Race Review Putrajaya Night Marathon
EVENT. NAME: Putrajaya Night Marathon
VENUE: Putrajaya, Malaysia
DATE: 04 -Nov 2017 Time: 20:00 [20:00]
Headline Event Owners: Twenty First Century Sports
Event Organising Company: Twenty First Century Sports
Race Director: Nithi Vegayathunam
Timing company: Checkpoiint Spot - another 10/10
Registration company: hooha.asia
PLEASE NOTE: This review is based on my personal observations and experience of the event and is intended to be helpful to other runners for their future event selection and also to aid the organisers by giving a honest and unbiased opinion of both the good and the not so good elements as I found them. Where, on the rare occasion I have used information other than my own it will be clearly stated as such and will have been from a trusted source and corroborated by others.
THE EVENT
EVENT SCORE CARD SUMMARY
PRE-RACE.
Entry and information:
Initial event information and updates: The initial information was comprehensive, updates were regular and relevant. 10/10.
Contact: No event Web-site but a couple of Facebook pages, which can cause confusion. So long as you found the correct page they were very responsive to questions, usually within an hour or so. There were no Phone numbers or E-mail addresses unless you went to the event owners page or Web-site. Facebook was very well used for everything relevant to the event 8/10.
Catagories: Male/female Open, Veteran and Senior Veteran is getting nearer to age grouping. 7/10.
Value of entry: At RM85, incl. postal service, this represents great value. 19/20.
Race registration and kit collection: Collection point, ease of collection: There was a postal service available so any one who was not happy with any aspect of collection only has themselves to blame. 20/20.
64/70
Race site Facilities:
Venue, space and amenities: The race venue is first class, plenty of space around and pre-race water available along with a small expo and some catering vans. 9/10.
Toilets facilities: There were just about sufficient toilets, but they did get pretty well stinky by the end of affairs, perhaps a midway cleansing session was in order. One down point the toilets were unlit and it was a night event. 7/10.
Start area: Excellent 10/10.
Parking and transport: There is no reliable public service to get to the start point. A shuttle from the railway station could reduce the need to drive. 8/10.
34/40 98/110
Care of Competitors:
Starting time, race & safety briefing and control:
There was no briefing, I do wish that organisers would remind runners of what is expected from them while on the course. The chute control was well managed, and the starting time was spot on. 8/10.
Medical facilities. Start/finish and on course: Although there was no first aid at the aid stations there were two mobile ambulances supported by the Race Squad on motor cycles. My only complaint is: Why did the ambulances move in the runners’ area when there was an empty lane beside them, both annoying and potentially dangerous. 16/20.
24/30 122/140
THE RACE.
Organisation:
Course management:
Traffic control was first class, many closed roads and on the major roads the runners’, and the ambulance, got two lanes and the traffic got one. Safety and space were never compromised and the roving Race Squad were a brilliant addition to the race safety. One tiny negative, there were a few short sections that were unlit. 29/30
Course design and enjoyment factor: Excellent – Very High - High – Med – Low (subjective) What can you do with an urban road course? There was nothing wrong with it, there was enough undulation to test your legs on, but, roads are roads and all much the same. Perhaps that is why I am in love with trail running. 12/20.
Marshaling: There were enough of them and they seemed to have been well instructed, which is not always the case. 14/15.
Feed stations: Plenty of stations, plenty of stock, plenty of people and plenty of smiling faces cheering us on. I can only thank them all as a group, and as individuals I hope I remembered to say thank you while I was out there. 15/15.
70/80 192/220
POST RACE.
Finish line: Worked like a dream 10/10.
Resting and cool down areas: Good – Sufficient – Lacking. There was plenty of space surrounding but little in the way of a green area. 8/10.
Finishing information: It would be good if there had been a top 10 placings posted, as some of us like to know how the good runners are getting on, but other than that the whole presentation process was swift and engaging. 9/10.
27/30 219/250
AFTER EVENT
Results: Yet again brilliantly produced and in very short time by Checkpoint Spot. Please, please ‘Age Grouped’ results. 14/20.
Post event communication: Good – Limited – None. 7/10.
21/30 Grand Total 250/280 giving an overall score for this event of 89.3%
Congratulations to Nithi Vegayathunam and his extensive team on a job very well executed.
COMMENTS: If, unlike me, you are a road runner it doesn’t get much better, the atmosphere at a testing event that is brilliantly managed is hard to beat. If, like me, you are not in love with road running then this is the one for your one a year FULL MARATHON.
Would I return to this event: No – Unlikely – Possibly – Yes it is a well-run event that is a real challenge given the undulating course and the high evening humidity. My one a year Full Marathon on the roads.
Happy Running
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Photographs, with thanks to: Fiz Zo, Super Sergio, AKU, Wong, My Runners.
My personal race.
5:04:46 [42.59 Kms]
26th. of 89 Snr. Veteran [50 plus]. 232nd. of 988 Overall. My ……
Initially I was to run the event just as a run towards full fitness, around 5:00. But upon arriving I found that a good running buddy had lost his pacer, the pacer had to bail-out due to being under the weather, it must be a new brand of beer, so I stepped in to pace him to a Putrajaya best time of sub4:46 from last year.
We went off conservatively and settled into a steady 6:35 ave. pace. It was a battle for the loo at 6.7kms and I ended third in the queue for two pots, off went my buddy with me calling out to him “I’ll catch you up, don’t wait”, relieved of some extra baggage I trimmed my pace to 5:25 and was back on pacing duty in under 2kms.
Coming to half way at 2:20 was just about perfect for pace, either for a good time or a little slack if fatigue sets in. However, my buddy proclaimed that he couldn’t maintain the pace and suggested that I continue on and we would meet up after finishing. I wasn’t at all surprised as he had run a full marathon just the previous weekend.
So, now solo, I decided to go back to my original plan and run the second half at 2:30 pace for a 4:50 satisfying run. Dialled in and ticking along very nicely, if anything a minute or two ahead. K 36 arrived accompanied by the urge to use the loo again! Luckily not too far away relief awaited.
Back on the road me and now a pair of legs that didn’t seem to be connected to me, they were not the pair I went in with, they were moving freely, steady rhythmical and responsive. These were aching in places that I didn’t know could ache, they had turned to a consistency somewhere between rubber and jelly, I’ll call it rubbly, and the only thing they would respond to was slow down.
I was absolutely astounded, just stopping and sitting for maybe three minutes had completely changed what I was able to do, as quick as that – feeling very comfortable to really struggling to get going again. It wasn’t until about one and a half k from home that I started to feel right again, the rhythm returned and there was a semblance of comfort again, but I had lost around fifteen-minutes.
But you know what, it was all worth it;
I helped a friend, I improved my fitness and I made a new friend - Muhairuz Rizat B Mohamad Rawi. With only perhaps 6 or 700 metres to go to the finish-line I was joined by him, between gasps of breath he proclaimed “ I have been chasing you for a while, it is my first marathon and I cannot believe I will finish it with Old Legs” What a compliment, finishing your virgin FM and little OLD me being there makes it better, wow!
Foot note: My entire pit crew donned their trainers and put in a more than respectable 5k performance. Way to go girl!
Thank you Twenty-first Century Sports for a fantastic event, thanks to all my MKRC buddies who ran their own races, but especially Nicolas with his brilliant sub 1:30 HM, Guian with his PB HM. But most of all to Muhairuz Rizat B Mohamad Rawi for making my day complete.
