Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010

As I prepare this entry, there was nothing more disturbing than hearing about casualties from the recent PNM 2010. The chills kept on growing upon leaving the venue that night, and after a few more chit chats and thoughts, the upcoming Energizer Night Race gave me more chills.

My part of the Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010 chapter didn't come easy as well. Yep, it's either victory or shear agony, but every marathon shares it's own story. Though I signed up for half cat, my epic journey into the unknown was something unusual.

The orang kampung came together and ran together. That was the plan. We knew that the odds are always around the corner when running at night especially in this beautiful landscape called Putrajaya. The flag-off went well from a magnificent venue. It was lively. Credits to the organizer. We were totally mesmerized by those neatly arranged layout of the venue. However I felt a bit peculiar that familiar faces ain't that many...maybe sebab gelap daaa...

A peek at the HR, it was slightly high which perhaps explained that something ain't going normal. The humidity I guess and maybe the joy of meeting more friends as we moved on. However, the pace was not normal. I wasn't myself. My closest findings should be no other than my earlier morning agenda. The sight of every water station was good news. The sight of kilometre mark was not. I walked at every WS (as usual) and hoped for a boost. It did, but a tiny one which lasted only for five steps before I went back to my "huru hara"pace.

Between Nizam, Det and me was like a yo-yo. I strung out to the rear at WS, caught up back with them and got strung again at the next WS. It was total discreet among runners. Reaching kilometre 15, I yelled for motivation. 30 more minutes for sub-2 stretching 6km. Doable? I knew that it was a gripping attempt but I kept on chattering.

Now the final kilometre was scary. Nizam was already a minute or two ahead. I managed to catch up with Det. We were clocking 2 hours at the moment. Bye bye to sub-2. Only to finish the run. However his total silence to every pep talk was a bit creepy. As we saw the finish line straight ahead, I was more eager to motivate ourselves to push all out. He did. I don't know where Det got the juice but he did left me a clean 30 seconds. However the finish line gimmick caught us big time. My courage went from low to zero.

As I made that ridiculous left turn, I saw as if Det was swaying to the beat of Michael Buble's song. He was swaying to the right and left more, rather than moving forward. It can't be. Not all people play jokes at this final juncture. With whatever strength left in me, I knew that I have to close that 50 metre gap before this guy make a faceplant. I caught his arm and struggled resisting his extra 30kg swaying between us. We walked for 30 feet before I decided that Det had enough. No verbal direct answer to all my questions. Face pale. Sweating excessive. Not good. I shouted at the marshal manning the junction for medical support.

A marshal on motorbike went for help. An ambulance arrived 10 minutes later but it was full with two patients onboard. A medical stuff waited with us while the ambulance sent off those patients. A preliminary diagnosis, Det was down with symptoms of hyperventilation. Whoa! That does not sound cool. I was worried stiff but stayed cool attempting more communications with Det though I knew the response would be...nothing. Eventually Det got onto the ambulance 10 minutes later.

I edged my way for the remaining of the most agony-able distance. Hunger crept in. Hope was lost. It was totally a different type of misery if compared to Manjung which was unexplainable. I crossed the finish line but was in no interest of the time. I need to find Nizam and passed the message while I need to swig in something solid. There was Shuk waiting by the gantry. Most relieve moment that night, a familiar face when you need it most. He knew about Det and have already told Nizam. Phew! Now I can bedal those food calmly.

Det took his time recovering at the sick bay. We waited by him along with Shuk and Azmar. The medical tent resembled something like ER. Runners got hauled in every few minutes. Horrific. However the medical officers handled the cases with ease. We left Putraya at 12:15am. Our fellow friends running the full cat closing in for their last 10km. We sent Det home and called it a night. We had our fair share of the deal tonight. We win some. We lose some, but losing a buddy is not an option.