My Ballerina Run : Racing in a tutu at the Standard Chartered KL Half-Marathon 2016

How does it feel like to run 21.1km clad in a tutu?

Well, firstly there’s quite a bit of wind resistance contributing to slower run speed. Secondly, the edges of the netting is kind of scratchy or ticklish on the thighs making it quite uncomfortable to run in, more so, if you have a longer tutu. However, thirdly, it’s loads of fun because you catch the attention of spectators who would cheer louder for you, not to mention being a favorite subject of the photographers! And lastly, nothing beats that feel-good factor in knowing you are running for a cause.

Goodie Bag contents given during the Race Kit Collection

That’s exactly what I felt while running the Half Marathon category during the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2016 or SCKLM 2016 on 7^th August 2016 as a Positive Living Runner clad in a bold red tutu.

This ballerina is all dressed and ready to run

Me, along with 399 other SCB / Scope International Malaysia staff volunteered as Positive Living Runners and we sure painted Kuala Lumpur city red that Sunday, running with our bold red tutus in our respective race categories during the race.

In case you are wondering what this Positive Living initiative is all about, it is aimed at fighting the stigma and discrimination associated with those living with HIV and to also create greater awareness of AIDS in our society. What better way to create a bold statement to the public than to race in Bold Red Tutus in the largest road race in Malaysia.

Running with joy along the race course
(photo courtesy of Maui Taking Photos)

Hats-off to my male colleagues who willingly shed their macho images to don a skirt / tutu for this event! I think some of them actually looked adorable in their tutus!

Rewinding time to a couple of weeks before race day : My body immune system went haywire right after the Langkawi Ultra 50km race which I did in mid-July causing me to fall ill with bouts of fever, cold and cough that refused to go away.

Finally after 3 consecutive visits to the doctor, the viruses appeared to have “died down” quite a bit, leaving me with just a annoying occasional cough. I decided that it’d be fine to run the race, however, I would not push myself and treat it as a fun run instead. After all, it would be my 1^st costume run and I eagerly anticipated the fun that would accompany this race.

The dress rehearsal was done a few days before the race after collecting my tutu. I decided to keep to the theme of red and even tied my hair with red ribbons and put on red racing shoes with a red bodice for the race. Feeling a little worried that my tutu would fall off, I heavily pinned it to my running shorts.

Having fun taking pictures as the Tutu Runner after the race, with Shonny and How How
(photo courtesy of Shonny)

Race eve was a breeze. I had an early dinner and went to bed at 6:30pm. I must say, this was one of those races where I was so relaxed that I had a full 8-hours of sleep so I was fully rested by the time I woke up at 2:30am.

How How my ever-faithful supporter and me made our way to the Awan Besar LRT station in the early hours of the morning where we had arranged to meet my colleague Soh and his wife Felicia. Turned out that 2 other colleagues of mine : Kong and SL were also catching the train at the same LRT station. 

Taking the LRT to Masjid Jamek

So it was a nice little group that made our way in the train to Dataran Merdeka. How How brought along Aki, his foldie to get a little bit of exercise in while doing baggage duty and waiting for us at the Finish Line and, although strongly discouraged by me, he also planned to follow us along part of the run route.

With my #1 supporter, How How.
(Photo courtesy of Mr ChanWK)

We arrived at Masjid Jamek LRT station without any hiccups and after setting up Aki, the little group made it’s way to Dataran Merdeka where we would need to register our attendance at the Volunteer meetup point and then take a group photo before we went to our respective start pens for the Half Marathon flagoff.

With Michelle, Felicia, Soh, Kong, SL and Lik Sng before the start of the race

We met Michelle, Lik Sng and other Positive Living Runners at the meetup point and we were all given red balloons to run with during the race. I must say, we certainly attracted attention when we took our positions in our respective start pens.

Aww... We look awesome!

Soh, Lik Sng and myself were in Start Pen 1 and some runners actually wrongly assumed that we were pacers although there was no timing written on the balloons. I wondered whether other Positive Living Runners were also encountering the same queries and quizzical looks as us in their respective start pens.

