Event: Hari Sukan Negara Run (HSN 21km Run) 2018
Date: 13 October.Venue: National Stadium at KL Sports City, Bukit Jalil
I collected the race pack on Friday 5 October morning at Proton Manufacturing Centre Of Excellence myself on my way for work at Shah Alam.Also bumped into few regular faces there.
THE PREPARATION AND GOALS
it has been a rainy season lately and that has limited the time for many to have our normal weekly runs. I had only 5 runs within two weeks after I have finished my 50km run at B2E on 30 September. That included a good run over the weekend at KL Car Free morning on Sunday, 7 Oct where I ran 21km quite comfortably.
However, it has been raining throughout the week after that especially in the evening and night which prevented me to run until Friday morning. Finally I managed to run for about 5km and I felt good because the fitness was quite ready for the run on the following day.
However, it has been raining throughout the week after that especially in the evening and night which prevented me to run until Friday morning. Finally I managed to run for about 5km and I felt good because the fitness was quite ready for the run on the following day.
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| My runs in the week after B2E event on 30 September |
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| The only run in the week before HSN21km |
So, I decided to set my timing goal to run under 2:15. I was quite confident that it should be achieved easily for this run which will be the 3rd HM run and the only night HM run so far this year at events.
THE EVENT DAY
Unfortunately, I had diarrhea within 10 hours before FO. I took extra ORS and water as the mitigation until before the FO time and that somehow have eased it a little bit and felt much better after that.In the same time, I was also cautious that that could result in muscle cramp when my body liquids especially its salt content has been disturbed due to the diarrhea.
However, I decided to take the risk because I felt would be able to deal with it because only a 21km. I just hoped and prayed that if I don't have to be busy looking for the toilet during my run that night. Surely I will opt for a DNS if I have to run 42km at this event because I do not think I know how to manage it for a FM run.
However, I decided to take the risk because I felt would be able to deal with it because only a 21km. I just hoped and prayed that if I don't have to be busy looking for the toilet during my run that night. Surely I will opt for a DNS if I have to run 42km at this event because I do not think I know how to manage it for a FM run.
I came to the event after a 9-5 meeting cum workshop on my industry association at a hotel in Bangi and reached KLSC at about 6.30 p.m.
When I was about to leave my meeting venue, the rain was very heavy and I expected to run under heavy rain that night.However, it turned out to be the almost perfect weather to have a good run as the FO time was getting closer. It was a cooled and windy ambient after the rain stopped which I guess within 1 hour before I reached the venue.
I rushed to the Surau once arrived because I was expected a very big crowd to pray as well.Decided to look for the back drop location after the Maghrib prayer. I thought it would be in the stadium at the FO area but told by others it was located outside the stadium in the big tent of the HSN carnival when I was walking to enter the stadium. This was very unpleasant!
Entered the stadium again at about 7.30 p.m. and the atmosphere was very amazing and so electrifying!
MY RUN
The FO was delayed for about 20 minutes for the unknown reason because I was quite a distance from the FO line among over 4000 runners at the FO area in the stadium. Did not hear much what was said by the emcee from the main stage with VIPs.
It was very jammed and packed crowd of runners from the FO line to the stadium exit and until I could really running for almost 1km until I reached the Bukit Jalil highway. Clocked pace 7 for the first 1km was expected but the downhill road after that gave the the chance to make up for the lost time to be back to my intended pace.
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| The flag off |
Surprisingly I clocked 4.51min/km at 2km and I knew that I just need to slow down to stay at pace 5 only as planned for the first half of the distance.
Then I continued and was able to maintain the average pace 5 until I crossed 10km distance. At this point, I was excited and happy because my 2:15 goal was definitely still within a comfortable reach.
The route for this run was moderate to me. It was the mix of flat and slight uphills and downhills along the route which is quite normal to run at Bukit Jalil area.
What really impressed me was about the traffic arrangement and control for the route. All roads involved in the 21km run were closed only for runners from the start to the end.This was truly amazing because it was on busy Saturday at a very busy Bukit Jalil area. Kudos to the organiser for this. I saw there enough crews manned at junctions and entrance/exit points to guide runners on the direction.
The route between the about 2.5km to about 15km was totally new to me. At about reaching the 3km, I arrived into the Selangor Turf Club area. The overall surrounding when runners entered this area was pretty dark although spotlights provided and streetlights available along the route gave better visibility to runners.
