GE Pacesetter 30km (Part I)

GE Pacesetter 30km Run

Friday 18 Jan 2008

A group of us drove up to KL for the GE Pacesetter run. Led by Adam, there were 4 cars and 15 passengers making the long drive. We met at Safra in the evening before setting off via the 2nd Link. Enroute, Adam brought us to a small town in JB for seafood dinner. It was the start of many carbon loading to come. We dug heartily into the tze-char food, chilli crabs, shellfish, meat etc. It was 10pm by the time we finished dinner. We had another 3-4h drive to our hotel in KL. We reached KL around 2am and made a few wrong turns before reaching the Coronade Hotel.

Alas, there was a note in our rooms informing us that a main water pipe had burst nearby and water supply to the hotel was disrupted. I was lucky, I managed to get a quick hot shower before the water ran out. Totally. Not a single drop from the taps or flush. Most of the group did not get to shower. I had bought a gallon (5l) of mineral water during the drive and it proved most handy in such dire situations.

Saturday 19 Jan 2008

The water was still not restored by the morning. Hotel staff went round the rooms to distrbute more bottles of mineral water for use. We went to the lobby and checked on the situation. Efficient as always, Adam had gotten the hotel to arrange a backup 17 rooms at another hotel which was not affected by the burst pipe. Jaime's group of about 20 pax was due to arrive in the afternoon, and it would be a logistical hassle to move our entire group around. The hotel assured us that the main water supply had been restored and would be fully functioning by 1pm. It was filling up the water tank to create enough pressure for the guests' use.

KK and Wee Hou were not at the lobby and not answering their phones. Yet there was sound of water flow from their room. That was when someone suggested that the shower water was restored and we all went back to our rooms to wash up. We eventually found out that both of them had gone out for breakfast but accidentally left the taps on while testing for water in the morning. It was a happy incident. I brought the group to a roasted meat shop for black sauce wanton noodles and fatty dark char siew. The char siew was my favourite, richly fats that melted in your mouth. After brunch, the group split for our own activities.

We met again at 6pm to collect our race tags and for dinner. Adam brought us to another cooked food restaurant where we occupied about 5 tables. There was a table of Safra non-pork eaters, 2 tables of SGRunners and 1 of Safra members. My last table comprised the drinkers and their final tally was 9 bottles of Guiness Stout. The boss must have been so happy that we were there. Some of the runners went for desserts, coffee and tea after dinner. After that, it was off to an early rest before the race.