Editorial

They say time and tide waits for no man. How true, for before we know it we have come to the end of the first quarter of a brand new 2006. PACM kickstarted the new year with the Great Eastern-Pacesetters 30km Run which was a huge success. See how you fared in the Race Results pages painstakingly complied for all the runners.

The next big event will be the Club's 22nd Annual General Meeting/Annual Dinner on March 18 at the Dynasty Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, incorporating the second edition of the Pacesetters' Idols. Unfortunately, we are unable to include this important event in this issue because of production deadline, but do look for the report in our next issue.

We have great pleasure in welcoming aboard our new contributor Mr. John Williams who is a runner, coach and sports massage therapist from the United Kingdom. John has agreed to share with us his expertise through his informative articles in Footloose, which should benefit our readers immensely.

Our appreciation goes to all story contributors, with special thanks to Chan Wing Kai and KC Leong for the photos.

Tan SH
Editor

President's Column

End-of An Era?
At this year's Annual General Meeting on 18th March, Mr Wan Yew Leong, our immediate past president and advisor, cannot be a part of the Executive Committee for one year in any capacity, in accordance with our constitution. This was not in the club's original constitution, but was inserted when he was the president. He initiated the change and I was part of the group that drafted the amendment. Essentially it states that a member cannot be president for more than 5 consecutive years, and that any president must be in the Exco for the next year in the capacity of "immediate past president". This is to facilitate a smooth handing over of duties. However, it does not exclude the member (who has served 5 years as president and 1 year as immediate past president) from joining the Exco again after a one-year lapse from the Exco.

Wan Yew Leong had served the club for more than the 6 years as mentioned above. At various times he was also the treasurer and secretary, as well as editor of Footloose. So he has been around the club long enough to know the recent history of the club. He has brought the club up several levels in terms of activities, and made the club financially sound. It was tough work and there were many set-backs, but he persevered, and the rest is history.

He is leaving behind a network/system of doing things that will augur well for anyone taking over this difficult mantle of "President" of the Pacesetters Athletic Club, Malaysia. The running public has come to accept a certain standard from the club, and the tough part is to maintain it.

So, is this the end of an era? Not if I can help it! Nowhere in the constitution does it say that a retired president cannot be part of the organization committee of an event inside or outside the club. Hey, I helped to draft the amendment under instruction from the then president, and so I made sure it wasn't so rigid. It would be a big waste of a resource to exclude someone, or anyone else for that matter, who has the skill that is useful to the club. So .... a race director is still a race director until sacked! I look at the situation as a new era with Wan still very much a part of the equation, and maybe in a different role (actually same role in some aspects, e.g. race director).

Club Administration
The Exco has decided unanimously to appoint a part-time staff, Ms Jenny Lim, to take over as much as possible the administrative work of the club. The club has grown to almost 1,500 members, and I believe 2,000 members would be possible by the end of this year or next. This is a small step in the direction of having full-time staff. We had not been able to field members' queries quickly or efficiently, and I hope with this new appointment we can help to alleviate that problem a bit. Do note that it's part-time (at present full day Tuesday to Thursday only). Jenny will be based initially at my commercial office, and should theoretically follow the new president to his office. Alternatively she can still work from my office and communicate with the new president.

Year 2005
Year 2005 was another hectic and successful year for the club. Despite having so many road races to organize, we still found time to have member-based activities, like the Bonding Run and the Track Meet. I look back at my tenure as president over this last year and am amazed at the way the members came together to help out. This is truly a club - one can be proud of. The secretary's report for the year is an amazing document on the activities of the club. Thank you one and all, for the support, the assistance, and for just participating.......an enjoyable experience for me.

Year 2006
The year started off with a bang, literally. The Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km was held on 22nd January, and despite our nervousness and trepidation at organizing a run this distance for the first time, it was a success (based on the feedback we had and from the survey we did of random runners on race day). Also, it was the first time we were sponsored by a large corporation that is not directly dealing with sports goods or related items. It is hoped that we gave a good account of ourselves in their view, and we look forward to working with them again in 2007.

The Future
Like it or not the electronic age is with us. I get spams, junk mails, malicious "news" (can die of rat urine on cans of a particular brand of soft drink - why this brand and not others?!), etc. The trouble is that anybody can write about anything and send it around as "real", either in the form of emails or jottings in blogs or on websites, and sadly some people believe in these rumours or unsubstantiated news or comments without checking the facts first (heard the one about Hang Tuah being a Chinese?).

If you have any comments or feedback or queries, do send them to the editor of Footloose or the President, and a reply will be forthcoming. You may even contact any of the Exco members and. they can check things out for you, albeit some time later. We have improved on our race organization by listening to constructive feedback. I would think that all the time we have a reason for doing something or the other, though it may look obvious if you are not in the know.

Run hard but safely!
Munning Jamaludin

Wan True Pacesetter's Tale
By Wan Yew Leong

War Chest Revisit

For those of you who were members of the club in February 2003 and if can still recall, I wrote a couple of paragraphs on "war chest" in my column. I pointed out to the members that we have a sizeable cash holding then (Year Ending 31st December 2002) and would be able to commit in events even before we got the sponsors. I have just got hold of the final draft accounts from Club Treasurer Ang Chee Kiang today and am happy to know that our war chest has doubled. I feel I need to put things in perspective to all members before we all feel we are extremely rich. We are in very sound financial footing that other clubs or even state or national sports associations are envious of .....but not extremely rich. I am writing this here, the same message I am going to repeat at the AGM on, 18th March 2006 as not all members attend the AGM. Last year the club made a lower surplus as compared to the previous year. The main reason for the lower surplus is due to the free yellow T-shirts given out to approximately 1,400 members. On the positive side, the club also earned an extra income from the unplanned Mizuno Wave Run that the club organized for Mizuno. All these numbers are disclosed in the audited accounts sent to you as members.

To give you an idea what a war chest means to us: recently at the Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km 2006, concluded on 22nd January 2006, we were able to foot out 100% of the cost in running the event before billing Great Eastern and Milo for their respective sponsorship sum. If the club does not have this war chest as working capital, we will not be able to do this and would only pay the vendors or service providers when we get the sponsorship monies. All PACM members should be very proud of this financial strength of the club. While our cash holding may look like lots of monies but if we care to analyze the balance sheet as at 31st December 2005, we are not that rich. Part of the monies is membership subscription in advance, in laymen terms it means fees paid by members for future subscription. An extreme example is one that Jimmy Tong has paid his subscription till 2020, it means we have to serve Jimmy till 2020 without asking him for subscription!

Our members' accumulated funds is owned by 1,424 members. Our members' accumulated funds would allow the club to sustain 3 years of current level operations without further income. We have accumulated these surpluses through 2 main channels outside membership fees, i.e. sponsorship from Milo and Genting and profit from events like the New Balance Pacesetters 15km. This event has been profitable because we do not pay commercial value for the services; for example, the volunteers and the Executive Committee were not paid any allowance. Some of us even use our vehicles (both personal and business) to cart stuff without even claiming mileage.

Moving forward, we may have to hire commercial vehicles at commercial rates in future events. We have also hired a part-time administrator this year and installed a telephone line to cater for the day-to-day services to members and management of events. Our yearly sponsorship with Milo and Genting has not been confirmed at the time of writing this column. We still need to be frugal to sustain the club at a level that we do not have money problem. Having said that, we should consider paying out-of-pocket expenses to volunteers for deserving cases.

www.runnersmalaysia.com.my
The thought of starting this website was at the back of my mind when I went into my last year as the President of Pacesetters Athletic Club, Malaysia (PACM) in 2004. I decided not to proceed with the plan till I have served the mandatory one year as advisor to the club that would expire by 18th March 2006. I will try my best to complete all the outstanding commitments to PACM before I refocus. The Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km 2006 on 22nd January 2006 was my last official duty as a member of the PACM EXCO. In future my role in PACM will be determined by the next EXCO if needed and on an "invitation" basis.

I have been studying the website of Road Runners Club of America, www.rrca.org for a number of years and I am very inspired by it. I would not want to imitate it right away as we are not ready for this. Instead, we set ourselves a more modest target of providing a one-stop website for all parties related to running in Malaysia. At the moment, we have only 3 websites catering for running: PACM's website at www.pacesetters.com.my, Ipoh Road Runners' website at www.ipohroadrunners.org and Kuala Lumpur Association of Veteran Athletes' website at www.klavarunners.info , and perhaps half a dozen of running blogs. The national body governing athletics, MAAU and all the State AAAs do not have their websites. We believe as a matter of time, MAAU and the State AAAs as one of the eight core sports identified by the government will have their own websites, and we intend to start the ball rolling by providing the service to them in www.runnersmalaysia.com.my.

