Training For Malaysia Women Marathon

This was a draft post which I had prepared long ago.

I know how difficult it can be to achieve that dream (of completing a marathon or any run in one good piece, or ANY dream for that matter) and instead of shoving training tips and ideas down your throat, beginners and aspiring runners should understand that the runners whom you envy for being sooooo fast and think they have it easy, never be too certain that their achievements too, come with blood, sweat and tears.


After the Malaysia Women Marathon, there was a surge of blog posts by awesome women who wrote about their marathon training and race. The sweat, tears and laughter were happily shared (and I enjoyed reading them), which I firmly believe suggests that anyone can do it, PROVIDED that you dedicate the time and commitment train for it.

(I am referring to Femes Bunny's friends who completed their 1st marathon ever. :))

There is NO shortcut to a less painful marathon:
1) Run more - 3 to 4 times a week is a must. If it's your first one, better run 5 times!)

2) For 12 to 18 weeks, equals 3 to 4 months of dedication.

And once you're in the midst of it, you WILL whine, moan, groan and gripe about it, but with a secret sense of achievement.

"Please! OMG! Marathon training sucks!"
"Sheeeeeeeeet! I don't think I can do this!"
"WHY did I sign up for the full marathon lah!!"

"I should have signed up for a half instead!"

"No, wait, I should have just signed up for the 10KM!"
"I hate running..."

Or something like that.

I beg you, I beseech you, do not ever sign up for a marathon just because everyone seems to be doing it. It is not a fad (even if you think so). Everyone has different capabilities and targets. And if you really do not have the bloody time to train (3 months at the least), then please, please, please don't!

I know some of you may think that I'm obsessed when I set a target or goal time for my races. But let me assure that it really depends on my objective for signing up for the race in the first place.

You can have a performance objective - to run faster, beat that fast runner you don't like, or improve your past performance (which basically is the same as 'run faster').

Or you may have the fun objective of losing weight, keeping friends company, cheaper than buying a branded dri-fit t-shirt, keeping up the momentum of improving your fitness.

I often select the performance objective to motivate myself to continue running / working out. Without that goal, I tend to slack and take it easy, and my fitness level would gradually slide.

Besides, I am still trying to lose weight and trust me, running this much and eating chocolates surely isn't helping!

Even if you don't have a blog to log down your training runs and race reports, keep some of those thoughts in mind and somewhere as they may serve useful to gauge your strategy for the next race.

These are some excerpts from my marathon training a few months ago.

MWM Race Report Part 2

My earlier post did not include the route and elevation maps for your studying as I didn't want to sound soooooo long-winded. You may scroll down to the relevant section of this post if you want to avoid the non-running related photos. :)

Saturday, 6th April 2013 - The day before Race Day

I arrived pretty late to pick up my race pack, but it didn't matter as I was still in time for the pasta party AND the opportunity to chat with our Very Important People. 

The pasta served was from Ben's: Sun-dried tomato spaghetti and Wild mushroom spaghetti. There were also fruit kebabs (on a satay stick and iced lemon tea.

It was a warm evening but the crowd had fun with the brief entertainment from Joanne Kam.

I only had 3 small servings of pasta as I didn't feel like eating although I was pretty hungry!

Had a cupcake too, while I was at it. But as I was chatting with Sue (of Couple On The Run and Partnerunning), I delayed gobbling up my cupcake for fear of having black bits stuck between my teeth. Didn't want her to stare at them as I yakked away. :D

Top photo: With Sue O'Brien / Bottom photo: With Kathrine Switzer.

With some crazy fast runners who were our volunteers on Race Day.

For convenience, I checked in at a nearby hotel to avoid the traveling to and from KL to Shah Alam in the wee hours of the morning.

The Tree Boutique Hotel was just less than a 5 minute drive away from I-city. I took, but it was still a bit more spacious than one of the rooms in Value Hotel I had previously stayed in Singapore.

Check out the canvas print of a tree on the wall!

I never switched on the TV during the whole time I was there!

Decent size. At least there was hot water!

I bumped into two Taiwanese girls who were checking in that night. The recognised my MWM race pack whereas I recognised their Taiwanese race bag (see the maroon bag 3 photos up). I asked them whether they were here for MWM and one of them eagerly nodded her head.

Well, I did my best to converse properly in Mandarin, but I hesitated a lot as I'm not very confident speaking Mandarin with people who speak 'proper' proper Mandarin. So I would speak English for a bit, then swapped back to Mandarin. I was quite terrified they'd laugh at my poor pronunciation!

