twy’s blog!

This particular story happened in Penang. Taken from The Star

Devil In Disguise, by Marie Schneider

Beware of evil men disguised as good.

WHEN you are in need of help, the last thing you want is a predator turning up to take advantage of your vulnerability. In the past, I’ve heard so many stories of evil intent disguised as a good deed; stories that have shocked me, but which have also been quickly forgotten. That is to say, until a dear friend had a harrowing encounter with a “Good Samaritan”. Now I’m reminded that we can never let our guard down with a stranger.

It all started when my friend locked herself out of her car at the side of a busy Penang road. One minute she was investigating the strange noise coming from one of her wheels, and the next she found herself stranded. It was late at night, it was beginning to rain, and her handphone was inside the car, along with her handbag and house keys.

Just as she was cursing her absent-mindedness, a car pulled up from behind. Her initial reaction was uncertainty, so she tried to make herself as visible as possible by standing as close to the passing traffic as she could, without getting run over. Surely, no one would try anything untoward with so many potential witnesses, she reasoned.

As it turned out, the driver of the car was friendly and charming. But isn’t that usually the case? Predators usually don’t look any different from the good guys. If evil were clearly etched on a face, we could round up everyone with a certain look and lock them up before they could do any harm.

To gain my friend’s trust, Mr Pred told her that the same thing had happened to him the month before. “It can happen to anyone,” he said, and then he laughed in an easy way that said, “Hey, I’m on your side! I’ve been there, done that, and I can help get you on your way again.”

OK, there’s no such laugh, but my friend felt her unease beginning to melt ever so slightly.

Mr Pred then went to his car and removed a metal contraption from his boot: a device that could be used to open a car door. According to him, he’d had it specially made after he’d locked himself out of his car. “I’m so absent-minded, it’s ridiculous,” he announced. Then he laughed in a way that said, “Come on! I’m just an absent-minded, jolly, middle-aged man who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Or so it seemed to my friend. But as he manipulated the metal contraption through the rubber seal that runs along the bottom of her car window, he also manipulated her.

“I’m just on my way home after visiting my mother in hospital,” he said.

“I hope it’s not anything serious,” said my friend.

“She has been ill for a while now, and the doctor said that it’s just a matter of days before …”

“I’m sorry,” said my friend.

Like, what a nice man to stop and help when he was suffering so much.

As Mr Pred fiddled, he talked at length about his elderly mother. My friend felt herself warming to him. All that talk about the old lady touched her.

After a few more manipulative minutes, Mr Pred had the door open. My friend was so relieved, she could have hugged him. But she didn’t.

“Hey, what do you know! I did it. I was getting a little nervous, because it was taking so long,” he said. Then he laughed in a way that said, “You can see that I’m just a nice man who is eager to please.”

“How can I possibly thank you,” said my friend.

“It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help. But before I go, let me just take a look at that wheel of yours. I don’t want to drive off and leave you stranded.”

It’s the front passenger wheel,” said my friend as she moved around to the other side of the car.

It was there, shielded from passing vehicles that Mr Pred made his move. He pushed her against the side of the car and grabbed her breast. It happened so quickly that she couldn’t respond immediately. It was only when she felt his hand moving beneath her skirt that she scream­ed and tried to push him away.

“It’s just a little fun,” said Mr Pred, pushing my friend so hard against the car that she felt winded.

From within her panic and fear, a little snippet of information floated up. She stopped struggling. So did Mr Pred. And that’s all it took; that one little window of opportunity.

A perfectly manicured finger shot out and poked Mr Pred in the eye. His hands shot up to his face and he took a step back. And that’s all it took for her to escape into her car and lock the door.

Mr Pred is still out there.

FYI, I have never finished a Powerman long distance race under the 5 hr qualifying time before.

In 2006, I finished in 5:01:12. Then, it was held in Lumut, and the race started at 1pm! The few things I remembered about that race is that it was super hot when it started, I started having bad cramps on my calf right after I got onto my bike, and the weather changed from hot to heavy rain during the bike.

Last year, I finished absolutely the last with a time of 5:49:56. I know that I am last because the sweeper bus was right behind me. It started a little bit cloudy, but got really hot at the end. Furthermore, I fell sick the day before, could barely stay up, but still decided to race.

This year, my goal is to finish in under 5 hrs. Breakdown: 1:10 (1st run), 2:15 (bike) and 1:30 (2nd run).

On Thursday before the race, it got pretty cold in my room. Even though the fan was quite low, it got really cold and the next morning I felt like I am going to fall sick. I thought to myself if the same thing last year might happen again. Drank lots of warm water for damage control. Decided to sleep early just in case. Woke up like 4.30am the next morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Felt a little bit weak, but not as bad as last year.

Packed my stuff and started my journey to Seri Manjung after lunch. For those who don’t know how to get there from Penang, take the North-South highway and exit at the Changkat Jering exit. Head towards Pantai Remis and from there, just continue going straight. Total time should be between 2 to 2.5 hours.

