Nashata 5 km Fun Run At Malaysia Women Marathon 2014 (MWM14)

My friends and I had a fantastic time at the Nashata 5 km Fun Run at Malaysia Women Marathon (MWM) which was held last Sunday, 16 March 2014, in picturesque Shah Alam. This is MWM’s second year and, despite the sudden terrible hazy conditions, it was a blast! The organisers decided at the last minute to shorten the runs and, with the agreement of the participants, make it all non-competitive and donate the prize monies to charity instead.

Photo Credit: Running Malaysia Magazine

And that’s how I ended up running 3.64 km (they said it was 3.5 km but I choose to follow Garmin) instead of the original 5 km for the Nashata Fun Run. I was disappointed yet relieved at the same time — disappointed because I was so keen on running the entire 5 km at my target pace of 8:00 min/km; relieved because my plantar fasciitis (PF) has made a prolonged and extra-painful comeback that I found myself literally hobbling in pain right after the run.

As you can see from the timing graph (bottom right), I sprinted towards the end — even though my foot was screaming and throbbing in pain! — just to get it over and done with. And yes, I also forgot to turn off the timer for a good 1-2 minutes after reaching the finish line :P

Anyway, back to MWM14, it was absolutely well-organised and was so much fun. Malaysian women from all ages, races, and all walks of life were there — from YBs to artistes to common folk like me haha! — as well as many female runners from all over the world.

Here is a pic of the ladies at the starting line of the Nashata 5 km Fun Run. That’s YB Puan Dr. Daroyah binti Alwi on the right (wearing the grey scarf), Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Tetap Kesihatan, Pembangunan Usahawan, Sains, Teknologi & Inovasi.

Photo Credit: Kelvin Tan

In addition to the Nashata 5 km Fun Run, there was the 10 km run, the half marathon (HM – 21 km) and the full marathon (FM – 42 km).

Photo Credit: Running Malaysia Magazine

Photo Credit: Running Malaysia Magazine

Photo Credit: Running Malaysia Magazine

And because it was a marathon for women, the programmes, lucky draw prizes, goodie bags, vest colours and designs, freebies etc. were all geared for women. Only women could participate in the races and the only way for men to run was to become pacers for the ladies. Some men, in good fun, even wore their pacees’ finisher skirts (and other skirts/dresses)!

The haze was really bad that day that many runners actually ran wearing face masks, as you can see from the pic above.

Because I was more focused than running instead of taking pics, I have very few pics of the run itself. You can browse tonnes and tonnes of pictures here at Kelvin Tan’s site and Running Malaysia’s FB page.

I can’t wait for MWM15! I hope to run at least 10 km by then, pain-free, plantar fasciitis-free, and without my heart rate spiking up to 194 bpm (I am sooo unfit!). I also hope that the MWM organisers will move the run to a date where there is less likelihood of haze.

Special thanks to Nashata for sponsoring my first formal 5 km run! Watch out for my next post, where I will write about their range of activewear that both Muslim and non-Muslim women alike will fall in love with.