We notice that in the United States of America, nearly all running clubs listed in the Road Runners Club of America have websites. We believe as a matter of time, we will get there. This website service of ours is just to provide the incubation for those that do not have their own website yet.

Why is it we make such a big deal about having a website catering for running? The answer is simple, the statistics have shown that the percentage of younger Malaysians involved in running is lower than the veterans. The younger Malaysians are more internet savvy and generally depend on the internet for information more than any other medium. While we do not think that having a one-stop website for running would solve all the issues, we believe having a permanent internet communication platform is crucial in moving forward.

Meaningful Use of Our Saturdays
My partner, Jamie Pang and I are from the banking industry. We have started enjoying 5-day work week since 1st February 2006. This is a great start for us as we have the whole Saturday for us to carry out our activities that we are planning to promote running, using our website as the platform. It would also mean another 70,000 bank employees throughout the country have their Saturday mornings to sleep late, engage in local tourism or visit the shopping complexes more! Hopefully, a fraction of them would use Saturday mornings to exercise and maybe some may take up running as a viable exercise programme.

We intend to capture this tiny bit that some would want to start running in one of the many lovely parks in the country. We try to facilitate this by providing an entry level or beginners training programme. We hope over a period of time, this programme can be sustainable and spread out to all the parks in the Klang Valley and across the country. These little Saturday groups would generate some individuals who may wish to take over the leadership of their groups. Upon the stabilization of one group, we move on to start another group in another park and hopefully before long, we have several Saturday groups in the Klang Valley. We hope some of these groups are motivated enough to form their own teams to take part in team events like the adidas FTAAA Pacesetters 4 x 3km on 18th June 2006. If the passion and commitment is strong enough, we would encourage the formation of clubs from these groups. On the other hand, if the intention is to join a functioning club, we would recommend PACM as the club of choice.

While we welcome anyone who wishes to run, our primary target is the 20 to 35 age group. We have intentionally targeted this group as statistics from the public runs have indicated that the response from the non-veterans is less encouraging than the veterans. We see this as a negative trend in the country, if not corrected would means a less healthy nation over time. A less healthy nation would mean a less productive one and a higher national medical cost. I am approaching 50 of age and in the last 10 years, I have not fallen sick to miss office, except for one day sick leave when I got German Measles. I normally run about 30km a week, spread over 4 to 5 mornings each week. I do about 8 half marathons a year and enjoy it without getting injured. It is a sustainable programme and a healthy one that I intend to keep going as long as I could.

We understand what we are doing is a small effort and we do not have the national machinery behind us. However, we believe a little effort in the right direction is better than no effort at all. We do what we can within our capacity and hope it would move on like a contagious epidemic. If you want to put it nobly, we are trying to contribute to society in a small way.

Mission Statement
We inspire, motivate and promote running as a healthy recreational activity. It is not a complicating mission statement but to get some tangible results in having younger Malaysians taking up running as their regular exercise programme, we would need support from others, fellow members of PACM, sponsors, the media and of course young Malaysians who wish to run but heed some encouragement. We target to start working on our plans with setting up the website as the first milestone.

Wan Yew Leong
wanyl@alliancebg.com.my

TIPS ON RUNNING

Introducing our new contributor, John Williams from England ….

How I met John Williams
Getting to know John Williams was quite a coincidence, thanks mainly to the well-visited Pacesetters website. A few weeks before the Singapore International Marathon 2005, Jamie Pang, our ever dedicated webmaster, forwarded John's enquiry to me as I was coordinating arrangements for transport and accommodation in Singapore for Club members going for the Singapore Marathon. John asked if he could have some practice runs with us during his business visit to K.L en route to Singapore Marathon. He was also interested in joining us on the hired coach to Singapore, if there was a seat for him.

We communicated via emails before his arrival and finally met up in K.L. One evening before the Singapore Marathon, Francis Toh and I went to Hotel Hilton to meet up with John. To identify him at the lobby was not a problem as he had informed earlier that he is a big man of 2.03 metres. We invited him for supper at a coffee shop style restaurant nearby. Heads turned when we walked passed the crowd at KL Central and along Jalan Brickfields, especially with me standing beside him!

Like all runners, we had so much to talk even though that was the first time we met. John was modest, unpretentious and very knowledgeable. When became aware that he is a very experienced athletic training coach, Francis and I took the opportunity to ask him lots of questions, ranging from running issues to sports injuries.

He is a qualified Sports Massage Therapist of London School of Sports Massage and a UK Athletics marathon coach, and has a Diploma in Sports Psychology. John is also a Fellow of the Institute of Commercial Management, a Member of the Institute of Directors and a member of Mensa (the High IQ Society). He regularly makes presentation on business and sports issues at conferences and symposia around the world. John has been a frequent visiting lecturer at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle and L'Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, hence his recent visit to Kuala Lumpur for this purpose.

Since 1984 he has been a freelance business and fitness writer for publications worldwide and has made more than 2,000 presentations and speeches in over 20 countries.

During the last ten years, John has been a coach of marathoning for many beginners and returners to running. Having been a keen athlete himself since childhood, with numerous marathons to his credit worldwide, John is enthusiastic and highly motivational, and excellent at sparking life into tired training!

Our club is indeed honoured to have John agreeing to contribute articles to Footloose, hopefully on a regular basis.

PK Chan

Here is the first article by John Williams, on age and exercise

Use it or lose it: yes, it's true….

Exercise is a natural part of life. At least, it used to be - these days we have to consciously include it in our daily routines. In ancient times, it was part of survival, as prehistoric man and woman spent their time hunting, raising animals and growing food. Even walking wasn't invented just as exercise - it was our originally method of transport!

The word exercise comes from a Latin "execere" meaning "to drive on, to protect, to ward off". In modern usage, to exercise means to put into action, train, perform, use and improve, and many of us have known for years that running will help you live longer. Dr. Ken Cooper, in his best-selling 1968 book "Aerobics", suggests it could as much as seven or eight years longer. Exercise is not dangerous as we get older - it's recommended!

Of course, it is a biological fact of nature, that men and women slow down and lose strength with age. The important thing to note is - we can limit how much we slow down.

There are some well-known myths about ageing that need to be thrown out once and for all. Following are just four which are very widely known and are simply not true:

o Ageing is synonymous with debilitating chronic illnesses
o Older people shouldn't exercise - it might use up what little strength and vitality they have left
o Even if exercise won't hurt, it can't possibly help. By the time someone is 60 or 65, the damage has already been done and can't be reversed anyway, so why bother?
o Feeling "down" and being depressed is a normal part of aging, and we should expect it from our senior citizens

Kathy McQuaide, Exercise Scientist at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, believes that one of the simplest and possibly most effective methods for living a longer and fuller life is regular exercise. Her evidence is based on extensive research. Studies at the National Institute of Ageing in South Africa have shown repeatedly that regular exercise can have a profound effect on the rate of ageing, and may hold off disabilities and diseases previously thought of as the unavoidable price of growing old. Most importantly, even if exercise is initiated late in life, it can still delay the effects of ageing.

As well as slowing down the effects of ageing, running has a whole range of health benefits, including helping to maintain a healthy weight, keeping your heart strong and your blood pressure low, and stimulating mental activity. Running raises chemicals in the brain that produce the so-called runner's high, and, of course, loss of body fat and increased muscle tone boosts your self-esteem.

Through running, your body physiologically alters itself over time. The sort of physiological changes that occur can include:

o Enhanced blood flow to the brain, reducing risk of stroke. It also improves reasoning and memory
o Slowing down degeneration of the central nervous system
o Increased strength and size of muscles
o Greater bone density, reducing the effects of osteoporosis
o Improved lung function
o Reduced body fat and lowered risk of chronic lifestyle diseases

Effect of Exercise on illness
One study reported that individuals who were inactive were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's, compared with those who exercised vigorously at least three times a week (Nature Neuroscience, May 1998). A 2000 study reported that teenagers who were active in sports have a greater sense of well being than their sedentary peers - the more vigorously they exercised, the better their emotional health.
Experts suggest that regular exercise might reduce the risk for some intestinal disorders, including ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, and diverticulosis. A number of studies have indicated that regular exercise may reduce the risk of colon cancer (and, in fact, any cancer related to obesity), reduces risks of breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. Exercise can improve physical strength, functional capacity, and the ability to battle the negative side effects of chemotherapy, including nausea and fatigue.

