Energizer Night Race

The Star - Wednesday December 30, 2009



Runners to don headlights in Energizer Night Race
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will have a second night marathon with the Energizer Night Race in Cyberjaya on March 27.


The brand manager for Energizer, Joshua Leong, said that the race would be different from the Putrajaya Night Marathon, which will be held on Feb 6, as the runners would don headlights supplied by the organisers.


“The headlights made by Energizer will be distributed to all runners and this will add to the excitement of running with the crowd at night,” he said.


“Our hope is to reach out to recreational runners and we expect about 5,000 runners to take part in the race.”


Energizer Night Race is a global event held since 2007 and it has created waves in countries like South Korea, Argentina and South Africa.


However, only the Malaysian edition of the race will feature the full marathon (42.2km) while others featured runs only up to 10km.


The half marathon (21.1km) and 10km race will also be featured in the race in Cyberjaya.


“We will also have stage performances by bands to liven up the atmosphere of the event as we expect the last runner to arrive at the finish line by midnight,” said Joshua.


Runners can register on the official website www.energizernightrun.com.my starting from Jan 10.

Other info:-

The minimum age for entry is 16 years, and there is no upper age limit. Those interested to run are encouraged to practice from the time of this announcement, advises Rustam Affandin Zaihan, the President of Pacesetters, an athletic group which is the event organiser for this race.

The circuit will appear something like the shape of the number eight. Medical assistance will be set up every 5 km, with water stations. Before the race commences, there will be a mini-concert, with local indie bands performing. Sports trainers will also be there to help participants warm up before the night run.

The entry fee is RM 50 for Pacesetter members (an athletic organisation which has been around for 25 years), RM 60 for the public. All registered particvipants receive a limited edition Energizer adidas running vest and many other free merchandise . Among the sponsors are Schick; venue sponsor, Cyberview Sdn Bhd; and Cyberview Lodge Hotel as the official hotel. There are discounts for runners who wish to stay the night.

Christmas Weekend & The Rest Of the Week

Geoff and Joyce got their new bikes as their own Christmas presents on Saturday. It seems everyone's getting a bike and here I am without a bike. Haha. Both got Raleigh bikes. Well, I hope you two don't keep the bikes at home only ya?!

Geoff taking out bike for test ride

Joyce proud of her new bike

Geoff admiring his new bike

I ran on Sun morning but was so tired after attending a party at Irene's place on Saturday night. Alden and Raymond were back from London and Hong Kong respectively for holidays. I started my run only at about 8.00am and it was a pretty hot day to run. I ran from home to Petronas Hartamas before turning back to LHDN Duta. That's where I saw Don running with another guy. I thought they even started even later than me. I was puffing so hard trying to keep up with him. While running with him, he told me he was already on his second lap of the Hartamas route as he was going for 40km run. Shit! that means when I was with him, he was already about 25km into the run. He was running like 44 mins to Hartamas Petronas station and 42 mins back to Bukit Aman carpark. And for some people who don't know Don, he is already 50 years old! Putting us, young ones, to shame isn't he?

Well that was my final run for the rest of this week, before Pacemaker Network Run tomorrow. I can't remember what distance we'll be running. I better go check. Haha. Too much work and couldn't wake up early to run. I guess I'm going into tomorrow's run to see how my legs are after the fall and lack of training. For those running or on duty tomorrow, see you at the run!

Befor signing off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

A New Toy As Christmas Present

Just came back from a Christmas Eve dinner organised by my sis's church, Household Of Faith (HOF). Had to rush from Cheras towards Holiday Villa Subang, picking up Mien Yee at Taman Jaya LRT station on the way. Federal highway was as usual, peanut butter jam! My car was moving slower than a tortoise for most part of Federal Highway, especially from Amcorp Mall onwards.

Anyways, glad that I arrived there just before the dinner started. After the dinner, there was a lucky draw session and I told Mien Yee that one our tickets will surely win. Well, we had to wait till the very last draw of the evening, the grand prize, and my name was called out. I didn't know what was it but it was heavy. Then Andrew, my sis churchmate told me this is what every runner wants after their run. (Apparently, Andrew is a keen runner. Ran more marathons than me and have signed up for the 84km Sundown Ultra in Singapore. I'll be seeing him again in Pacemaker Network Run on New Year's Day.) After dinner, I went into my car, opened up the wrapper and behold.....an Omron FOOT MASSAGER!! Comes in handy!