Anyway, both Bobo and Jo came all the way to run the MWM half marathon. Jo had come across the MWM event on Facebook/Internet and they decided to fly over to participate. Bobo is the friendly one and it was very easy to warm up to her immediately. We chatted about the Fubon Taipei Marathon where they have participated before (I can't recall which category). 

Oh and then she requested me to bang on their door to wake them before I left for my marathon.

Eh?

They did balk when I said I'd leave at about 3am and so I'd wake them then. :D

Nestle Fitnesse Malaysia Women Marathon - Race Report

Three months of sticking to a training plan was a very tough assignment. I don't like routine and I don't like being bogged down, but I stuck to it as much as possible, which surprisingly (but not really) turned out to be 90% of it.

Three months to train for just ONE marathon.

One week before Race Day
Taper week (a week before Race Day) proved to be the hardest for me. Sleep was messed up - I kept waking up in the wee hours therefore didn't have quality sleep or sufficient hours of daily rest.

The period was due but I was hoping very very hard that it would arrive earlier so I could avoid a run as bad as PNM 2012. But no, I was bloated as a angry puffer fish and to carboload during the week just made me more pudgy than usual when in fact, I had lost some weight two weeks ago. Fek it.

My left knee would sometimes hurt like a bitch that I feared if I continued ignore it and completed the marathon regardless, there would be permanent repercussions to my gait and already bad posture. It had been hurting on and off for the past one month or more but I stubbornly refused to get it checked, just because I didn't want the doctor to tell me to quit running. After all the training I have been putting in, I could not not put it through the test. Stubborn, I know.

Two days before Race Day
Then, last Friday evening, my eyes felt heavy, a sign of  fluey symptoms. The period hadn't arrived yet but I'm already fat and bloated and I was feeling fluey?? Things could not get any worse. I was so upset (with the things I couldn't control) that ...

It started with a tear drop. Then two. Then a trickle. A sob. Then two. Then a full blown howl, one after another.

As I buried my face into the sheets, I bawled and wailed like a banshee going through painful childbirth. I howled my eyes out. I howled my lungs and heart out as I contemplated the unfairness of the situation. It felt like my chest was being ripped open and my heart was breaking into a million pieces. I howled some more that I thought my eyes were going to pop out and fizzled into nothingness. I howled and howled and thought how ridiculous I sounded - pity the poor neighbours.

It was Self-Pity at its best.

But I felt much better after that. Once I released the dam of frustration which had threatened to burst throughout the entire week (I told you it's hormones!) I felt more calm.

Everything laid out the night before.

Sunday, 7th April 2013 - Race Day

I arrived at I-city before 3:30am and the place was rather quiet. I supposed because it wasn't a full blown international event, there wasn't the usual fanfare and excited chatter to greet you that morning. I said hi to a few friends and walked around. Warmed up a bit (refused to join the young hunks who were leading the warm up session) and had a brief chat with an old school friend, Judy Liew (who completed the run in 4:10). She gave me a tip before the race started and that was what made me change my strategy then.

Had a bit of a panic when I thought my earphones weren't working. I stared at Seng Chor, mortified that I'd have to run 5 hours with no music.

But apparently my iPod was on pause. Heh.

~ KM0 to KM5.0 (32:21)

As we ran off into the sleepy streets of Shah Alam, I started off with Seng Chor, Pey Lee and later on, Gus. This was the first km or mile, I think. There was a lot of banter and laughing but I honestly don't recall what exactly transpired. I recall teasing some friends (Lawrence Law!) with a "Wah, why so fast one??" as they ran past me and that's about it.

I remember saying to Gus that it reminded me so much of The River Jungle Marathon where we were the only ones on the quiet streets. It was so serene and peaceful that I wished a band would pop up and give us a tune or two.

Then I got bored. Of the pace, not company. It was 6:36 min/km for the first km and thoughts started cramming into my head:  

"Hey hey, good stuff! We're definitely going to hit 4:45 at this rate!"

"Seriously? Just 4:45?"

"Aren't you going to try for 4:30? You've trained for it!"
"But I may not make it... it's a HILLY ROUTE!"

"Let's try and we'll slow down if we can't stick to the pace, ok?"

With that, I took a deep breath, dug in my heels and increased the pace a bit. I knew full well that once I hit the slopes, I would slow down anyway and suffer.

