts, other than putting on the helmet, glove and sunglasses, I have to put on the biking shorts with padding to provide cushion at the vital area. After the mistake at the first Lumut Duathlon in May 2005, I was cautious to wear it properly. And within two minutes, I was ready pushing my bike out of the transition area.
Riding the bike for the first one minute was most enjoyable. From the slow running to fast-speed traveling on bike coupled with wind blowing were really refreshing indeed. The biking routes lead us to the Wawasan Bridge and the racers began the 60km bike racing.
The 30km biking route was well designed where racers went through the scenic areas and breathtaking views of buildings and bridges of Putrajaya. Amidst the fairly flat terrain, there were seven hills to negotiate. There were only two junctions that required traffic policemen to control the traffic with hardly any cars.
I was on the look up for Shawn, whom I come to know, always beat me in the biking segment. At the first 10km runs, I was having a lead time over her as I could run faster then her. Eventually, she overtook me at the beginning of second loop while going uphill. I was exerting my best effort to cycle as fast as I could but to no avail. Within minutes, she was out of my sight. I must be very slow in my cycling. There were so many other bikers that overtook me that I had lost count of them.
It was a sunny Sunday morning superb for outdoor quest. At times, there was slight tint of clouds to provide the necessary shades. Overall, it was hot and humid. The roads were wide without any shades from trees.
One of my favorite moments would be cycling downhill. I would engage the smallest gear, peddled hard and the racing bicycle would zoom like a speeding bullet. After a while, the racers that I overtook during downhill would catch up with me again. This is similar to running downhill but without the pounding and the knee injury. But if in a collision, the consequence would be much damaging than knee injury!
One of the water-stations was positioned immediately after an uphill. That was a brilliant idea as most bikers would be struggling for the uphill climb with much slower speed for race officers to hand over the bottled water. However, after the flat terrain of 10 meters, there was a steep downhill approaching the big roundabout at Precinct 1. I was holding the water bottle in one hand while busy changing the drive plates and gears with another hand.
Chiam was doing a great job taking photos with lots of enthusiasm. He maintained mobility by riding this mountain bicycle along the Boulevard all the way till Convention Centre. Wearing biking helmet, jersey and shorts, he could be mistaken for another racer except in non-competition mode.
At around 10.30am, I saw Tony at the opposite side of The Boulevard during the last segment of running. He was about one kilometer behind me. Later I saw Meng who was about 1km behind him. It was at that moment that I spotted Jason Lee and Weng arrived at Putrajaya to assist in taking photos. It was like the cowboy movies where the heroes arrived almost at the last moment to rescue the situation.
After the race
The organizer was most thoughtful for the needs of every racer. Immediately after receiving the medal, each racer would be given an ice-cold towel, 100 Plus and bottled water.
I walked around at the finishing area. This time, I was busy taking photos – but in the photos. With the presence of Jason Lee and Weng each holding a camera, I was having more time to have my photos taken instead of me taking the photos for others. For each pose, two cameras were clicking same time resulted a minimum of 4 shots (each took at least two shots). At times, it went up to 8 shots. But I would have headache later when selecting and re-sizing of photos for uploading into Internet.
Guess how many T-shirts that I have collected for this race? First one was distributed at Friday night’s pre-race briefing; second was collected immediately after the race; the third one was given by Pacesetters Club.
I was glad to meet Mr. Chan WK, official photographer of Pacesetters Club. While shaking hand with him, I told him that we have not met for many months already. Previously, he was holding the film type of Nikon SLR. This time, he was holding the Nikon D70 digital SLR.
After witnessing the award presentation ceremony hosted by Adele, I left the scene feeling satisfied that I have completed the Powerman race.
The effort to complete the Powerman race in sub-4 hours was just like running a full marathon but without the soreness and pain in the legs muscles. However, I had another new problem -- quite severed sunburn. On that Sunday evening, while doing light walking in the playground, my friends commented that I nearly look like an Indian. On Monday, I could see that the skin on my face was partly peeling off. Oh my gosh! I have to attend an office colleague’s wedding dinner at Concord Hotel in the evening.
To view 46 great photos taken during the dinner, please click here.
Entering into the lobby of Laksamana Ballroom, the first familiar person that I spotted was Melody, the Competitor Relations Manager from the event organizer, Quick release Adventures. She was always busy. As usual, she would be tallying entries with the database in her PC Notebook at the Registration Desk cum Race Kit Collection booth. Of course, not forgetting the other Penguin runners who were there earlier.
