BIM 2012: Back to Where It All Started

So, I joined the Borneo International Marathon 2012 last weekend, a run that I registered for at the very last minute, in fact the very last day before the registration was closed. The run was so dear to me probably because I did my very first marathon (or half marathon to be exact) at the BIM 2009 which was then the beginning of it all.

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I would have been amazed by the big turn-up if not for the fact that I had already joined quite a number of (other) major marathons so the number of participants didn’t really impress me as much as it did back in 2009. But still, it was still a big crowd of runners at the starting line so the atmosphere was just as exhilarating.

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It was good to see a number of new faces among my friends in the crowd and it was just so evident to the fact that marathon is gaining more and more popularity among the people of Sabah and probably Malaysia as a whole. When a first-timer friend told me that I was the one who inspired him to run in the first place, I hastily changed the subject just so that he wouldn’t catch me blushing. 😛

But then, I’d say one would never understand why anybody would do something as crazy as running 21 KM just for the sake of getting some stupid finisher medal which would then be left in the drawer and probably forgotten like forever.

And – If 21km is crazy enough for you, think about those who have the balls to join full marathon. I could feel shivers up my spine every time the idea of joining a full marathon comes to mind – even the slightest of it.

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Of course the only way to understand it is by going crazy and doing it yourself and believe me, once you’re bitten by the marathon bug as I call it, you’ll know why people like me would waste away so much energy, time and probably money (running accessories, registration fees, flight tickets etc.) on running at marathons.

THE FLAG-OFF of the Borneo International Marathon 2012 turned out to be so silent that I actually didn’t know that it had already started until the crowd was beginning to disperse and move forward IN SILENCE.

It was a somber beginning unlike in most other marathons that I had joined before where the flag off was always ushered away by an uplifting and high-spirited song (The Final Countdown at Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon and I’ve Got a Feeling at Penang International Bridge Marathon was so cool!).

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I guess the emcee must be a fan of Liverpool and the defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup Final the night before must have really gotten into him quite so badly that he even took it to the starting line. LOL.

It was so somber that for once I hoped it was JJ and Ean from Hitz.FM who were emceeing the event so that things would be much more hilarious. Too bad that they were there to run for the 10KM and not emceeing.

So, the run began at the running track of Likas Stadium just as it had been in the past before taking it out to the open road along Jalan Kompleks Sukan and later to Jalan Istiadat before skirting the seaside of Likas Bay along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen.

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Unlike in the past when the BIM would take the runners across the city centre before making a U-turn somewhere nearby Tanjung Aru, this time the BIM did a major change in the route by taking the runners totally in the opposite direction.

Since the run started so early at 5am, I didn’t get to see the beautiful sun rise that I remembered seeing (and amazed by) at Likas Bay when the run was flagged off at 6am in 2009.

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But then, fret not. The run would take you exactly on the same route on your way back so you’ll see it IF you’re fast enough to get back to Likas Bay in time to catch the sunrise.

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The run would take you past the entrance to Universiti Malaysia Sabah and later the shopping mall of 1 Borneo which is fast becoming an iconic building since they don’t really have many shopping malls of such a big size in KK . *kidding.

One thing I didn’t really like about the route is that it’d take you back to the same route so you’d see exactly the same things that you’d seen on your way to the turning point.

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I’d prefer routes that make a loop so that you’d see a different view on your way back to the start/ end point but then I was in KK so I didn’t have much to complain anyway. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it all. I’m just trying to look from the perspective of a new comer. Heh.

The organizer might have their own reason to avoid doing a loop which is understandably among others to minimize the number of drink stations and hence save a considerable amount of money on volunteers and probably the setting up of drink stations.

The BIM organizer in the past or at least in 2009 that I had participated in might have spoiled us with so many drink stations that I really thought there were too few of them this time.

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There was no more power bar which I remembered they gave away at least twice in 2009. Muscle pain relief sprays were insufficient and they had to be rationed up among cramped or potentially cramped runners. I even saw one runner grab a spray away from a volunteer and did the spraying himself almost in protest of the rationing.

So, the run didn’t really go well for me. As much as I hate making excuses, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy run for me no matter how flat the route was reputed to be. Spending most of the last couple of weeks burning my ass in the back seat of a bus and taking a bumpy ride while road-tripping all over Sabah, I was expecting the worse for BIM 2012.

All the hard-partying that I found myself into ever since I landed in Sabah 2 weeks before had certainly taken its toll RIGHTFULLY on me and my running performances.

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I have never walked so much in what was supposed to be a running event except at BIM 2009 when I did a marathon for the first time but then let’s just say that it was my way of celebrating coming back to the track where it all started. 😛