Ipoh Starwalk 2010

Earlier this month, I made the journey to Ipoh for the Starwalk 2010 event.  Since a failed attempt to join the Malay Mail Big Walk many years ago, I've always wanted to get a chance to redeem myself at another walking event.  Since accomodation in Ipoh was not an issue with my sister living there, and the registration fee was very affordable, it was not a difficult decision to sign up.  Also joining in the fray was my sister, my niece and Ultraman.  So, I was in good company.  Besides, the various articles in the Star on the many generous sponsors already had me salivating at the thought of my goodie bag.  There was a moment of hesitation on whether to go for the competitive category which cost RM12 to sign up, or the non-competitive category which cost RM8 to sign up.  In the end, since we were not even that confident we could complete the 10km in the qualifying time of 1 hour 40 mins, we thought we may as well save the RM4 for a good meal in Ipoh instead.

The problem with joining walks and runs is the ungodly hour which you have to drag yourself out of bed.  After a late night of watching Ip Man 2 on telly, it was no fun to be up at 5.30am to get ready.  Somehow, we managed to go through the motions of brushing our teeth and soon found ourselves at Stadium Indra Putra.  After being herded like cows by some fellas in uniform into the stadium itself, we got our blue starting bands on our wrists and waited for the show to start. 

Making our way into the stadium

There were kids, kids and more kids.  Apparently, the kids get points from school for extra-curriculum activities for participating in the walk. It would have been embarassing if all the adults had signed up for the competitive category and we were the only ones with the kids, but luckily I spotted an old man limbering up on the field. 

To pass the time, we took some pics and practised our World Cup moves at the goalpost...

World Cup worthy saves

We managed to witness the flag-off for the competitive category from the bleachers of the stadium.  The competitive group was much much smaller in number since this comprised of the serious walkers.  At this point, I was glad we stuck to the non-competitive category else I would have been eating dust! The guys at the frontline looked like they were running instead of just walking!  Soon after, the non-competitive race was to begin and crowd in the stadium starting filing out of the sole exit to head towards the Start line.  By the time we inched our way out, we realized our race had already started.  My kiasu spirit kicked in and I shot forth as fast as my legs could carry me, hoping to make it within the qualifying time for my cert....

Alas, the crowd of giggling girls and babbling boys was huge!  I was practically boxed in on all sides with kids who were definitely not in it to win it....My impatience grew and I practically turned into an F1 driver of sorts.  There were sudden swerves, spurts of acceleration, and even back tracking and slow downs with changes of directions. My eagle eyes spotted for openings in the body mass where I could make my overtaking moves.  If someone had been watching me from a helicopter, they would have probably seen something like this....

I lost my sister and niece in the crowd but Ultraman kept pace behind me, making his own set of evasive moves.  After making spectacular manoeuvres for an exhausting 45-60 minutes, the crowd thinned out to a more manageable level and I started to enjoy myself more.  It was tough maintaining the speed at a walking pace - apparently, you could get disqualified for running.  Though I doubt this was really enforced looking at all the kids who kept running around to look for their friends and family.  Finally, the stadium re-appeared and I picked up my cert on the way across the finish line.  I had managed to finish the 10km around 1 hour 30 minutes.  Yay!

Despite the queues, I managed to partake in some free 100 Plus and mineral water but lost out to the crowd at the Milo van.  After meeting back up with my group, we decided not to stick around for the lucky draw which would only take place an hour later.  We were all having hunger pangs and itching for a good shower by the time we were picked up by my brother-in-law in his Kancil. 

Overall, we had a fun time.  The freebies were a little disappointing - with only 100 Plus, Spritzers and Milo as the main draw.   And the goodie bag was not as goodie as I had hoped.  My sister says they had a better goodie bag last year.  Perhaps if we had stuck around for the lucky draw, the prizes would have been more attractive.  But then again, what were the chances of your number being picked when there was an estimated 12,000 participants??  The main lesson learnt though is that next time, I will fork out the additional RM4 to sign up for the competitive category.  Just so that I can have more free space to move about.  It was a real test of my miniscule store of patience what with being kiasu and yet being hemmed in by bodies all around me.  Till the next Starwalk everyone!