Marvelous Week

28/11/11: HHH, Genting Highlands

By the knowledge of a holiday on a Monday, the hare must have been quite adventurous to have the run in Genting Highlands. Not that it was on the lower part nor some where halfway towards the country’s only inland casino, it was near the Mushroom Farm – a piece of land on the already crowded mountain top. The day was misty, real thick fog-like! The parking was a fantastic site. We reached the run site to see the only few that had arrived early while the hare’s and co-hare’s cars were neatly parked in a row. The cold immediately came biting just after we got out of the car! The wind blew and laughs were abundant when seeing most of the guys ran to find warmers, some got their jackets on while some got creative to use huge rubbish bags to cut out like a poncho (guest KorWong and Yap Fu Hoi), some even resort to wear a shower cap to keep dry (guest SK Tham)!

OnSec was yet to be able to run after the minor surgery to remove some lazy veins and had JointMaster Jeffrey to lead the pack on tarmac downhill road. Briefly stuck with the first check after the false check call, the pack broke the check quite easily with what looked like an abandoned road project. With more runners due to the cold, we could see more of the usual back pack guys up front! We then continued on downhill for another kilometer to get on the 2^nd check, it was tricky but was broken by the guys who did a Thursday’s run here. The steep and slippery ‘wall’ climb had the pack lining up to take turns and the few clumsy ones especially Anddrew got Opera real impatient. Someone did yell about yanking them down rather than holding the line up!

The climb up part of the mountain was not easy as the air was thinner; it was a short climb and back onto the abandoned road project. By now the rain had stopped and the view down towards the lower land was fantastic! There were ‘flowing clouds’ through the rows and rows of hills and mountains. That scene sure get one less tired but the run has yet to get into! Further climbing a little bit more, opened up to an open space blasted for a road project – the project was on and extensive stage when it was stopped as we could really see the shape taking place on the hard rock surfaces. There were plenty of plants around and there were the few guys who enjoyed the sea of beautiful wild orchids and oceans of ‘Monkey Cup’ (Nepenthes or Pitcher Plants). The terrain that we gone through were not all rocky but some wet and muddy side of Genting Highlands! By then, we have yet to reach the halfway point of the run! We got to see First World Plaza upclose but from the back! The climb back up was anticipated as it was quite near the run site but too soon though, barely 6:45pm!

The hare smelled something and took a right on the tarmac for a long gradient uphill and a right turn into the old broken road. A check was loosely connected and went along uphill by the slope concrete drainage. We got to another abandoned project! It seems that Genting Highlands is also peppered with abandoned items! Well, we got past it and it seems that we are the last pack as the usual ones must have turn left on the tarmac! Further climbing a little more had us going down a ‘wall’ with a makeshift ‘handrail’ to get down! It was getting darker and the fog was looming over where we were. We found ourselves at the gates of some telco towers, ran on the tarmac past a curious man in his hut waving at us; the paper trail went on and on on the road for a few kilometers. We met a group of foreign workers that their UMs were giggling away after we bumped into them - they mights have been frightened by the few crazy guys running in the dark in the fog at that time of the night! The steep downhill road led us to the main road that was the last leg of the run by going up and down the few slopes before we reached the run site about ten to 8.

The weather was cold! Cleaning up was no easy thing – quickly wet, shampoo and wash, sooner than to finish a long pee!

27/11/11: SH4, Venice Hills

It was a rainy Sunday. It was expected to be very slippery and the pre-run mini circle adviced those that could not make it should turn back. Furthermore, the impending heavy rain was there and ready to rip the skies. Anyways, it was a cool day to be enjoyed.

The usual InTrail through the old golf course trail, it was much more over grown with acasia trees saplings. The single file path was heading towards the new developed area and the ‘crawling’ pace going by the fences of that area. The first check was just after the fence into the jungle, there were the smart ones that went back check even upon me advice to look forward. Initially it was a small climb and then it ‘grew’ one after the other. The direction was heading towards ‘Ah Pak san’ and we were on some old trails that were not ‘touched’ for quite sometime. It was nice to see the untouched old jungle trees again. Well, the pinnacle of the run was this long and gradient climb; some were even heard complaining if there was no end to it. The top was a nice walk on the ridge after the taxing climb and soon we reached some familiar trails after a short climb through some old trails. The rest was ‘Ah Pak san’ trails, the downhills on the well trodden paths but it was sort of like deserted maybe because of the rain. It didn’t actually rained heavily but just drizzles. Soon, we got to the river rest area and what looked like the last climb was proven wrong. We got to the old ‘Ah Pak san’ parking by the housing areas and the last kilometer bit was on the main road and the hill. Overall,  a nice run with good sweating time with the hills.

26/11/11: 8^th Batang Nash Hash, Taman Rawang Perdana

It was a sunny day and 2 things to plan – attending Batang Nash Hash and charity dinner, both compulsory! Luckily enough both events were in Rawang and what was more interesting after I got to the latter event is that it was held in the same area as the hash event!

Well, I got me Mrs to my colleague’s house to get the ride to dinner event while I sped on to the run site. I managed to get myself to the run site but was a tad late. I saw the guys were cutting into the bushes after the road turn. The run site was not in sight yet and the concrete road leads uphill and continued on with offtrack till the top of the hill. A ‘roadblock’ manned by Tiger Lee and Puduku was to get registration fees and hand out tees and sarongs. Further uphill was the parking area before the hilltop event area. I hurriedly put on me shoes and sped on with Steven (Seremban Hazards) to catch up with the pack.

The climb was like going back up the hill that we just ran down! We caught up with the pack on the first check and the climb continued. I met Lauda huffing and puffing while Disco was the sweeper pointing on the trail. It was a long climb that ended with a walk on the offtrack near the top and the chance to chat a bit with Micheal Choy. A slippery down hill that was steep, it was made even more difficult with the deep footing and almost nothing to hold on to. The down hill sliding was adventurous. Another long climb waited and with that climb I managed to catch up to chat with few blokes from Jantan Jerantut and a little further uphill to chat with another few from Seremban Hazards with Choon Toy making the noisiest of the noises. The hilltop ridge run was good to wear off the tiredness, the cut across the thick fern bush was like scrapping off excess mud and soon enough another climb started. This time it was short and finally we started the downhill. The wet condition was surprisingly not infested with leeches! We went through the creeks between hills, following a creek downhill and passing another creek a few times but there wasn’t any! We finally got to hear some machinery noises from the quarry and thought we could smell the beers from where we stood. The trail was on the slope facing the quarry but the tree canopy blocked the view. We got to a slippery short climb to the narrow peak where it felt like the top of the world, with views of Rawang town clearly and crisp! The clearcut’s soft slopes was good traction for the steep descend and we got to the quarry after a steep 10ft slide down from the hill side! The lorries were traveling up and down the quarry while we shared the same road to get back. The home trail on this down hill and winding road was also shared with another run that started at 4:30 that was a stroll to some. The final few hundred meters were the uphill road towards the run site!