Cleared the slope at KM4.xx and reached KM5 in one piece.

Not bad.

But I Have To Run!

Last week, the BFF and I were arranging to meet up for dinner before I whizzed off to Lake Kenyir for the triathlon. She suggested Friday night for dinner and the first thing that I blurted out was, "But I have to run!"

Ten minutes later, I told her that it was cool, we could meet up on Friday.

I mulled over my hesitation in meeting up with my best friend. It definitely reflected poorly on me and I was not impressed with myself.

Again, just recently, friends have been asking me to come out for drinks and catch a movie and I'm sure you'll be able to predict my answer, "But I have to run!"

I'm sure they are pretty frustrated with me by now.

If I do sound completely obsessed with running and running and MORE running, do bear with me as it is 3 weeks to MWM. 22 days to be exact, including Race Day.

3 weeks to go, with this coming weekend being the last week to hit the highest long run mileage at 32-35KM.

With 3 weeks to go, it's like studying for an exam, putting in the hours of practising and practising and hoping for the best, that you won't screw up on Exam Race Day. All I can do right now is to stick to my training schedule (4-5 days of running), eat right (I am failing miserably in this department) and get enough rest (also failing miserably in this department) and you're right to say that I'm just tired of everything right now.

I just want to sleep in on weekends, wake up in time for brunch.

I mean, sleep in on one of the days.

A run during the weekend is sadly unfortunately, compulsory or I won't be able to enjoy my meals without guilt swallowing me up.

Next weekend is the last of my weekend long runs and the following weekend is reserved for a 16KM tapering run.

My heart beats faster as I count down to Race Day.

I study my training schedule almost on a daily basis every now and then, just to see if I can complete my runs early in order to fit in dinner or drinks appointments, without compromising my training.

Sticking to my training schedule as much as possible is very important to me right now because...

I mean, how do I explain it to everyone without sounding obsessed?

1. I am dependent on it as a structure towards completing my 3rd marathon. I'm hoping to do slightly better than the last one.

2. It will be my 1st time running a marathon without the hubby participating and knowing he'll be waiting for me at the finish line. *sniff* (I did not and am not requesting for supporters to wait for me at the finish line because I don't want them to see me in case I cry!)

3. The last marathon was miserable and torturous that I hope to avoid going through the same shit again.

4. The route is hilly and goodness knows that I suck at hills. My legs are still not strong enough to tackle them with a vengeance.

It's true when they say sometimes marathon training is a lonely thing. You can either run with like-minded people or do it on your own. 

I have been doing most of my runs (especially the long ones) on my own for the past 2 months and I have to admit that I enjoy every bit of it. I don't have the distraction of keeping up or leaving friends behind when I'm on my own and I can easily focus on my breathing, pace, running form and let my mind go on its walkabout.

Music keeps me company and drowns out what reservations I have about not being able to complete my targeted distance for the day. (The most annoying song I have on my iPod is "We Like To Move It", especially that line, "Physically fit! Physically fit!")

I enjoy these lonely long runs so much that I'm starting to worry whether I am turning into a recluse.

And the best part after my long runs is that I don't have an inkling where my mind had gone during the last 2-3 hours. I have developed a really fantastic goldfish memory!

I do feel bad that my non-running friends usually begin their conversation with me this way:

Running this weekend?

Eh, woman! Free for breakfast? Or are you running?

How's your running? Any upcoming events?

Hmmfh! Everyday I see you mention 'running' on Facebook!

Run run run, everyday also run! Not bored meh?

So, what's your plan this weekend? Running?

I do my best to turn around to ask them about their weekend plans instead, so as to not bore them about my running woes. :D

Three more weeks, just give me 3 more weeks!
After that, I will take a few days off to rest.
And have 2 pints of beer Kilkenny.

Then the vicious cycle begins again.


Related posts:
The River Jungle Marathon 2011 - 1st marathon dedicated to my mum. Reading it again brings tears of pain to my eyes!
Fubon Taipei Marathon 2011 - 2nd marathon dedicated to the hubby and I.

Next marathon - Nestle Fitnesse Malaysia Women Marathon
Next marathon - Melbourne Marathon Festival 2013

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Update: I have adjusted my marathon target from 4:30 to 4:50 5:00 due to my conscience telling me that the route will not make it easy for me to achieve 4:30. So I will settle for a sub-5 instead, and secretly hope it will be a 4:45 4:50... at most.

