Apr 9, 2009

Promise to run for..

"Do you know what I like most about mountain hiking?"

"What?"

"Every step you make, you are one step closer to the peak...." I looked up and turned to Fatma, gave her a smile..

"NO!!!" Fatma disagreed, "..Every step you make, you are one step FURTHER away from where you started off, " she protested, "...AND ONE STEP FURTHER away from where you need to return to!!!"

I looked at her. Said nothing, hopped a few steps up then turned to her, "C'mon Fatma. We're almost there..."

**********************************************************
Out of frustration towards the organizer, Daus, Wan and I decided to quit the race. And that triggered the disappointment from the rest of the KOMA racers. Huda came to me and pleaded, "Look, you guys don't have to do that -- quitting the race is not going to solve anything... "

I looked at her and the rest of the ladies team. Our Ms Sunshine Fatma had been so quiet since just now, Nurin and Uyun did not cover their disappointment towards three of us. And Farid our team manager -- I know he's pissed off.

"Ke garisan.." The Men's Open racers were about the be flagged off. Ijol, Coco and Zahir were behind the flag-off line..

"C'mon Man, sempat lagi nih..." Huda pleaded. I muted.

"... if the rest of the KOMA members were here, they must be very disappointed with you guys.." Huda left me alone with her last sta
tement.

"GO!!" Followed by the thunderous roar of Men's Open racers stepping on the mountain after flagging off.

..and I was still sitting beside, in my hand was my bip number for a Men's Open category, pondering Huda's words.

**********************************************************
I met Coco at near-peak of Gunung Datuk where he was about to shoot down to the finishing line. Snapped a picture of him then I quickly passed him my water bottle -- this guy had been so confident and he'd never considered of bringing water for the race -- and look at how quickly he finished my water, I knew he's just drained out by his own arrogance.

I need to shoot back to check out those who were still behind.

PapaJai said, "A true Mohawk is the one who leads in front, and also the one who will run to the last person in the troop, and making sure everyone in the troop is taken care of.." -- and I'm still learning.

Way up: Fatma -- checked; Huda -- checked; Uyun -- checked; Nurin -- checked; Zahir -- found him sitting aside resting, but checked; Ijol -- steady, checked; Coco -- checked;

Way down: Ijol -- still steady, checked; Huda -- She's building her speed, checked; Uyun -- I was expecting to see Nurin, checked; Zahir -- found him sitting aside resting again, checked; Nurin -- found her in pale, but catching up her breath, checked;

Fatma -- not checked.

I just had to run faster to look for Fatma -- Zahir and Fatma were considered as rookies in racing while Coco, Ijol, Huda, Uyun and Nurin were relatively more experienced in racing. And YES, my biggest worry was Fatma -- NOT because I didn't trust her stamina, but because she said something that really annoyed me before the race.

She said,"Well, I'll try -- but most likely I'll turn back before the peak kuut..."

Well Fatma, this is not going to happen, I promise.

**********************************************************
I made a promise before. I remember.

There's one day when PapaJai the KOMA Otai sat in front of me and told me about his hope of seeing a true Mohawk in me, I nodded;

There's one day I ran all the way down from a peak of a mountain and left all the troopers behind and being scolded by some disappointed faces after that, I nodded;

Right after the flag off of Men's Open category, the Men's Teen category's racers were all set to be flagged off, it will be followed by Ladies' Open. I looked at Huda, Nurin, Uyun, Fatma and Farid. Same disappointed faces.

I nodded.

"Farid, give me the camera --" I turned to Farid, then to the girls, "aku teman diorng naik."

**********************************************************
"FATMA!!!"

It was indeed such a great relieved to finally meet our Ms Little Sunshine, making her step hard upward..

"You're not thinking of turning back right?" I approached her.

'Seriously, yes for a few times already.." She looked surprised s
eeing me, I guess -- or it was just plain a face expression of regrets.

"Let's go, we get to the peak together."

******************************************************
4 of April, 2009. The troop of KOMA arrived Negeri Sembilan's Gunung Datok to take part in the "N9 Sirkit Gunung Challenge" where the participants are required to race on 3 mountains in 3 months (Gunung Datok @ 4 April; Gunung Tampin @ 16 May; Gunung Angsi @ 27 June) in order to complete the circuit.