Don't just stand there….
All this sounds fantastic - and it is. However, if you want to take up a sport, especially an active one like running, you must see your doctor first. Whether you're 30, or 50 or 70, once you've been checked out by your doctor, start slow and easy: the shortest route to failure and disillusion is doing too much too soon. Give yourself plenty of opportunity for enjoying your exercise. Which is, after all, what this is about: no-one (and I mean no-one) ever became an instant runner. Your first task is to get the habit of exercise, then to ease your body into the feeling of working out again.

And, of course, don't take any notice of the "No pain, no gain" merchants. This isn't supposed to hurt, and there is no reason why pain should be part of your running experience (until you get into to marathons, but that's different story….). A much better mantra would be "No train, no gain". Now, that's worth memorising.

Running specifics
For those of you who want some more focused on running mechanics, the three physiological variables that best predict distance running performance are VO2 max, running economy, and the lactate threshold. Among sedentary adults, VO2 max declines about 10% per decade. Possible reasons for this decline include decreases in maximal heart rate, less blood pumped with each contraction, reduced muscle mass, and reduced ability of the muscles to use oxygen. Each of these factors, however, may be more related to inactivity than to genetic programming.

Studies with runners have found much smaller decreases in VO2 max with age. Dr. M.L. Pollock found that senior athletes who maintained intensity of training did not have a significant decrease in VO2 max over a 10 year period. Prior to the 1968 Olympics, Jack Daniels, Ph.D., and colleagues tested 26 of the best distance runners in the U.S. Those runners were then brought back to the lab for a 25-year follow-up to see how their physiology had changed. Absolute VO2 max had declined by 14% in those athletes who were still running, compared to 24% in those who stopped training. When analyzed relative to bodyweight, the difference between those who remained fit and those who didn't was even greater.

Surprisingly, maximum heart rate in those subjects who remained fit declined by only 2 beats per minute over 25 years. These results run counter to the formulas commonly used to estimate maximum heart rate based on age, and suggest that declines in maximum heart rate with age may be related to lifestyle.

Older runners may actually have some advantages over younger ones due to longer training histories. According to Don Morgan, Ph.D., who has conducted a large number of studies on running economy, the more years of endurance training you have under your belt, the closer your lactate threshold tends to get to your VO2 max. That's because training adaptations in the working muscles, such as more capillaries and mitochondria, continue to occur for many years.

Elaine Doll-Dunn, Psy.D., tells us that in the typical sedentary person, fitness declines over time, starting at age 30 with gradual decreasing aerobic capacity, muscle mass, bone density, metabolic rate, and immunity. However, several studies have shown that aerobic and weight-bearing exercise such as running slows these and other effects of ageing. In addition to physical benefits, studies also show that, as fit people age, they have better psychological health. In fact, adults who engage in regular aerobic exercise, such as running, are less likely to suffer from:
o Cardiovascular disease
o High blood pressure
o Diabetes
o Stroke
o Obesity

And the good news isn't limited to those who have been training since they were middle-age or younger - these benefits can be reaped at any age. An active lifestyle reduces medical costs, minimises the need for long-term care and eliminates future burdens on family, friends and society. The greatest return is having the vigour, energy and independence to pursue every moment to the fullest. The over-used adage "Use it or lose it" certainly has relevance here. Humans were not designed for a sedentary lifestyle - get active and you can look forward to a long and healthy life.

To make sure you get the most out of running as an older runner, take some tips from Runner's World magazine (www.runnersworld.com) that should become an everyday part of your running regime:

Always warm up. Always. Start with a brisk walk for a few minutes, begin to jog slowly for five to ten minutes to get the muscles warmed and get your heart rate up ready for exercise.

Give yourself time for proper recovery. As we age, it takes a little more time to recover between hard efforts.

Take days off. Three or four days a week is quite enough to keep you fit and healthy. And, more importantly, uninjured.

Stretch after your runs - every time. Running makes muscles shorter and tighter, and you need to remedy that. Stretch slowly and gently, without bouncing.

Wear the right shoes. Old shoes can injure you quickly and badly, so replace them every 500 miles. If you can, have two pairs on the go at the same time so you can rotate them.

Run on soft surfaces whenever you can - trails, forest roads and grass all reduce stress on your skeleton and muscles, and tarmac roads are more forgiving than concrete pavements.

Keep pushing. Ageing doesn't mean giving up. Yes, your pace will slow, and that doesn't mean that you can't challenge your limits.

Drink water. Two litres a day, minimum, and cut down on tea and coffee: they are diuretic, and will contribute to dehydration.

Run for fun. For most of us, this is not a matter of life and death. We do it because we love it. So, love it!

John Williams
Runner, coach and sports massage therapist
Member of Claremont Road Runners in the UK
E-mail: jwrunning@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.claremontrr.freeserve.co.uk/

By the way…. here are a couple of books that you might find useful:
o Masters Running : A Guide to Running and Staying Fit
After 40 by Hal Higdon
o Running Past 50 by Richard Benyo

And here are a few references from a (very!) long list that can be found on the internet:

o Physical inactivity causes decline of muscle mass in older adults. Studies show resistance exercise increases both quantity and quality of muscle protein. Westerterp KR, Meijer EP. Physical activity and parameters of aging: A physiological perspective. Journal of Gerontology. 2001;56(2):7-12

o Regular physical activity is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer of the colon, and several other chronic diseases. A healthy old age: realistic or futile goal? British Medical Journal, Nov 4, 2000 by Marion E T McMurdo

o American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Medical Sciences Sports Exercise 1998;30(6):992-1008

o Nelson ME, Fiatarone MA, Morganti CM, et al: Effects of high-intensity strength training on multiple risk factors for osteoporotic fractures: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1994;272(24):1909-1914

A Runaway Success for Great Eastern

The Great Eastern Pacesetters 30Km 2006 got off to a blazing start at 6.00am on 22 January 2006 at Tasik Perdana with close to 1000 marathoners taking the roads at the break of dawn. Comprising a potpourri of local-foreign runners, men and women, young and senior they seemed undaunted by the long challenge ahead, running enthusiastically to overtake the competitors whilst challenging themselves.

The inaugural 30Km Run is a bridge between the half and full marathon, encouraging the half marathoners to break the physical and mental barriers to attempt the full marathon. The Great Eastern 30Km 2006 also offered the 20Km Run for those who shied away from the 30Km and were not ready to take up the 30Km challenge.

A marathon runner himself, Alex Foong, Director CEO of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, participated in the 30Km category and finished the run in good time. Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad was represented by 100 runners: a mix of staff, agents and this strong show of support was in line with the company's tagline "Life is Great!"

In promoting a work life balance and a healthy lifestyle, Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Berhad consistently sponsors and supports sports related events such as the 'The International Penang Bridge Run 2003, The Edge Rat Race and The Sun Motor Hunt.

Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad will be back as the title sponsor for the Pacesetters Run 2007 and we hope to see more marathoners joining the fray and the fun next year.

Article reprinted with the kind permission of Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Berhad

Some statistics on the GE Pacesetters 30km Run
946 runners registered and 773 participated
Pacesetters made up 50.5 % of the participants
Members of the public who ran in the race totalled 40.5 %
Participants came from Australia, Burma, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and United Kingdom

Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km Survey Results 2006
Compiled by Oon Li Sar

Ranking of 8-10 : Very Satisfied
Ranking of 5-7 : Somewhat Satisfied
Ranking of 1-4 : Improvement Needed

Additional Feedback/Comments from Participants
These are generally similar comments raised by different respondants. The number of counts are indicated in bracket.

Surveys conducted by:
Chan Li Jia, Debbie Cowie, Thein Kwee Huey, Hau Wan Lin, & Lena Chuang.

The Survey and the Inaugural 30km Race
By Oon Li Sar

(Comments based on results published in previous page)

Nothing gives me more joy than to be part of the organising Committee to run the event and the race itself. It is even more interesting when I was tasked to compile the survey results. Having participated in the race allows me to vouch for good or 'valid' feedback gathered from the survey.

Being the country's first 30km race, the overall response for the inaugural event is considered overwhelming. 482/630 that registered completed the 30km while 291/360 completed the 20km.

