Just 5 kilometres from Dataran Merdeka, our slow jog/walk had turned into halting steps. We forged ahead through the waves of fire (in our knees) like Frodo and Samwise, driven by the desire to finish what we started. The moment we passed Majestic Hotel, I saw two familiar faces – my mom waving in excitement, and my younger brother, ready to pace me. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but seeing the pride and love on my mother’s face opened the floodgates to my emotions.
With tears streaming down our faces, my teammate grabbed my hand, and with my brother pushing me from behind, we dug into whatever reserves we had left and fought for the finish line.
I can’t even begin to describe the crushing feeling in my heart when I listened to that final minutes-to-cut-off-time countdown. With 500 meters left to the finish, more KyserunKrew members stepped out and cheered us on, their encouragement roaring in my ears. My brother’s voice, loudest of all, spurred me onwards from behind, while my teammate pulled me along, urging me to finish strong. Several more KyserunKrew runners emerged from the crowd and ran behind me (one of them even barefoot!), and others ran just ahead of me, pulling, pulling – “You’re almost done! You’re almost done!”
I don’t remember much of what happened after crossing the finish line, except embracing my pacer and my teammate. I lost sight of him after that as I was ushered towards the medal and shirt collection, mumbling, “Where is he? Is he okay? Where is he?”, in between mouthfuls of water and food. Another team member had taken him to the medical tent, while two other teammates helped to sort me out. I was struggling to breathe, but I was alive. We made it across the finish line, just 2 minutes’ shy of the cut off time.
It’s an old African proverb, that if you want to run fast, run alone; if you want to run far, run together.
Running in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon proved this to be true. I was neither the fastest runner nor the strongest, but thanks to my crew, my family, and my pacer for that day, i ran faster and further than i could have ever run if i did it on my own. Even given the choice, i wouldn’t have changed my first full marathon experience for the world. Will i sign up for another one? You bet i will!
So, some final words of advice? Sign up for a marathon, and do the work of building your endurance. Then find someone, or a group of people crazy enough to push your limits for 26.2 miles. I promise you, they’re out there. They will help you meet your running goals, whatever that may be.
Zulaikha Nurain
Kyserun Krew
