Presint 18 parkrun, Putrajaya (Malaysia)

After a few local(ish) weeks, this week I ended up on the other side of the world, visiting Presint 18 parkrun Putrajaya. Just outside Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. Yup, kind of far from my last event in Battersea. It also seems I have picked the right parkrunday to randomly happen to be in a tropical country, with the freezing conditions and storm leading to several parkrun cancellations.

This visit comes at the end of a (prolonged on purpose) business trip to Singapore and Malaysia. When I was planning the trip I was tempted to add a day both sides, to be able to catch an event in Singapore as well. However, with a very long flight and substantial time difference, that would have meant leaving London on Thursday, which would have been too much. Miss IngoRuns is not a lenient boss, so I decided to limit my exotic park running to Malaysia. I am sure I will be back in Singapore anyway.

So, Presint 18, that exotic event that still stands as the only parkrun in Malaysia. Well, I am really happy I went because the event is wonderful, with a scenic run along a beautiful lake and luxuriant tropical vegetation. The local team and other runners are incredibly friendly and encouraging and the surroundings are stunning. Only one negative: the obscene, unbearable humidity. I now understand why they start at the unpleasant time of 7:30am. Event that time means you will be suffering from the get go.

One more off topic comment, maybe to see if I can get a sponsorship from the Malaysian tourist board. Kuala Lumpur is a great city, well worth a visit. Welcoming population, clean, well organised, great food, incredible sights, fun and funky night scene. Definitely worth a visit before or after an exotic South East Asia beach paradise holiday.

Anyway, enough with my rumblings. It’s time to dive into some more info about Presint 18 parkrun, Putrajaya!

Trip to Presint 18 parkrun and parking

If you are not from Malaysia, as I guess is the case for most of my readers, then getting here involves a long long flight. And probably planning some other activities or visits, since as crazy as we might be, spending 30 hours on a plane for a 5K run is unlikely to be a frequent choice. Anyway, I will assume most people will be based in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

The event is in Putrajaya, a separate city half way between KL and the KL International airport. The city name in the previous sentence links to a Wikipedia article on this interesting place, it’s worth a read. In short, Putrajaya was planned in the early 90s as a new administrative capital to fight overcrowding in KL. And then it was designed and built as a low traffic, pleasant garden city. I have only seen the area around the parkrun, but it is objectively stunning: definitely mission accomplished! One complaint I heard from local is that it was designed with car transport as a baseline, so not much in terms of public transport and long distances. Might be the case, not sure, but this could be one of the reasons for the next point: how do you get here from central KL?

Well, the answer is, by car. The Grab app is the main taxi booking app in Malaysia and Singapore and it works extremely well. I spent 1 day visiting KL hopping from cheap Grab to cheap Grab and it worked seamlessly. On parkrunday morning, a trip from central KL (my hotel was by the Petronas Towers for reference) to Presint 18 parkrun takes about 35 minutes and cost around 55/60 MYR. 10 GBP, give or take. And you will most likely do the same thing on the way back.

Following the official course page recommendation putting the Futsal centre as destination, you just need to work through it to reach the meeting point. Less than 5 mins walk if you take the long way around.

An alternative that some people seem to take is sleeping in Putrajaya the night before and maybe investing half a day to explore this intriguing suburb. I was really tempted to do that, but when I decided to go for it, I realised I was beyond cancellation policy for my (wonderful) central KL hotel. When considering it, the Dorsett Putrajaya seemed to be the option offering the best cost/convenience ratio. That will put you about 1 mile away from the start.

Presint 18 parkrun: start and briefings

Assuming you have arrived from the Futsal Centre car park, either cross through the playing fields keeping to the left of the main building or go all the way around and back into the start path turning left at the end of the playing fields. I was there around 7am and a couple of tourists and one member of the local team where there before me. It helped easing my mind because I was not sure I was in the right place! Clearly right area, but who knows if the 5K app location is correct or not! This time, it was, so you can use the ‘directions’ feature on it if you have a local e-SIM (recommended: the Airalo app is great to get cheap, short terms data plans for any country in the world).

Little by little people started arriving, with tourists clearly coming earlier than locals. Keen tourists are scared to miss the event after all. Even more if it is on the other side of the world! Then most of the volunteers arrive and finally, the bulk of local runners. The vibe is friendly and welcoming throughout, which seems to be a pretty consistent situation here in Malaysia.

