Marathons are memorable, to say the least. Then you have really memorable marathons that you wish you could forget, like how the recent Borneo International Marathon (BIM) 2014 was for me. Before you jump all over me, let me clarify that there was nothing wrong with the race per se, but I had such a horrible time in Borneo that I wish to forget last weekend completely.
But after this race report.
My trip to Sabah had been ill-planned from the start. I had signed up for the marathon early this year, but left ticketing to the very last minute as I was hoping a particular somebody would join me on another adventure – we ended up fighting and severing all communication instead. Brilliant.
Fortunately, my usual partner in crime Reuben had decided to run the full marathon, so I paid RM530 (stupid, expensive, stupid) for a return flight and met him at the very boring Kota Kinabalu Airport on Friday before transporting ourselves to collect our race packs at Suria Sabah mall.
What annoyed me most – this is entire my fault, but doesn’t mean I cannot be annoyed – was that the official running top was a shirt, not a vest. Being the genius I am, I had decided to run in official running gear for the first time ever and left my usual racing vest back home. In Kuala Lumpur. In West Malaysia. 1755km away. And hell no was I going to run in a shirt. And die of heatstroke. Or chafe to death. Whichever comes first. So Reuben and I searched the mall for a suitable running vest, but hell no was I going to pay RM100++ for something I already have. Back home. In KL. Therefore, it was on this day (Friday, May 2, 2014), I decided to run without a top on.
Because nobody was going to stop me, I decided to have only cake for food on Friday evening.
I ate so much cake, I felt like throwing up. Then I ate more cake.
And took a picture of my smug face while I was at it.
Okay, cakes and happy happy joyness aside. On the first night itself, I was 1. Almost raped, 2. Mistaken for a prostitute; and 3. Outran a mugger. In that order. I’m particularly proud of the 3rd incident, so I will completely ignore/ forget the first two incidents and tell you all about the silly mugger who stupidly picked on a runner. Unfortunately, there is nothing much to tell. It was dark. He creeped up from behind before running after me, shouting: “Where is your bag?” (I told you he was silly!). So I outran him back to the hotel. The end.
Of course, being sexually assaulted and almost getting mugged (on the first day!) had put a right damper on my trip. I was very upset when I woke the next day and refused to do anything else other than eat. Which was fine, really, because eating makes me happy. Plus, I had 20% vouchers for this lovely restaurant called Little Italy which was just around the corner from my hotel. SO I BINGED ON
Which wasn’t very clever, because I completely forgot that I was going to run without a top the next day.
Nonetheless, I did not really care and slept like a baby when I got back to the hotel. Then I woke up, got myself a caramel drizzle from Starbucks, and went back to sleep. Only to miss our transportation to the stadium at 1am (I could swear the website said 2am). BUT NO WORRIES! A taxi took us to Stadium Likas in no time, and we had an hour to kill before the race started. So what do runners do at 2am before a race? Why, this, of course:
Stupid, greasy face. You could fry an egg on my forehead 
As mentioned previously, the race was not the source of my displeasure with the Land Below the Wind. In fact, I ran a full marathon PB at 5 hours and 51 minutes! Yes, I know that’s not great timing, but I had never run a sub-6 before, so I’m very thrilled! Plus, unlike previous runs where I had to walk after 21K or so, I could run up to 32K before dying walking the rest of the way. A for improvement! 😀
Moreover, I opine this was one of the tougher marathon courses I’ve run, no thanks to the immensely humid weather and steep hills. But I completed it 🙂 And I got a pretty awesome medal to add to my box o’ medals.
My next race will be the Brooks Run Happy obstacle race next weekend, and I’m not looking forward to that. I have not been strength training at all, and am wary I would injure myself before my next full marathon at the end of this month.
Fingers crossed! I will magically be super fit by end of next week. Because miracles do happen once in awhile.
If you pray hard enough.
*snort* *snigger* *snort*
The Running Reporter 