I was in a very relaxed mood what with the fun of running in a costume with a balloon and having friends around me, some I had not seen in a while. Soh had promised to run with me all the way to the Finish Line and it felt nice to have a pacer to run with.

Yours truly flouncing along the race course
(Photo courtesy of Ee Kok Jin)

Finally, the gun signaling the start of the race went off and everyone surged across the starting line. I tried to keep to a controlled pace but found that I was running faster than I should. A quick glance at my watch after the 1^st km showed by average pace as below 4:30 minutes. My goodness! I better rein it in or I’d be in trouble later in the race! Soh was also no where to be seen and I was panicking a little that he was either very much ahead or way behind. So, I slowed down a bit but the pace was still below 5 minutes after the 2^nd km.

I tested my body and other than an occasional cough, I felt fine and good and raring to go, so I decided to continue running but would slow down just a bit so that Soh could catch up with me if he was at the back.

I must have run at a much faster pace than I should, egged on by some of the male runners who actually thought I was a pacer and followed me so closely I could feel them breathing down my neck! This certainly did not feel like Swan Lake! At some point during the race, I decided to let go of my balloon just so that people would not mistakenly assume I was a pacer.

The kilometers just sped by, one after another. Building after building. We passed by crowds of people just ending their Saturday night clubbing session and were hanging around watching the runners go by. I received a few comments from spectators such as, “Oh missy, you look soo cute!” Some even gave me a few catcalls and wolf whistles just because I was wearing a tutu! Did I look like a running ballerina, I suppose so although I seriously doubted it what with the quick strides I was taking.

With some friends I met from cycling who also are runners before the start of the race
(Photo courtesy of Pam)

After some time, I gave up waiting for Soh and just continued with my 5 minute plus pace. I was feeling good! Having run Langkawi Ultra, and being used to training in hilly ground, I found the race course relatively flat except for the stretch going up onto the Highway but the course was very accurately marked and my watch beeped in time every time I reached a km marker. Fantastic!

Throughout the race course, I couldn’t help noticing the ample water stations setup and volunteers and route marshals. Kudos to the organizer!

The rest of the race passed by in a blur. I remember passing many people and also getting passed. At the 18km mark, I must have exceeded my energy stores in my not fully recovered state as I started to hear some humming in my ears.

Right then, I happened to see Lik Sng who had been running very well ahead of me and I called out to him to pace me to the finish just in case the humming in my ears turned into a full-fledged fainting spell though I doubted it would.

Running past the old train station with Lik Sng
(Photo courtesy of Duta Foto)

We picked up the pace together and shaved off the final 4km of rolling terrain. It was good having him for company as it took my mind off the discomfort of phlegm and cough at the back of my throat and the fact that my legs were burning a little having had very little training for shorter races over the past few months.

After we passed the main train station, we saw the arch telling us that it was 500m to the Finish Line. Lik Sng asked me whether I wanted to dash all out to the Finish Line. I told him to go ahead as I didn’t want to push myself too hard. Lik Sng then surged forward.

Running pace by pace and neck to neck with the Green Giant
(Photo courtesy of Mr ChanWK)

Running into that final 500m stretch was exhilarating as I suddenly found myself being chased by a green giant with very long legs. Unknowingly, this guy had been pacing me and Lik Sng to avoid slowing down and now at the final stretch, we were really racing neck to neck.

It has been a while since I ran so fast that I could not see the ground and everything that passed me was a big blur. A quick glance at the finishing clock in front of me showed 1:48. I remember thinking, “Not too bad, I had finished earlier than the conservative 2:15 I had set for myself due to my body condition! The green giant finally beat me to the finish line in mere seconds due to his longer legs I suppose! Haha! And thus ended my “Ballerina Run”.

Crossing the finish line alongside the Green Giant with a time of 1:48:44
(Photo courtesy of Seven Chiam Hooi See) 

Immediately after finishing the race, the green giant turned and high-fived me and congratulated me on my speed. I never had so much fun for a race. We took a picture together at the finish line and I later learnt that the green giant’s name was Zul.

