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On 8th April 2018, I completed my first Standard Chartered Full Marathon in 6 hours and 9 minutes. The event being held at Dataran Merdeka, was the 10th year anniversary of the biggest running event in Malaysia!

After being a Standard Chartered Marathon Kuala Lumpur (SCMKL) volunteer and booth exhibitor for the past few years, I was really excited to be part of the participants this time round!

After completing numerous half-marathons in 2017, I decided to up the challenge by completing my first full marathon this year! I wanted to challenge my mental and physical limits to know how much I can take. Thus, not only did I make that commitment, I also ended up pulling my partner along to join me in this crazy attempt to complete my first full marathon.

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Training Days

Since it is my first full marathon, I told myself that I have to be very well prepared no matter what.

With that, I had to stay committed to all my weekly training. My training schedule is as below :

Monday - Rest Day

Tuesday - Swimming (Laps)

Wednesday - 10 - 15km run (min. must run 10km)

Thursday - Strength training

Friday - Swimming (Laps)

Saturday - Long run (21km and above; each week must increase 2 - 5km)

I even sacrifice my favourite badminton sport, and yamcha sessions from my regular routine :'(

Compared to other training days, I included swimming this time round as it helps relax the muscles and quickens the recovery. Giving less impact on the joints and also trains other micro muscles in our body.

Basically, I eat, sleep, breath training.

This is how serious I am in achieving my goal.

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Motivation

To keep myself motivated, I made a few promises and bets with myself and some people.

If I failed to complete a marathon, I am responsible for :

1. paying back double of the race fee to my partner lol

2. treating all those who were involved in my bet to a meal

If I stay committed to my daily training and complete the marathon, I get to :

1. eat whatever I want, with my heart desire

2. eat 5 bowls of Snowflake

3. eat 10 bags of Mr.Potato Chips

4. 2 hour leg massage until I recovered 

5. sleep late and wake up whenever I feel like on a Saturday after the marathon

Well, mainly what motivates me the most are the food lol. The good thing about running a marathon, is that I don't have to have a strict diet because all those running will definitely burn those calories for good! Hehe...

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Race Pack Collection Day

If there's one thing I like about the SCMKL RPEC (Race Pack Exhibition Collection), it's actually on their traffic system where you can check on the number of visitors collecting their race packs. You can see which timing has the most crowd during the race collection, and you can choose other times to collect instead! Saving you time and energy by avoiding the crowds and long queues on weekends!

And, did you know that most of the sports equipment and accessories are much cheaper during their exhibition? As an ex-booth exhibitor myself from many years for SCMKL, some of their sponsor partners sell cheap items as close to their cost price! I can say that  most of their exhibitors have the highest quality then many other sports events, so, don't miss the chance to purchase your favourite sports items!

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Race Day

The D-day has arrived, there were alot of things going through my head, but I told myself to save it for the run later. I made sure I wore and ate nothing new, and only stick to something I'm comfortable with. I was slightly anxious, but yet, excited!

At 3.30am, all the respective runners were walking towards Dataran Merdeka. And because it was my mistake to register under the Pen5 category, we had to queue all the way to the back together with the 7.15 pacers! The 7.15 pacers were better know as the runner sweepers, because any runners running behind them, will be swept away by the sweeper bus and no finisher entitlements will be given to them.

The 7.15 Pacers! They'll be the only people who you'll start running lol

The loud booming music elevated my heartbeat, making me even more excited to start the race as soon as possible! And at 4.00am, the full marathon category was flagged off!

I remembered looking up at the sky, while little pieces of coloured confetti papers was sprinkling in the air, brushing across my skin as I ran pass the starting line. It was a very memorable sight. I felt blessed and alive to be attempting the biggest race of my life!

Me & My Partner at The Starting Line!

The first 10km during the run was a breeze. I believe I was having the runners high, because I was feeling high and mighty since after the flag off. We ran past through the quiet city area in KL. Even the people at the bars and clubs came out to cheer for us too! It was a very exciting moment to see this. There was slight inclination at the city area, but it didn't bother me much. I tried to keep up with the 6.00 pacers, but they were going faster than my comfortable pace. Not wanting to risk myself from getting worn out and tired in the early miles, I decided to follow my own pace instead.

At 15km onwards, we slowly start to exit from the town area to the highway. Hills were starting to get more frequent along the way, but I was still in good condition, trying to stretch once in awhile at each water station. The air was cold and it gets really chilly but I kept telling myself : "Put one foot right in front of another!" ; "Good stride! good stride!" to keep myself going. The sun has started to rise, and I'm starting to feel I'm missing my bed, alot.

When the sunrise shines brighter than the finishing line

After 21km onwards, the crowd seems to be slightly dispersed as many runners started walking after this point. For them to walk to the finish line is still possible for them to finish before the cut off time, but for me, I can't accept the fact that I have to walk another few more hours to go home, so I had to overtake many walkers along the way. At certain junction and intersections, we were merge with the 21km category runners too. Because of this, I felt slightly frustrated because the walkers were hogging the road. Instead, they should be walking at the left side (but I guess they're probably too tired to move). But anyhow, I used the situation to my advantage by convincing myself to target one person and overtake them one-by-one. I was trying to keep myself entertained lol.

