GE Pacesetters 30km - Prelude to the race Fri, 19 Jan

I was all stressed out about this trip. Firstly, the flu and fever I've been suffering from for the last week have yet to heal, fully. I was still coughing. Next, i was the contact person for the group's accommodation. Thankfully, Diana from Coronade Hotel in KL has been a darling. I know of other reservation staff that would not tolerate with my late replies and constant amendments. Lastly, the biggest stress of all was the qualifying time for the race itself. Qualifying for what, i was not sure. I just knew that i have to complete the 30km in 3:30. Being a genuinely slow runner that i am, 3:30 seems a very daunting task.

19 runners from SGRunners took the train up to KL, from Tanjung Pagar Railway station. Ed was around to see me off, and assisted in giving out the immigration cards to the runners. Just before 10pm, all 19 of us cleared immigration and got on the train. My bunk was smack in the middle of the carriage, opposite Andy's. I would have preferred boarding from Johor, but knowing how fun it is to travel in a group, i decided to splash out the cash and bought the tickets for departure from Singapore costing about S$43, instead of the RM 42 from JB.

There were joy and laughter on the train as we plotted to surprise Run3 with a birthday song. Her birthday card was already being circulated for signatures and wishes, discreetly, as soon as we boarded. After clearing Singapore immigration, we waited for midnite to come before springing a surprise on her.

The train must have been delayed somewhere along the way as by 7am the next day we were only at Seremban. We eventually reached KL Sentral just before 9am. After washing up, we left for the hotel via the monorail. I have requested Diana to provide us with at least a room for early check-in, so that we can dump our bags before patrolling the areas around Bukit Bintang. Babumouse managed to get himself lost and the rest of us waited while Renoh and Andy Goh went searching for him. He eventually appeared and we left for Bukit Bintang station.

The hotel was just beside Lot 10, which had the monorail station just in front of it. We saw Dreamrunner and DO before i approached the counter to check into the 1 room i specially requested for. Having checked in, and dumping our bags, Freddie led us to a food court at the top floor of Sungei Wang Plaza. I had 1 roti canai (prata) kosong and a roti tampal (plaster) and washed them down with teh tarik.

Not knowing what to do, the group left for Berjaya Times Square, where we split up into 3 groups; one went shopping while the other 2 watched movies, Blood Diamond and Pathfinder. I was with the one that watched Pathfinder and i must admit that it was a horrible show.

On our way back to the hotel after the show, we bumped into Teelee, Roentgen, Charlotte, KJ and JT. This group took the Friday evening bus and has been scouring KL for food all day. Back at the hotel, I managed to get everyone their rooms. Other groups like those of Doraemon_Red, Fennel, tkTan, Swoop and Laokayu; Xinwei and Farmy; and LCPSimongoh and Joao_li gathered together with us at 4pm, waiting for Yeehua to come by with the racepacks. As soon as she arrived I distributed the packs out before searching for food at Bukit Bintang with cFred and my roommate Renoh. We eventually had hot dogs at 1901.

We joined the rest of the group later and walked towards Petaling Street, breathing in carbon monoxide, dreaming of Mata Kucing. The sky had other plans though and opened up, leaving us settling for a coffee shop serving Indian food. I had Maggi mee goreng, hardly the ideal pre-race carbo-loading choice. As the rain got lighter, we left to return to Bukit Bintang, shopping for breakfast at Giant of Sungei Wang Plaza before having coffee and cakes at Dome.

By 10pm we were back at the hotel room. Having enjoyed seeing Liverpool beating Chelsea on ESPN, i dozed off.