Desaru Half Marathon

The Desaru half marathon can be found on the checkpoint asia portal, it is organised by .  It is held on 2 Mar at the city side of Desaru which is not usual as most races come up to be near the beach.

Held at the SKS mall in Bandar Penawar, the location is actually nearer than I thought.  Once you pass the causeway, head towards the East of Johor bahru and you will reach Desaru about an hour.  Meeting up with another group leaded by a run coach Ng Jun wei and his group of 4 trainees, we met up at Desaru Utama AirBnB apartments and it was coincidental that we all stayed in the same block.  The residences was near to the SKS mall and other eateries and amenities in the area.  Signing for the race was online at Checkpoint site.  This website has most of the Malaysian races inside for all to sign up.  The cost was rather cheap for a 21KM only 95 RM for the super early bird and it comes with 2 tees and a medal.

Race Collection

However, we did not realise that the race pack collection was actually in Johor Bahru city, Toppen Mall which has a Decathlon shop inside.  The collection starts on the day before from 12pm to 7pm.  We reached there all the way from Desaru, and there was not a long queue.  We also helped the coach and his trainees to collect at the same time as they will only reach at night. The Toppen mall is a more established mall than SKS mall which was very Muslim based.  The race pack consisted of one big Decathlon bag, starting tee and Decathlon voucher which you need to purchase 50 ringgit to enjoy 10 ringgit off.

We just shopped for a short while before making our way back to Desaru.  The night was simple as we need to wake up early for the race.  Thank god the starting and finishing lines are within walking distance to our apartment.  After a simple dinner at one of the Chinese restaurant around the area, we all headed back to rest as the race starts at 4am and thus we need to wake up about 3 am.

This time round I decided to wear a hydration belt, because I thought I am likely to skip a few hydration points to save some time.  Somehow road races for me now is a torture, I actually find trail races more fun and less strenuous on the legs.

Starting

Woke up 3 am and got ready to set off with my usual coffee and red bull.  I was still feeling rather sore from the hard massage by Pauline who is a semi retired masseur recommended by Joey.  Somehow not so tip top and rather lacked in training as compared to New York marathon.  There were not too many people in the start line, in the end the total for 21km is about 500 plus while for the 10Km was about 200 plus.  Quite a cosy but not too lonely affair.  The start and end point is in the carpark of the SKS mall with a simple arch for both start and end and also a stage for race activities.

Race Proper

The route is really very accurate, it is just one round in Desaru area.  The roads are semi closed for the race and there are cones with blinker lights throughout the 21 Km. Starting at 4am , I thought bringing a blinker light will serve as torchlight and also alert the traffic.  There were not many vehicles and making the run safe, road condition was also good without much potholes.  The water points were well stocked and the volunteers were very friendly too.  One good thing is the marshallers are pretty good and those on the bikes were always on a look out for runners.  There were no u turns in the 21km so making it straight forward.

There was only one stretch on the road where it was pitch black dark as the road lights were out.  Turning back was all down hill.  Was overtook by a lady at 16km, but was happy I got back 2nd place.  The staff were there giving out the medals and also the finisher’s tee tent was there.  They actually had drop bag area but since we stayed nearby, we decided to just go back after the race.

Debbie, who was one of our swim group friend, came to support us and also came down early morning to help us take photos.  It was nice having her onboard and we also spent some time relaxing by the Desaru public beach too.

This is quite a nice get away trip which is not too long and also near to Singapore.