Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2008

What? Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2008

When? 30 March 2008 (Sunday)

Where? Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

How far? 21 km (Half Marathon)

My pre-run breakfast. A can of Milo drink and a chocolate "thingy" that Jennie baked the night before. Thanks Jennie! :)

I walked to Padang Merbok around 4:30am to collect my Nike vest. You see, I have registered myself for the Hitz FM JJ & Rudy Runs For Charity event. Kevin, Ronnie and Lai had also signed up. By signing up, we get a free Nike vest each. Nike had also pledge to donate RM10 each km completed by all the Nike registered runners. So, I think I contributed RM210 to charity by just participating. Cool, eh?

JJ and Rudy gave a short speech before the run. Off we went to the Dataran Merdeka where the start point was. I heard they have been training for months for this event. They would be doing the half marathon as well.

Ronnie is bringing sexy back. Heheh!

My friend from Klang, John Ng, flanked by JJ (Left) and Rudy before the run.

At the start point. It was buzzing with runners of all shape and sizes. The marathoners were already in the battle field. They were set off earlier at 4:30am.

While waiting for the blast off time for half marathon at 6:00am, I spotted Yuan Yu Fang, our national athlete in the holding pen.

And Spiderman too....But this Spidey is kinda short and lean, unlike the screen version. LOL!

KLIM is the best way to see KL on foot. I would like to share with you many beautiful and interesting landmarks captured along the KLIM Half Marathon route in this write up. Runwitme is playing tour guide to beautiful garden city, Kuala Lumpur. (insert welcome gesture here!)

Let's start with Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located right opposite Dataran Merdeka. We runners, are very familiar with this building, most race held in KL start here.

Topped by a shiny copper dome and a 40m high clock tower, it is a major landmark in the city. It serves as the backdrop for important events such as the National Day Parade on August 31 and the ushering in of the New Year. This heritage building used to be occupied by the then Apex Court of Malaysia, the Supreme Court which was subsequently renamed the Federal Court. The Court of Appeal was also housed in this historic building. The Federal Court and the Court of Appeals have since moved to the Palace of Justice located in Putrajaya, the new Federal administrative capital. The Sultan Abdul Samad Building now houses the Commercial Division of the High Court of Malaya.

Behind the building flows the Klang river and across from it stands Jamek Mosque, a mosque of similar design by the same architect.

In front of the building is the Dataran Merdeka (or Merdeka Square). It was here, the Union Jack flag was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on August 31, 1957.

A 95-meter flagpole, one of the tallest in the world, marks that spot with a flat, round black marble plaque. It is located at the southern end of the square.

3...2...1....Blast OFF! OK. Next time no more video-ing at the blast off like this. Almost being run over by the herd. LOL!

I ran slowly out of the holding pen, tailing Spiderman. Spidey was warned not to web-sling but run, otherwise would be disqualified by the public announcer. LOL!

Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad is still one of the most beautiful buidling in Malaysia, especially when lit at night. I had to stop a few minutes to get a steady shot.

National Mosque (Masjid Negara) - Not too far after passing the Daya Bumi Building and the Main Post Office, we passed the National Mosque on our right. Sorry, the picture doesn't do justice to this beautiful mosque.

The Masjid Negara is the national mosque of Malaysia, located in Kuala Lumpur. It has a capacity of 15,000 people and is situated among 13 acres of beautiful gardens. Originally built in 1965, it is a bold and modern approach in reinforced concrete, symbolic of the aspirations of a then newly-independent Malaysia.

Its key features are a 73-metre-high minaret and an 18-pointed star concrete main roof. The umbrella, synonymous with the tropics, is featured conspicuously - the main roof is reminiscent of an open umbrella, the minaret's cap a folded one. The folded plates of the concrete main roof is a creative solution to achieving the larger spans required in the main gathering hall. Reflecting pools and fountains spread throughout the compound.

Another Moorish influenced building - The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station.

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station (Malay: Stesen Keretapi Kuala Lumpur) is a train station located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Completed in 1910 to replace an older station on the same site, the station was Kuala Lumpur's railway hub in the city for the Federated Malay States Railway and Malayan Railway (Malay: Keretapi Tanah Melayu), before Kuala Lumpur Sentral assumed much of the its role in 2001.

The station is notable for it architecture, adopting a mixture of Eastern and Western designs.

At this point, I was still running very slowly, enjoying every step that I made.

We passed by Istana Negara on the way to Jalan Syed Putra. It was still dark. I just managed to get the emblem on the palace wall that surrounds the palace. The entrance is at another place.

Istana Negara or National Palace is the official residence of His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia. It stands on a 28 acre (110,000 m²) site, located at a commanding position on the slope of a hill of Bukit Petaling overlooking the Klang River, along Jalan Syed Putra.

This majestic building is nestled within a serene and beautiful 11.34-hectare compound with a variety of plants and flowers, swimming pool and indoor badminton hall.