88% of the participants surveyed were 'very satisfied' with the event (these are the respondents that ranked us 8-10). A minority felt that we could have done better. There is certainly more room for improvement as practice makes perfect.

From the survey results, the top 3 most mentioned comments/complaints are in relation to the toilets, route/water stations and vests.

1. TOILETS
Many participants needed to scout and ask the right people to direct them to the nearest toilet (as there were no "Toilet" signages). Respondents commented that a total of 6 toilets (3 male & 3 female) were insufficient to cater for a crowd of 900.

2. ROUTE/WATER STATIONS
There were requests to change the route for the run next year as the route is too hilly. The organizing Committee acknowledged this fact while charting the route; however, we had to go with the tough course to accommodate other pertinent considerations such as safety of the route, traffic flow, the resources employed to manage traffic control and approved routes by authorities. The tough course is also the reason we provided 7 water stations along the 30km route. Nevertheless, if you have an alternative course to suggest, please feel free to share with any of the Exco members.

3. VESTS
"Not the right size" causes many participants to change stock and consequently rendered some sizes to be "Out of Stock". For this, we will improve on our future communication process to inform participants on whether the sizes are Asian or European.

THANK YOU to all participants who have helped to complete the surveys on race day. All constructive feedback received is well noted and discussed.

In addition, kudos to all volunteers who have made this event possible. As a running addict, you too will understand that it is not easy to give up a run, to organize the run itself. This is the sacrifice made by the 50 volunteers, Exco members inclusive (except me) to ensure smooth running of the event! As the only privileged participant from the Exco, I thank them for their unrelenting spirit, exceptional effort and excellent teamwork!

Here are a couple of e-mails from the many who expressed satisfaction with the above run:

To PACM and GE Pacesetters 30km Committee,

I want to congratulate the management for a job well done in GE Pacesetters 30km race. Good management, friendly committee, good routing personnel, good water refill stations, good food etc. Well, I have nothing much to complain like I used to in other races in Malaysia, except the starting/finishing point is rather small (Just a small issue). I think PACM has set a good standard of how a long distance race should be organised.

I can understand that normally the organisers would like to attract the general public to join, but where does it put a bunch of serious runners like us? Our joy is participating a quality race and run happily. The organisers should manage the events well in order to encourage more people to run seriously. Running long distance more than 20km is a serious matter and we want to feel good and enjoy then run instead of worrying the traffic, drink, food, management etc.

Serious long distance runners like us know exactly what we want in a race. I can understand that sometimes, the committee has to compromise due to certain limitations. However, we hope the organisers will continue to improve the quality of the events, and other organisers will follow suit.

I truly hope that PACM can act as a consultant to all the long distance race organisers and advise them the proper way to do it. I also appreciate those good runners who have to sacrifice by availing themselves as committee members and not able to join the GE Pacesetters 30km. Truly we need professional people to do it. I hope we can raise our standard in terms of the events as well as increasing the quality runners like those in Europe.

I had an enjoyable time in the GE Pacesetters 30km and managed to run within 3 hours. I would strongly urge the committee to keep up the good efforts and for the next event, probably the committee can consider organising a full marathon event. By that time, I would love to offer my service in the preliminary rounds and of course, I want to join the run and excel myself in the race.

-Bong Teck Yong, 2678.

Hi, Munning,

I would like to congratulate you and the rest of your committee members for successfully organising the 30 km Great Eastern Pacesetter event, which I truly enjoyed.

It is unfortunate that I don't get to thank you personally this time around for the help rendered. I managed to ask my friends to collect the running bibs on my other friend's behalf on Saturday evening. It was a rush affair, having reached KL around 11pm and we went back to Singapore around 2pm on Sunday.

Hope to see you soon, in the coming Pacesetter 15 km event.

- Hee Shen Ho, Singapore

Behind the Scenes
By KC Leong

"For every runner out there running on race day, he or she would have to cross Jalan Duta four times running from Bukit Tunku heading to Sri Hartamas and later return," said Wan Yew Leong, the Immediate-Past President. "And safety will be the prime concern of the Club." He was conducting a pre-race briefing on 21 January at Tapak C in the Lake Gardens for a group of attentive volunteers working for the Great Eastern-Pacesetters 30k Run.

I had already made plans to go to Lake Gardens on the eve of the run at 4pm to witness how a pre-race briefing would be conducted. At the same time, I was trying to find an opportunity to take photos with my new Nikon SLR camera.

Approaching Tapak C, the main tents in white were up and clearly visible from afar. There were the tents for VIPs, secretariat, food and sponsors. The Bib Collection counter was abuzz with activities, with volunteers giving out the runner's package which included the running vest, bib number and guidelines and information for runners. Being there at the field gave me a peaceful and serene feeling.

At the Secretariat tent, Uncle Tan and SH Tan were seen busy distributing the December 2005 issue of Footloose - what a superb timing. Walking around the vicinity, I noticed the booth for New Balance at one end of the field, with banners hanging between two coconut palms.

All those who were present, numbering about 100, were either volunteers or the Pacesetters Organizing Committee members who were responsible for staging the event. There were also staff members of Great Eastern decorating the tents with buntings.

At about 4pm, the briefing commenced as planned. The commander-in-chief (Race Director) for this "Operasi GE-PACM-30k Run" was Wan Yew Leong. With camera in hand, I was roaming freely to capture that event on photos. On the pretext of taking photos, I was able to go very near and listen to what was being briefed, something like what a spy does.

I was impressed that a lot of attention was given to details, not only on the needs of runners, but also on safety. First, there was the briefing to the main groups. Later, there were the break-up sessions, each headed by a Team Leader. The instructions were well disseminated as the individual teams were concentrated to continue in their own discussions.

It was a well-planned briefing as it was conducted very smoothly amid laughter. The main groups were: water stations, road marshals, finisher medals, finisher T-shirts and goody bags, photography, runners' positions, first-aid, food, etc.

The most labour-intensive activity on that free-and-easy afternoon was the brewing of Power Bar Endurance drink. The Endurance drink formula was mixed with bottled water with the correct combination - not too strong, but not too dilute - to give the much needed "oomph" to thirsty runners. The end results were 30 crates of Power Bar Endurance drink, and the boxes of empty Endurance formula were stacked up like a small hill!

Over at the Goody Bags counter, the operation went like a production line! The GE plastic bags were passed down the line where each volunteer would put in goodies such as Nesvita breakfast bars, NB discount vouchers, GE caps, mandarin oranges, and mineral water.

The volunteers were focused in understanding their tasks to ensure a smooth running of the event. It was indeed commendable that they devoted their time and effort to assist in staging this race. Many of them were there since 10am, and President Munning and Vice President Francis Toh would be spending the night at the venue to safeguard the club's properties. Good team work, which is essential in organizing any big event, and clear delegation of duties were clearly visible among those involved. If a runner was there to see the great amount of preparatory work involved for staging a successful event, he or she would tolerate for not meeting any "nice-to-have" or minor expectations.

I went home feeling appreciative and expecting a challenging and fun run the next day. With the hardworking, committed and experienced volunteers, I was sure that the event would be well-organized.

Running from Ocean to Ocean
By Jenny Lee

Imagine running a relay race covering a distance of 136.6 km stretching from the beach in Songkhla (Gulf of Thailand, Pacific Ocean) to the beach in Satun (Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean). I am referring to the Thailand Ocean to Ocean Relay Running II, also known as "Sunrise to Sunset" Run.

In late October 2005, a Thai delegation came to Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur specially to promote this event to be held on 12 February 2006. It was a well presented talk, with many interesting facts and tentalising details thrown in. Wow... running from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, from sunrise to sunset! Despite the security threats that we heard so much about in southern Thailand, a few of us made up our mind to take up the challenge. The Ocean to Ocean Relay is a team relay comprising 8 runners in each team of men, women or mixed team with at least 2 ladies in the team. So our team was formed, comprising Jeffery Kok, Hooi Siew Weng, Adnan Osman, Ken Chan, Tan Pek Moi, Richard Tan, Francis Cheng and yours truly.

Jeffery, with his connection with Ah Meng, a member of the Thai Delegation in Hatyai, arranged for the team's registration, Songkhla's hotel reservation and a 10-seater air-conditioned van. He also bought return bus tickets with allocated seats for us. All we needed to do was to wait for the day to come. Jeffery later recruited 2 more members, Sonny Ng and wife to join our trip.

