Welcome to der Family : der Pacemakers #80 (PM80)

Hi.
My name is Ooi Chin Guan.

Here’s a bit about myself.
Hometown : Taiping, Perak
YOB : 1978
Primary School : SK Bandar Baru Seri Petaling
Secondary School : Victoria Institution KL
Tertiary Education : B Pharm (Hons) UKM
Favourite Pastime : Sleep

I was never someone who likes sports during my school days. In fact, I was a school nerd. I am the typical skinny specky kiasu school librarian who likes to play chess. Sports is the last thing I would have done back then. I still remember my first cross country run in 1991 which is compulsory in my school. I was probably the last few kids who walked most of the way and were happy to cross the finish line in one piece.

Fast forward to the age of 30, I as a workaholic and spend most of my time in the shop. I was probably 54kg and I have chest pain and panting heavily from just climbing a flight of stairs. I woke up one morning and vowed to take control of my health. I started hiking with a bunch of random friends who I met in FB and later conquered the famed G10 in Peninsular Malaysia. I started running to train for the hikes and later I found out I actually liked running a lot.

After completing a series of half marathons with mediocre timing, I took up cycling at the age of 32 thanks to my business partner cum mentor. I was just an average cyclist probably due to my poor handling. One fateful date, I met a group of Klang Pacers cyclists who eventually sowed the seed in my brain to become an Ironman. Why wanna suck in 1 sports when one can suck in 3.

I completed my first Ironman in Western Australia in 2013. Thereafter I did one full Ironman once a year. However, despite however hard I train, I wasn’t able to better the time of my first IM. One trend that I notice for the top finishers are their run time which are significantly better than mine. I also notice that despite running 7 full marathons before this, I have not been able to do a sub 4.

So in early 2018, I vowed to improve my run to better my IM timing and found out the best running group near my home is actually the PM LGKL group. I was warned that they are kinda cocky and all are fast runners. True enough, during my first run, we chatted for a few seconds and thereafter, I was dropped so badly that my mum cannot recognize me. That was only after 2 loops. To rub salt into the wound, I was told that its just their cincai ‘pasar malam’ pace. It took me a while to blend in and I gotta eat lots of humble pie before I was finally accepted into the fold after a few months.

Most people outside PM will think that Capt Ronnie is someone who is snobbish but its probably they are not close to him ‘yet’. Among all the PM members, I think he developed me the most. From running technique to mental toughness, he taught me a lot. Approx 2 mths under his tutelage, I started breaking my own PBs and subsequently finishing races in podium spots. To me, he’s like a ‘big brother’ figure to me. He’s the perfect epitome for the phrase ‘winning is all in the mind’. I find that his race preparations are second to none.

There are other PM members who has actually made training days fun. Special mention is Ryan Chiew, Daniel Tan, Melvin Lim, Juin Pan, Ivan Koh, Lee Teck Wai and not forgetting our very own Drama Queen Audrey ‘I never amkan’ Ong. Thanks for guiding me past 7 mths.
I am truly humbled to be inducted as a member of PM. Besides hoping to train and mingle with the best, I hope I can contribute whatever that is required by the group members. My hope is that all the sifus in PM can guide me to not be a better runner only but as a better person as well.

Attached are my PBs
5KM > 19.48  |  10KM > 40.46  |  21KM > 1.35.20  |  42KM > 3.43.20

Brought 2u by
Ooi Chin Guan @ PM80
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