The KOMA racing cast consisted of Daus, Wan, Ijol, Coco, Zahir, me myself, Nurin, Huda, Uyun and Fatma; Shah Farid as our team manager -- and hey, it was the biggest racing team from KOMA after the ever-happening The 6th Perak Iron-bound back in January this year, and with the debut of our very eye-catching KOMA Tee, it was SUPPOSED to be another exciting adventure race for KOMA but, I just have to say this, the lame organizer insisted on 'flirting' their VIP with all the non-sense 'protocol' that triggered frustrations among the racers.

Nevertheless, we're still hyped up by our debutants like Fatma and Zahir who join
ed a race for their very 1st time; Farid made his debut as our Team Manager (Wa respect sama lu brader!!); and Nurin grabbed the 10th placing in Women's Open category!

We thank those who supported, logistically and morally; and we apologize to those who got disappointed, heartiestly and sincerely.

*******************************************************************

Ps.. Yes Fatma, every step we make, we are one step further to where we started off -- but who cares? Being adventurous is all about getting out of our comfort zone, right? Congratulation girl, you made it! And to Zahir our new geng, welcome to KOMA!

24 comments:

Kak Z said...

aiman dear.. what can I say.. rasanyer the most sincere notes i hv come across.. no doubt, reading thru this note, akak pun sama terbawa msk dlm the team adventure wpun i was not there.. erm, rasanyer, no doubt gak papa jai will be proud of u this time.. : )
n as usual, being a sentimental-mom/sis, almost make me teary-eye ler gak bc post nih.. menghayati gituh.. hehe..
but 1 question, apa yg organizer buat smp u guys tarik diri frm that race?? ermm.. bad bad organizer...
ps: to Fatma, hope to me u in person one day.. u go girl!! hehe..

SpidEy d'lEfty said...

alamaaaak~~~~

ORganizer tu promised flag off 9:30am.. tp kene tunggu VIP derng sampai -- the VERY IDIOT PERSON sampai around 9:45am, terhegeh2 lak tu, tak reti malu.. pahtu derng nk wak PERASMIAN lak.. siut jer.. ade ucapan, yg klasik nyer.. siap ade persmbahan tradisional lagi!!! amat bodoh, racers satu kampong duk tunggu dier nk flag off... sampai ade yg dah menjerit2 nk boikot dah..

kak Z said...

hohoo.. no wonder la korang boikot gak.. mmg tk patut arr jd mcm tuh.. nyway, kalau 1st race nie dh tk join, next race, msh buleh join ke? nie sirkit kan.. hahaha, sori kalau soklan ntah hape2.. akak blur sket bab2 race nih.. huhu

SpidEy d'lEfty said...

blh jer join lagi -- cam nurin, dier dah menang tempat 10, dapat 1 point, harus dier proceed the circuit.. kalu tak cam sayang lah... Zana pun duk plannk join 2nd race nnt..

Farid Shah said...

Aiman.. At first aku mmg bengang ngan korang... Tambah kesian biler aku tgk all the ladies racer bukan kemain semangat nak lari. Tgk kerenah fatma yg nmpk pucat, uyun yg blur, nurin yg tak tentu arah, huda yg bersungguh motivate the guys.. Tp biler aku pikir balik sbb apa korang give up.. Aku paham...its ur choice.. And I respect for it.. One thing for sure that I know ko(aiman) ade hati yg baik... Sanggup lari jugak dan motivate the ladies along the race...ko naik turun..pastu naik balik..aku rasa kalo masok race sure dpt placing nye... Anyway aku enjoy the trip ..chalos

Nazim Jainal said...

I will start running again..regardless.....

Zana said...

aiman... aku salute ko sbb sudi motivate KOMA ladies yg masuk race sampai puncak (esp fatma la).. bukan senang nak naik gunung, turun blk & naik semula.. mmg memerlukan stamina yg tinggi gak tu..
pasal organizer tu, kalo aku ada pun memuncak gak marah!! tak patut aa diorg flag-off kul 1130am... dah tghari tu beb.. janji kul 930am... diorg pun dah penah organize sirkit nie last year.. takkan tak improve kot..
anyway, good racing experience...