The gang of 10 left Pudu Raya by the Yuyi Express at about 9.30pm. The Friday traffic was unusually heavy due to Thaipusum. At Ipoh, we stopped for about 45mins for the bus company staff to fill up immigration papers for the bus passengers. There we met a team from the Ipoh Road Runners Club - their B team. Apparently their A team left for Songkhla by car earlier that day.
We arrived at Hatyai at about 7.30am, grabbed a quick breakfast and waited for Ah Meng to come with our 10-seater van. After sorting out a few details, we dropped by Hatyai's latest shopping mall, Big C, to pick up next day's food supply. We were told that we would be getting an ice box with the team's drinking water ration only and we had to buy our own food. So a rush to the supermarket, loaded the foodstuff into the van and off we went to Songkhla.

Along the way, our driver, Sor, a friendly 50-something fellow with his limited English, Malay, Hokkien all "mixed up", told us he was a distance runner too. Richard kept reminding us that we were there to enjoy the run and that we should not feel bad or pressured if any one of us could not run fast.

We reached our hotel, HaadKaew Resort, Songkhla early, well ahead of other foreign teams. We quickly checked into our rooms and then met up for lunch in the hotel. After lunch, we greeted more Malaysian teams who had just arrived: 3 teams from Penang, Ipoh Road Runners Club's teams as well as a team from Klang Pacers.

A meeting for only the team leaders was held at 3pm but instead of resting, all of us attended the meeting that afternoon as we were too eager to know what was happening. Due to the many foreign teams, the organizers made an effort to announce in English. We had to submit the team's line-up before we could collect our car/van stickers, ice box and vests. All the excitement in seeing participants collecting their numbers, stickers, submitting names, collecting their ice boxes, was too much for Sonny who expressed his desire in taking part in the challenge. A last minute change to the line-up was made whereby Jeffery gave up his place to Sonny. Jeffery must have had very good foresight as he later made up the 8th member of a very exciting team from Bangkok comprising a family of 3 (with an 11 year-old boy who ran a full marathon when he was 7), 2 lady marathon chasers, another lady runner and a young chap with mohawk hair style.

Thus our team in running order were:
1st runner - Hooi Siew Weng, 2nd runner - Ken Chan, 3rd runner - Jenny Lee, 4th runner - Adnan Osman, 5th runner - Francis Cheng, 6th runner - Tan Pek Moi, 7th runner - Richard Tan, 8th runner - Sonny Ng.

A very sumptuous dinner was provided by the orgnisers with hip-hop dancers as well as Thai cultural show but heavy rain brought the function to an early end.

At 4am, we assembled at the hotel lobby and walked to the beach behind the resort to await instructions. Instructions were however in Thai until Sonny requested that the announcer spoke in English for our benefit. Runners were told to write their running position numbers on the back of their palms. Francis and Adnan quickly held out their hands to the volunteers, thrilled to be held by these sweet young things holding red marker pens!

Runners would be released in batches of 10. Hooi, after collecting his baton, was grouped in the 2nd batch. Before the start, all the runners had to dip their batons into the water of the Pacific Ocean.

The rest of the team made our way back to our van and we drove off. It was still very dark but we could see little oil lamps placed at intervals, marking the running route. We passed Hooi after about 10 mins, and he was greeted with thunderous cheering and encouragement from all in our van. When we reached Stage 2 changeover stop, it was chaotic with many supporting vehicles all wanting to park. We noted that various types of vehicles were used, from the simple "tuk-tuk" (motorcycles with side-cars) and a 40- seater "Cuti Cuti Malaysia" bus used by a Penang team, the bus they came in.

Excitement was everywhere! Where was Hooi? How far was he? We could not see very well in the dark, with the vehicle lights shinning onto us, vehicles moving everywhere, honking, people chatting, walking and running all over the place. Ken had to stand within the baton changeover area so a few of us walked back towards the oncoming runners to spot Hooi and inform the others when we saw him.

Finally, Hooi came in and the hand-over to Ken was smooth. We gave Hooi his water and then all of us hopped back into the van to go to the next stop. As usual, we would cheer and encouraged our runner every time we passed him/her, so much so that the runner knew when our van was about to pass him/her from the noise and honking by our driver. He/she would wave to us even before the van passed him/her.

Our arrangement was that the runner who had just completed the sector would get to sit in front with the driver, because he/her needed space to cool down. We would pass him/her towel or drinks as requested. The comradeship and team support were so comforting and touching.

As for the runner, the anxiety within was even more difficult. The determination of not wanting to let your teammates down was so great that each runner would always try his/her best. Some of us did not even want to stop to drink along the way to save time for the team. At one very hot stretch, Pek Moi signalled for water. We stopped ahead of her but by the time we could get the water to her, she had overtaken the van. So Hooi had to run with the bottle to catch up with her.

The change in mood of the runner was very noticeable whenever his or her turn was next. Even a joker like Richard Tan was rather quiet when his turn was next (so much for him reminding us to run without feeling pressured!). Sonny would then tease him, "Richard, don't let me wait too long for you!!" And many of the ladies would be looking for "Hong Nam" (Thai for toilet) ever so often.

While running, we passed through villages where school children standing outside their schools would cheer and wave their flags at us. Even passers-by on motorcycles would call out encouraging words. The marshals, young pretty girls and good looking guys on bicycles, would come by and asked (unfortunately mostly in Thai) how we were. At certain refreshment points, tables loaded with water melons, oranges and biscuits lined the stretch for runners as well those in the van. The Thai hospitality was really great. We were offered hot coffee, tea and sandwiches while waiting for our teammate. Sponsors of 100 Plus drink handed ice cold cans to us. Drinking water was everywhere, and our driver would go and collect for us whenever our supply in the van was low. Amazingly, we did not see the locals "ta pau" any of the food for themselves. Hence the foodstuff we bought the day before were untouched except for the fruits. Some of the villages and small towns put up cultural dances to greet us. The villagers welcomed us when we went to their house looking for "Hong Nam". They even allowed us in with our running shoes.

The relay route was essentially divided into 3 sectors with runners having to complete about 5 to 6 km per sector. There were 24 changeover stops in total. The profile of the route was flat at both ends with some hilly terrain in the middle. Knowing that the toughest section would be done during mid-day, the organizers had cleverly arranged for the changeover stops at these sectors to be shorter i.e. 3 to 4km only.

Throughout the run, we observed that the 1km marker placed before the changeover stop was never correct. The distance was always more than 1 km. So our strategy was to disregard the 1km but to read it as 2km so as not to disappoint ourselves.

Morning turned to mid-day, to evening, rain, sunshine and rain again. As we were not familiar with the roads, we did not know where we were heading all the time, which made it more interesting. We just followed whatever signs we could see or if there were no signs, used our intuition. So the anticipation of arriving somewhere strange was always there.

Midway through the race, our team was positioned 79th out of 94 teams...(Oh, come on lah.. you must give us credit as the average age of our 8 runners was 59 years, with our ages ranging from 42 to 69 years, ahem!!). With all the Double Hill training, Hooi and Ken Chan, who did the hilly sections, managed to overtake 2 opponents each, to upgrade our placing to 75th, which we maintained till the finish.

Although we had praises for the organizers, the last sector of the route was grossly neglected with hardly any road marshals or traffic control except for the officials at changeover stops. At one stretch, I was practically running on my own through a lonely rubber estate road. The team then provided our own security. Our van stopped almost every 1.5 km to make sure I was alright. Richard's and Sonny's sectors were through Satun town where no one directed the traffic. Richard was practically running via intuition, hoping that every turn he took was correct as there were no more direction signs. Traffic was also heavy as it was already evening. At the last changeover, a large section of the stretch was under repair and upgrading works. Sonny had to run along a very narrow, stony and dusty road with quite heavy traffic.

At the final stop, all of us got out of the van and waited eagerly for Sonny to appear. He was told he needed to run only 5 km but as usual, Thai distance measurement was not quite what we expected. Sonny emerged about 6.30pm after completing about 6km and the sun was setting on the horizon. The 7 of us then lined ourselves and together with Sonny, ran the last 1km into Satun Pakbara Pier. We heard loud music, saw people walking about, loud chatting, food stalls, parked cars and vans. The end was near and sweet and our ordeal was about to be over. Then we saw the "Finish Line". We crossed it and Sonny ran down the steps to the sea, dipped the baton into the water, symbolising our arrival at the Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean - Relay Over!!!