Well, am going to have my first session in a short while, while enjoying my TV. So anyone wants to come over for foot massage after run, give me a call. The charges are dirt cheap, RM5 for 20 mins! Hehe! Kidding!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Malaysian Food & Recovery

There were couple of restaurants I visited in the last two days. One was lunch at "Taste of Foochow" near Pudu Pasar. Had Red Wine Chicken Mee Suah and Foochow Yanpi Wanton.

Taste of Foochow

Red Wine Chicken Mee Suah

Foochow Yanpi Wanton

Today, went for a site visit at Bandar Bukit Tinggi in Klang. Our technicians were there to do treatment in one of the shop. Since we drove all the way to Klang, Bak Kut Teh is a must. And so we had BKT for lunch!

Izad drilling a hole

Dried Bak Kut Teh

Soup Bak Kut Teh

On other note, in a space of a week after buying an adult bike with a baby chair behind the bike, Aaron bought another bike. This time a children's bike for his daugther, Haley. However, her legs may still be too weak to actually ride on it on her own.

Haley all smile with her new bike

As for my running, I have been resting after my long run on Sunday. It seems the fall I had last week was still a bother. So hoping to recover fully before running again. Feeling better today, so may go for a short run later.

What A Hectic Day!

I had a great track session together with Azri and Jessica. I woke up early at around 5.00am and managed to watch Liverpool beat Wigan 2-1. My left butt and part of my thigh were really sore due to the fall. I wasn't sure if I can complete my track programme. Reached Kampung Pandan at around 6.25am. Jessica and Azri were alredy there doing their stretching. Michelle was there too, together with Tony. Tony is guiding her through her track session. Not sure what she did that day but it looks pretty intense. Watch out ladies!

We started with our warm-up around the track for 4000m. Then did some 100m strides outs before we started out program of 16 x 200m, with 200m jog for recovery. I have not done this workout since my schooldays and now I can't even get my time under 35s. The best I could do was just 36s. The rest of it were around 37s-38s. Jessica and Azri had to cut down their repitition as both are still recovering from their injuries. As for me, I lost track of my repitition counts and ended up doing 19 x 200m, as I found out only yesterday when I was going through my stopwatch lap timings.

I went straight to work after that as it wasn't too far from Kpg Pandan track. Had my shower in the office. I had to follow one of the technician, Izad, out for termites treatment in a Semi-D house in Kota Kemuning. It's the first time I'm witnessing how the treatment is done.

Machine that injectes chemicals into drilled holes

Injecting chemicals into floors

After the chemical is injected, the holes will be patched using mixture of cements and colours simliar to the floor colour. I tried helping in patching the holes, but due to my lack of skills, it was a pretty tough job.

By end of the day, I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately once I was in bed. I woke up the next day and was still feeling sore in my legs due to the track workouts. I didn't want to do anything yesterday as I was still feeling tired. I went out breakfast with Geoff and Joyce in SEA park and after that took them to Merida bike shop in PJ. Geoff is thinking of getting a bike. Good for him....hope he doesn't think too long.

Salesman trying to convince Geoff

Our friend in deep thoughts. To buy or not to buy?

I went back after that and watch 2 episodes of Heroes and a movie. Had dinner with my girlfriend, sent her back and upon reaching home, went straight to bed. Body recovers really slow these days.

Falling On My Butt Yet Again!

Before going into the above topic, let me summarised the "waiting game" on wheter to run or not? Well physically I am ready to run today as I've only got an hour run in my program. Nothing too "painful" till I always find an excuse not to run. I've already skipped two training past 2 days due to torrential rain in the evening. Today was no different. Sky got dark by 4pm and it's just waiting to pour. It did initially. I was on the way back home thinking of hitting the treadmill which I dislike. Then the rain stopped so thought I just stopped by the Taman Pudu Ulu and run a few laps, maybe around 30mins before it rains again. But in the end, I managed to clocked in my targeted 1-hour run. I don't really know how far I ran, cause when I decide to run an hour, I just run as I feel. If I can go fast, then I'll go fast. I think this is a better way to train rather than following a measured route, and you just get discouraged if you don't meet your target time. Well I don't mean it's not a good idea, but better to mix up the training, eh? Anyway, track session is in my program tomorrow. Since one of my ex-colleague wants me to train him, I've scheduled a morning session before work.