The set up of the lobby would be the Powerman booths on the left side with the buffet food ready in the sparkling clean stainless steel utensils at the opposite side. The other usual booths would be: collection of timing chips and T-shirts and the PowerBar merchandises. And without fail, for every Duathlon race, PowerBar would distribute one free Power Bar to every participant.
For a change, it is refreshing to see the familiar runners or bikers in well-dressed attires other than the usual running vest and shorts. We were having good times together mingling and chatting with other participants.
With the help of Race Director, Mr. Geoffrey, I had the opportunity of my lifetime to take a photo with the two Champions (please refer to the photos). From the photo, three of us are seen with almost same height, well-build and equally handsome (ahem, ahem). But on the race day, the distinction would be obvious.
Other than the Penguin runners, the other persons that we chatted with were: William Chin and wife, Lok (Pacesetters Subang Jaya Team Lead), Azwar, Ronnie Gui, Christine, Jessie, Carmen, Miss Lisi and Alex of P2K Group.
We were jostled from the conversation when Miss Adele from the event organizer, announced at the top of her lung of the commencement of the pre-race briefing. I presume she was testing her voice as she is also the announcer on the race day.
The pre-race briefing was conducted by Hafidz Fikri who had vast experience in this area. Other than the necessary details, he also informed the racers the Do’s and Don’ts during the race on Sunday.
He briefed the racers that there will be two loops of 30km each for the cycling segment. “After the first loop, you would feel tired. With the completion of second loop, you would be very very tired. However, if you are dead tired, you could have done the third loop, which exceeded requirements.”
We love to watch the video clips for the past Duathon events. They were recorded and presented in a lively and humorous manner. There was one mat salleh guy, while running quite exhaustedly, said, “I really need the Kenyan legs now.”
Immediately after the briefing, the participants were treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner. I was really surprised that Penguin-6, who was seated at the same table in the far corner of the ballroom, emerged as the front-runner scooping the food almost to the brim of his plate. I was not sure whether he was doing carbo-loading for the previous Dasaru Half-Ironman race or the race this Sunday.
While Adele was explaining to other participants, I took quite a number of photo shots of her with flash light. She felt she was like celebrity who has been zeroed-in by the camera man. Not used to looking at the flashes, she commented that the flashes from the camera almost blinded her eyes.
We left the venue feeling satisfied and start the mental preparation for the race day on Sunday morning, 25 Sep 2005 at Putrajaya.
Part 1 : Prelude to the Race
Wow! Doing three races in three consecutive Sundays? Yes, the Penguin runners ran the Putrajaya Half Marathon on Sep 11 and PJ Half Marathon the week after. And this coming Sunday Sep 25, we are taking up the Powerman Malaysia Duathon challenge at Putrajaya.
Of the three races, the Powerman would be the one race that we are most excited about. In this event, each racer is to run 10km, cycle 60km and follow by another 10km of running. Yeah, this time, there will be four Penguin runners participating in the race. They are: Penguin-1 (KC), Penguin-2 (Meng), Penguin-3 (Tony) and Penguin-6 (Terence).
For the months of August and September, we were busy with other outdoor quest which leave very little time for bike training. We were busy with the trekking of Mount Kinabalu; training and running the Executive Rat Race; running the Putrajaya and PJ Half Marathons.
My bike training would be mostly done in the gym on the stationary bicycle – this is the best that I can do. To simulate the actual condition, I would tighten the tension for heavier pedal pressure; vary the intensity for slower and faster speed.
Penguin-2 just completed his 24-hour Walk at Genging Highlands by clocking in 82 km on Sunday. Bravo and well done! I believe his leg muscles would be well seasoned and conditioned.
Penguin-6 just went for the Desaru Half Ironman race. Doing the Duathlon is just like running 10km after doing a half marathon.
This Friday, the participants are required to collect the race kit, race timing chip and attend the pre-race briefing. Of course, it would be followed by sumptuous high-tea or dinner thrown in free by the event organizer, Quick Release Adventures. Pre-race briefing and dinner are unique to the Duathlon races. Of course, I like Duathon races not because of the free dinner. For this final circuit, the racers would be treated to a dinner party at the Armada hotel, Petaling Jaya.
a. Love at first sight: Kuala Lumpur Duathlon on March 27