Ijoi said...

Mmg frust beb bila korangs quit. but u all hv a reasons on it
But Ijoi have to do it.its all for Tahan XPDC
Then betul ker Gng Datuk mmg badi utuk Ijoi???
Terase beb bila jalan sorang2 bila takde geng KOMA depan dan belakang..
Tiba2 dkt tgh2 check point dgr suara Aiman panggil
" Ijoi...aku nmpk ko ", Aiman kata.
"Hah..Aiman..ko masuk gak ek", tnyer Ijoi.
" Tak, aku teman gurlz group, then tolong tngkap gmbr"..
"Ok, ijoi keep on moving on your pace k..jgn stop ...Nti aku jumpa ko kat puncak k...."
Tak sempat ijoi smpi puncak Aiman dgn Coco dah turun...giler laju....."
On da way turun jumpa lah Nurin, Huda, Uyun, Zahir, Fatma and then aiikkk Aiman naik lagik..." Giler Power....then aiman sempat lagi pesan " nanti aku kejar ko k"....

Fatma said...

*speechless*
akan aku print karangan ini, simpan dalam diari yang boleh kunci-kunci tu

i can't thank you enough, so i won't even try, Aiman.
dan aku akan masih super-lembab dlm hal-hal mendaki dan berlari ini (unless ia adalah larian dalam isetan), tp insya Allah, aku x serik :)
can't wait for the next one!

Budak2 KOMA mmg best - thanks to all!

p/s: hi, Kak Zalhatun Nazira.. :) Hehe, soon, we will meet!

Aiman said...

wah~~~ byknyer comment yg pjng2!!!! bagus bagus -- lagi bagus mcm ijoi, buat script terus..

To all, yer, lari naik and turun balik and naik balik mmng kerje giler -- that's y kene pull out from the race, baru blh dapat buat kerje cam nih... hehehe..

Bak kate zana: "Biler lagi?"

Aiman said...

Fatma, print the blog version -- better layout. Not the FB's note version.

:p

azwar said...

To All the KOMA's Team.. tahniah...kerana berjaya harungi cabaran tersebut.. to Nurin.. congrate.. KOMA kalau masuk race sure dapat placing.. bagus lah.. Aiman.. joint he race nie bukan saja uji ketahanan fizikal sahaja.. ia turut menguji ketahanan mental kita... ketahanan mental teruji kat sini bukan sahaja sbb kena daki gunung tu tapi dah diuji dengan kebodohan penganjur tu... so next time even bak kata Manager Farid.. (semua game Manager nie) the choice is yours.. korang pulun jer.. instead just Nurin jer yg dapat placing.. korang pun dapat gak.. transform the anger to energy.. it work for me once.. hehehe.. terus menang Gold utk 100m, 200m and 4x100m...(hehehe.. citer lama)..anyway.. all the best to KOMA... aiman... aku nak satu baju KOMA saiz XL.. cantik siut.. korang pi la race.. for time being.. aku kena "race" ngan Muhammad Isyraq Iman.. coz kak long will said... Baba.. Israq Phu Phu... Baba. Isyraq nangis.. and etc etc.. hahahahaha

SpidEy d'lEfty said...

Along, mmng betul a race is not only a physical challenge but mental jugak -- sy quit race nih bukan nk elak daripada cabaran smue nih, bukan chicken out.. tp sy rase I can do more for my friends rather than just race for myself.. u know what i mean..

OK.. baba, israq phu phu lagi.. p lah 'race' dgn Isyraq~ hahaha!!

Zahir said...

tq aiman...tq all.....

Kak Z said...

pstt.. akak suka komen@karangan ijoi kt atas nie gak.. bes..
terasa betapa tk berstamina tingginyer akak nih compare ngan org2 power naik turun gunung mcm si aiman tuh.. hehe...

azwar said...

alrite bro.. i know what you mean.. :)
all the best kay..

Naughty Adam said...