However, I have to be mindful of my steps because at some areas along the route, there were wet and muddy surfaces. The most interesting part at this stage was when we have to run in the horse race track with some grass surfaces as well.
After leaving the Selangor Turf Club area, runners ran towards the KL-Seremban Highway and interfaced with 10km runners between the 9km and 10km stretch and together we entered the area where Astro buildings located and then towards the technology park.
At about 13km, I felt some discomfort at my calf which I knew it was not a good sign.I slowed down and tried to continue to run at the planned pace 6 when I slowly felt better. However, I feared to happen looked like to come again when I failed to run at pace 6 comfortably to reach the 14km mark. At this stage we were in the Technology Park area and just were dealing with the slight uphill before exiting to the Bukit Jalil Highway again.
It was also drizzling started from this stage but it made the surrounding cooler for a much better ambient to run at the second half of the distance.
Then I continued and was able to maintain the average pace 5 until I crossed 10km distance. At this point, I was excited and happy because my 2:15 goal was definitely still within a comfortable reach.
The route for this run was moderate to me. It was the mix of flat and slight uphills and downhills along the route which is quite normal to run at Bukit Jalil area.
What really impressed me was about the traffic arrangement and control for the route. All roads involved in the 21km run were closed only for runners from the start to the end.This was truly amazing because it was on busy Saturday at a very busy Bukit Jalil area. Kudos to the organiser for this. I saw there enough crews manned at junctions and entrance/exit points to guide runners on the direction.
The route between the about 2.5km to about 15km was totally new to me. At about reaching the 3km, I arrived into the Selangor Turf Club area. The overall surrounding when runners entered this area was pretty dark although spotlights provided and streetlights available along the route gave better visibility to runners.
However, I have to be mindful of my steps because at some areas along the route, there were wet and muddy surfaces. The most interesting part at this stage was when we have to run in the horse race track with some grass surfaces as well.
After leaving the Selangor Turf Club area, runners ran towards the KL-Seremban Highway and interfaced with 10km runners between the 9km and 10km stretch and together we entered the area where Astro buildings located and then towards the technology park.
At about 13km, I felt some discomfort at my calf which I knew it was not a good sign.I slowed down and tried to continue to run at the planned pace 6 when I slowly felt better. However, I feared to happen looked like to come again when I failed to run at pace 6 comfortably to reach the 14km mark. At this stage we were in the Technology Park area and just were dealing with the slight uphill before exiting to the Bukit Jalil Highway again.
It was also drizzling started from this stage but it made the surrounding cooler for a much better ambient to run at the second half of the distance.
In general, my run was just according to
plan until the 15km when finally the cramp attacked my right calf muscle. With more elevation expected along the route for the remaining distance and to the finish line in the stadium, I knew that to push my body harder for the sake of achieving my 2:15 goal would be too risky for me. I strongly believe that the balance of liquids and salt composition in my body already when I had the diarrhea earlier in the day.
Learned from my experiences before especially when I had a diarrhea during my 21km run at Putrajaya Night Marathon in November last year, I was able to stay calm when it happened again to avoid further pain or potential injury at the muscle. The mitigation done was just to slow down and started to do the slow run and walk for the remaining distance. At this stage I was only able to run and walk at the pace 7 and 8 only and my focus was immediately change just to reach the finish line. This has eased the muscle pain and only slow running at the downhills along the route to the end.
I also saw the pacers 2:15 passed me between the 17km and 18km after the final U-turn with their blue balloons and I could only yelled and said Good Bye to them while laughing to comfort myself.
So, the remaining distance with slight uphills and downhills was just a nice and easy walk and slow run for me. While doing that, one in a while I cheered fellow runners who were passing me and those who were coming from the opposite direction of the fully closed two-way highway.
Photos below were taken by the official photographer Pic2go when I was within the 2km distance from the finish line.It could be due to the drizzling that made most photographers to wait in the stadium instead of outdoor. After passing this photographer, I could only hope that I would have some more photos taken by other photographers in the stadium when I will run to finish my 23rd HM run.'
Then after that, I reached the final turn to exit the highway to the road to the stadium where the signage showed 1km left. In the same time, the muscle pain due to the cramp was also became more painful every time I pushed myself to run. So, I was basically limping while walking at this stage and finally I decided to relax and walk and run much slower until I reached the entrance of the stadium. As I was walking and running very slowly and getting closer to the stadium, the sound of the emcee, music and crowd that I heard also made me more excited keep going.