Back to the title of my post today. What happened you may ask? Well, as I was running, I stepped on a very wet floor (and my shoe soles are already wearing out), I slipped and BANG! My left butt hit the ground. I was just 3 mins into my run at that time. I quickly got up and continued running, trying to save myself from the embarassment form onlookers. I jogged a few more meters ahead before stopping to check onthe injury, as I already felt the pain.  And this is the result:

Photo: Just below my left butt

Why did I say "yet again"? Well, I fell down twice from my bike, during my time in Melbourne, and landed on pretty much the same spot! Getting old maybe..... Anyways, it hurts as I stepped into the shower and I think I'm going to have a very sore butt tomorrow!

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Had to cancel my planned track session today as it's raining cats and dogs outside now. Just got back sending one of the staff here to pick up his new ride, the good old Honda EX5. I think this is the most trusted model of all time by far. Had to drive all the way to Selayang to pick up the bike, luckily didnt take long to find the place except being stuck in the traffic jam.

Earlier, me and Bernard were at Aaron's house to help move his aquarium base. We only managed to move the aquarium last time we were here. Also moved 2 TVs & two single bed mattress to give away to his staff. Well the base was just as heavy and due to the size, someone had to sit on the floor of the van. And it was Aaron, who insisted on it. Not me or Bernard's fault. : ))

Yesterday, we were at G Tower along Jalan Tun Razak to do a pest treatment. There were 48 rooms to be treated at one of the floors and there are 2 more floors which he needs to do. However, it was not ready yet at the time we were there. Anyway, the building will only be launched sometime early next year. We were informed 3 of the floors will be dedicated hotel rooms and the rest will be offices.

One of the show room

Bala doing the spraying of chemical

Should I leave now or wait for the rain to stop? I'm going to be stuck in the traffic anyway if I go back now. Might as well go for my dinner first!

Sunday Activities

I was on a solo long run yesterday morning. Met quite a few runners on the road along the way. Some were not doing the usual Sun long run as there were two events held back to back. One was the 12-hour walk in Putrajaya which started on Sat at 8.00pm while the other was the Chin Woo Biathlon on Sun morning.

After the long run, I made my way to Chin Woo Association to watch the biathlon event. This is an annual event which sees competitors swim 800m before completing it with a 7km run. I took part in the first edition. It was pretty embarassing for me at that time, as I was last out of the pool. Some even claim that I didn't even finish the swim leg as the judges were feeling tired of waiting. : )) Anyway, I was there to meet Jeff as well, who was keen to buy the Adidas tights which I was selling off. Got there in time to witness Iwata finishing first in the veteran event. I was told he came back to Malaysia just to support this event, which was organised by his nemesis in local tri scene, Don Khor together with Chin Woo Association.

A strong finish by Iwata

Don awaiting to hand out the finisher's medal

I went off earlier before the prize presentation as I had an appointment with my cousin and her bf. Took them to Alex's stall to have Sarawak Laksa and Tomato Kueh Tiaw. I had one bowl of Laksa and a bowl of Kolo Kueh Tiaw.

I went back to the Japanese anime DVD sales near Pandan Safari in Cheras and bought some more anime titles. There were more titles that I wanted to buy such as Gundam and Initial D (complete set) but both were more expensive. Might as well buy more titles with that price.

Some of the titles I got yesterday:

I think I can start opening a Japanese DVD rental shop soon. Anyone who wants to be my first customer?

I came back home feeling tired but watched a dvd on new Singapore movie called "Where Got Ghost?" It's a Jack Neo's production.

It was supposed to be a Ghost movie but this is a hilarious one. Those who hasn't seen it, go check it out. Of course must understand a little bit of hokkien and mandarin to watch it. Otherwise you got to rely solely on the subtitles! And usually in Jack Neo's production it has some elements of everyday life and morality tale. For this one, it's a three part tales. It reminds us about the consequences of greed, taking shortcuts in life and chasing after riches.