1st of all congrats to all KOMAitees yg join race ne...proud of u...cite ne aku tau bile aku call ko aiman tanya pasal result...walaupun tak dapat join sama tp jauh di sudut ati meronta ronta nak masuk... huhu... 2nd sirkit jom masuk!!! aku pun just nak carik endurance utk becoming sprinting event aku bulan 11 ne... jom jom...jgn kecik ati k kita layan je 2nd sirkit...huhu~

RWP said...

bro Spidey,
u guys seem like running forever. ive been following you blog or a long time now. arent you guys get tired? if u guys r tired, stop for awhile for a picture. smile *flash*.

PapaJai said...

aiman.. cam biasa gua bagi lu sepuluh bintang...
tapi dgr nih aku nak nasihat kat kowang 3 ekor (bila papa jai bersuara).. beri perhatian dgn amarah kowang tuh.. hati puas kan pull off from race.. tapi kengkawan kowang hampa.. mana lagi penting agak nye ye? organizer ker, hati sendiri ker, kawan kowang? haaaa.. balik darat nih aku nak jawapan..

aiman..
actually you are getting there.. close but not yet there.. stamina otromen.. but.. have you ever wonder to ask youself WHY you go up and down?? tak rasa bodo ker? tak rasa penat ker?? dapat medal ker?? think hard aiman.. if you know the true answer.. mohawk you will be..

Fariz said...

Jai dah cakap macam Master Yoda dah... ko prepare jer la jawapannya my young Padawan...

Aku paham Jai kenapa mamat ni turun naik... rasa bersalah la tu... but in a way, the organiser needs to be scold... but perhaps you guys kena la pikir cara yang lebih baik... after the race, maybe...?

Aku rasa masa Perak Ironbound pun, banyak ajar kita kan? So hopefully you guys will be wiser next time. As u all know, I will have to stay away from all this, and hopefully will b able to balance my new life and KOMA. But you guys will always be close to me.

Skrg ni pun tgh dok wondering, apa la yg jadi kat korang dlm hutan Liang ni... hrmm.. hopefully semua nya dah tidor... jangan gospen gospan lagi... save energy for a big climb esok... (macam la aku cakap ni diorg boleh dengar...) "My young padawan, you'll send this message to your friends tomorrow! I am talking to you in your dream!"

Aku nak tido dah la... bengong... bila ko sampai darat Jai?

SpidEy d'lEfty said...

Takut lah pesanan 2 orng MASTERS aku... sorng phsycho, sorng mental... wah~~~~

Liang best -- mmng best and best and tak tau nk cakap camner dah -- lain dari trip mountaineering yg before2 -- yer lah, level pun mmng dah lain katenyer... nnt kite bercerita eck...

Huda said...

Mmg terharu la dgn apa yg Aiman buat masa kt Gng. Datuk. Sanggup teman kt org. Tersentuh hati & perasaan. Sob..sob..sob.. Thx jugak utk sume yg turut memberi sokongan :)

Anonymous said...

To my dear brother,
I had read thru your blog.It indeed a great blog with the nice photos n great articles.
Contradict to what Ms Lil Sunshine said,'Every step you make, you are one step FURTHER away from where you started off, "...AND ONE STEP FURTHER away from where you need to return to!!!"
n u replied,'hu cares...'
You noe,ther is so much ppl cares abt that..it is the matter of getting further away from ur ORIGIN!bt u din care wat others' cares..origin is wher u started to learn,started to walk,started to approach tis world..it's the origin of ur traits,origin of pursuit of happiness..
It's been ages i din c u and i seriously tink tat im jz like missing a brother.Noe u r bz with ur loaded work,bt time can be spared out if u wan to.
Just to remind u..it's proud to hear that u r running for ur dreams, running for sum promises, running out of ur comfort zone and creating ur own zone. However,sumtimes,running bek to origin of life is a MUST and alw rmbr that ther's alw someone waiting for u to share wat u had achieved..they care u so much..
REmember,Don wait til it's too late..
Parents coming tis 29th..hope that v wil hav gathering as wat suppose to hav..
V Love u from the bottom of heart..don feel empty don feel alone..nth much to b felt so cos many other ppls outside ther getting much more loneliness than u...at least u gt many frens around u,u gt us...

sincerely from ur lil sis,lixuan

Pink Itu Jambu said...

u guys memang rock!!! congrats..