McDonald Malaysia Olympic Day Run

Is that McIjam?!

My first McD run and also for the BTHO kids. It's their first long distance running event besides those annual "merentas desa" at school. 3KM is indeed tough for them but with sheer determination, guts and of course encouragement from wifey and me, I believed it could help to get the tiniest spark to be extra ordinary kids - hope so  :)

I had my family kicking and shouting all over the house on that peaceful Sunday morning. Reminds me of my neighbours that should get accustomed to this future to be running family that will be noisy on weekend mornings. Hahaha.

We left the house just in time to reach Dataran Merdeka and secure a parking slot at the school. Runners also parked along Jalan Parlimen towards Lake Garden, which I rarely see on other races. I missed those moments watching participants walked in joyfulness and jitters towards the venue along with friends. That morning, it was no different - read somewhere, 8000 participants signed up for this year! That's good news la kan which I believed the masses of them are casual runners or newbies and definitely kids!

Arrivng at Dataran Merdeka, we picked a spot by the planter box facing the stage and majestic Jalur Gemilang. Yasmin and Amir seemed to blend into the event quite comfortably. It's either they are nervous (which I don't think so) or they simply don't have a clue of what's waiting for them - I trust the later. They still joked around with Umar and cousin Jiha and seemed to be unbothered with many other kids running around for warm ups. Wifey suggested them to do the same but I simply suggested to stay cool and act casual as not to spark jitters into them.

I saw so many runners. This was perhaps a different perspective as an onlooker rather than participating. Groups of kids stretching and warming up with branded technical running shoes and technical tees. I think they have many schools participating and they came well prepared. Lots of people came with their families to simply run together. An uncle simply left his 50 cents face towel on a railing which I presumed will come back for it after the run and definitely it will be there. Madam emcee was I think the usual one and she managed to make it like a school sports day feeling. I was quite entertained at some of her nonsense. Lol! We should have more events like this.

The open category was flagged off at 7.30 a.m. and the mass was a huge one - merely 10 minutes till the last runners to cross the gantry. I can hardly spot any familiar face. Ye la, most of the peeps are running the Newton Challenge same time same date. Supposed 30 minutes later will be for the kids, so Ms. Emcee started shouting for kids to masuk kandang. We walked slowly towards the paddock and let the veteran category flagged off minutes later.

I was horrified when suddenly hundreds of kids from the holding paddock burst out running towards the starting gantry. They were like running their hearts out though the category was yet to start. The officials at the starting line facing them were shouting and putting their hands out to get them to slow down and stop. There was a moment of chaos. Crazy betul. Some kids were caught in the stampede and stumbled on the pavement. Argh! That was painful and I saw cute hurting faces. Lucky my kids were still outside. I reminded them to just stay cool and start at the back of the pack. The strategy was to start slow and pace towards the front along the race. They seemed to get the idea. Good.

The flag off was early. 7.46 a.m. just right after I took their photo with Det's son Naufal. My plan was to stalk them not wanting them to be manja with dad around. Our training was full of manja stuff. Always wanting to discount, walk-run attempt and also "boleh tak lari sampai tiang lampu tu je ayah?" thing. Aiyo! I can't simply let them run on their own on this first race, so I kept my distance 50 metres away.

They hurdled away into the running crowd. They seemed so tiny la but the blue Trikidz tees were easy to spot. Yasmin and Amir jumped onto the sidewalk as they ran towards Bulatan Dato' Onn and into Jalan Sultan Salahuddin. I assumed that they worried for the traffic which I forgot to tell them not to since the roads are closed for runners. Never mind. The climb up Jalan Sultan Salahuddin started to pay it's toll for most of the kids. Some parents were also starting to walk as well. Yasmin and Amir slowly squeezed themselves among the slow ones and I saw some jokes were shared when they saw some kids started to have a sit at a bus top for a breather.

Eventually they spotted me at the turn towards Padang Merbuk. Aiya! They seemed not surprised though. Hmmm...maybe they felt the instinct that dad will come to their rescue kot. Hahaha! OK la no more stalking and words of encouragement starts flowing in. No complaints so far.

Suddenly Amir started to increase his pace and left Yasmin. I was caught in between whether to stay with Yasmin or chase Amir. Aiyo! Trusting that Yasmin have some experience with races from Trikidz, I gave chase towards Amir. He was running fast with power-walk in between. As we turned into Jalan Parlimen, the open category started jamming in as well. Amir kept on with his strong pace now and Yasmin was not seen at the back. "Ayah! Abang dapat potong orang besar la!". That's what gave him the motivation to run strong. And I saw, with his new Mizuno shoes, he was actually running forefoot! Perhaps the running class did help with the running gait.

Approaching Dataran Merdeka, we met Che. Nice to see you bro! - the only RBU I met that day. But I can't stay for a chat since Amir seemed wanted to finish strong. And so he was. I can't joined him towards the finishing line without race numbers on me, so I just watched from afar. He ran joyfully into the kids finishing lane with mommy's hug waiting. Yeay! I waited by the side for Yasmin and shouted for her last push. She responded and managed to finish strong as well overtooking a few other kids. Phew! That was tough.

Queueing for Milo was bearable since they have booths for Coke and mineral water as well. The sun was up and striking by now. I can hardly face Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad without getting stung on my forehead from the sun. It brought me to think about my fellow Newtonians who were currently battling the hills. We feasted with the free McMuffin voucher at McDonald's breakfast treat on our way home. Kids seemed still energetic. I wonder if they could endure the same with Kumon and school revisions for upcoming final year exam :)

Certs, Milo & McMuffin day!