Learned from my experiences before especially when I had a diarrhea during my 21km run at Putrajaya Night Marathon in November last year, I was able to stay calm when it happened again to avoid further pain or potential injury at the muscle. The mitigation done was just to slow down and started to do the slow run and walk for the remaining distance. At this stage I was only able to run and walk at the pace 7 and 8 only and my focus was immediately change just to reach the finish line. This has eased the muscle pain and only slow running at the downhills along the route to the end.
I also saw the pacers 2:15 passed me between the 17km and 18km after the final U-turn with their blue balloons and I could only yelled and said Good Bye to them while laughing to comfort myself.
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| The second half of the run which I was getting slower due to the cramp. |
Photos below were taken by the official photographer Pic2go when I was within the 2km distance from the finish line.It could be due to the drizzling that made most photographers to wait in the stadium instead of outdoor. After passing this photographer, I could only hope that I would have some more photos taken by other photographers in the stadium when I will run to finish my 23rd HM run.'
Then after that, I reached the final turn to exit the highway to the road to the stadium where the signage showed 1km left. In the same time, the muscle pain due to the cramp was also became more painful every time I pushed myself to run. So, I was basically limping while walking at this stage and finally I decided to relax and walk and run much slower until I reached the entrance of the stadium. As I was walking and running very slowly and getting closer to the stadium, the sound of the emcee, music and crowd that I heard also made me more excited keep going.
Then, finally I arrived at the tunnel to enter the stadium to have enjoy the feeling of excitement and aura of running and sprinting to the finish line in the National Stadium for the first time! Suddenly feeling pumped the moment I entered the stadium. Instantly I was overwhelmed by the noise and electrifying atmosphere as I suddenly regained the energy and momentum to run again where all the pain that I endured since the 15km felt nothing. What an experience!
The cheering and yelling by the crown to runners who were entering the stadium was really reenergised me again and my legs started to sprint the moment both touched the track surface again.
At this moment, my mind was just about to keep running and sprinting as fast as I could to the finish line which is about 200m or more from the entrance.
The cheering and yelling by the crown to runners who were entering the stadium was really reenergised me again and my legs started to sprint the moment both touched the track surface again.
At this moment, my mind was just about to keep running and sprinting as fast as I could to the finish line which is about 200m or more from the entrance.
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| Entering the stadium. At this moment, I did not know that I will race neck to neck to the finish with the runner on my far right. |
The feeling was simply amazing and I kept running to overtake runners in front of me one by one with the sounds and electrifying atmosphere in the stadium truly fired me up.
I suddenly realized one runner came from behind on my left and tried to overtake but I spontaneously increased my speed with a thought he will slow down. However, he did not and I continued to stay running in front him as he pushed harder to overtake me. Honestly, I did not know where I had the energy to do that.
With the crowd cheering runners along the track to the finish line,we ran neck to neck with our final push until we crossed the finish line together to mark the finish of another HM distance for us that night.
Congrats and thanks bro! You have added a pleasant drama and made it more epic for me to finish my run in the National Stadium for the first time at hsn21km 2018.
Again, I must thank the photographer for capturing that amazing running moments which won't happen that often to me.
However, I had the cramped muscle again at the same spot just after crossing
the finish line but lucky to have the crew to assist me for the immediate treatment
until I get back standing on my feet. My friend Ekhwan from Johor was also suffered the same fate with me with the cramp when I saw him finished his run not long after me. Then both of us were given the ice treatment by the on duty crews on one area not far from the finish line.
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| Me and my friend Ekwan were treated for the cramp by the crews |
I have done it again! So glad to finish my 23th HM run finally with the cramp was also manageable and a DNF was avoided.Overall it was still an enjoyable run and quite well organised event.
THE PERFORMANCE
Failed to achieve the under 2:15 goal for this event.
528 from 3,644 men and 118 from 578 in my category, Men Veteran(40 yrs old and above).
528 from 3,644 men and 118 from 578 in my category, Men Veteran(40 yrs old and above).
No reason for me not to feel happy despite failed to achieve the intended overall timing goal at HSN21km last night. Other numbers behind the run before the cramp are quite comforting because after all, it was still no guarantee that I will achieve the under the 2:15 goal without the cramp.