As the palace grounds are not opened to members of the public or tourists, the Main Palace Entrance is a favourite picture spot for tourists.

At 5km point. I was quite disappointed with the organiser for not putting up distance marker every 1km for half marathoners.

Drinking Station. Plenty of water and isotonic drink were served. No complaint here. Two cups for me.

SMART Toll Plaza. Supposedly a genius project for the city but still plagued with problems and critisms.

The "Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel" or "SMART Tunnel", E 38 is a storm drainage and road structure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a major national project in the country. It is the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia.

The main objective of this tunnel is to solve the problem of flash floods in Kuala Lumpur and also to reduce traffic jams along Jalan Sungai Besi and Lok Yew flyover at Pudu during rush hour. There are two components of this tunnel, the stormwater tunnel and motorway tunnel.

No we didn't get to run in the tunnel this time. For SMART Tunnel Run 2007, click here.

Twin Towers (KLCC) at the skyline.

Beautiful morning....I feel so alive.

Road Closure for KL Marathon....

And it caused major traffic jam at certain stretch of the road. Hello? I thought the road was closed for traffic? Who let the traffic in?

Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Building.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Malay for The Institute of Language and Literature) (abbreviated DBP) is the government body responsible for coordinating the use of the Malay language in Malaysia and Brunei. I kinda like this building because it features a very colourful mural. The smiling runner is Andy of Eating Dim Sum.

KLCC again. You can hardly miss this twin peaks if you run in KL roadraces.

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are the world's tallest twin buildings. Tower 1 was built by the South Korean multinational Samsung Engineering & Construction and Tower 2 by Hazama Corporation of Japan.

They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top.

Trivia: The Petronas Towers were a setting for some scenes in the 1999 film Entrapment staring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It ends in a dramatic pursuit of the two stars by SWAT teams, eventually leading to Connery's capture and Catherine's escape.

The Pudu Prison was built in 1895 as a prison in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur area. As such, it was used to house criminals including drug offenders and was a location for administering corporal punishment through rattan caning.

The cells were horrific, each equipped with a window only the size of a shoebox. Ironically, the prison also features murals painted on the walls circling the compound, depicting scenes of nature.

It is no longer used as a prison and while it was once open as a museum, it is currently a police station and can be viewed only from the outside.

Berjaya Times Square KL is a building containing a huge shopping centre and two five star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was opened in October 2003 by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad.

It is tagged as the "world’s largest building ever built in a single phase", with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area. It is set to become an international landmark offering shopping, luxury accommodation, business, food and abundant entertainment.

A Chinese temple on Jalan Imbi.

No traffic at the busiest road in Kuala Lumpur - Jalan Bukit Bintang/ Jalan Sultan Ismail. This area is also known as the Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle. Happening place with shopping malls, banks, 5 stars hotels and more shopping malls.

Running with GUCCI at Pavillion.

LV anyone?

Lot 10 - the unmistakable green shopping building at the Bukit Bintang Golden Triangle.

The Kuala Lumpur Tower (officially known as Menara Kuala Lumpur) is a tall tower located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was built in 1995.

It is used for communication purposes and features an antenna that reaches 421 m (1,381 ft), which currently makes it the fifth tallest tower in the world. The roof of the pod is at 335 m (1,099 ft). The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an elevator to reach the upper area, which also contains a revolving restaurant, providing diners a beautiful view of the city

KL Towerthon is organised every year where we get to run up the tower using the 2,000 over steps up. Read more about it here.

Hard Rock Cafe. Big bikes and sarong party girls.

Adidas - Impossible is Nothing. I feel rather tired of this slogan already. I think they should change their tag line.

CLICK PLAY! Entering the Adidas Climacool zone. I would have run far far away from this thingy last year. This year, I just can walk, I mean run right through it with my water proof camera! Hurray for Olumpus. Heheh!

I was soaked wet after I got out of this. I think the water pressure was too strong but nice way too keep cool.

CLICK PLAY! While I was stopping to snap pictures, Rudy was gaining behind me.

Rudy overtook me at Jalan Sultan Ismail, right before we turned to Jalan TAR, leading back to Dataran Merdeka. He was going very strong with the constant motivation from his pacer, Siva.

Nowhere to be seen was JJ. Where were you, man?

Swaggering towards the finish line. Back to Dataran Merdeka/ Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad.

Phew...We completed the grand city tour of Kuala Lumpur in below three hours. Heheh! I hope you enjoyed the tour and looking forward to tour with you again in the future. LOL! Welcome to Kuala Lumpur! LOL!

CLICK PLAY! JJ approaching the finish line....He reached the finishing line a few minutes after Rudy.

Later, I congratulated them and took the "after" picture. The guys were very friendly even though they were still panting for breath. Good job, guys. We hope to see you again next year! :)

Finisher Medal. See ya next year!