The last time I ran the 10km in the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered Marathon race was two years ago in 2023 and I did it...in a Pikachu onsie as part of my Run for a Reason promise. I ended with a 1:19 timing because I freaking overheated in that onsie!
So this time, I ran in the usual back to basic race attire. My Asics Novablast 5 shoes was my weapon of choice and I swapped the running vest for a pouch this time for sleeker photos (yes la I am vain like that).
When asked what was my expected finishing time, I would err on the safer side and say 1:15 (7:30min/km pace) but targetted 1:10 (7min/km pace). I had recee-ed the route a week earlier and knew the second half of the race had hills all the way to the new finishline at Stadium Merdeka.
But I had a plan in place to help me survive the race in one piece.
The first 5km
Flag off on Saturday was at 6am on the dot. Over 10,000 runners took off from the new starting line behind Sogo and for the first 5km, it was a sprint through the city. I was running between 6:00 - 6:20 min/km pace for that stretch, trying to buy myself some headway for the second half. Thankfully it was breezy and cooling on Saturday morning, unlike the horrid heat and humidty of Sunday.
But boy, were my legs heavy. Maybe walking all over the race expo and joining my run club's shake out run the night before was a bad idea after all. The first 2km was a struggle to find my tempo and maintain it. But I clung on to my speed for dear life, reminding myself to drop my pace slightly from my 5km all out pace.
I stopped for water where needed, trying to avoid the 100plus if possible because it wasn't the usual carbonated kind that I prefer. Then my watch beeped 5km just as we entered the turning to Jalan Dato Onn.
Hills, oh so hilly hills
It was time to launch part 2 of my race plan. Walk-run. Throwing aside my ego, I ducked to the left side of the road and slowed to a brisk walk on the hill. It was a 800m uphill battle here and I had to recover my energy. Luckily I had picked my Novablast 5 exactly for this purpose - to help me bounce up the hills while I waited for my heartbeat to drop.
Brisk walk-run up the hills and run down the hills.
Rinse and repeat all the way back to the U-turn to the stadium. I slowed to a walk on the slope to the tunnel when one of the earlier finishers, a random guy started to cheer me on.
"Come on. Don't walk," he said. "You're so close. Just keep running."
For some reason, that gave me the push I needed to kick into 5th gear again. I thanked him (should have gotten his socials.) and gunned it for the tunnel. Seeing Merdeka 118 looking over the field was a relief.
After taking a quick video from the tunnel to the last few meters, I zeroed in on a random target - some random girl several meters ahead and tucking away my phone, sprinted to overtake her before the finish line.
And I was done. 10km in 1: 08: 26. Officially, my second best timing for this distance but my best for KLSCM overall. And given the hills, I was happy I finished well within my expected timing.
Say what you will about my AI coach, the Garmin Coach programme does pay off if you stick to it. To those who had worried about the traffic jam in the tunnel, what do you think those rolling slopes were for?
Plus the cheer zone and supporters outside the stadium kinda unintentionedly bottlenecked the runners so everyone had to slow down in the last stretch. Whether it was by design of the masterminds of KLSCM, we will never know.
Stadium Merdeka as a finish line was epic. After a hour on hard pavement, the blue track felt like running on clouds (or maybe it's just my shoes, bouncing me along). The feeling was overwhelming, part of the reason I gave it my all for that finishing line.
Now I just hope my effort was enough to win the media challenge. Fingers crossed. Otherwise it's back to the training block for next year's KLSCM 10km or 21km. TBC.
I am foreseeing....first weekend of October again. Bookmark this blog so you can check back here again. when it's announced ;)
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