I Hate Getting My Period

One month to the Nestle Fitnesse Malaysia Women Marathon!

Are you bloody ready?! (Oops, mind the pun!)

--------------------------------

Seriously.

I hate being all PMS-y during the week before it's due.

I hate the acne outbreak that I will suffer.

I hate being bloated and my belly, face and thighs retain water worthy of the Indian Ocean.

I hate being ravenous all the time.

I hate the funny feeling in my tummy, unsure whether IT is coming today or not.

Or maybe it's gastric, I dunno.

And most of all, I hate it when IT finally comes, hallelujah, I may have to skip a day or two of running because of bad cramps.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on this subject. Whatever I say here in this blog post is entirely my opinion, based on my experience *ahem* and information available on the Internet, which may or may not be accurate. :)

If you read my Putrajaya Night Marathon 2012 race report, you would know that it was one of the worst races I had in my entire running life (just 4 years, going on 5). The only other time I ever felt weak due to that Time Of The Month was during one of my long runs in 2011, when the hubby and I were training for the 2011 Fubon Taipei Marathon. I felt weak and lethargic, and my muscles ached as I ran that I wanted to walk most of the way.

I was never a huge fan of monitoring my menstrual cycle until running become serious business I realised it was easier to identify my mood swings, the reason for my food binge-ing, being bloated, weight increase (up to 2kg!), acne and I could anticipate when Day 1 would come.

Oh, and to be make sure I have the necessary items in my handbag, just in case. *angry face*

It also became easier to rearrange my workout schedule beforehand. Say, if I had a group run or a long run I had to attend to on Day 1 and 2 of the cycle, I may opt out or inform the hubby that I'll be running slow, and slot in my moderate (not easy, not hard) run during Day 4 or 5 of the cycle. (Maybe on Day 3, too if there is less lethargy.)

As Michelle Looi mentioned in her DR interview, there is no need for you to cancel your workouts just because it's that Time Of The Month. Opt for a light or easy workout instead.

If you've been running for sometime now or if you're new to running, I would suggest you monitor your menstrual cycle. If you don't like the old fashioned way of putting a teeny weeny star on your diary or calendar, you may opt for one of the phone apps available for free such as Period Plus, Period Tracker, Period Diary (I used this on my last iPhone), Love Cycle and many more.

Don't worry. These apps are very discreet and the icon on your phone will not scream "PERIOD" for all to see!

Brooks Half Marathon 2013

I never had any intentions of running this event so to find myself at Bukit Jalil Sports Complex at 4am this morning was rather puzzling.

What was I doing there, I thought to myself. I should be in bed and waking up only at 630am for my long run!

As I've never ran in the Bukit Jalil area before, I didn't know what to expect. Everyone kept telling me there were hills to be wary of. Jamie had a plan to run at a 6:00 min pace so I thought I'd follow suit, and Calvin hopped onto the bandwagon as well.

L-R: SC Khoo, Kenny, me and Jamie
Photo credit: Kenny.

Nick, Jamie, Calvin and I started off together, and it took us approximately 3 minutes to cross the start line that held up a tiny arch. (It was a sorry sight, in my humble opinion.) We were cruising during the first 2KM, at 6:56 and 6:35 min pace respectively, until Jamie and Calvin disappeared to attend to nature's call.

Nick and I continued on, confident that the both of them would catch up.

But after a while, we had a sneaking suspicion that they may have had unknowingly ran past us ... and we were right!

It was only when we approached the u-turn and checkpoint at 7KM-8KM did we spot Calvin on the other side of the route. Hey!

The humidity was unbearable. Running through housing area where there were occasional unlit sections of the route was dangerous. I found myself pretty much slowing down just to peer cautiously onto the road to watch where I'd placed my foot.

The water stations were always packed with people and it was frustrating trying to wrestle through the crowd just to grab a cup of water. I was glad I had my bottle in hand (water + isotonic drink) because there were no isotonic drinks served at any of the water stations.

Nick grabbed himself a bottle with some water in it at 10KM thereabouts (we were expecting the water station to be at 9KM!) and ran off to the side for his water break. He told me to go ahead and he'd catch up.

I was wondering whether I was going too slow for him as whenever we checked our watches, we'd find our pace hovering at about 6:30. I kept telling him to go on without me but he said he wasn't on training mode so yeah, he was in no rush.

So he left me at about 11.5KM and I never saw him again. Dammit, don't tell me I was boring company!

