I did the qualifying in July, with a mind full of Ironman I really was not giving a good qualifying try on this. In fact, I woke up late and started around 08:30 am with only slow 5 rounds in the bag. Maybe I was getting fatigue about running in MR or maybe its just me getting tired of running.
I received news from Jayce the organiser for MR 25 on the Ultramarathon that I got into the finals just roughly 2 weeks before the race on 28th Dec. I was really shocked and thought I really got lucky this time as there were many more other more eligible people around. So I shamelessly just went on 28 Dec, taking it as a training and also closure for the year 2025 where I did not do much for running seriously.
Long Story Short
The usual suspects were there, Kum Fatt was the person who informed me that I got in the finals so naturally he was there. The ladies were Patsy, Lyn lyn of course Wang Li and the public group we see many new faces but equally strong and competitive. The race flagged off on the dot 7 am from the amenities centre. The first two rounds I felt good and pretty smooth, in fact I managed to keep running and not stopping. As usual I took small snippets of rest between each round and the third round was where Richard and the swim friends came to support me. Both Judi and Hwee Lee came by to give me encouragement and one Kopi C to boost up the caffeine. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd round that it started to rain heavily. The rain really came in earlier this year making it extra tough as I was drenched from the beginning and I did not exactly get a new pair of socks or clothes to cover this. Having wet shoes and clothing meant cold and abrasion. True enough my right toes began to have abrasions and the second last toe ended up having blisters. It was nasty but luckily it was not too bothersome until the end.
MR had many changes from the time I joined the club, there were more structured roads and paved stairs area making it easier to handle, but the part before the Jelutong tower still remained as my nemesis. Mr Chan the photographer was relentlessly snapping our pictures away, given so many rounds there is no chance we will be left out. This time we also have the OCR supporters mainly coming for Kum Fatt and Patsy but I was lucky to hook on their benefits. They had real cambro coolers with many food and drinks. While for me, I decieded that it should be a fast affair so I did not really pack much ration and focused mostly on completing the race as best as I could.
By the fourth and fifth round I was already feeling very lethargic and tired and it did not help with the on off rain and sun. Quite difficult to grapple with. My strategy was the same, whenever there is toilet I will rest, the rest is slow jog and trying not to stop. When I needed to stop I will power walk and just keep going.
Ending It
After the 6th round, I checked the watch and felt that pushing for a 7th is impossible given my sciatica problem and also the legs are getting kinda tired. Kum Fatt passed me 2 times this round and he was grappling with the planta problem ended at 7 rounds. It was really fun and great times getting together with the runners and people with like minds to end the year. For my category, every was a winner and I again came in 5th. Very grateful to MR 25 for this opportunity again!
