Borneo International Marathon 2017 ( BIM 2017)

10th Anniversary…

Time really flies, when I first did this race, it was 2014 and I was lucky to come in number 4 in the open category.  Actually my marathon timing is not fast, but I guess due to the absence of the Africans and being more of a home based race, I was actually lucky enough to clich a place on that podium.  Thus this race always have a place in my heart.  It also increased my confidence to take on more marathons.  I came back here with a friend in 2015 but did not stay in the Kota Kinabalu city, thus missing out all the action and the fun.  The KK( Kota Kinablu) town is more vibrant and full of life, filled with eateries and nightlife, the city is the place to be for all the action.

Logistics

Accommodation: Best to stay in KK town itself.  The town has most shops and restaurants.  There are also many good eateries and after the race the Sunday Market is a must visit for all tourists.

Transport:  If you stay within the city, you can walk to all the places for food for shopping.  The Jesselton Point and Sabah suria( race pack collection point) are all within walking distance.  The race organisers have been providing shuttle bus services from the city centre to the race start at Linkas Stadium ( further North of the city).

Sightseeing:  From Singapore to Kota Kinabalu, you can take either Silk Air or AirAsia.  They each have one trip to KK from Singapore daily.  When you reach KK, it is usually noon time.  There are many natural sightseeing opportunities in KK, like going to the Mount Kinabalu National Park, visiting the cultural village and also visiting the orang utan and proboscis monkey.  The famous islans like Pulau Manukan, P. Mamutik and P.Sapi were among the favorites for tourists for their beach and snorkeling.  There are many rare wild life in the island of Borneo, it provides a good opportunity for visitors to get to know about the wild life there.

 

Special Collaboration

This year being the 10th year anniversary, the organisers made a special collaboration with the UNICEF and local NGOs to bring about awareness to the less fortunate children and also the disabled.  They hope to encourage the children to step out and get involved in outdoor activities.  The race had a special 3 km category for the children and disabled to participate.  Part of the registration fees collected were also given to the NGOs for their operations.

Race pack collection

The organisers are active on their e mail notices for any updates and they also constantly post any updates and changes on the Facebook page.  Leaving a private message on FB is also very responsive which clears your doubt straight away if you have any.  The Race Pack collection is held three days before the race at the SABAH SURIA mall on the 6th floor.  This is one of the bigger malls in Sabah.  Collection starts from 10 am to 6pm.  I only collected on Saturday because taking the Air Asia flight only allowed me to reach KK about 8pm.

Race expo gets bigger and bigger each year with more and more merchandisers and sports service providers joining.  This year there was even sales of specially made race logo biscuits by the Walnut Bakery.  You can get your last minute energy gels, iso tabs, tapes and even race belts here if you have forgotten to bring them.

The queue to collect the race pack was rather crowded compared to the previous year.  I guess there were more participants this time round because of the 10th yeah anniversary.

There is the race tee, some brochures, muscle rubs and race bib together in a nice little carrier bag for all participants.

The Race

Usually carried out on the first week of the month of May, the race starts and ends at the Linkas Stadium.  The race brings participants through the coastal road of Kota Kinabalu.  Most slopes and difficult portion will within the compounds of University of Sabah.  The roads are steep and there are more hills and elevation in the university itself.

Rest of the course are more or less road running. Runners will also get to see the Kota Kinabalu city Mosque.  This impressive structure will appear on your left hand side while running back to end point.

This year the start point was outside the stadium for all FM.  The shuttle bus already ferried all FM runners to the start point by one and half hour before the race, this was the usual case.  There were ample seating areas and toilets within the stadium itself for participants.  Turly an international race as there are participants from China, Japan and United Kingdom coming all the way for this race.  The baggage drop was well organized and your bags are keep in the racks with shelter.

The start time was 3 am, earlier than the usual timing, but weather was equally humid.  For the foreigner from temperate countries, they will find it still very difficult to cope and at the same time have to manage the fatigue as 3 am is still a snoozing time.

The water points and medical stations were well equipped and they were really there not like some races ( only paper talk) .  All the water points have both isotonic and plain water, this is very thoughtful as some runners really need some cold isotonic boosters to increase their performance.  Some stations even had cold sponge and iso gels.  Muscle sprays were also readily available from 25 km onwards.  It is hard to believe that most of the volunteers were there without any payment as they were all really dedicated and helpful.  All of them were cheering happily.

The medical points were all equipped with medical items and some points there were ambulance on stand by.  This is really essential for the safety of all runners.  There were also marshallers riding on motorbikes and bicycles to ensure that safety and assist in any unforseen situations on the roads.

Running to the end

When you see the monument near to the stadium you know you are only about 1 km away.  This race is always nice in the sense that runners get to do the finished few hundred metres through the stadium itself.

The finisher tee, medal, drinks and banana were given at the end of the race.  Usually they do not give plastic bags so it is good if you brought one in your race belt.  There are ample space for all the runners to rest.  I am not sure whether there are showers in the stadium itself as I have went to most of the toilets and saw none.

This year they gave the FM runners a special cookie and muffin pack too.  Really helped as a good recovery.

On the whole, although I did not do well this year ( at least not achieved the target which I wanted) I was still happy that I managed to finish the race in a rather decent timing.  I will definitely come back again to the race because the feeling is very special each time.