I decided to join the breakfast run at the last minute, which meant I had to forgo the MPI Generali Run 2017, as both events were on the same day. Earlier, I had decided otherwise. However, after discovering that not many from KL were going for the breakfast run, I decided to show support for the club's activity. And no regrets there. The trail run along the beach of Teluk Cempedak and the forest nearby was very rewarding and the view along the route was awesome. Glad I managed to take many photos along the way, except for the monkeys.
After making arrangements on accommodation and transport, I confirmed my registration for the breakfast run. Thank you to my cousin and family for the hospitality and Mr Wan and wife for the roadtrip.
Ms Soh, Kuantan area group leader, briefed us on the 10km run and 4.5km walk this morning. The runners started first, followed by walkers. The Kuantan area group did a really good job in organising the run. Route directions and marshalls were aplenty at important intersections. There was even a water station at about KM4. They also recee'd the route four times before confirming it.
This is my first run along a beach. I also managed to experience many different types of terrains in this run, from tarmac, pavement, sand, dirt road to forest trail. There were also two water crossings, first, a flimsy plank - balance very important here - and second, a partially submerge gangplank. Your shoes will surely get wet if you cannot jump far. And yours truely got her shoes wet so she started to run into puddles thereafter, along the wet sections of the trail. Woohoo!
The route
We walked over the bridge and ran along the beach, before we entered the forest. Then, we came out to the beach again and managed to catch the sunrise. We could not see the sunrise earlier at the start point as there was a huge cloud covering it. I climbed over rocks to the next beach followed by the water station, then ran along a paved route with a lake on the left and hill view on the right. A short run in a housing area before going back into the forest trail.
As I was exiting the forest trail to the beach, I had to walk beside a bunch of monkeys returning into the forest as the weather was getting hotter. I was so worried that a protective male monkey would suddenly jump on me! Luckily, no dramas. Back to the walking the along the bridge to the start point for breakfast. Yums!
A gaiter would have been good to keep the sand out of the shoes. Running on sand also worked the different muscles group and balance. Great short weekend escape from the city for a simple no frills club run.
