RUNNING WITH PASSION: Mizuno Wave Run 2008

What? Mizuno Wave Run 2008

Where? Padang Merbok, KL

When? Sunday. 19 October 2008. 7:30am.

How Long? 10km

A beautiful morning in Kuala Lumpur.

I was quite worried about my run as I have not been active in running for the past few months. Blame it on laziness and my new hobby. :) Anyway, I signed up for Mizuno Wave Run because I have been running this since its debut in the local run calendar since 2005. No major complaints from the previous run. In fact, the previous three runs were rather enjoyable, with hearty breakfasts thrown in after the runs.

This year they introduced timing chip system. An upgrade! I was initially quite impressed....but the chip system was a total let down at the end of the run. Do read on to find out why.

The route was the reverse of previous years' route. This offered a refreshing change but it was still hilly as hey! LOL!

Blast off!

I love this year's blue vest. Stylish and practical.

What a lovely morning to run. I bumped into many friends along the way.

Flow like a river....

Double Hills, reversed. Huff! Huff!

Water station....Quite crowded. Volunteers were having a hard time to cope wih the influx of runners.

Check point band. I wonder why PACM did this. Why not install a timing chip mat instead since we were all wearing the timing chips?

BTW That's Mr. Jeffrey flashing a smile as I grab the purple check point band from him. We ran the Ocean to Ocean race a couple of years ago in Songkhla. Nice to see you Jeffrey!

Aiyo! Two more km to go....No mood to take pictures already...LOL!

Approaching the end....Suddenly, I was puzzled when I was directed to this queue that snaked 200 meters to the finish line.

I have never encounter such queue at finishing line before. Is Pacesetters going for some sort of Malaysian Book of Records? The longest queue to finish line? Sorry for being harsh here but the standard of PACM organised runs has been very high up till now.

Instead of swaggering to the finish line like I normally do, I had to queue up. Like the queue in Midvalley GSC on a weekend! This sucks, man! And furthermore, it was under the hot sun. (Insert expletive of your choice here!)

No medal for me this year because I was so freaking slow.....LOL! Actually, they limit the medals to the first 500 for Men Open, unlike previous year where all finishers would get a medal each. The slow ones were given shoe bags, instead. My shoe bags are more than my running shoes now. Better than nothing, right?

Among the 4 Mizuno Wave Runs since 2005 that I have participated, this one rank at the bottom. The queue at the finish line really sucks, especially when they already deployed timing chips for the run. Simply unfathomable. Something has gone really wrong somewhere. I hope they improve next year......(Insert sigh here!)

Note: Sadly missed is the inflatable giant Mizuno running shoe (see below). Must have retired like a pair of 3 years old shoes. LOL!