Half a marathon

   The very first thing that struck me when I sat down on the grass field was the stiffness in my legs, my muscles were sore and I could feel them wounding up inside like a corkscrew. The soreness just seemed to spread up my body after my adrenaline rush, I felt soreness in places I never knew existed ( like my armpits ). My head was groggy, and I felt like I was going to see my breakfast again. You'd think that all these things meant I was a miserable meltdown. But no, I felt happy sitting there on the field, warming myself down and stretching like a fool. I was tired, sick, and my stomach felt like flipping itself out. But I was happy. A happy, sick, nauseous teenager who had sore ass armpits.

  Ever since I've joined the athletics team, it has always been my dream to complete a marathon. I don't know why, but the concept of it just appealed to me. It has always amazed me how people were able to run 42 kilometers in such a short time. Such a feat requires fitness, endurance and a whole lot of mental strength, something that I've always sought after. And so, I set my sights towards completing this grueling long-distance event. This morning, I've been given the chance to take a step closer towards achieving this dream of mine.

 

   For all you running enthusiasts out there, I'm sure you know that Standard Chartered holds a marathon annually down here in a Malaysia. And for all you coach potatoes, well, you know now. This year, I am finally able to register myself for the Honda Half marathon, and so I did. I did it instinctively, without giving much thought. I sneered to myself as I registered online, thinking that 21 kilometers was easy as cake.  Of course, I never fully grasped what I was going up against, not until today.

   It started off easy enough. Get up really early, take a cold shower, have a light breakfast, nothing too challenging or hard. By 4.30, I was already at Dataran Merdeka, eagerly awaiting for a race that would start at 6. Right from the start, I could see that this event was going to be a big one, just by the sheer number of people that were there, waiting patiently like me. A whopping 28,000 enthusiastic runners to be exact. At 5, I started my warm-up's, sizing up my competitors as I circled the field. I felt ecstatic, and for the love of me, I didn't know why.

   At the starting line, I was greeted by a whole new other-wordly experience. Runners budging past each other and smudging against one another regardless of what gender you are. I've been for a lot of road races, but never one that surpasses the sheer size of this one. I was all fine and dandy, till some guy smeared his sweaty back against my freshly-changed running tee. But oh, the oddities didn't stop there, there were runners dressed as clowns, a competitor who shat himself before the race started and a foreign woman breast-feeding her baby right next to me. Wonderful start to a morning.

   Before I knew it, the horn blared and we were off. The wind whipping across your face, the sound of running shoes scrubbing against the tar road, all the things that seem oh' so

familiar to me. To others, it may seem like a whole lot of trouble to get up at 3 in the morning just to drag our asses through a traffic jam to get to the center of town just to run our butts off. But to us runners, it's the thrill we seek when we run, and that thrill multiplies when we do it together.

   Throughout the entire 21 kilometers, I was never more than 2 meters away from another runner, that's how packed it was. Sometimes, I'd even have to sidestep myself to avoid an incoming collision with other runners. We moved as one. All 5900 of us, Meandering our way through the city hotspots. Lots of things happened after that. I overtook. I was overtaken. I met my old teacher. I grinned at blocked traffic. But above all, I ran my sorry heart out.

   Special thanks goes out to my wonderful dad, for driving me down to the city center at 4 in the morning and running 10 kilometers without registering just so i could make it for this big run. Could have never made it without you. After I got home, I heaved a sigh of relief mixed with a touch of happiness. They say that a man changes after he finishes a marathon. Half a change is enough for me today.