Jeffery and his team had arrived about 1 hour earlier than ours. He showed us to our table where food was everywhere, but we were just too tired to eat. However, we still went and collected our favourites. Just as we were about to dig in, a lady announced in English for the foreign teams to collect the souvenir jackets. We then found out that there were medals given as well. Hooi went on stage and took them on behalf of team members. We were happy with the medals, admiring the rewards of our efforts. While having our meal, we watched video clips of the just completed run. The organizers' ability to put up the show so soon after the race was commendable.

Jeffery's team came up 15th overall and we were told that his teammates placed pacers to run with him to encourage him to run faster, although he told us that they only wanted to make sure that he was fine.

Tired, still in our smelly clothes, and sore from our running and also due to light drizzling, we left Satun early and made our way back to Hatyai.

The next day was filled rest, shopping and massages. Multiple massages were in order.

On our return, we agreed unanimously that we must let you know that the Ocean to Ocean Relay is a challenge of a different kind! Expect the unexpected and be ready for all eventualities! At the same time, be there for the FUN!!

The Avid Photographer
By KC Leong

The photo on the left was sent to me by Jason Lee, who likes photography. Every time I look at it, I am amused. For those who are using compact camera, it would be difficult to understand why this guy in the photo has to carry so many cameras. Was he trying to show off or was it meant to be a joke? But after buying a Nikon digital SLR (single-lens reflect) camera, I begin to understand the situation and I empathize with him.

The best thing or the problem of SLR cameras is that they facilitate changing of lenses to suit the occasion. For a distance subject, telephoto lenses are used; for closer subject, mid range or wider angle lenses would better suit the scenario. There is no one lens that suits all conditions due to optical shortcomings. The renowned camera makers such as Canon or Nikon have constructed different lenses to cater for the different requirements and scenarios: distance subject, close subject, fast-moving subject, close-up subject, etc.

For a serious photographer, changing lenses at the critical moment could mean missing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a great moment. Changing lens is a delicate operation and requires great care; otherwise, a careless mounting may damage the precision gear systems between the lens and the camera body. From my experience, at the critical moment and under tense condition, my hands tend to shake (a little similar to Mr. Bean's shaking his hands) and a simple insert and mount operation may seem a daunting task. Hence, the poor guy in the photo is carrying a few cameras equiped with lenses of different focal lengths for swift switching of lenses.

Carrying the SLR camera and its lens is just like lifting weight. You would be surprised to know how heavy they are. At before the Great Eastern-Pacesetters 30km run, Chan Wing Kai, was carrying a huge backpack containing his tools. He told me that there were only two cameras with their pre-mounted lenses. I tried to lift the bag from the ground. It was very heavy - easily more than 20kg!

On 1 January 2006 during the New Year Run at Lake Gardens, CS Wong was using a Nikon D200 (latest model of Nikon SLR) with a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR (vibration reduction) lens. The lens alone weighed 1.7kg! Together with the camera body, total weight was more than 2 kg and I commented jokingly that it weighed like a cement block.

Holding a SLR camera trying to act like a professional photographer is not an easy task. Imagine a compact camera that can be held in one hand is able to take photos and movies; but the huge SLR camera that requires two hands to hold can only take photos - sharp images with balanced colour tone. Understandably so, there are more control functions in the SLR camera. Adding to the complexity is the adjustment for shutter speed, aperture, ISO (sensitivity), white balance, exposure compensation, etc. Of course, there is also the Auto feature that lets the camera take over the setting control.

When I first used the SLR camera at the Mizuno Wave Run on 18 December 2005, I was taking a photo for Jenny Lim and her friends under the tent. Since the background was bright, I needed to include fill-in flash to enhance the facial expression. Unfamiliar with the controls, I was having difficulty activating the flash unit. With the additional longer than normal adjustment, one of the lady Pacesetters said jokingly: "You and Chan Wing Kai are the same. Take very long time to frame a photo. Our facial muscles would have been cramped smiling and getting ready for the photo shoot."

So, next time when you see a photographer or cameraman carrying a few cameras, please show your greatest admiration for him for having the fire and enthusiasm to capture the precious moments in life. And when he/she zeros in on you, give your smile, will you?

Note: To view some interesting photos taken by KC Leong, please visit "KC & the Sunshine Runners" web site at http://penguin-r2.blogspot.com/

The Ultramarathon Challenge
By Lim Fang Hau

How I spent my last Christmas
I had the pleasure of running an ultramarathon held on Christmas Day, 2005 - the MR 25 Ultra Marathon 2005. MR 25, is a running club in Singapore, and MR is an abbreviation for MacRitchie Runners. The location of the race was MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore.

The Action begins…
The run was delayed for approximately 15 minutes due to heavy rain. Lap 1 was fine for me as I ran at a very relaxed pace. As I was not familiar with the route, I decided to follow the Singapore runners. The surface was quite uneven with rocks and mud due to heavy rain. Distance markers were clearly visible along the entire 10.5 km mark for every 0.5 km. The distance markers were meant for the jungle trekkers in the MacRitchie Reservoir area. There were only two Malaysian runners from Pacesetters, namely A.P. Tan and myself. After completing the first lap, I saw many runners resting and taking some food supplements but I decided to continue with the second lap.

The second lap was okay but I decided not to push so hard due to the uneven surface of the rocky trail. After lap 2, I decided to stop for a while for some food and drinks. Then I decided to proceed to lap 3.

At lap 3, my knees and ankles started to feel the pain due to the uneven road surface. I still managed to continue running albeit at a much slower pace. Whenever I ran up the hilly area I could not run fast. Sometimes I had to walk up at a faster pace. If I were to run, this would aggravate the pain on my ankles. When descending the hills, I ran at a faster pace as this would cover the lost time due to walking up the hill. I could feel the pain when descending the hills. After lap 3, I decided to take a short break before continuing lap 4.

Lap 4 seemed to be alright for me. After running halfway, I was wandering whether I could finish the 42 km distance within 6 hours. Eventually I managed to do it in 5 hr 56 min plus. I decided to rest for about 15 minutes to hydrate myself.

After some rest, food and drinks, my physical condition was still fine. The only problem I had was my sore ankles and knees. My leg muscles were totally fine and there were no sign of cramps that I suffered in Singapore full marathon after the 24 km mark. As I ran, the pain would just disappear. After 8 hr 6 min plus, I managed to cover 52.5 km. This would mean that I would qualify myself for a finisher certificate. I decided not to give up as there was plenty of time for me to increase the distance (i.e. to continue running up to the maximum distance in a relaxed pace within the remaining time). I decided to change my shoes as I developed blisters on my toes. After the break, I targeted for 2 more laps.

Lap 6 was fine for me. At that time I was trying to finish lap 6 within 10 hours but I took extra 12 minutes to finish lap 6.

For lap 7, I was fighting with the time constraint. I was informed by the marshal that I have to run below 1 hr 45 min in order for the 7th lap to be counted. I decided to give this lap my best. The day was getting darker and I decided not to slow down although I could feel the pain in my ankles. Finally, I managed to complete the 7th lap in 11 hr 50 min 30 sec, beating the cut-off time of 12 hours.

x

Nothing is impossible
I was happy as I managed to finish the distance that seem to be impossible for me as a marathon runner. Whatever seemed to be impossible became possible on 25 December 2005. Nothing is impossible!! Overall, the race was well organised with sufficient refreshment stations after the 3 km mark and at the finishing point.

How I fared
Time: 0715 to 1915hrs
Distance covered: 73.5 km
(7 laps anti-clockwise)
Distance per lap: 10.5 km
Timing split: 1st 10.5 km: 1 hr 15 min +
2nd 10.5 km: 2 hr 36 min+
(end of lap 2, stopped for approx 5
minutes for hydration, food and rest)
3rd 10.5 km: 4 hr 6 min +
(end of lap 3, stopped for approx
10 minutes for hydration, food and rest)
4th 10.5 km: 5 hr 56 min +
(end of lap 4, stopped approx 20
minutes for hydration, food, toilet
break and rest)
5th 10.5 km: 8 hr 6 min +
(end of lap 5, stopped for approx
10 minutes for hydration, food, and rest)
6th 10.5 km: 10 hr 12 min +
(end of lap 6, stopped for approx
3 minutes for hydration, food and rest)
7th 10.5 km: 11 hr 50 min 30 sec

Definition of ultramarathon

According to Wikipedia.org, an ultramarathon is any running event longer than the marathon length of 42.195 kilometres (26.2 miles, 45,760 yards).