Anything can happen at any event because it often comes with different drama and unexpected twists for us to experience, learn and move on.
I planned to stay longer after the run initially but the discomfort caused by the cramp changed my plan that night.I could only spent a relative short time to meet and greet some of running friends and to take photos with them after I was able to stand and walk again.
Below are some of friends that I was able to meet and had short chat before leaving home.
Below are some of friends that I was able to meet and had short chat before leaving home.
I have little to complain.For the traffic safety, it was a very good move with the closure of the entire roads for runners.Runners had little worries about safety except at some areas that quite dark to run which should be looked into for future events.
Some runners complained and unhappy about the the packed crowd after the flag off line while runners wanted to leave the stadium through one tunnel only.With the elite runners were flagged of about 10 minutes earlier, I have no complaint when I joined and walked my way with other runners to leave the stadium before I could truly started my run after almost 1km from the flag off line.
There were enough water stations and supplies provided for runners with crews to man and assist runners at each station.Muscle spray was also provided at some stops and stations especially in the 2nd half of the distance.
I was only unhappy with the location of the bag drop which is considered quite far from the FO/FL area in the stadium.What made it worst is, there was no signage at all to indicate to runners or to inform them about it.Some runners seen went it and out of stadium looking for it until some runners told them after asking around.
I can conclude that it was a well organised event and having it at the National Stadium is also a wise decision with a national level Hari Sukan Negara programme.
I am also happy because other than me, my eldest son and daugther also joined the HSN programme.My son joined the 5km run with his friends from IIUM and my daughter joined the fun walk and visited the carnival in the morning.
I feel grateful to see my children have also started to show interest and enjoy healthy lifestyle activity like that at their young age.
I hope they will continue and maintain their interest for a healthy lifestyle in the way forward in their life.
I hope they will continue and maintain their interest for a healthy lifestyle in the way forward in their life.
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| My son Zaim(left) and his friend |
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| May daughter Sofiyya |
LESSON LEARNED
The history of major cramp during my run at events so far other than at this hsn21km run...
1.100 Plus Outdo Night Run 2016,15km-cramped at 10km.First full year of running.Unexpected and did not know what to do.Just pushed and finished the run.
2.PNM 2017,21km -diarrhea from 6km during run.Cramped from 13km.Unexpected but manageable.Just walked to the FL and finished the run.
Key lessons learned.
1.Cramp is preventable from proper hydration and salt intakes plan before and during the run.
2.During the run, it is also manageable if we stay calm and trying to respond to the pain to ease it.Blindly pushing our body just because of the fear of DNF or may fail to have a targeted timing may pose other risks such as muscle injuries.
3.There will be always the next event for us to run again to achieve our personal goals in running especially timing.
4. For a recreational runner who runs just to stay healthy and fit like me, personal worst or the failure get a targeted timing at any event is always better than injuries.
Never had the cramp experience in any of 13 FM runs that I have finished so farš
FINAL NOTES
I hope to come back for hsn21km next year although running at night events not truly something I love doing. Hope to have much better run and to spend more time to mingle with more friends as well.
I read and heard about some issues caused by about the award about the best dressed runners where one runner who did not win accused the winner cheated and the organiser was biased.However, in the end, the social media investigators found out and shared the evident that that runner was cheating and has been often bad mouthing others as his habit previously. I am so speechless on what I saw and heard and I did not realized that that runners is also my FB friend. To avoid negative influence among my social media connections, I decided to block this runner from my FB page.
Sometime, it could be truly puzzling on how controversies can start and escalate in running circles.
I read and heard about some issues caused by about the award about the best dressed runners where one runner who did not win accused the winner cheated and the organiser was biased.However, in the end, the social media investigators found out and shared the evident that that runner was cheating and has been often bad mouthing others as his habit previously. I am so speechless on what I saw and heard and I did not realized that that runners is also my FB friend. To avoid negative influence among my social media connections, I decided to block this runner from my FB page.
Sometime, it could be truly puzzling on how controversies can start and escalate in running circles.
So, my next event is my first attempt to conquer a 30km trail run at Janda Baik Ultra on 21 October 2018.It will be another short outing trip with my wife and two kids as well to enjoy the nature in Janda Baik area in Pahang.
I hope to stay free from injuries, enjoy and finish my run and add another one great experience in my running adventure.
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