At this point, my kneecap starts to hurt due to the famous "runners knee". Fortunately, the pain is not as severe as my ITB syndrome from my last Newton Challenge Run. It occurred right above my kneecap area, called the Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, causing pain when running uphills. Since it's just a minor pain, I mustered all my courage to keep on running till the end.

Also, came across a lot of motivational message signboards along the way. It was a pretty good reminder for the runners to keep going! My most favourite quote from the run was : "Pain is temporary, Facebook post is forever!" and "Who needs toenails anyway!".

Not sure if there's really a hill in front, or I'm hallucinating lol

The Infamous Tunku Ismail at 33km onwards which was mentioned to be the toughest by most experienced runners

Me & My Partner Crossing the Finishing Line

My and my Finishing Medal & T-Shirt

Post Marathon
(3 Days Later)

Today's the third day of my post-run recovery since my first full marathon at Standard Chartered Marathon KL 2018. My muscles and legs seems to be recovering well since there weren't any serious injury from the marathon.

My thoughts and feelings? Depressing.

I didn't know my life after a marathon could have so much emptiness, or in my case, can cause a minor depression (they also call it post marathon blues).

My post marathon blues is also much blue-er than my Monday working blues.

It is that serious! Not kidding!

You may read more on my post marathon depression here.

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Overview

All in all, Standard Chartered Marathon Kuala Lumpur is one of the best international marathon in Malaysia. Considering one of the most highly anticipated sports events in Malaysia, it is well organized, and one of the best choic for people who wants to experience their first Full Marathon. No other sports events in Malaysia have such high standards and resources to organize this big event, plus they have organized it for 10 years, each year, improving on their planning and execution.

Below are my scores and verdicts on my whole experience :

Price : ★★★★★

Given that it's a well organized and quality run, it is still considerable for a International Marathon run. Price is not a problem because even if you're not willing to pay RM90 to join a Marathon, other people are willing to do so knowing that SCMKL has the best quality run. The high price eliminates 'kiamsiap' (stingy) participants as well.

Race Pack Collection : ★★★★★

Good and organized! The organizers provided a traffic chart to indicate the number of runners collecting their race packs, participants can choose the time with lesser waiting time and queue to collect their goodies. Signages to the RPEC was clear and obvious, and there was good traffic control. The exhibition also consists of alot of other sport merchants with their attractive low price goodies. Even if you're not a runner, it's also worth to visit to grab their promotional items.

Set Up, Event & Program Flow : ★★★★★

Everything on the traffic flow was very well controlled by the police and authorities. Roads were fully closed exclusive for SCMKL runners which made it safer to run. The authorities also pulled aside some motorbikes and cars, allowing runners to run pass first.

All Pen entries were also well managed and controlled by the volunteers, making sure that the right participants enter the right pen. Signages and event tents were well positioned, avoiding crowding and human traffic jams. Flag offs were made on time.

Parking : ★★★★☆

SCMKL offered FREE LRT rides (from certain stations) to the race location. Thus, helping to reduce car congestion and difficulty in finding parking for participants. One star is missing because it was difficult to find entry near to the race area for those who wants to drive there.

Running Route Difficulty : ★★★★☆

Many of the past SCMKL runners mentioned that 2018 route is much harder than previous years. Even one of the pacers I met told me it was the hardest too. Unfortunately, I can't give a comparison verdict since I have not participate in previous SCMKL run, so I can only judge based on the elevation of the route. To me, the only challenging route was 33km onwards as the inclination was really really frequent. For those who have not trained regularly on hills and slopes will find it quite difficult to cope.

Water & Carbo Stations : ★★★☆☆

Very good! They even included power gels too in two of their stations! However, one star missing because the first carbo station with bananas were all finished! Runners who are slow or who are struggling at the back may find it difficult to re-fuel their energy, thus chances of them of hitting the wall may be high.

Water stations are very frequent every 2km. Abundance of isotonic drinks and water are served, however the position of them serving the water first before the isotonic drinks are not very preferred in my opinion. I would usually rinse my mouth and throat with water after an isotonic drink to prevent myself from getting thirsty due to the sugar content in the isotonic.

The first water station was very chaotic, many runners have to grab the cup and pour the drink themselves because the volunteers were all busy. Maybe can consider having more tables or drinks prepared ahead before the flag off, or volunteers should standby batch by batch to serve.

First Aiders : ★★★☆☆

Plenty of first aiders across all the stations, but, alot of muscle sprays or cream already used up. Not that I need them anyway, but SCMKL provided few pain relief spray stations along the way. However, the spray station team was not obvious because they were either all hiding at the tents, or just couldn't see them at all due to the colour of their T-shirts (they were all wearing green shirts, same colour as the volunteers. So at many point, I was wondering why this water station need so many volunteers lol).

Route Marshals & Volunteers : ★★★★☆

Besides the cheerful passerby's, Mamak waiters, and bar people, it is the most blessing and touching moment to know that outsiders were also a big supporter of the runners too! Some of them served watermelons at one of the highways, and some even served extra water station at runners at the 33km mark (Tunku Ismail).

Really loved the supportive atmosphere, just that the feeling of support comes individually instead of a group cheer.