News: Putrajaya Night Marathon Returns - Define Your Inner Strength!

28 July 2011 - The successful, world-class sporting event held under the moonlight in beautiful Putrajaya is back! At 8pm on 15 October 2011, Putrajaya will come alive with 10,000 pairs of feet stomping the roads and boulevards which offer participants views of sparkling night scenes.

A launch ceremony to kick off the campaign in the run-up to the marathon was held at the site where the marathon will start in October.

The launch was officiated by Datuk M. Saravanan, Deputy Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, Malaysia, who reaffirmed the Ministry's support for the marathon. The Putrajaya Night Marathon is also fully supported by Perbadanan Putrajaya, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and sanctioned by Federal Territory Amateur Athletics Association (F.T.A.A.A) and Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU).

Bank Simpanan Nasional is the title sponsor for Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011, while NTV7 and The Malay Mail are the media partners. Other partners for the event include Brooks, 100 Plus, Milo and PowerBar while hooHa.asia is the official online partner.

The official beneficiary for Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011 is non-profit organization National Cancer Council (MAKNA). All registration fees collected from the corporates who run as a team in the Corporate Team category will go to MAKNA.

The event has 4 distances and 16 different categories. The 42km run is open to all participants who are up to the challenge of a full marathon while the 21km and 10km categories provide an excellent introduction to up and coming full marathoners. There will also be a casual 10km run alongside the 5km Fun Run while corporates can enter as a Corporate Team of 10 participants per team in the Corporate Challenge. The Putrajaya Night Marathon is expected to draw 10,000 participants, a significant increase from the previous year.

This year, the Putrajaya Night Marathon is wholly owned and organised by Twenty First Century Sports, which co-hosted last year's breakthrough night marathon. They have a proven track record in a myriad of sporting activities such as the Siemens Run, RedBull Futsal National Championships and the Putrajaya Half Marathon, and they are all set to mark another success on 15 October 2011.

Director of Twenty First Century Sports and Race Director for Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011, Nithiaseelan Vegayathunam said, "Last year, the Putrajaya Night Marathon was the first of its kind in Malaysia. For many, it was an unforgettable experience. We are happy to bring back the Putrajaya Night Marathon this year and we encourage everyone to take part and have fun.

We are also very excited to have Bank Simpanan Nasional as our title sponsor, and the support of our other partners. We would like to record our appreciation to Perbadanan Putrajaya for the support and for providing such an excellent venue. There is no better place to hold this run than in Putrajaya!"

Nithiaseelan added, "With night marathons fast becoming a trend in Malaysia, we want to bring Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011 back to basics. We want to remember that a marathon is essentially about running; an activity that helps in recognising and discovering one's inner strength.

So the theme for Putrajaya Night Marathon this year is "Define Your Inner Strength". The strain, sweat and success that runners experience are exceptional. At the end, the person becomes stronger - both in body and mind."

Speaking at the launch, Hasan Mohamed, Deputy Chief Executive of BSN said, "The Bank is proud to support such an illustrious marathon. This event is also a platform for us to sustain our social obligations towards raising funds to assist the community in need. For this event, we are collaborating with National Cancer Council Malaysia (MAKNA) where we aim to raise RM100,000 from the public and our corporate sponsors. We urge the public and our partners to take this opportunity to be part of this event. With this being the first marathon that BSN is sponsoring we hope that it would be a success and a memorable event for all involved.

The registration fee for the full and half marathon is RM65 and RM55 respectively for early birds who register before 30 August 2011, and RM75 and RM65 thereafter. The early bird price for the 10km run is RM45 and RM25 for the Fun Run. The Corporate Challenge have a minimum fee of RM2,000 per team of 10 runners.

There will also be cash prizes for the top 20 winners in all events, totaling up to RM85,000. The closing date to submit the participation form is 15 September 2011.

For more info visit www.putrajayanightmarathon2011.com

Celebrunner: Vanidah Imran & Rashidi Ishak (VeeShidi)

If they have "Brangelina" (Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie) in Hollywood, we also have our very own celebrity couple, "Vee Shidi" (Vanidah Imran + Rashidi Ishak). LOL!

We caught up with them at the Athletic Events Charity Fun Run against Cancer last Sunday at Kepong Metropolitan Park.

Warming up...

This happy couple will be celebrating their 11th year together this year! Congrats!

Peace!

Taking a rest after sweating it out in the run.

This one is the latest photo taken at Levi's + M Missoni Eyewear Roadshow at Fahrenheit 88 this afternoon.

Eh?

That's more like it...LOL!

Vanidah Imran won Best Actress in the 2007 Festival Filem Malaysia.

Do you know also that Vanidah Imran was the 1st Runner Up Miss Malaysia/World 1993/94?