There are generally two types of ultramarathon events: runs for a specified distance and runs for a specified time (with the winner covering the most distance in that time). The most common distances run are 50 and 100 miles or 50 and 100 kilometres, though several other distances ( e.g., double marathons or 1000 miles) are also occasionally contested. The format of these events and the courses covered are highly variable and range from many loops run on a 400 meter track to point-to-point road or trail races. Many ultrarunning events are also characterized by other extreme course obstacles, such as heat, cold, elevation change, or otherwise challenging terrain. Many of these races (especially in the United States) are run on dirt roads or mountain paths, though some are run on paved roads as well. Usually, there are aid stations every five to fifteen km apart where runners can replenish food and drink supplies, or take a short break.
Timed events range from six or 12 hours to one, two, three and six days (known as "multi-days"). These events are generally run on a track or a short road course (often one mile or less).

One of the most famous Ultra Marathons was the Westfield Ultra Marathon, an annual race between Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and was run between 1983 to 1991. Greek runner Yiannis Kouros won the event five times during that period.

Australia is also the home of one of the oldest six-day races in the world, the Cliff Young Australian 6-day race, held in Colac, Victoria . The race is held on a 400 metre circuit at the Memorial Square in the centre of Colac and has seen many epic battles over the years since its inception in 1984.

Stairway to "Heaven"
By Jagathasan Naidu

About TM Forest Towerthon Challenge 2006

In Malaysia, stair-running is still a relatively new sport. There are numerous running events held, but there is only one regular stair-running event for Malaysians, organised by Menara Kuala Lumpur since 1998. Menara Kuala Lumpur is the fourth tallest telecommunications tower in the world.

Unlike the previous five editions, this year's event held on February 19 has with a new theme and format. In conjunction with the tower's 10th anniversary and Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve's 100th anniversary celebrations, the race is called the "TM Forest Towerthon Challenge". This year's event carries the motto "Strength, Fun, Stamina, Power and Endurance".

The starting point is also nearer the forest, adding about 200 metres to the run. Instead of a 800-metre run uphill as in previous years, runners will now have to run one kilometre before climbing 2,058 steps to reach the finishing line at the top of the tower. The race ends at the Mega View Banquet Deck (Viewing Gallery).

The event was part of Menara KL's efforts to produce local runners who could compete on an international level for the Kuala Lumpur International Towerthon that will make a comeback in 2007. In addition, a bonus cash prize of RM100,000 was offered to the first runner to finish the race in under nine minutes but there was no winner this year.

Since there is no international category, not many international participants took part in the challenge. However, Kenyan Chrispine Omondi Onyango, is the champion in the Men's Open category. He came all the way from Kenya just for the competition and completed the race in 14 minutes and 26 seconds.

In spite of the RM20 entry fee, the Towerthon was able to attract about 1,600 hopeful participants for this race. All participants who successfully completed the race would receive a certificate and a medal.

To prevent over-crowding at the entrance of the steps, as had happened in previous years, the organiser divided participants into groups this time. Each group consisted of between 100-150 people starting with Men's Open category. They would be released from the starting line at intervals of 15 minutes.

For the first time the orginiser has included two new category i.e. Women and Men Diamond category and Disabled Men/Women. This is really a good idea especially in encouraging senior citizens to have a go at climbing the famous Menara Kuala Lumpur. You will be surprised to learn some of them are over 60 years old and they are as fit, if not fitter then the younger participants who took frequent stops.

My observation in this Towerthon is that there were actually two kinds of runners - those who ran competitively (i.e. for the reward of up to RM1,500 for the first prize!) and those who ran merely for fun. The competitive runners would have been well-prepared and in tip-top condition for the race. Many of them could very well be marathon runners, mountain climbers, even national runners. For example, in the Women's Open category, national walker Yuan Yu Fang defeated 159 other participants by clocking 16 minutes and 25 seconds to bag the RM1,500 cash prize

The 'leisure' runners usually just go for the pleasure of the sport as well as a test of their own limits, to see if they have what it takes to reach the top. Most of them walked up the steps slowly and took frequent stops to complete the race, as there is no time limit to finish the race.

Even if it is just for leisure, stair-running is a very demanding task. Participants need to be well-versed in basic training if they wish to survive uninjured. Stair-running without proper preparation can be really taxing on the knees. Participants who are not fit enough for the climb may experience muscle cramp, fatigue, shortness of breath, and dizziness. There was one lady participant that had to be carried down because of muscle cramps.

It is very important to pace oneself when running up the stretch of slope. If one runs too fast too soon up the slope before the stair-climbing, it will be tough to continue the rest of the climb.

This was my third time climbing up the 421-metre high KL Tower, my first time was in year 2000. For this year's edition of Towerthon, I had to think twice before registering because of my unpleasant experience in last competition. Three-quarters up the Tower, sounds of runners throwing up could be heard frequently. It was also a common sight to greeted by "undigested breakfast" left behind on the steps, courtesy of earlier participants who threw up.

Ready, Get Set, Action…
On the morning of the race, participants were gathered at the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve at 7.00 am to register themselves. I could see many familiar faces from the Pacesetters Athletic Club taking part in this competition.

The first wave started at 8.00 a.m. with the Men's Open, and my turn came at 8.45 a.m. Mine was the third group to hit the stairs.

As soon as the pistol-shot rang clear in the air, all 100 in my batch were off. I had a slow start, because I had ended up inadvertently in the back row while lining up. Seeing as I was left quite far behind, I then sprinted to catch up with the rest of the group. As we neared the entrance to the Tower itself, I managed to catch up with the rest, partly due to the slippery patch of tiled flooring. By then I was gasping for breath.

Because of my sprinting, I found myself slowing down on the first 10 flights of stairs. The lack of oxygen compounded my shortness of breath. However, I wasn't the only one gulping for air in that enclosed space. However, after a slow start, I found myself actually in front of some of those who had been ahead of me earlier. That boosted my confidence, and soon I was overtaking other people.

At certain levels of the Tower, there was cool air blowing in. Some participants stopped at these levels to rest and cool down. Water stations were positioned at intervals for participants to quench their thirst.

A small service room located half-way up the Tower was a godsend, stocked with mineral water for participants to refresh themselves. However, empty water bottles were thrown all over the steps because the organiser did not provide any dustbins. St John's Ambulance personnel and officials were also on standby to attend to those who were really exhausted or in need of medical attention.

For the race in 2001, the organiser put up encouraging words to motivate participants. Words of encouragement pasted on the wall read: "Don't give up", "You are almost there", and "If you give up now go back to your mommy!" This was a marvellous strategy by the organiser, as these words really helped to spur and motivate the participants onwards to their goal. However, this year there was no such initiative.

After my slow climb, I saw a distance marker that says five more levels to go. I was very happy because the climb was going to end soon, so I speeded up as fast as I could until I heard officials reading out bib numbers of participant scrossing the finishing line. After crossing the finishing line we were given a cupon to collect our goody bag later.

Awesome view
With time on our hands, we took this opportunity to view Kuala Lumpur town and its surroundings from the viewing gallery. On that morning, the sky was exceptionally clear, offering a fantastic view unimpeded by haze.

After resting and drinking in the fabulous view atop the Tower, all the participants were asked to take the lift down to the ground level. Goody bags awaited every participant, together with the certificates of participation and medal. The medal is shiny silver BUT it is made of plastic! The last time I got this type of medal was when I was in university and secondary school sport meets. I urge the organisers to do better as this is an international competition.

To those of you who are inspired to take up this challenge, a good training would be climbing all 272 steps up Batu Caves and going round the Lake Gardens. Believe me, it will be an enjoyable climb and a rewarding trip if you are well-prepared. I know I did and I will definitely come back next year, in spite of the plastic medal.

An Enjoyable Hong Kong Run
By Vivian Ngok

Another "International Running Event" mission was accomplished recently when I did my 4th Half Marathon in the Pearl of Orient in Asia - Hong Kong, on 12 February 2006.

I can still recall when in September 2004, I decided it was time for me to take up the challenge of running twice the 10km distance race since I had already completed most of the locally organized 10km races.

Brief prelude
The 7th Songkhla International Marathon on August 2005 was my first ever attempt in a half marathon which I finished in 2:35:29. That maiden half marathon boosted my confidence to upgrade my running distance to half marathons. So I did the 21.1km in the Phuket Mountain & Beach International Marathon in October 2005 (2:40:17) and the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon in September 2005 (2:29:02).

