The firm sponsored a team of us to take part in the Rat Race. It is the first time any of us have taken part in such a street race, where the participants race through the streets of the Kuala Lumpur city centre in full office attire. We are allowed to wear running shoes, but other than that, everyone was free to wear their shirts and ties, corporate uniform, Middle Eastern sheikh outfits, or even traditional Malay costumes. Yup it was truly a dazzling display.
We didn't know what to expect as we met at Bursa Malaysia to register ourselves. A large carnival greeted us, with large companies bringing out their full squad of cheerleaders and supporters to cheer their participants on.
There were flags, drums, airhorns, and even bagpipes. Some of the banks even had busloads of what looked like secondary school children dressed in the banks' corporate t-shirts.
We felt slightly small by the fact that we were dressed in a slightly boring black and white outfit, and we would only have a carload of supporters coming down to (softly) cheer us on.
Having collected our goodie bags, we pinned our numbers on, and then it was time to wait for the first race to kick off at 5pm.
It was the CEO event, which involved a shorter route of 1km. We had one of our senior partners taking part in the event, and the CEOs were back in less than 10 minutes, and it was time for the main event to be flagged off.
It was going to be an arduous 4.5km run, where we would be running on the road itself, with the help of the traffic police diverting the traffic. We would have to essentially run from Bursa Malaysia to KLCC and back. There were all in all more than 500 people taking part, and this chain of 500 runners would be weaving their way through the heavy rush hour traffic of KL.
Map of the route
It was quite an experience. You would see the various supporters lined up along the route screaming their lungs out to cheer their team on. It also helped to keep me motivated to keep running. It was quite a sight to see a long line of runners running along Jalan Sultan Ismail, curving round the Petronas Twin Towers, and then slowly looping back. It started to drizzle quite heavily at the start, but at least it kept the temperature cool.
As we ran, we could hear the constant sounding of horns from the cars. Till now, I am not sure whether it was to encourage us on, or it was just a sign of the frustration at the deadlocked traffic as roads kept being cordoned off.
My shirt was completely drenched at the end of the run. I am hoping it was more rain rather than sweat. I think I clocked in an OK time of around 28 mins for the run, but I heard there were people absolutely blazing through the whole course.
I would love to take part in the Rat Rat again next year, as it was a fun experience. Just need to train for this event next time. Although it was a longer run, it didn't seem as bad as the cross country run we did at the Bench & Bar Games in Singapore.
I am expecting my legs to be very sore tomorrow.
Edit: Hey, our team came out 30th overall, out of around 115 teams. That is not bad.
We didn't know what to expect as we met at Bursa Malaysia to register ourselves. A large carnival greeted us, with large companies bringing out their full squad of cheerleaders and supporters to cheer their participants on.
There were flags, drums, airhorns, and even bagpipes. Some of the banks even had busloads of what looked like secondary school children dressed in the banks' corporate t-shirts.
We felt slightly small by the fact that we were dressed in a slightly boring black and white outfit, and we would only have a carload of supporters coming down to (softly) cheer us on.
Having collected our goodie bags, we pinned our numbers on, and then it was time to wait for the first race to kick off at 5pm.
It was the CEO event, which involved a shorter route of 1km. We had one of our senior partners taking part in the event, and the CEOs were back in less than 10 minutes, and it was time for the main event to be flagged off.
It was going to be an arduous 4.5km run, where we would be running on the road itself, with the help of the traffic police diverting the traffic. We would have to essentially run from Bursa Malaysia to KLCC and back. There were all in all more than 500 people taking part, and this chain of 500 runners would be weaving their way through the heavy rush hour traffic of KL.
Map of the route
It was quite an experience. You would see the various supporters lined up along the route screaming their lungs out to cheer their team on. It also helped to keep me motivated to keep running. It was quite a sight to see a long line of runners running along Jalan Sultan Ismail, curving round the Petronas Twin Towers, and then slowly looping back. It started to drizzle quite heavily at the start, but at least it kept the temperature cool.
As we ran, we could hear the constant sounding of horns from the cars. Till now, I am not sure whether it was to encourage us on, or it was just a sign of the frustration at the deadlocked traffic as roads kept being cordoned off.
My shirt was completely drenched at the end of the run. I am hoping it was more rain rather than sweat. I think I clocked in an OK time of around 28 mins for the run, but I heard there were people absolutely blazing through the whole course.
I would love to take part in the Rat Rat again next year, as it was a fun experience. Just need to train for this event next time. Although it was a longer run, it didn't seem as bad as the cross country run we did at the Bench & Bar Games in Singapore.
I am expecting my legs to be very sore tomorrow.
Edit: Hey, our team came out 30th overall, out of around 115 teams. That is not bad.
4 comments:
oh gosh! the rat race looks super cool! :D
It was a great event to take part in. And luckily my legs didn't ache that much the next day. Running events can be addictive. It is just the training that is boring.
Aisey, where were your pom pom chicks?
Yah, where were you Jen?? Hehe.
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