Moving A Big Aquarium And Japanese Anime Series

Had breakfast with Aaron and Bernard at Pandan Indah 2020 coffeeshop. What else would 3 Sarawakians be having besides our very own Kolo Mee. Not many West Malaysian love eating it, probably because too it is too plain for them. Let me tell you it has so much "nutrition" or "natural' goodness. Lots of pork lard, pork mince meat, char siew, etc. They used to sell "Kueh Chap" as well, many years ago but now they're only selling Sarawak Kolo Mee and Laksa. Kolo Mee is pretty much everyone's meal in Kuching.

The Kolo Mee and Sarawak Laksa stall

The curly mee used for Kolo Mee

Head out to Bukit Serdang with Bernard to do an inspection of one of the 2 & half storey house. It was believed that the area was infested with termites. The owner was worried of termites infection so he wanted to prevent it while he is doing his renovation. Took us a while to search for the place since both of us weren't too familiar with Serdang area.

A nice house

Right after the inspection, we went over to Sri Petaling for lunch with Geoff and Aaron, who were there waiting. Then, proceeded to Aaron's place to help him move his blardy BIG aquarium. and F%#$ing heavy too. Even 4 of us had a hard time to move it. Just the aquarium, we still have the bottom base to move. Aaron is moving it to our current office. Well before moving our 2 finalist of the Biggest Loser posed for the first time together showing their "one" pack stomach. Watch out everyone! 6 packs coming soon!

So who's bigger?

As soon as we reached the office, we decided not to move the aquarium till Mon, since we will have 2 of our help us out to move it together up to the office. We rested at the comfort of the air-cond in the office.

There was a DVD sales yesterday which I saw when we drove pass behind Pandan Safari. The shop is selling all the popular Japanese Anime. And mind you, they are pretty cheap. I bought 5 anime series (complete season) for mere RM35. Well I only had RM40 with me!

The big crowd turning out for the sale

The titles I bought

Well, got to sign off for now as I have to head to my cousin's place to fix up my computer. HDD is making sound. So need to change my internal HDD which I bought at the PC Fair. Might have to leave my laptop with him for a while! Doing my long run tomorrow morning! See ya!

Biggest Loser Training & A Pimp Up Ride

Today, Han came over to the office to help out with the internet and the wi-fi connection. All of us in the office are mainly IT idiots, so we know nuts about getting it conencted. It was working fine till we tried to install the new printer cum fax. That's when we lost the connection to the internet. I had to send out a S.O.S to Han for help. Thanks to him, everything is A-OK now.

Later in the day, Aaron and me were out to source for some shirts, landyards, caps for the company. We went to a shop nearby the office and tried to get the salesperson to quote us the best price. Instead of ordering now, we only bought some samples. After that, told him if he has time why not just go Cheras and have a look at the mountain bike which he has been pestering me to look into it. Since we got a van, easy for us to load into. Like everyone else, he was looking for cheap, nice, beauty bike. The only reason he is getting a bike is to bring his kid around with a baby seat behind. We went to a shop near Taman Len Sen, called Tat Seng Bicycle. He finally bought a bike together with the baby chair installed for RM700. I met Lee, who was there to buy a gel or padded road bike seat since he was complaining about the pressure he is putting on his "brother" with his current seat.

We came back to Aaron's shop and in no time, Aaron changed to his sportswear and helped his daughter, Haley, onto the baby chair. We went riding/running towards Pudu Ulu Park. Bernard on his "Biggest Loser" mission joined us too. Well, Aaron is also part of the mission too. But both he and Haley were enjoying their time riding the bike!

Haley: My new pimp up ride!

Ms. Fast and Furiuos

Father & daugther time

Bernard: I can run faster than a bike!

A satisfying day - The smile says it all!

Hospital Making Patients Feel Better or Worse Off?

