Congested but still fun
This charity run is aimed at raising awareness on environmental issues, writes Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan
ASK any Grab driver about Mid Valley and he or she will tell you that the area is “very jammed”. Turns out, that even if you close the road partially and open the area only for pedestrians for a run, the area will still be “very jammed”.
Which explains why the 5th instalment of the Mid Valley City Charity Run (MVCCR) 2018 reduced the number of runners to 2,000 from more than 3,000 last year.
The congestion, however, didn’t happen during the run. It happened before flag-off
and once the run is over. The flag-off area is the narrow space between Mid Valley Megamall and The Gardens so it gets pretty packed.
Top that up with booth from sponsors for runners’ goodie bags and you have long queues, bottlenecks and congestion right after the race. But still, it was a fun 5km run that I try to run every year.
HELPING OUR RIVERS
This year, the charity run saw its first collaboration with Global Environment Centre (GEC) to promote environmental education as well as to raise awareness on global environmental issues.
MVCCR aims to support the protection of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources.
All participants’ registration fees, amounting to RM100,000, was channelled to GEC’s efforts. Before the flag-off, a mock cheque of the said amount was presented by IGB REIT Management Sdn Bhd executive director Elizabeth Tan to GEC River Care Programme coordinator Dr K. Kalithasan.
“We are happy to see that people are even more inspired to run to raise funds for a good cause,” says IGB REIT CEO Antony Patrick Barragry.
“As corporate citizens, we want to actively help alleviate the environmental issues that affect our local communities. This year, we hope to support, to the best
of our abilities, our non-profit beneficiary GEC, and we admire their commitment to the cause.”
EASY RACE
The run takes runners to the main road of Mid Valley City before going inside the malls and even up and down the car park.
With the exception of the car park ramp — which I find to be quite stuffy — the rest of the route make for a comfortable run.
The elevation is not challenging but this isn’t your training run — it’s something you do for fun on a Sunday morning.
I think the main draw of the run are the goodie bags and voucher booklet. Runners are not disappointed. There were chicken rice, Milo, a yogurt drink, pineapple tarts, cookies and iced tea.
I think the cumulative calorie of the food in the goodie bag was more than the calorie burned during the run but it’s a fun run and I’m not going to be a wet blanket over the issue.