Not so POWER run..

Did my 2nd Power Run... a terrible one. Running with out-of-mood, zero spirit, empty strength, less endurance, no powergel, lack of concentration... Neway, just excuse me b'coz that's my 1st run after the KLIM on 5th March where I didn't train AT ALL after the marathon.

Met few nice people that I knew i.e. Emilia, Shahrudin, PM1 & frens, Goh, Dino, Ah Thiam, Uncle Super, Suresh, Bean+Doc+Steve (Stupe/Bac's frens).. they were all so cheerful & made my day.. During the lonely run, few people (counting 10 sexy peha) that I really don't know who they are, greeted me.. "Hi Purple" Errrkkk... I said "Hi guys, u go ahead, I'm slow today".. They left me trying to recall, do I know them? How come people know me even from behind?? Hmmmm... curiosity kills the cat!!!

Talking about the run, shy but gotta admit, I did the 10k in 64mins.. damn slow!!! But was given the normal Power Run medal for 27th placing. But, where have all the running skills gone?? I dunno what the hell is happening to me now. I think I need longer 'recovery' time.. maybe days, maybe weeks, maybe months, maybe years, maybe forever!!! I dunno.. Well, forget about me.. read what's written in the Malay Mail..

ATHLETICS: Record fifth for Arul
Reported by D.MAHESHWARI, March 20:
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Arul Thever Muniandy and S. Devamani continued their dominance of the 10km Power Run when they emerged champions in the Men's and Women's Open categories respectively at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

For Arul, it was a record of sorts — winning the title for the fifth consecutive time in six outings. The 28-year-old Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) clerk finished behind Kedah's R. Muniandy in 2001 but has not been bested since. The national long distance athlete, who is trained by former national ace and current national coach A. Tripadi at Bukit Jalil, led from start. Though he clocked 35min and 17secs, which was slower than his personal best of 34:04s set in 2003, it was enough for him to pocket the top prize money of RM1,000, a trophy, Power shoes and a certificate.

Selangor's S. Ganesan clocked 36:16 to take second spot while R. Venugopal of Police finished third on 36:34. For his effort, Ganesan took home RM800 while Venugopal collected RM600. The duo also received a trophy, certificate and Power shoes. "Though I won, I wasn't very happy with my timing. There was no one to push me as I led all the way. It was really disappointing," said Arul, who bagged his third title for the year. He was the Siemens 10km champion at Dataran Merdeka in January and a month later captured the Federal Territory Amateur Athletics Association (FTAAA) cross-country title at the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, in the absence of veteran national star Yuan Yufang, it was Port Dickson-born Devamani, 37, who stole the limelight. The former national marathon runner gave a sterling performance to conquer the women's open section right from the start.

Running under the banner of Team Power, Devamani clocked 43:27 to finish ahead of K. Ghanthimathi of Adidas (44:42) and Police's Emilia Jamil (45:32). Devamani was RM1,000 richer while Ghanthimathi and Emilia received RM800 and RM600 respectively. They also walked away with a trophy, a certificate and Power shoes.

It was Devamani's second win in the Open category after her debut victory in 2002. The following two years she played second fiddle to Yufang. Last year, she was the veteran's champion. Since early this year, Devamani has been enjoying a streak of good performances. After finishing fourth with a personal best of 3 hours and 2 minutes in the full marathon (42km) in Khon Kaen, Thailand, in January, Devamani went on to win the Siemens 10km run at Dataran Merdaka.

In February, she emerged champion in the FTAAA cross-country run (veteran's category) at the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur and a fortnight ago, she finished second in the KL marathon.

Also in good form was Devamani's niece, V. Durgavani, who retained her School Girls' (13-15 years) title. The Form Two pupil of SMK Abdul Samad, who was sponsored by Team Power, clocked 22:07 to take top spot while Norsyahira Abu Bakar (SMK Datuk Shahudin, Seremban) and Team Power's Noor Hieza Junaidha settled for second and third with 22:36 and 22:40 respectively.

Arul, Devamani and Durgavani are looking forward to another fruitful outing when they compete in the Saberkas International Run in Kuching on Sunday.

A total of 4,267 runners took part in the seventh edition - in nine categories (five adults and four students) which was flagged-off by Federal Territory parliamentary secretary Yew Teong Look at 7.30am.

DBKL director general Salleh Yusup, Bata acting general manager Ng Yee Siew and its senior marketing manager Datuk James Selvaraj gave away the prizes to the winners. Also present was Nestle sports marketing manager Ng Ping Loong who is among the sponsors.

Top five winners in all the categories received prize money, trophy, Power shoes and certificates while the remaining runners collected medals and certificates.