Spartan Race Sprint Semenyih 2017 race recap

Hear ye hear ye! Behold - my long overdue race recap of Spartan Race Sprint 2017, held at the glorious green, ever hilly Semenyih on 12 March.

To cut down on travelling time in the morning (thus having more time to sleep in), I stayed overnight at the race site at the Semenyih Eco Resort and was rewarded with a glimpse of the start and finish of the course. Only a glimpse because that was only 10% of the total course of 9km and 25 obstacles that greeted racers on the morning itself.

For the first time in my four years of running the Spartan Races, I participated in the elite category simply out of curiosity to see what it was like to be held at a higher standard in the lead pack and to be chased by the competitive racers in the heat after In short, not fun. The race was close to stressful with barely enough time to catch a breather right from the start.

9,000 Conquered Sunway Iskandar Viper Challenge

The little township of Medini, in Iskandar Puteri, Johor came alive recently when it hosted the Sunway Iskandar Viper Challenge for a second straight year, with 9000 participants, almost 2,400 of which are from Singapore. In an effort to challenge the physical and mental fitness of the competitors, this Viper Challenge series covered a distance of 15km with 18 obstacles.

Competitors were up with the sun as registration began at 5.30am. They then made their way through the first flag-off precisely at 7am. The participants that came from all over Malaysia and the regions were flagged-off in waves 30 minutes apart with the last batch at 11am.

The Medini leg was the second of five Viper Challenge series in Malaysia. The first edition was held in Penang just last month.

Kyoto Kaiseki Promotion @ Zipangu, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

The quintessential Japanese haute cuisine, Kyoto Kaiseki will be served at Zipangu, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from 1 May to 30 June 2017. Kaiseki is a multi-course cuisine which epitomizes the refined Japanese culinary tradition. It is a meal of small, exquisite dishes prepared and presented with great detail and elegance.

The Heat Is On At The Standard Chartered Kl Marathon 2017

With Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM) 2017 just around the corner, it was no surprise that the topic of the runners to look out for became the subject of breakfast conversation for my bootcamp mates and I.

International Buffet Offerings @ All New Lemon Garden, Shangri-La Hotel KL

The Lemon Garden restaurant in Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur has always boasted one of the best buffet spreads in the city with a wide array of international and local cuisines. But the years has worn out the interior of the restaurant and seeing that, Shangri-La KL decided in Nov 2016 to have its signature restaurant refurbished and renovated to a dining venue befitting of its name and its guests and customers.

Tokyo Marathon 2017: Day 4 - Race Day

Race day. The D-Day. The Tokyo Marathon. My second marathon and first Abbott World Major. Perhaps my only World Major.

One of the perks of racing in Japan was the flag off time at 9:10am unlike Malaysia's ungodly hours to beat the heat. This meant I could sleep a little. But my internal body clock had me blinking awake at 6am. I got dressed, did some last minute check of my running gears and by 7am was out the door.

In the footsteps of a SCKLM pacer: Choi Chik Choy

Participants of Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Full Marathon 2017 may know one of the 6:00 hours pacer as Choi Chik Choy. The running community however knows him better known as Choi, a semi-retiree who provides runners with their running, hiking and triathlon needs. Heck, even my mum and I turn to him for our OCR and trail run needs.

1. How long have you been running?
I have been running since I was around 22-23 years old. After I got married, I took a break for about 2-3 years before rekindling my passion for running. All in all, I probably have been running for almost 25 years.

Tokyo Marathon 2017: Day 3 - Yoyogi Park, Meiji Jingu and Harajuku by foot

It was a beautiful day to simply get out and stretch out my leg muscles before the big race the following day. There were a few places I wanted to visit on the eve of the Tokyo Marathon but seeing as how I had made plans to meet up with a group of the Malaysian runners at La Pausa restaurant Harajuku, I decided to just go along with how the weather fared and how I felt.

My aimless wandering led me to a quint coffee place called Fuglen near my AirBnb for some takeaway coffee. The setting was quite cosy, the type of place I would end up spending the whole day at with my laptop if I ever reside in Japan.

In the footsteps of a SCKLM pacer: Karsten Korbel

Often the unsung heros of the running world, pacers play a vital role in helping runners achieve their intended targets. Be it breaking that personal best or just finishing within the cut off time, pacers like Karsten are often the faces you look to in times of exhaustion and for inspiration and motivation during a physical and mentally taxing run such as a marathon.

I speak to Karsten Korbel, owner of a Personal Trainer studio in Sri Hartamas and one of the three 3:45 pacers for the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon (SCKLM).

The Right Way of Running at SCKLM Running Clinics

Running used to be a simple affair. Put on whatever BATA sport shoes your parents deemed as sport shoes and just run, one foot in front of the other at a rapid pace and repeat. Nowadays, the simple BATA shoes don't cut it no more. It is all Nikes, Adidas, Pumas's and Brooks. Shoes specialised with the running tech to make you go faster, longer. However try as you might, at the end of the day, the one who makes the difference is you.

Well aware of this, SCKLM 2017 organisers have pulled together a series of running workshop for its runners. The Standard Chartered KL Marathon Running Clinics are gaining in popularity as more than 300 runners took part in the second round of Running Clinics organised by Dirigo Events, owner and organiser of the premier running event in the country, over the last weekend. There was a Junior Running Clinic on Saturday, 11 March for children between the ages of 6-12, a general clinic for adults on Sunday and even a specialised Running Clinic for those attempting their first Half Marathon.