Anyway, I sped up or so I thought, but in actual fact, it was still a 6:30 pace. *grumble*

I saw a guy on the side of the road with people trying to resuscitate him, which was worrying. It's not a fantastic sight to see a runner collapse at all times.

By then, I was running on 'feel' and trying to stick to my targeted marathon pace of 6:23 but it was hard. Not because I was feeling weak, but it was just bloody crowded!

We were running with the 10KM and 5KM runners at this stage and it was frustrating to find myself stuck behind a slooooooow runner on the right side of the route every now and then, and worst, one with a sour body odour. *gag*

Ran past the Calvary Convention Centre, a slope or two, Astro ... and I'm not really sure what else I saw.

Come 17KM I was eager to speed up a little as I finally realised that I had been going too slow all along. Even slower than my targeted marathon pace! 

17 - 18KM: 6:07 min pace

18 - 19KM: 5:56 min pace

19 - 20KM: 5:54 min pace

20 - 21KM: 5:50 min pace

If I thought I could sprint towards the finish line, I was so wrong. It was too freaking crowded! 

The clock showed 2:21 which was a letdown for me but whatever. My watch displayed 2:18, telling me that I was 10 minutes off my targeted time for the run. Whatever.

Grouped up with Jamie, Choon Yuen and Calvin for about 10 - 15 minutes before I sped off (with false supply of energy!) towards the nearby park to hobble/crawl/walk/jog another 10KM just so I could record a cumulative 30KM run today. Stopped at 7.1KM as I had to meet up with some friends during the prize giving ceremony. 

With cheery people: Lum Oldman, Weng Woo & Yin Yin
Photo credit: Sharon Chow

 It was great to bump into familiar faces. :)

She won 2nd place in the Senior Veteran Women's 21KM Category!

Pros about the event:

1. Massive space outside the stadium for runners to gather around and queue up for food and drinks, etc.

2. Finisher t-shirt distribution was smooth.

3. Milo was awesome. I had 4 cups!

4. Medal trophy is cute.

5. The kids with the kompangs near the start line was great.

Cons:

1. Did not enjoy the route with its unlit sections and narrow checkpoint mats.

2. Orange vest and finisher t-shirt - I don't like orange colour!

3. No isotonic drinks at water station.

4. A sponge station would have been great.

5. The start line did not display a 'START' arch - it was not noticeable from afar. I wasn't even sure that it was the start line in the first place!

6. The route was not wide enough to cater for the huge crowd.

7. Distance markers were almost 1KM off until 18KM.

With two young lovely ladies who were hoping to bump into femes people
but the femes people had already left! :)

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Let me digress from this race report and talk about my marathon training.

Pre-race: 1KM

Race: 21.4KM

Post-race: 7.1KM

Total: 29.5KM - I don't care! *stubborn* I'm taking it as my 30KM LSD for today!

Ran/hobbled/walked/crawled around the lake about 14x for 7KM.

To have enjoyed the race meant that I didn't push myself hard enough. The fact that I could have a conversation with Nick during our run (except when I was trying to keep up with him!) reflects the effort put in. It does bother me a little, but it serves as an indication that my targeted marathon pace of 6:25 shall be about just right. If I had stuck to a faster pace say, 6:00 - 6:15, I may not have finished the race with some energy to spare.

Although it was troublesome to have the bottle of water/drink in hand, it allowed me to hydrate as and when required.

I consumed only 1 power gel; the first half at 10KM, 1/4 at 13KM and the remaining 1/4 at 16KM. I don't think I needed it but I thought I might as well. Who knows, I could have cramped at 19KM!

I ran up all the slopes. Yay!

My legs felt fine, no signs of cramping.

My right foot (near the bunion) was starting to chafe at some point. I'm beginning to wonder whether my GR2 wants to run the MWM or is pleading sick leave with one month's notice. 

Refuled with Gibraltar Latte (RM8.50) and Carbonara Spaghetti (RM17.90)
at Coffee Stain by Joseph, with Kenny and Andrew.

Went home and had a bowl of ice-cream to wrap up my brunch.

Napped for 2 hours.

 

Where we ran!

p.s. Quite glad to know that I wasn't *that* far behind my 2 pacers, 5 and 3 minutes behind Jamie and Calvin respectively.

Marathon Training Is Tough Shit

I started my MWM training schedule pretty late, from Week 11 onwards. 