A jubilant, finishing picture with the Green Giant - Zul!
(Photo courtesy of Best of Running)

Soh, on the other hand, was still nowhere in sight, and I began to get worried as I went to get my finisher medal and goodie bag before heading for the meeting point for group photo. I later learnt that he had suffered cramps very early into the race and had slowed down quite a lot. He attributed this to lack of training. But he finished all the same.

With Lik Sng after the finish line, capturing a Instagram moment

I also did not see How How who had promised to take my finishing photo. Later, I learnt that he had cycled part way along the Half Marathon route only to be stopped by a policeman who disallowed him to continue, so he had to use Waze app to guide him back to Dataran Merdeka and by the time he reached, I had already finished my race!

With another colleague also a Positive Living Runner, enjoying a Instagram-moment after the race

After resting a while, I went in search of the AGRR team members who were running SCKLM as well in their respective categories. We took more photos before going our separate ways.

With AGRR members who also ran in their respective race categories
(Photo courtesy of one of the AGRR members)

I returned again to the flagpole area and this time, managed to see How How. It was also here that I bumped into a veteran cyclist / runner friend – Yap, who recounted his tale of assisting a girl who had collapsed halfway thru the Half Marathon and waited with her until the ambulance came before continuing his race and finishing in 2:09! 

With Yap an awesome veteran runner and cyclist

Good job to Yap and his kind compassion. I cannot imagine what his timing must be like if he hadn’t been interrupted halfway through his race. Anyway, helping others is more important than race timing and this is something many of us can learn from him.

Aki the foldie did double duty as baggage deposit service for Soh, Felicia and me as well

We took some photos and then bid farewell. The journey back home took a good 2 hours thanks to the awfully long queues at the ticket machines, faulty ticket machines and inefficient train service where trains only dumped us halfway at Tasik Selatan station and did not go all the way to Awan Besar station. We had to wait for quite a while before another train headed that way came along. What a waste of time!

Needless to say, exhaustion had set in by the time we got to our cars parked at the station and headed home. How How and me were thankful to have Soh, Felicia, Kong and SL to assist us in carrying Aki’s accessories, bags and parts and patiently waiting for us as we queued to buy our tickets from the LRT station ticket machines. Lesson learnt : always bring Touch n’ Go cards with one if travelling via LRT for SCKLM in future.

At the Seiko booth, capturing my Kodak moment with my finishing time as per my GPS watch

Overall, I found this edition of SCKLM to be very well-organized despite the 35,000-strong crowd. There were ample toilets at the race venue as well unlike previous years.  Ample water stations, many volunteers. I had a good enjoyable run and didn't struggle despite not being well and coughing during the race. The smile on my face in most of the race photos would tell you I had a great time.

Fun race!

Position results. Random thought : If I had registered in my rightful category, I would've ranked #3 Malaysian Woman Veteran Half Marathon. Hehehe.. Instead, I wanted to challenge myself to compete with younger runners. (Photo courtesy of Penonton)

As in every race, there are downsides and the only one I observed was that there should be more water provided at the Finish Line so that runners can refill and refresh themselves as merely giving one mineral water bottle at the Finish Line is insufficient and it was ridiculous of volunteers not allowing runners to be given more water. I could not find any water station being setup and manned at the Finish Line either.

I was practically feeling parched even after I emptied the contents of my 500ml mineral water bottle into my system in 3 gulps. Luckily someone said there was free Custard Apple ice-cream being doled out by the Adidas booth otherwise, my thirst would not have been quenched.

Will I return next year? That remains to be seen. After having tasted the fun of running in a costume, who knows, maybe it will be another Costume Run for me.

Nonetheless, I am pleased and satisfied with my results. Rank #7 Malaysian Women Open Half Marathon and Rank #11 International Women Open Half Marathon, despite not pushing hard and not fully recovered from a bout of illness yet.

What more could a girl ask for?

Finishing certificate

Farewell, my Ballerina Run! It's been fun and meaningful!