Is The Rat Race The Most Hazardous Race in Malaysia?

The Kuala Lumpur Rat Race is a unique road race where corporate citizens trade their office footwear with running shoes for charity. The Race covers 4.5 kilometres through the busiest roads in the commercial heart of Kuala Lumpur, starting and finishing at the grounds of Bursa Malaysia. The competition is stiff among the corporate teams who are out to outrun each other.

It was a fun event to watch until we saw two runners dropped down to the ground and had to be carried away for medical attentions.



First case involved a girl who suddenly screamed and then stopped in the middle of the road. She was brought to the road side and the St. John Ambulance was alerted. Her skin was pale as ghost. She complained that her leg hurt so much that she was not able to move. Few minutes later, she was carried away using in a stretcher. She could be suffering from cramps or sprains. Or even worse - broken bones. We don't know....

UPDATE (19 Sept 2013): The girl was admitted to Tung Shing. She had fractured her hip in the final push. She has had surgery and now recuperating.



Second case was kinda weird. This fellow was seen making a detour from the actual race route. He made a turn after the St Andrew Chapel instead of going straight back to the finish line. Later, he was found on the ground semi-conscious.



We suspect the poor man was severely dehydrated which led to disorientation. The heat was intense when the race was flagged off at 4:00pm. Add smog from the vehicles on the busy road and a lung busting 4.5km dash, viola - a recipe for the most hazardous road race in Malaysia!

UPDATE (19 Sept 2013): We have received a thank you note from the guy who passed out - "Hi there - Thanks for the Rat Race blog post! I was the guy who 'fainted', it was due to heat stroke...and to be honest I cant remember anything pass Jalan P Ramlee...much less that I went down the wrong route. I was brought to Tung Shing and they brought my temperature and heart rate down and I passed out for 45 mins..potential dangerous situation but I made it. Thanks for the pics..helps me recount what happen."

We must applaud the St John Ambulance. They came almost instantly upon receiving the distress calls. We hope the two poor souls are OK.

We were also worried about the safety of the runners on the busy roads. Take a look at the photos...

Basically, the runners had to weave through the traffic at the certain parts of the route.



She was lucky that she didn't need 9 lives to survive this....Yes, the bus was trailing right behind her!



Runners trying to cross the busy road...



A disaster waiting to happen...



The safety aspects of the KL Rat Race must be improved in the future.

We are not sure how many of the participants are regular runners. Probably they were signed up by their bosses and didn't had adequate training before the race. But to those who are planning to enter this race next year do take precautions.

1) Get medical clearance from panel doctors before signing up.
2) Have adequate mileage and proper training.
3) Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!
4) Wear comfortable clothes and running shoes.
5) Properly warm up before race and cool down after race.
6) Make sure you listen to your body. Stop if you feel something is not right. Check out more tips for running safely HERE.

We have uploaded 324 pics in our FB album, feel free to check them out HERE.