Race Review: King of Kampung Kemensah 18k
EVENT. King of Kampung Kemensah 18 km. Trail Run.
Kemensah, Hulu Langat
22 May 2016 Time 07:30 [07:32]
Headline Event Owners: Team PaCat Race Director: Undisclosed
Event Organising Company: Team PaCat
PRE RACE.
Entry and information:
The event entry could not have been easier, on line and complete with all the relevant information needed.
Updates of information were infrequent and initially confusing as nothing ever appeared on the actual event page on face book, only on the Team Pacat page.
Contact via Face book or Web-site was slow, it seemed that there was no one person keeping track of their sites so things got dealt with as and when someone noticed it.
There were no phone or e-mail contact information given.
Value of entry price* at just RM70 was exceptionally good value.
Race registration and kit collection:
Collection point and dates were good in that they were at the event start point the day prior to the event and pre-start time on the day, so, no postal service being offered was not a problem.
The kit collection was totally painless, most welcoming, efficient and full of smiles.
Race site Facilities:
Space at the venue is rather limited but best use was made of it by starting the three distances well apart.
Toilets were perhaps my biggest grown of last year but this year porta-loos were added to the one on-site facility and relieved the situation (pun intended so please chuckle)
Water, bananas and Nasi Lemak was available pre-race, brilliant for those who had to start their travels in the very early hours and missed their breakfast.
All the Pacat team were around and there were plenty of staff to help with information or assistance. For example, I tore my race bib and was having trouble securing it to my race belt, in stepped Suzie and tidied me up nicely.
Parking: A shuttle bus could help with the parking situation in the kampong, street parking on the narrow kampong road was the order of the day. Zoo Negara had opened their car-park early for competitors to use but the take up was minimal to say the least, probably due to the eight-hundred metres walk, or warm up jog as I saw it, and the small parking fee.
Care of Competitors:
Starting time was very close to that stated, the slight delay due to the VIP photo session at the front of the pack.
Timing facilities were by chip but a good touch would be a finishing timer, it would add to the experience at very little cost.
As is quite usual at trail races there was little need for any ‘crowd control’ at the start as the, generally, more experienced trail runners do not seem to have the ‘must be at the front’ mind-set.
There were, rightly, compulsory items required for the longer distance runners but one thing I feel was missing, for all distances, an Emergency Phone Number.
Medical facilities were at the start/finish point. With no fault intended to be put of the organisers what so ever, but, they were not the most proficient crew I have ever come across (see My Race)
RACE.
Organisation:
Course management: Traffic control, course signage, marshaling quantity & quality were for the most-part all excellent, just one tiny incident with a marshal at a trail junction.
Feed stations number were good, well-staffed and looked to be well stocked. I run self-sufficient so do not usually need to visit the ‘store’
Medical facilities on course were absent, or unnoticed, and there was, at least, one point on the course that would have been more reassuring if there was some immediate medical attention available.
The course itself was a joy to run. The top end of the course after Bukit Roket was considerably different to that of last year, which made for some very interesting ‘running’ and slower overall times.
With around two kilometres of tarmac road to and from the trail-head we were left with fourteen ks of pristine trail running, through some of the best forest around Kuala Lumpur.
The trail presented us with some torturous ascents, more than one treacherous descent, culminating at the top section towards the turnaround point in a river crossing each side of a stretch of up-stream and then down-stream river running, stumbling, paddling and generally splashing around. Certainly a first for me.
The finish line was a blast with many of the runners being personally welcomed back by the very enthusiastic emcee. I would like to personally like to thank him for announcing my arrival as "Coming home an eighteen k finisher Running on Old Legs junior"
Medals were gleefully hung around our necks by some young ladies who seemed happier than many of the recipients.
POST RACE.
Drinks and food aplenty awaited the weary foot soldiers. From Nasi Lemak to Chendol and fruits.
The resting area was afloat with an array of plastic chairs draped with exhausted sweaty bodies.
The restricted area around the start/finish meant there was little opportunity for a cool-down area.
Top placings were not announced prior to the presentation, and there was no posting board of the results.
For some reason the prize ceremony was delayed and I was unable to stay beyond eleven as we needed to be out of our accommodation by midday and Dee, my logitics manager and driver, said if I didn’t shower I would have to walk home to Banting.
AFTER EVENT
The full results were published in a timely manner, by race category, but, not age grouped.
Post event communication, mainly by the way of photographs has been good.
*Based on price against other similar events as advertised.
My overall score for this event is 83.0% an improvement on the 2015 event. I feel that any score over 80% shows that the organisers have a commitment to their participants and our sport. If you add in the feel good factor that Team Pacat bring to the party then they are the Kings. Thanks guys for a great day.
The Race Director and all the team can be very proud to offer, perhaps, the most enjoyable trail event series in Malaysia. See you all at the King of Sungai Lembing.
Happy Running
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
My personal race.
Time: 2:16:08 Position: Male Veteran 40+ 5th of 51. Overall 15th of 210.
I arrived early to chat with and see off the 50 km masochists then started my leisurely warm up. It was so good to see so many familiar faces, some my running buddies others members of the world-wide family of runners that I recognised. The hour between the start times was mainly spent talking to various folk.
Unusually for me I started in the front row of the grid, an experience. I was amazed that I was able to control my pace, I hate being overtaken! Where the tarmac section met the trail head was my trigger to up my pace, well effort level, because almost immediately we hit the first steep incline and although the weather was fine the recent rains had turned the trail surface into a slippery, sticky mass that almost immediately added several kilos to your load. The added effort saw me slowly but surely retaking position after position from those that shot past me earlier, the tortoise had it again.
Not realising that the whole top section of the course had been altered I had a time plan to beat my time of the previous year, my first ever trail run, and, to the highest point I was a minute and a half inside schedule. Thanks to the addition of the up-stream river running, which I was not very adept at, on my second dip into the river I contemplated trying to swim the remaining stretch, I found myself almost two minutes adrift with the return river run still to come. Back to the top point and I’d pulled back more than a minute, no bathing on the way back, game back on. At the bottom of the first steep descent my right foot found a convenient trench to wedge itself into and I took to the air. My landing was messy but soft. The force exerted, due to my momentum, on my trapped foot stretched my right achilles and lower calf, causing me to limp, walk, jog through the flattest, fastest section of the run, game over! However, I plugged on and only lost three or four places so no disaster and it would seem no lasting damage to my leg, can’t have that as this week-end I am a team member and need to show up at least healthy.
I had one, um, interesting moment with a marshal that was directing runners as to which of two unmarked paths to take. I had to stop and wait for him to finish taking the selfie of him and a stray dog, once completed he calmly turned and gestured to the left hand path, with the biggest broadest grin I saw all day.
My fall, one of just four, ensured that I was slower than last year but do you know what it didn’t detract one iota from the enjoyment that this event, and course, gave me.
Seeking assistance from the medical staff at the finish was somewhat disappointing, when I explained what I had done they just looked at each other in total bemusement. I helped myself to a bag of ice and limped off to my waiting food and drink.
My first anniversary was a good one, my second anniversary will be at the same event and even better
Congratulations to our Champions:
Mens Open Badrul Hisham B. Mohd Kassim 1:58:30 2nd. overall
Womens Open Mei Yan Looi 2:14:02 14th. overall
Mens Veteran…. Murray Steel 1:45:48 1st. overall
Womens Veteran…Agnieszka 1:58:35 3rd. overall
Full results at www.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=17036&RId=3018
Photography thanks to Duta Foto, Run Hike Asia, M.ghazali M.Shariff and AKU,Wong.