For the Hong Kong Marathon, almost everyone in my group were going for the full distance. So instead doing the 10km and thus have to wait for the rest of my group to finish, I decided to try the 21.1km event since finisher medals awaited runners who could complete the race in 3 hours.

Planning stage
As usual, my enthusiastic running partner or my other half, Eric Teo was already visiting the website: www.hkmarathon.com months before the registrations opened.

Since we participated the previous year, we were quite familiar with accommodation and transport arrangements. Yee Choi, his wife Anne Ng, son Roger Yee decided to join us since they missed it last year. My non-running sister also came along.



Journey to Hong Kong
Unfortunately on Jan 21, Eric had a fall on one of his leisure cycling trips in Cyberjaya. That accident fractured his neck bone which required him to be grounded and rest for a minimum of 6 weeks. I actually felt like cancelling the trip to look after him but he insisted that I went ahead with the others as planned.

On Feb 9, we took the Air Asia flight to Macau and spent two nights for relaxing before taking the Turbo Jet Ferry to Hong Kong on Feb 11. Upon arriving at the Kowloon Jetty in Hong Kong, we proceeded to check in our stay in Miramar Hotel (the official hotel for the run) before collecting our timing chips, goody bags with souvenir, running bib, directory booklet at the Conference Room of the hotel. We met a lot of foreign and local runners who could be easily identified by their running attire or shoes. There was also a booth from Japan that was giving out information for the Tokyo Marathon Feb 18, 2007. If anyone is interested, the website is www.tokyo42195.org
From the Marathon booklet, we found out that this race had the largest number of participants we had ever come across - a total of 39,817, exceeding previous year's figure of 31,330! The 10km event had 24,000 plus participants, the 21.1km had 10,000 plus and the 42.195km registered 5,000 plus.

The starting times of the race in Hong Kong were different from Thailand and Singapore marathons. The 10km started at 5.45am, 6.20am and 6.55am according to the age category due to the big crowd. It was followed by the half marathon at 7.25am and lastly the full marathon at 8.15am. This really got me worried because I was used to starting as early as 3.30am at the Phuket Marathon and 6.30am at the Singapore Marathon.

Race Day
After a light breakfast, I went down to the hotel lobby for a pre-race warm up. This year's weather in Hong Kong was not that cold, about 18-20 degree Celsius, compared to last year's temperature of 10-14 degree.

I decided that a pair of running vest and shorts will do, unlike last year's attire of an additional T-shirt and gloves to keep warm; not forgetting my source of inspiration for running - a mini MP3 with nice downloaded songs to keep me company throughout the race!

The half marathon route was an extension of the last year's 10km route. It started in front of the Miramar Hotel at Nathan Road-Kowloon straight to Austin Road (left turn before Jordan), Canton Road, Wai Cheng Road and into the West Kowloon Highway heading to Tsing Yi Island. It was all concrete jungle, pedestrian bridges and flyovers. It was flat route all the way. I could see some photographers and video cameramen standing there to capture the runners actions from every possible angle. I managed to slow down and pose for a few shots along the route.

At the end of the highway before meeting the Tsing Kwai Highway, it was the turning point for us while the full marathon runners would continue ahead.

There was a water station every 5km followed by interval sponging station. The cool weather and breeze made my run comfortable without feeling exchausted. I saw some runners slow down to walk, drink, chat and some even stopped to stretch due to cramps.

Before running down to the Western Harbour Tunnel - the 1st Dual Lane Cross harbour tunnel that was 25 metres immersed and 2km long in Hong Kong, which connects Kowloon side (mainland) to Hong Kong Island, I was already overtaken by a few full marathon runners.

After surfacing from the Tunnel, I was struggling with the up and down terrain leading to the finishing line, in addition to the headwind from the seafront. This really slowed me down from my early pace.



I started to count down towards the finishing when I was closer at the Convention Avenue. I could see scores of people cheering at both sides along the Expo Drive and I did a final dash through the finishing timing arch where the Golden Bauhinia was, at Wan Chai, in front of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Yahooo! I managed to erase my previous half marathon PR time in Singapore by 6 min. My Hong Kong Half Marathon official timing was 2:23:00. This really serves as a good start for me in year 2006.

Comments
My usual long distance run every Sunday at Bukit Aman with Eric and others really improved my running technique and timing.
I do hope to spare half an hour on weekdays to build up my endurance and strength to do better in the half marathon distance at the upcoming KL International Marathon on 5 March and the Saberkas RH Marathon at Kuching on 26 March as well as other races.
Of course my ultimate target will be to run the full distance of 42.195km in the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2006!

The Singapore experience
By PK Chan

My learning experience in the Singapore Marathon 2005…
"To promote and/or participate in sports and social activities related to running both locally and internationally" is one of the objectives enshrined in our Club's constitution. In line with this, our club has ensured that the best efforts are put into organising and facilitating our members to participate in both local and overseas runs. Such initiatives are largely undertaken by the respective Area Group Leaders who organise registration till the collection of runners package including bib numbers.

The club Exco has, over the years, also been active in making necessary arrangements for members to participate in some events. These include the former Penang International Bridge Run, Ipoh Half Marathon, Singapore International Marathon, etc. We are proud that Pacesetters formed the largest overseas contingent of runners taking part in the Singapore International Marathon 2005.

For the 2005 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, I was assigned the responsibility by the President to coordinate both the transport and hotel arrangements. When I accepted the role, I had mixed feelings. I was rather nervous due to limited experience but at the same time realised there was an opportunity to learn, besides having the chance to reciprocate the efforts of those who had facilitated my previous participation in many races since joining the club about 3 years ago.

My involvement commenced with requesting for quotations for the hotel rooms. This was followed by announcement to members around September. The information was posted on our Pacesetters website by Webmaster Jamie Pang. The initial feedback was lukewarm which made decision-making difficult in confirming the number of buses required as well as bus fares. The Singapore hotel also demanded early room confirmation and deposit. However, nearing the closing date, the response became overwhelming. The number of buses increased from 2 to 3 whilst more rooms were needed as the 100 rooms reserved earlier were fully taken up. Other hotels were also contacted. The additional 20 rooms charged at higher rate were also quickly booked whilst more requests poured in.

All the above efforts culminated in the 3 bus loads of passengers departing Bukit Aman car park at 8 am on the eve of the Singapore Marathon, whilst others travelled on own transport arrangement. For identification, we christened our coaches and the three coach leaders appointed. Coach "All-stars" was led by Phoon Yoke Heng; Coach "Boleh" taken care by PK and Coach "Champion" looked after by Lee Yee Sum. "All-stars" had earlier fetched members from Permaisuri and met up with the other coaches at Bukit Aman. The morning started with a heavy downpour depriving us the group photo supposedly taken by Goh S K, in the absence of our regular photographer Chan Wing Kai who left a day earlier. Goh who was not joining the trip but came all the way just to relieve Chan…wow, talk about commitment !
Thanks to the punctuality of all members, the buses departed without any delay. After a short toilet break at Seramban rest station, we proceeded smoothly to Yong Peng for an early lunch. We then took the opportunity for a group photo before we continued our journey. We experienced some immigration hold-ups both ways when crossing the causeway from Johor Bahru to Singapore. Some members were asked to do the 'stand & squat test'…just kidding!

Our last stop before checking in at the Hotel Excelsior Peningsula was at the Fitness Expo, Suntec Singapore International Convention to collect our race entry packs. There was a hive of activities there and sports goods were sold at special discounts in conjunction with the big event the following day. Upon arrival at the hotel, there were many members who arrived earlier on own arrangement had already checked in based on our rooming list sent to the hotel. Some panicky moments when handing out the rooms keys because some members claimed they had no rooms. It was found that either their keys had been taken earlier by their room-mates or the rooms were booked under different names during registration. Fortunately, all issues were resolved.

It was estimated that in excess of 250 members had taken part in the run. All of us returned safely on 4th December, having participated at the international event which attracted a record turnout of around 20,000 runners. Our club had also performed well with podium finish at the team events, in addition to some outstanding performance from some individual members.

The successful organising of any activity clearly entails team work. With the initial leads from our Race Director Wan Yew Leong who organised the previous outings and the able assistance from others like Phoon Yoke Heng helping in booking of buses, and Francis Toh who helped to bank in the payment, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all in making our trip to Singapore a success.