Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2013 : Pre-Race

Call me lame, but I have never been to Phuket in my entire life - until our annual company trip earlier this month. I had no idea of how the island looks like (except that it has some nice beaches and, umm... plenty of dodgy massage parlours *cough* for the gentlemen). So when the company announced that we'd be flying off to Phuket for this year's trip, I had a mixed feeling about it! My mind then started thinking of the things I could do when I get there - and yes, of course.. running has to be part of the itinerary. 2 weeks leading up to the trip, I did some research, and googled "Running in Phuket".

The first link came up showed " Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2013".

My heart thumped.

I clicked on the link and looked at the date of the event right after the page finished loading.

It says "9 June 2013".

I stared blankly at the screen for a good 10 seconds. And it finally dawned on me that I will be in Phuket on the same weekend. AHMAGAWDDDDDD!!!!

So yes, the next thing I know, 2 weeks later I was already at the Race Expo with David, a colleague who also signed up for the run. Gotta say that the journey from Phuket's main area (like Patong) is quite a distance from the Laguna Resort where the event was held. The cab ride to get to the Race Expo on Saturday costs us THB800 for a return trip - just to for us to collect our race kit. :/

Here are some of the shots taken during the Race Expo:

Filling up a form after another. -_-

 

 Bib number check

 The collection counters

Let's not talk about race day. Even finding our bib number was already rather challenging. -_-

Nope, I wasn't kidding.

(They finally managed to find my bib number after about 5 mins - and of course, with the bib already half crumpled). -_-

The Start/Finish line

After wandering around the booths of the event sponsors and partners at the Race Expo, we left Laguna Resort at about 3pm. As usual, as soon as I reached the hotel, I gathered my stuff for the next day. Excited!!!

Despite the huge office party going on that Saturday night, I had no choice but to dismiss early so that I could get enough rest for the next day. Boo.

I loaded myself pretty well during our big dinner that night and practically downed almost about a barrel of Pocari Sweat. :B


Race day report to be continued in Part 2. 

STAY TUNED.

I'm all laced up and ready to go!

Hello loves.

After months and months of utter procrastination, I finally cracked and decided to REALLY start a blog about running.  

Yes, I love running. I love it so much that I can't go a day without talking about it. It's the first time I've said the words of how much I love the sport and it took about the same length of time to be sure how I felt about it as any new relationship. Now I've committed myself to saying that out loud and I have no regrets.

Of course there were times when I want to give up on my relationship with running, throw my trainers out and call it quits. But I also know that there are a lot of high points to come my way. It's a two-way relationship and you get out what you put into it.

Unlike some of the selfish boys I've known in my past, I know that if I make time to run regularly, running will give back to me. It will make me feel good about myself and will never stand me up.

I knew it was love on Saturday morning sometime in 2010 at about 9am. I was coming to the end of my first 5K Charity Run. It was the Terry Fox Run held in my home city, Kuala Lumpur. At first I wasn't sure if I could even finish the distance, but as I was approaching the finishing line, I knew it was going to be the beginning of something big.

Since that first run, my legs started to get faster and stronger. I was running flat out and nobody was getting in my way. I joined one race after another and got even more passionate about it everytime I crossed a finishing line. That's why I love running and I think running loves me too.

Welcome to my running blog.

XOXO