My girlfriend requested a certain Dr. Kuan of Tung Shin Hospital to fax doc letter to her HR to get guarantee letter (GL) for a follow up treatment tomoro (suspected dengue), but they claimed they dont do it. Patients have to request themselves. Not sure for whatever reason, to save cost of a 20c fax? So gf called HR to prepare GL and she pick it up herself, but I think HR worried rather her being sick come into office, they say she can actually ask the hospital to fax over and they will prepare the GL. Seems simple and more logical way. So again, she requested hospital (Sharifah-not sure correct name) to fax over, but instead of getting help from hospital, she was scolded by a certain staff (could be the nurse of the doc) saying, "We've given you the doc's letter, what more do you want?!" Then she passed the line back to Sharifah. WTF!! What's so hard about faxing one piece of paper over?!! Next thing happened, the hospital called up, "You doing the blood test tomorrow morning? Can you fax over GL by 4.30pm because our office is closing." That was around 3.30pm. I wonder whether they are helping patients to get well or make patients illness worse off, asking patients to go thru such hassle when a simple fax can settle the matter.

Easy Run With Friends

Had a slow and short run with my two friends, Aaron and Bernard, who happens to be my boss and colleague respectively. I was surprised that Aaron wanted to join in the run, and Bernard too. Aaron who happens to be my topic of my first post in my blog. It was about his marathon attempt. A guy who only ran 1 or twice in a year, attempting a marathon?! Yeap, indeed he did it, in 7 Hours! Read my post on him. That was in 2007 and it was not only his last marathon, it was also his last run till today. Haha. Bernard used to be a middle distance runner from my rival school but he has long hanged up his running shoe.

Well I do hope they continue on the running or some form of exercise as both has gain so much weight since the last days of their running 'career'.

Look at both their stomach!! Haha!

Now this is supposed to be their "BEFORE" photo. Let us see how their progress go after a few months time.

Weekend Events And Leftovers Dinner on Monday

Me and my gf went to Christmas performance at the Federal Academy of Ballet in Section 14, PJ. It was organised by my cousin's church, Evangel BP Church. It was a wonderful evening of music performed by Calvary BP Church (Singapore) & Evangel BP church (Petaling Jaya) titled the Winter Rose.

Kid's performance

The adults' turn
 

I woke up late Sun morning, but forced myself to run. I just couldn't sleep the night before. Twist and turn in my bed, but I think I only get to sleep at around 3am. So getting up at 6.30am was a tough thing to ask especially  when I have been sleeping late last few nights and getting up early in the morning for work.

I started my run at 8.10am. Luckily, weather was cooling and it was cloudy. During this time, road's pretty quite since most runners would have finished their runs by now. And most of them are taking part in races somewhere, i.e. Singapore Marathon, Macau Marathon and Salomon X-Trail. It was good that I managed to log in 1h15m of run time. Nto sure of the distance but could be around 15-16km.

I went out with Geoff in the afternoon to get his car serviced. Brought him to my regular mechanic In Kepong. Luckily he was there as they are not open on Sun. After the car was serviced, wanted to bring my laptop to my cousin. Trying to install a new HDD I just bought from PC fair. Need to get all my softwares reinstalled too. Since Im pretty much as IT Idiot, might as well get an expert to help out. But unfortunately, he had to go out when I was ready to go meet him. So went to Geoff's cousin's house. His cousin, Ben is actually running the PS3 Blu Ray games/move rentals company, Blackmango. He has 2 Minituare Schnauzer in his home. Am really missing my dog seeing them jumping around trying to get attention. We borrowed some games from him and it seems it really got Geoffery hooked to the game, especially Killzone 2.

That night itself, Bernard organised a house warming party over at his place. He and his gf can really cook.

Yummylicious Food

Geoffery tempting little Haley with Carlsberg

Little Haley Lau with dad, Aaron

The next day, picked up my neighbour Mr. OK Tan at KL Sentral who just got back from Singapore. He did a PB for his marathon. On the way back, we stopped at one of the malay stalls to grab some food. I was going to cook vege and rice but since it was quite late already, we "ta pao" (packed) some food from the stall.  Reaching home, quickly cook the rice and waited for Geoff, Joyce and Ooi Keat to come down for a late dinner. We sure had a lot of food that night as Joyce and Geoff also brought over some food. some of the food were from the leftovers from Bernard's house warming party. Well it still tastes just as good!

Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010

Not sure why sports organiser in Malaysia like to organised big events last minute, some more it's a marathon! Anyway, I'll be skipping this. Unless they have a shorter race, maybe I will take part. Just look out for more details soon.....

The first Night Marathon in Malaysia is here!

Held in conjunction with the month long FT Day Celebration in the Federal Territories, we would like to present to you the inaugural Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010.

Supported by the Federal Territories and Urban Well Being Ministry, this marathon promises to be one of the most, if not the most exciting running event to be held in the country.

Being the first night marathon in the country, participants will be treated to a running environment like no other. We also have a few things in store for you en route.

Putrajaya Night Marathon Details -
Date: 6th Feb 2010
Venue: Putrajaya Palace of Justice
Time: 8 pm

To make the event even more festive there will also be an onsite carnival with games, performances by local acts and also food stalls.

We will be launching the event really soon, so look out for that!

Organised by World Action Sports Sdn. Bhd. together with 21st Century Sports Sdn. Bhd.

For more info, contact :
Email :- info@worldactionsports.net

Office:-
World Action Sports Sdn Bhd
Unit PL 01-A, Plaza Level
No. 45, Block A, Medan Setia 1
Plaza Damansara
Damansara Heights
Kuala Lumpur

New Job and Track Training

Just started my new job at a pest control company, TIMES PEST CONTROL.

Set up by my friend only a few months back. Since it's a small company, basically got to do pretty much everything, cover seas and mountains. Ok, at least not catching rats with my bare hands just yet. LOL! Anyway, if any one of you or friends who are in need of pest exterminator, do give me a call at 012-2393077 (work no) or Bernard at 012-2788677/012-2279377. Thanks! Termites problem, Mosquitoes, Cockcroaches, Rats, etc....call, call! I'll bring my tennis racquet over....LOL!

Managed to hit the track in Kampung Pandan yesterday. Have not trained on track for many months although I did a 3200m race on track in Melbourne recently. Right now, I am trying to correct my running form and also improve my speed as I've been running too much long slow distance or LSD in short. I didnt do much yesterday since it was my first training on track for a long time. Trying to build up the training slowly. Did a 20 mins warm up (about 4400m), followed by a few 100m strides out before attempting on a 5 x 400m with about 90s jog (or 100m). Well it wasn't what I've used to do during my younger years on track, but it sure is tough coming back into track training. Old man liaw, can't do too much! But I was pretty happy with the time recorded yday, averaging around 78s. Met a Pacesetters member there and did a few laps with him for cool down. Will probably fit in a track workout once a week in my pogram from now onwards.

Next Race: Maybe Malakoff 12km. Not too far out from where I stay.

Univesiti Malaya - University of Sydney Coaching Science Seminar

I attended the Coaching Science seminar at UM today. Glad that my friend, Selina, who works in the department (UM), invited me. Very informative seminar. It was a joint collaboration between the two unis to exchange and share knowledge in researchng their approach to Sports Scinece and also in relation to their PhD programme.

Haven't attended a lecture class for a long time. Initially there were supposed to be 4 invited lecturers from Unversity of Sydney but one could not make it due to unforseen circumstances. She was supposed to give a talk on "Preparing Youth Coaches". Too bad, would have gain some insight into coaching. But I got loast when they talk too much on scientific or technical terms. Hello, not from science class lah!

Some of the attendees in the seminar

Dr. Abdul Halim Mokhtar, Director of Sports Centre, UM - Welcoming Address

A/Prof Dr Martin Thompson - Training & Recovery

Dr Helen O'Connor - Current Trend in Nutritional Practices for Elite Athletes

Dr Peter Sinclair - Systematic Analysis of Factors Determining Performance

Although the topics are too wide to be covered in a half day seminar, the speakers did well in delivering the topics from their specific field of expertise. I enjoyed the seminar espeially topics delivered by Dr Martin and Dr Helen. Maybe cause both used a lot of examples on endurance athletes. Dr Martin himself has completed a 100-mile (yeap, a hundred mile, not KMs) before. He mentioned he did a time of 13 hours plus. That's almost an equivalent of a sub 3:20 for every marathon distance. Damm!

Hope there are more of these type of seminars, who knows I might just taking up coaching as a career.