The GOOD
Hot on the blazing tracks of the recent Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix, the 2011 Energizer Night Race gave runners the first ever opportunity to race in ‘The Home of Malaysian Motorsports’ – the Sepang International Circuit!
Last Saturday, 10,000 runners raced on the same track used by local and international motorsports stars while wearing unique Energizer LED headlights, transforming the Sepang International Circuit into a breathtaking visual spectacle for everyone present.
We were there as a runner and a blogger to cover the event. We ran the 5.5km Fun Run while having a camera strapped to our hand. Heheh!
This year’s Energizer Night Race is held just a week after the Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix, giving participants the first-ever opportunity to share the same race track where driver Sebastian Vettel zoomed to the top of the podium in a nail-biting race only days before.
Check out the skid marks, babeh! LOL!
THE BAD....
Energizer Night Race at Sepang Circuit last Saturday may be largest night race in history, as certified by Malaysian Book of Records, with 10,000 runners but it suffered a dent in its image.
This photo was taken from the media room above the paddock while I was waiting for the press conference which was supposed to take place around 9:40pm. Tired and frustrated runners were seen waiting outside the goodies bag distribution area.
Runners queued up an hour, only to be told that their medals, certs will be sent by post. Crowd control was horrendous, as crowd surged forward to collect their medals without queuing up. No proper signboards to guide runners to starting line and other. These are only a fraction of the problems faced by the runners. In fact, we think they can make this as a case study for those who are doing event management courses.
It is a shame that what could be The Largest Participation in a Night Run in Malaysia Book of Record turned out to be The Largest Dissatisfied Runners in a Race in Malaysia. :(
The FUNNIES....
The guy above is Whit Raymond giving us his best Celebrunner pose. He is the host for the ENR 2011, international IronMan host and sport commentator, specially flown from the USA for this event.
Oh well...It was a tough night for everyone. Let's cheer up a bit and let Energizer and their teams to work it out. It's Monday and the week has just begun!
These are some funnies I found in the net...I think we runners are quite humourous, eh? LOL!
The below photo was taken by my friend Razlin. Her caption: A "A sign of problems to come. Spotted at the Energizer Night Race 2011"
Angry Birds? (Credit: Kukimonstar Superstar)
Nightmare in Sepang? :)(Credit: Claude Hor)
Heheh! For all runners out there, please chill while letting the organizers sort it out. No point of letting emotions getting the best out of you by leaving expletive-ridden comments in their FB pages and boycotting their products.
I would like to leave you with this video footage I took at the paddock rooftop during the 11km flag off. The sight of thousands of runners with their headlights turned on while sprinting on the Sepang International Circuit pitlanes is simply AWESOME!
ENJOY!
As of now, we are still waiting for an official statement from Energizer and Expose. We have get in touch with the PR company and we will update you guys as soon as we get the news, OK?
Have a Nice Day.
10 comments:
paid blogger.
Dear Anonymous, FYI, I am NOT paid a single sen for this post. Please do not simply put your accusation to me. I am blogging for 7 years now out of my passion for running, not for money.
u hv the luxury of waiting in the media room while the rest of the runners are there sweating it out waiting for goodies bags .. but the real problem is actually manpower and security concerns of the longer routes runners
anonymous : chill out dude!!...the frustration will subside eventually.
Runwitme: awesome photos and video, keep it up!!
Your video of the start is awesome. I don't want to go into the issues and problems. I had a great run around the track and rather remember that than the other stuff which I will put down as something to learn from. I would hesitate to enter any event which is not sanctioned by any governing body.
I wrote a race report on my blog. Come and read,
http://www.rezaalireactivated.com/2011/04/race-report-energizer-night-race-16.html
Thanks Reza. ENR itself was an AWESOME race which was marred by incompetent race organization. I hope ENR will bounce back next year with even better outcome. I'm sure all the race organisers can learn a thinng or two about in organizing a huge event like that.
i agree with the case study suggestion lol :)
Thanks for sharing and updates on the event. Yes, most of us are saddened by the mishaps that happened that night but I think we should let them (Energizer & Expose) to sort out the matters accordingly and properly. It's no use fuming over it now.
The video is great! Wished it was at least in High Def so could see every single detail of it.
keep on blogging, dude!
This event is a lesson for all of us, not only to the sponsor & event organizer. Example: now I know that after this, if i wanted to enter a big running event like this one again, i'll ask them if they applied for a permit from the Sports Commission yet?
Also, as for the parking ticket which has no company name printed on the receipt, i'll ask the fee collector immediately (yes, we never know if we got cheated on that too, right)
Anyway, personally i'm relieved too, that Energizer Malaysia had finally agreed to refund back our registration fee in full to all registered runner.
Peace!! :)
Love your blog! keep it up!
Kitty Meow =..=
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