Preparing for Marathon 2015, the CJC way

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Organising committee members of the Momentum Run Series Goh Seng Kee (left) and Albert Tan showing off the 2014 finisher medals.

KUCHING: The marathon is an event many runners aspire to, perhaps due to its rich history of personal sacrifices and athleticism.

After a lapse of several years, the marathon returned to Kuching’s sporting scene in August this year.

Kuching runner and blogger Yayha Iskandar is one who knows the level of enthusiam for the event.

“A lot of Peninsula runners love the event, especially the route which takes the runners through the kampungs,” said Yayha.

“They really liked the support that the kampung folks gave, that they got up at 6am to encourage them on.”

Aspiring marathon runners build up their training gradually to ensure that they can complete the 42.195km race safely.

Kuching’s City Joggers Club (CJC) is giving a helping hand to those who might be interested in running the marathon.

Just as they did for this year’s marathon, they are rolling out their build-up runs called the Momentun Run Series.

“This is our club’s initiative to help runners get ready for both the half and full marathon in 2015,” said Goh Seng Kee, the organising chairman of the series.

Running is enjoying quite a boom in the city. The Spring Live Active Run, the city’s biggest running event prior to the Kuching Marathon, for example, saw over 3,000 participants.

Most, however, ran in the 10km and shorter distances for that event.

“I think the half-marathon in the Spring Run had only 300-plus runners,” said Albert Tan, a CJC organising committee member who also manages the Revolution Run specialty shop.

The club caters for all levels of runners, from beginners to those experienced.

They have a weekly Thursday night run which starts at the MBKS grounds.

“It’s RM2 to join in and we have refreshments after the run. We also have marshals to ensure safety,” said Goh.

He makes no secret of the fact that his goal is to encourage runners to strive for the longer distances like the half and the full marathon.

The Momentum Runs is a four-part series sponsored by the Brooks brand.

According to Tan, they had some 1,500 participants in the 2014 series.

“Our goal last year was just to prepare runners for the half-marathon,” said Goh.

Even so, they managed to get over 100 runners to run their first marathon.

This time around, the build-up runs will have a beginner’s and a seasoned runner’s category.

Both will start with a 8km run on Jan 18 in 2015.

The third run of the series on May 24 will cover 16km for novices and it will build up nicely into the Spring Run’s half-marathon in June.

The other category’s last run on July 26 will cover 30km which will hopefully prepare them for the rigours of the marathon in August.

The cost to participate in the January run is RM40 which will also come with a Brooks technical tee.

There is a package deal of RM140 for the novice category if they want to run the whole series.

The package deal for the seasoned runners is RM160.

“Each run finisher will also get a medal, provided they meet the cut-off time,” said Goh.

“We have to push them, just like in the marathon which have a cut-off time of either six hours or seven hours depending on the organisers,” explained Goh.

Those who are interested in the Momentum Run Series can register at the Brooks store at Green Heights Mall.

The last date for entry to the January run is Christmas Day.