Nah, I wasn't afraid of lack of training (as they say you need at least 16 weeks to prepare well for a marathon) as I was already running regularly at least 5 times a week.

But sticking to a training plan, really sticking to it, is a first time for me. To have a systematic plan, something to follow and abide by was no easy feat (as I hate routine), but I must admit that I enjoy knowing what I needed to do for the day.

Tuesdays are usually interval trainings, but there were a few occasions which I moved it forward to Mondays when I had no badminton sessions. Wednesdays are usually slow runs between 8km - 11km. Thursdays interchange between brisk/steady 5km to steady 10km runs. The weekends are generally saved for the long runs.

I thought that it would be tough to stick to the plan during the Chinese New Year week but surprisingly, it was not. With tons of feasting done at both my in-laws' and my parents' side, the hubby and I were determined to clock in our mileage to avoid over-expansion of our bellies.

In fact, I did a 10km time trial on Chinese New Year eve and I was surprised to clock 53:28.

sis-in-law was in the vicinity. hubby was 50m ahead of me!

I think it must have helped having the hubby pacing me and pulling me back when I wanted to go faster, telling me to "Wait, gawddammit!"

Oh, and the terrain was flat. 

Nevertheless, it was a great motivation for me to stick to the plan and ... what else, to keep on running. :)

I bring my schedule with me to work everyday and every now and then, I'd sneak a peak and worry about a lot of things:

Is this enough?

Is this pace too slow?

What if I can't complete my run within the designated target time?

What if ...

There are a lot of 'what if's.

I know my problem lies with my strength (or is it stamina? both!) and the fear of slowing down during the 2nd half of the marathon worries me the most.

I also fear that if I don't get enough rest I will fall sick a week prior to the event, and that would be utterly butterly shitty!

So I skipped my run this morning, but I'm hoping to squeeze one in tonight. 

No choice lah.

As to whether or not I'm doing enough by sticking to the training plan, my marathon conscience* says we've got to trust it. He also said that I should have clocked 52:02 for my 10km time trial. Grrr.

All I need right now is a nutritionist to give me a guide as well, and I think I am good.

Got to lose at least 2kg to run more economically and efficiently, if you ask me.

Seriously.

Ask the runners who lost weight over the years from running - they are say that being light helps A LOT.

Dammit.

Carrot sticks for lunch today then!

And chocolates.

Press Launch: Nestle Fitnesse Malaysia Women Marathon

Nestle Fitnesse Malaysia Women Marathon, or better known as MWM for short, will be held on the 7th April 2013 at the i-City of Shah Alam, Selangor. It will be the first ever women's only running event in Malaysia (South East Asia, too!) and everyone is extremely eager and excited (triple E's!) for the event to kick off.

During the press launch held at the i-Gallery on 5th February 2013, MWM race director Karen Loh, revealed to the sponsors, media, bloggers and everyone in attendance the objective of this event. As a passionate runner (and woman), she believes that we women are capable enough to take up the challenge of completing a marathon, or any distance of any kind. There is no reason why we women should be hindered from participating in this event.

MWM race director, Karen Loh.
Photo credit: Wong Yi Bin

She also mentioned something like we should be "embracing the joys of completing a marathon", which if you asked me, meant 'the relief and euphoria of crossing the finish line after running/walking/crawling/crying 42.195km of tarmac'. Oh, the pain and tears...

Nevertheless, you will cross the finish line with an amazing feeling that stifling your sobs of joy could be a bit difficult. :)

The press launch in session.
Photo credit: Wong Yi Bin

Organised by Ironman Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the MWM will have 3 distance categories such as the full marathon (42.195km), half marathon (21.1km) and 8km run. Both full and half marathon categories include a couple registration, where a female runner will sign up with a male partner, be it her husband, brother, father or trainer / running buddy. For this category, the male partner must run alongside the lady runner to cross the finish line together.

Let the woman be in control, male pacers! :D

The Nestle Fitnesse division under the Nestle Cereal Partners Malaysia Sdn Bhd are proud to be title sponsor for MWM. Brands manager, Carlo Marino Agbayani informed us that they were extremely excited to be on board and were proud to also sponsor the engagement of Kathrine Switzer for this event.

A glimpse of Kathrine Switzer on video at the press launch.
Photo credit: Wong Yi Bin

A glimpse of the epic photo of Kathrine Switzer being forcibly removed from the
1967 Boston Marathon where women were not yet allowed to participate in marathons.