Got my race pack. T-shirt is pretty nice, so is the bag that they gave. This year, I planned pretty early. Paid the registration fees in July to get the early bird price, and booked a room at Lead View Hotel, the nearest hotel to the start. You’ll need to book it really early as it fills up pretty fast. Attended the briefing. Blog friend Haris was there as well, but he’s taking part in the relay. DIdn’t eat much for dinner, and slept early.

Got up at 5.30am, took a warm shower, and had my pre-race meal. It consists of Munchy crackers and some banana. And now to the race.

Took it easy on the run. After the first 2 corners, I looked back and noticed that I was already last, together with a girl. But the girl slowly faded back and I could see I’m starting to approach some people in front. Slowly overtook one at a time. Before I finished the first lap, the elites overtook me, just like last year. I finished the first lap in about 38 mins. Pretty much on target. Ran about the same pace on the 2nd lap. This time they gave a band at the end of the 1st lap.

Not many bikes left as I entered T1. There were a few other runners that just entered as well. One thing I learned from last year is proper nutrition on the race. I didn’t eat that much last year, and suffered. Ate 2 bananas that I had at my place, and drank some 100 plus. From what I read online, one would need about 2 powergels and 1 bottle of isotonic drink per hour for calories. You’ll also need water, which for this race will be provided at the u-turn point.

The first lap of the bike, I felt pretty strong. However, I felt that my calves were starting to cramp up. Didn’t really cramped up, but it were signs that I need to do something. Quickly ate one powergel and dumped in some 100 plus. Luckily for me, it subsided and didn’t had cramps all the way on the bike. Overtook quite a number of people on the first lap. I was quite surprise to be overtaking Sprint participants so early in the bike. I could see quite a number was starting to have cramps, and many stopped at the side of the road to stretch. I also saw a number of punctures throughout the whole bike leg, amounting to about 5.

The climb up the bridge wasn’t so bad on the 1st lap. However, towards the end of the first lap, my feet started to feel really painful. I wasn’t sure it was due to the pounding on the run, or on the bike itself. At the u-turn, I realised that it could be because my shoes were too tight. I quickly loosen the straps, and it started to feel a lot better, but still a little bit painful. I started to struggle on the 2nd lap. The climb up the bridge this time was getting harder, and on the return climb, it was purely mental just to complete the climb. I told myself that there was only 12km back to T2. Pushed as much as I could but was quite exhausted already. A few people overtook me then. Finished the 1st lap in 1:10 hrs, the 2nd lap was 1:16 for a total of 2:26 hrs. 25 mins better than last year.

I entered T2 at 3:45 hrs after start, which means I have 1:15 hrs left to finish the race, which is the same time as my first run! I tried my best to run, but just ran out of energy. The sun was right up there and it was blistering hot. At each water station, I just poured water all over my head and face. Again, walked for the most part of the run.

Unofficial timing:
1st run (11km): 1:13
Bike (64km): 2:26
2nd run (10km): 1:39
Total: 5:24

Well, at least there was improvement from last year, which came from the bike section. I shall train harder for next year, and see you there!

Race organising was quite good. Water station was adequate. Marshalling was top notch. Thanks to the marshalls, policemen and RELA members, and not to mention all the volunteers involved.

However, one thing I don’t quite like about this event is how they prioritise the elites. I understand that the elites give the glamour to the event. But for age groupers like me, I don’t really care who’s taking part. I don’t follow the Duathlon scene anyway. But its the age groupers that make this event what it is. Without them, they’ll won’t have enough funds to run an event like this, and it’ll be sad if they’ll have to stop organising because of this reason.

In the triathlon races organised by Uncle Chan and family, you can feel that people are doing it for fun. Fun but yet competitive. And they’ll wait till the very last person finishes. But in Powerman, once its over 5 hrs, only the volunteers are left behind. I know how it feels to be behind as I was last last year. They were already starting to pack up when I arrive at the water station. When I finally finished, there were hardly anyone left. Only a few volunteers left, who were cheering for me when I entered the finishing chute.

This year, the Awards lunch started at the 5 hrs mark, meaning that the organisers would have left for it by then. There were no announcement and encouragement given to the finishers. And to make things worse, they decided to give the finisher’s cert right after the race itself. Even worse still, they ran out of cert and had people to write down their names and particulars for it to be delivered. It was quite a mess at the finisher’s tent. What happen to the personal touch? For the past 2 events that I was in, it was mailed to us with our timing on it. Isn’t that nice?

I hope to organisers would pay attention to these details. Of course, I don’t intend to finish over 5 hrs again, but there’ll definitely be somebody that will and I know how they feel. It is not a nice feeling.

I didn’t attend the Awards Lunch. Went back straight to the hotel, took a really nice and long hot shower and packed up. Went for my customary celebratory meal at KFC, the nearest being at Sitiawan some 3km away. Who cares about the Awards lunch? My award was waiting for me at KFC