Unlike his wife, Rashidi has not won any beauty pageant yet. LOL! But he is a rock star though - lead guiratist from the band Dead Mushroom.

Looking suave in the Levi's sunglasses.

In 2007, they won a dance reality show called Sehati Berdansa.

Inseparable - at Shout! Award 2010.

Check out Vanidah Imran running poses.

@ Rafflesia Pearl Centre.

@ Festival Filem Malaysia ke 23 where she won the best dressed female.

@ Anugerah Skrin. Gorgeous, eh?

Like Vanidah Imran on Facebook HERE.

Like Rashidi Ishak on Facebook HERE.

Celebrunner: Amber Chia & Baby Ashton @ Athletics Events Charity Fun Run 2011

Amber Chia is our favourite Malaysian supermodel. She looks fantastic even though she is now a proud mother to Baby Ashton.

Even though, we have taken her gorgeous photos in many events, we have not asked her to do the Celebrunner pose until last weekend at the Athletic Events Charity Fun Run.

We found her playing with her son, Baby Ashton at the playground after the run. So, we politely approached her and asked if she would give us a running pose for our blog.

We got a pleasant surprise from Amber. Not only she agreed to give us a static pose, she offered to actually run for our camera too! With baby Ashton in her arm!

See Amber dashes across the playground with Baby Ashton in her arms below! It is hardly a surprise why Amber Chia is Malaysia's best loved super model. She literally goes the distance for the camera!

Thank you Amber Chia!

Like Amber Chia on Facebook HERE.

More celebrity photos coming right up from the Athletic Events Charity Fun Run!

Oh! La! La! Check Out The Nike Victory Bras Series

No detail too small, no part too minor, the Nike Victory Bra series is setting a new standard for the industry.

KUALA LUMPUR, 1st JULY – When it comes to bras, no two women are the same – not in their physiques, needs or desires. Add to that different sports with different impact levels and women have a range of needs that can’t be met with one type of bra. Two years ago, Nike Apparel Innovation designers used this as their guiding principle and asked hundreds of high-school girls and young women around the world to show them their favorite bras. Together they talked sports-bra support, everything from fabrics and clasps to what their bras’ superpower would be if they could have one.

Inspired by their discussions, the design team knew they could do better – better support, better fit, better ventilation. They wanted to treat a bra like a pinnacle piece of an elite athlete’s gear, to give women a choice of support to fit their body type and the different activities they do.

While no two women are the same, most of the participants were wearing the same bra: a compression fit with a racer-back scoop neck. The designers heard the young women talk about layering two sports bras to increase support while others wore a sports bra over their normal bra for modesty. From this research and insight, the Nike Victory Bra series was born with five different styles running the gamut of support: Adjust X, Definition, Shape, Contour and Pro Compression. The range fits a breadth of preferences and needs across different sizes and activities.

Nike’s Apparel Innovation design team began the process by looking at how fabrics pull moisture off the body, coming up with a patented fabric laminate that layers material for support and moisture management. Every detail was obsessed, tested and finessed down to the chest band – a 3.5-cm-wide strip just below the cup that hits where women chafe the most. To get it right the team went through 120 versions trying different ways to build the chest band down to the thread and thread count. Even placement of the care label was up for debate. Endless discussions ensued on thread and stitching as they applied to comfort and shaving down overall weight. The hardware was remade to be lighter and less bulky. And, as the project’s Senior Innovation Manager Susan Sokolowski puts it, making the bra “elegant and attractive” was the group’s task.

Then came the ‘aha’ moment when the design team saw an early sample prototype mold and an idea sparked. When eying the mold of a cup shape over a plastic form, it ignited the possibility of remaking the under-bust support completely. As Susan recalls, “We noticed the end of the mold made a pretty line in the fabric. This piece would normally be cut away, and we thought why don’t we do what they’ve done with molded footwear and make a molded, flexible under-bust support?”

The mesh was compressed so it was stable and had no stretch, making it lower profile than the type of under-bust support used before. What should have been trash, just excess fabric surrounding the actual mold was the answer the team was looking for. The moment was akin to Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman seeing his wife’s waffle iron and creating the first Nike Waffle sole. The new flexible under-bust support has reduced the weight of the fully adjustable versions of the Nike Victory Adjust X and UBra and is protected by a patent (one of three for the Nike Victory Bra series). Each version of the bra is now 10 to 27 percent lighter than the models they’re replacing. And the shoulder straps are also 35 to 90 percent stronger, to provide a solid anchor.

Through this process, the team also developed a new testing protocol for the bra. In biomechanical lab tests, every woman tests differently. The same woman can wear the same bra and do the same activity, but will get different results on different days simply based on normal hormonal fluctuation in her body. Mechanical testing collects samples from specific components of the bra to ensure it provides enough support and stretch. It also means the results aren’t subjective.

