I have been running for quite a bit. Most of my running event participation as you’re aware are mainly focusing on charitable runs 🙂 . The only non-charitable running event I participated is the Nike We Run KL 2016 21km run, which is my first memorable half marathon run that I should blog about but I chose not to. I did however share some of the lessons learnt on my other site Modern Mavens. Click this link if you want to read on it 🙂

This Shell Electric Run 2016 however I must blog about. It is my first night run, my first Shell Electric Run, and also my first most epic wet, slippery, muddy, and slushy run. And of course it is a charitable run as well as I was running not for Shell but for Rexona who partnered with Electric Run to raise RM100,000 for five disability charities.

I confirmed my participation at the very last day. I was given two passes but because it is last minute, none of my running friends could go. So I ended up confirming just for one. It has been nearly a month since my last running event. I was feeling kinda lazy and not having a good feeling about going. Dragged my legs to Selangor Turf Club by 4.30pm, reached the venue by 5.30pm, parked at VIP parking lot (which I was gladly led into), and collected my race pack from the media registration booth. The run was supposed to start at 7.30pm and media were told to arrive by 5.30pm. Just 15 minutes after I collected my race pack, it started raining. I was still at the media registration booth when the rain pours down so I hide under the tent at the same booth. Most people do and there is no way the organizer can say no to all the poor runners who had to hide from the rain as well.

Roughly around 7.30pm, some runners said there are flash flood at the parking lot and water level has reached to the tyre. I asked the exact parking area that was affected and my heart sank a bit upon hearing that the affected area is more or less where I parked. So much so for parking in the VIP parking lol. The wind and rain was so strong that I was beginning to feel cold. I put on the rain coat given by the organiser right before the rain to keep myself warm. At the same time, I was getting pretty anxious about the flash flood in the parking so I decided to walk to my car, under heavy rain and strong wind. It was quite the challenge to find my car in the dark and the main road in front of the parking was flooded so I have to detour to a further route. I finally found my car, walk around my car for a bit to double confirm that the flood is not near my car. If it is, I would have to re-park my car elsewhere, which I was not keen to do since it was quite a chaos that night. Finding a new parking spot will be a challenge.

The organiser told us through WhatsApp group chat that the run flag off has been postponed to 8pm. The rain stopped by 8pm and restarted again not long after that. There has been a lot of talk and worries that the run may be cancelled if the rain and lightning continues. The rain continues through around 8.20pm that it stopped. It was a challenge walking from the back all the way to the front. I was expecting all of us the media runners would be escorted earlier or at least being led to a short cut route to the Start line but nope. Kelly and I squeezed through everyone to get to the Start line, which was a huge U-turn.

Flag off was segregated into a few. Only 1,000 runners roughly was released at one time. I was in the second flag off.

There are one water station which is accessible from both side. I said both side because the route will brought us back to the same area. I certainly did not expect water bottles to be distributed at the water station. But it was good. At least I can hold onto the bottle through the whole run. Another water station was when we headed towards a few tunnels. I was surprised to see packet drinks being distributed. Not interested with that but I saw Ribena. You bet I have to have one.

We tried to capture the Rexona sandwich board guys but they are wobbling left and right haha.

The first beautiful colourful lighting photo op scenery is the paper lantern bridge. This is the only photo taken with me in it lol.

The overall turnout was over 15,000 runners. It is impossible to even run with the small road and with the huge crowd. There are certain areas where we saw an opportunity to run so Kelly and I dashed through it! The hardest part for me is that everyone wore black. Sometimes I stopped to take photo and I could not find Kelly as she was also wearing the official race t-shirt. I do not usually run with t-shirt so I decided to stick with my Under Armour sleeveless top, which I’m glad I did as it was so hot despite the rain. Kelly said she could find me easily with the orange top lol.

We finished the almost 6km run-walk with a finisher medal, yummy banana yogurt ice-cream and Mountain Dew drink. We proceed straight to the concert area where everyone gathered back at Rexona booth.

Rexene partnered with Electric Run as the Official Freshmoves Partner to ensure smelly runners stayed fresh while moving for a good cause. There are motion sensors placed at the concert area where every Freshmoves made by runners will be accumulated and converted into cash donation. Now, that is something new and definitely works.

There is a huge scoreboard keeping track of all the moves and the money ‘donated’ automatically from accumulated moves.

Proceeds will goes to five disability charities – Pusat Harian Kanak Kanak Spastik, Legs for Legless by Rotary Club of Bandar Sunway, Society for the Orthopedically Handicapped (POCAM), Special Children Society of Ampang, and Pertubuhan Amal Social Masyarakat Penyayang Malaysia (SESOA).

Guess who is in the house? Nico & Vinz 😉

The walk back to the parking lot took another few more KMs. Not happy about that as it was middle of the night and I and tired, sweaty and hungry. Heading out from the venue is also another challenge. I was not stuck in the jam out as my direction was the opposite from everybody else. None the less I enjoyed the event very much. Not sure if I prefer the night run over the usual day run as visibility at night is not as good as day. This clumsy girl have to be extra careful not to trip and fall.

Everyone deserves to lead a better life. Rexene Freshmoves campaign is an initiative aimed to inspire and encourage Malaysians to move for a good cause and make a difference. Thank you Rexona for the opportunity to be a part of this great cause. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/RexonaMY.

Now onto the next night run! Puma Night Run Malaysia 2016 😉 . Crossing fingers for no rain, lightning, and mud.