As many would know, I started to pick up an interesting hobby this year which was running. To some may not seem much but for me it was a hurdle that I wanted to overcome in the longest time. I picked up this interest back in 2011, which was a run organised by the company that I work for and since then I didn't stop. Funny enough, one of my best friends, GymMonkey aka Ash, was also hooked into the idea as well.
So at the end of 2011, we both set down and realized this is something that we can cross off in our list. As we grew older a lot of people say that we were way out of our league on this but we were dead set to prove them wrong. We decided to participate 12 different running events within the year and call it
"Running 12 for 2012"!
Catchy huh? :D
1 entire calendar year later, this is what I can show
[My medal collection for 2012!]
My complete collection of all the finishing pictures for the year!
The runs that I participated this year are:
Mizuno Wave Run, Brooks Half Marathon (10km), Energizer Night Race (15.5km), Borneo International Marathon (10km), PJ Dawn (12km), Standard Chartered KL Marathon (10km), Gold Coast Airport Marathon (21km), Adidas King of the Road (16.8km), Taiping International Marathon (21km), Putrajaya Night Marathon (21km) and Penang Bridge International Marathon (21km).
[The GymMonkey posing with his haul for the year!]
As you can see, I unfortunately only managed to do 11 runs this year because the last one, which was suppose to be my maiden 42km full marathon in Singapore had to step aside because I was flying to the Caribbean on the same day of the event. Haih...
However, I do believe that it was a spectacular year for running and to be honest, I still couldn't believe that I actually completed the number of runs that I did considering a year ago I was the last person you would think to do cardio work outs.
Some key highlights for the running year are:
- Two best moments that I could still remember during my runs was running next to our very own Miss Universe, Kimberly Leggett during the Borneo International Marathon and two 6-ish year olds handing me some chocolates halfway while I was running the Gold Coast Airport Marathon.
- My biggest regret was to still not be able to call myself a marathon runner this year.
- Best running event overall to me was the Gold Coast Airport Marathon. I had nothing to complain about the run at all!
- Best running event locally would be the Energizer Night Race, which incidently was the last run they were going to organize. Everything during that run was fantastic and the view of the F1 track circuit at night was just spectacular.
- Worse running event of them all was the misery I had to go through in the Taiping International Marathon. If ever they would organize this again, avoid it at all cost.
- My best time for 10km was done in Borneo (1:04) while my best time for 21km was done in Gold Coast (2:28)
- Total distance covered for 2012 is a whopping 168.3 kilometers! :D
- First time running using power gels. Very weird...
Apart from that, this year also mark my return to two main running events in Malaysia. Last year I ran 10km for the Putrajaya Night Marathon and the Penang Bridge Marathon and this year, I decided to return for an upgrade!
Two medals for the BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon
And two more from the Penang Bridge Marathon.
So, what am I looking out for my running calendar for 2013? I would have to admit that because of a lot of things, I would not be running as much as I would this year but I am gunning for some major events locally and outside of Malaysia. In a way, I am going for "quality rather than quantity" for this year. More on this soon.
So that concludes my running calendar for 2012. Although I barely missed my 12 runs mark this year, I am still proud of what I achieved this year. Many thanks to everyone that was supportive of me this year, particularly the rest of Teh Tarik Runners as well as Miss Ave T, who stood by me during my runs and waited for me at the finish line.
[Collection of medals together with my debating trophies and Hard Rock Cafe pin collection]
Onwards to running in 2013!
