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It promised to be the most exciting and memorable event ever. 10,000 people running in our very own international F1 Circuit. It was such a momentous event that Malaysia Book of Records was called in to acknowledge the largest night run ever organised. Energizer you definitely made it a night to remember as what was supposed to be a great night turned out to be one of the worst runs ever !!! Let’s recap the events of the night.

Shuttle bus service

Let’s start with the transportation arrangements. I was delighted when I heard that there were FREE shuttle service being provided, after all Sepang is not near and this was a definite plus. Unfortunately the meeting point at KL Sentral was not clearly defined and some people had no idea where to catch the bus. Some gave up waiting and decided to take the aerobus instead.

I decided to drive there instead and boy was I shocked when I was asked RM 10 for parking fee when I arrived at the designated parking area. Strike one of many for the night. I was there at 6pm and made my way to the entrace. Once there all of us were ushered into the tunnel of death as some aptly named it. Imagine thousands of people stuffed in the tunnel that links from the main area to the pits. Why the hold up ? At the end of the tunnel there’s light !!! Yes pun intended, at the end of the long queue was the headlamp collection and to make matters worst, the collection was indoors in a small enclosed area. Seriously what on earth was going through the minds of these people who setup the table there ?! There’s abundance of space outdoors !! Oh that isn’t the worst part yet, the person in charge who was giving out headlights had the nerve to shout back and told the crowd to disperse cause it was getting stuffy. Strike 2 for Energizer.

The crowded tunnel Pic 1

The crowded tunnel Pic 2

The crowded tunnel Pic 3

Thank god I’ve been to Sepang track often enough to know that there’s another link tunnel on the other side of the grand stand plus a friend Dennis was kind enough to lead us there. Despite it being dark we made it across to the pit area in record time. Since we took the other link we obviously didn’t have our headlamps. So we walked to the other end of the pit and here’s what we saw !!

Free for all headlamps

The enclosed area for headlamp collection

There was no clear indication as to who was in charge but the way the crowd was going at it looks like no one was. The boxes were just left there open and it was a free for all frenzy. Just help yourself and take as many as you want. It’s no wonder there were so many runners who didn’t get their headlamps. Strike 3.

There was total chaos at the starting point as well. The 21km runners were called to the grid and before they were even flagged off the 11km runners were called in. Some of the 21km runners weren’t even aware that they had to run through the place mat to get their times recorded and they just went along their merry way. Strike 4. I initially registered for the 11km run but due to injuries decided to only do the 5.5km instead and boy was I glad that I changed my mind because once you crossed the finish line; you better have a heart of steel to withstand the drama that unfolds.

42km runners at the start line

21km runners at the start line

11km runners at the start line

The finish line in sight unfortunately that's where the real challenge began

As soon as you cross the finish line you’ll be left in a daze, not because you’re worn out from your run but because there’s no one there that knows what to do next. When asked, some of the marshals didn’t even know and just shaked their head. So one does what any normal person would do, follow the crowd. Upon walking back to the pits you’ll be greeted with one super long queue, so this must be the cert/medal collection and so you queue. Hmmmm but wait a minute we have the 5.5,11,21,42km categories, so which queue is for which no one really knew. Strike 4.

So you ask around and finally end up in the correct queue and you wait, and you wait, and wait. Then suddenly you hear sirens and the police emerges and you wonder what the hell happened. The crowd got riled up and a riot ensued. Why you might ask ? Take a look at this first.

Energizer Night Race 2011 Malaysia: Kisah Benar,.. flying Goodies Begs! - Maverick Zack

The organisers couldn’t cope with the amount of people and also the disgruntled runners who queued up more than 1/2 hour only to find out that they were in the wrong queue and were asked to queue again in the correct one. Heck, I would have been freaking pissed as well if that happened. To make matters worst when they start “throwing” out goodie bags which we very well deserve in the first place, it just causes everyone to rush and try to grab one. Who in their right mind would want to queue for an hour just to collect the bag ? Strike 5 !!

Police and RELA on site

So not knowing how to handle the crowd they rolled down the shutters and the Police and RELA guys were brought in !! Yes it got to that point where authorities had to be brought in. The crowd was just left outside dazed, confused and without any explanation !!

ENR committee lowered down the pit gate when there are still loads of ppl standing below it. and there were no announcement made after closing the gate and made all participants waiting outside for nothing when there were no committee left inside the pit area - CyberPunk Kevin

Later on the some woman came out and made an announcement that the goodie bags will be posted to our homes. Eh hello ?!? Posted to our homes ? How do you know who ran and who didn’t ?! Who qualifies to get the medal and certs ? You gonna post it to all 10,000 people who registered ?! Are you for real ?!? Strike 6

So not knowing what else to do we headed back. To the comforts of our home ? No, it’s back to the Energizer Tunnel of Death !! Imagine sweaty, exhausted runners slowly crawling back through that narrow, badly ventilated tunnel. There were people even gasping for air as they try to scramble their way through, trying to get out of the tunnel as quick as they can. Where were the organisers ? Were they even still around ? I’m surprised there wasn’t a stampede or people pushing around. It was seriously that bad in the tunnel !!! My question still remains, why only open one of the link tunnel when there’s another one available ? Strike 7

The infamous #EnergizerTunnelOfDeath - only 10,000 to get through this tunnel with no ventilation and a tiny door at the end. What a finish to the night. - Ling Hsern-Wei

So now you made it through the tunnel, you crawled back to the car and you are blessed with the AC turned on to the max. Head out of the parking and you’ll be greeted with a massive traffic jam. So what’s new right ? Nothing much except the 42km runners were still doing their run on the outer loop and we were crossing their path as we head out of Sepang. I survived Sepang F1 Energizer night run. It promised to be memorable and it was indeed but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. Now instead of having 10,000 people going around telling their friends how awesome it was to be able to run on a F1 circuit, you have them going around sharing their nightmarish experience. Energizer and the organisers definitely have some explaining to do.

If you’ve run the race especially the 21 and 42km runners do share your experience as well. Would love to hear from fellow participants.

Here’s what others thought of the run (Names witheld)

* Camera pics,video and quotes from Energizer Facebook page

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