Not leaving anything to chance, the team conducted extensive wear-testing, with each prototype worn numerous times by professional athletes like Paula Radcliffe and members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. The results were excellent – no one wanted to give back their bras.

Each element of the Nike Victory Bra series has been obsessed over, crafted and considered. No detail was too small, no part too minor, making it Nike’s most advanced bra yet, setting a new standard for the industry. This focus on everything from the seams and stitches to the thread and hardware adds up to stronger, lighter, more comfortable support for women – no matter what their sport or size.

Nike Victory Adjust X Bra. Its adjustable straps and adjustable chest band with new modern low-profile hardware offers targeted support. The X-back design has key zones of mesh placement for moisture management, making the bra lighter and stronger. It’s innovative molded under-bust support shaves weight and sits flush to the body. With cup-specific sizing and molded cups to encapsulate and stabilize, the Nike Victory Adjust X Bra offers the most support and shaping. Designed for larger chest sizes and high-impact activities, it also comes with a U-back design

Nike Victory Definition Bra. With molded spacer mesh, this bra provides individual encapsulated cup support, as well as modesty and shaping. Excellent for larger cup sizes, it has more vertical and lateral support as well as moisture management. It’s 24 percent lighter and the shoulder strap is also 64 percent stronger than previous bras. The power-mesh racer back comfortably pulls on overhead, while the mesh is designed to allow the skin to breathe.

Nike Victory Shape Bra.With molded spacer mesh for support and modesty, it has lift and compression for shaping as well as support. Both 11 percent lighter and 36 percent stronger than its most recent predecessors thanks to its new shoulder-strap construction and the spacer mesh used in the bra.

Nike Victory Contour Bra. This bra supports women in two ways by using two layers of high-support material for compression as well as an under-bust seam for lift. Twenty-seven percent lighter than recent previous bras, its shoulder strap is also 90 percent stronger than its predecessors. Ventilation materials are used on the back to facilitate thermal comfort, airflow and moisture management. The low-profile, Y-shaped elastic chest band is designed with lighter materials, providing skin side dryness and reduced chafing.

Nike Victory Pro Compression Bra. Crafted of two layers of materials, the Nike Victory Pro Compression model supports the chest by stabilizing the breasts with compression. Made entirely of considered materials, it’s 23 percent lighter than its most recent predecessors and has more support thanks to the new shoulder-strap construction and cross-grain liner.

Note: Available at Nike outlets with a retail price of RM129 onwards.

Source: Nike Press Release.

Celebrunner: Prem aka the Hunky Pirate @ 8TV Fun Hunt Press Conference

LOL! No, we didn't give him that nickname. Airin Zainul, the big kahuna of 8TV did. We caught up with Prem, complete with the pirate costume at 8TV Launch of the Fun Hunt at the Theatrette, Media Prima just now. Prem could have passed for a real pirate if not for the missing talking parrot on the shoulder and a hook. LOL!

So what is this 8TV Fun Hunt? Is it something to die for? Heheh!

Hmmm...whatever it is, we bet there will be plenty of surprises along the way and some major glitter factor added by local celebrities....We heard some names just now but we forgot to jot it down. Memory has failed us again. LOL!

Anyway, the 8TV Fun Hunt will be organised by 8TV for the very first time as a CSR mission to preserve the environment. It is a eco-friendly hunt but but we wonder, why not a walk hunt instead of a motor car hunt? But I suppose, they decided to do the car hunt to give the leg muscles a rest after the ntv7 Feel Good Run last July. Heheh!

Pirates Hunters, mark your calendar! The Hunt is ON!

The 8TV Fun Hunt will be flagged off at Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama at 7:30am and will end at the same place around 3:00pm.

Since the hunt is organised by 8TV, the prizes also have lots of 8 in them. LOL!

For those non "pro" hunters, you can still walk home with attractive prizes... (LOL @ Slowest Team category)

There will be lucky draw too, courtesy of the generous sponsors.

The Clerk of Course (COC).

The proceed will go to the animals and plants at Zoo Negara. The tigers, elephants, crocodiles, birds, orang utans etc will be thankful to your contributions.

Pow Pow will be there wearing his recyclable diaper. :D

Elecoldxhot was there for the launch gambit...

What is in the treasure chest?

Pow Pows!

Bet you want one!

Registration will be open on 26 July 2011 and will be closed on 23 September 2011 or when 50 cars quota is reached. The registration fee is RM25 per person and all proceed will go to the welfare of the animals in Zoo Negara.

Cute fun hunt cupcakes for refreshment after the launch. Thank you 8TV!

The entry form can be downloaded at http://www.8tv.com.my and do like 8TV Facebook Fanpage at http://www.facebook.com/8tvfb for updates.