12/2010 - Aug 08 -Merdeka Run 2010 - Raindrops keep falling on my head

pix courtesies of Chung Mei Ling and Kong Fui Loong

This was the 3rd annual event organised by the Kelab Sukan dan Rekreasi Melayu Pulau Pinang assisted by PAAA on the 8 Aug at the Town Hall, Esplanade, Penang.
The distance was 6.52km according to my Garmin watch.

The event was scheduled to start at 7:30am and it was cloudy before the start when about 1300 participants gathered in front of the brightly lighted up Town Hall's majestic heritage building (2nd pix courtesy of Kong Fui Loong). Suddenly it started to rain and some runners rushed to the limited shelters at the building n majority stayed put at the start. The organisers made a wise decision to start the race by triggering a loud Bang at 7:26am against scheduled 7:30am.

The rain continued to pour heavily and by the time I reached Penang Road after more than 1km it was raining like cats n dogs with strong wind and it became drizzling at the half way mark and stopped when I reached the finish.
It was quite enjoyable for me running in the rain for the 1st time.

Our group did well and many members came out as trophy winners:
Men Junior Veteran
2nd - Tan Cheng Jin ------------ 27:30
7th - Giam Chong Seng ------ 28:38
10th- Andrew Loh Lean Hock 30:10
Men Senior Veteran
5th - Liew Chien Sioen ---- 27:28
7th - Tan Ah Chin (Soon)-- 27:43
Women Open
5th - Lee Heng Keat ------- 36:47
10th- Gan Hoay Woon ---- 39:06
Women Senior Veteran
1st - Chung Mei Ling ------ 36:54

As usual we had happy hours in our breakfast party with kind contributions from Mei Ling, William and others to whom we said thank you very much. Many thanks to our photographers especially Ong Leng Hin and Mei Ling for their beautiful shots.

Take this opportunity to thank all the participating members and friends and also to the organisers and PAAA

(雨中跑, 其中乐趣知多少? ; 跑步迷, 风雨不改没问题!)