Shortly before 7:30am, the First Timers briefing started. After welcoming a couple of genuine first timers, a short survey to find out where the many tourists came from. This is definitely an event that attracts wandering parkrunners and the core team seems to be definitely used to it. Afterwards, it would be time to get going. On the day I visited, the actual start was delayed by about 20 minutes because of lack of volunteers and delayed placement of the cones at the turnaround points. Hopefully Presint 18 can continue getting the volunteering support it needs and it will continue being a successful event.

As local tradition commands, a group selfie was suddenly called and then everyone lined up waiting for the time to go.

Finally, it comes: it is the countdown. 3, 2, 1.

Time to go!

Presint 18 parkrun course review – star ratings

Presint 18 parkrun course review – route highlights

There were 79 parkrunners on the day of my visit to Precint 18 parkrun. It is definitely a healthy attendance level, giving the event a great familiar feeling while allowing parkrunners to always have someone nearby when running or walking the course. I would assume about 15/20 of those being tourists, so even with obsessive travellers like me, you still have a good, sustainable local field. It is a shame Malaysia is left with only one event because the movement seems to have a good following, at least in Putrajaya. Talking to one of the volunteers, it seems that the other event that used to be live in Kuala Lumpur had to shut down because the landowners started demanding fees for the use of their grounds. Shame. I also saw there was another event in KL that tried to get going but never really started, maybe a COVID victim? Hopefully more events can come to this beautiful and welcoming country in the future.

In terms of congestion, this is never an issue. Paths are wide and numbers are reasonable, so you will have fun if you can deal with the humidity. And this is the other thing to note. I don’t usually talk about the weather, with notable exception this summer when I ran (or tried to) Roma Pineto and Salento parkrun in Italy. They were both hot, probably hotter than Presint 18, but nowhere near as humid. Humidity was above 90% and regardless of early morning time or soothing lakeside views, it is painful. Very painful if you are not used to it. Pace yourself and if you know you suffer the weather, maybe carry some water with you. Not a PB course for someone used to running in Europe, but definitely a beautiful one, with tropical vegetation matching the humidity all through.

There are no real bottlenecks along the course. There are two 360-degrees turnaround points, one at the top of a short hill and one at the end of the out and back straight. Even then, these two turnaround points around cones are fairly wide and unless you approach them as part of a massive group, you will have no issues there. It is a pleasant run with a good balance between feeling part of the pack and having more than enough space to run freely.

Surface-wise, it is a very well maintained tarmac path all through. If you are looking for a London comparison, it is definitely at least as good as Dulwich. You can sport your carbon plated race shoes here, if you want to. During the briefing, we were warned about potentially slippery sections because of small puddles. Puddles were there, but the paths are wide enough to navigate around them most of the time.

Elevation-wise, at 8m elevation gain over a one lap out and back, this has to be classified as a flat event. That said, there are a few things you need to know before expecting it to be pancake flat. Because completely pancake flat it is not. First, about 800m in, there is a little squiggle to the left that you run only once. This is another mini out and back, up a hill and down the same hill. It is about 50m long and steep enough to be noticeable, but it is not a killer. Then we should bear in mind that we are running along a lake in a landscaped, green luxuriant park. This means that there are minor ups and downs fairly often along the route. These are not more than half a metre ups and downs, but they are there, as you can see from the elevation plot below.

In terms of course design, it is very simple. One lap out and back with a left squiggle 1/3 of the way in. The out and back ends and a major monumental bridge and then you come back all the way to where you started. Or probably a few metres short of where you started.

A quick Relive route plot is on my YouTube Channel, with longer video highlights embedded below.

Once it is time to get going, the start is not congested at all. Countdown and go and you will be going out too fast, it is guaranteed. You start on a wide paved path and the run is immediately downhill. Combine that with you not being fully aware of heat and humidity now and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. Or at least, for overdoing it a little bit.

After less than 100m, it is time for a 90-degree turn left and you will join the lakeside path that will be your home for most of the run. What struck me immediately was how beautiful the setting is, with lush, green tropical vegetation. The lake is a consistent companion to your right, with calm blue water and usually beautiful architecture on the other side. You keep going straight for a little while, encountering the first few up and down bumps. They are not steep at all, but this is where I first realised how humidity was already affecting me. I did notice the little bumps and I don’t think I would have with lower humidity. They are similar to what you run through at Mura di Lucca parkrun when crossing bridges along the city walls.

After a short bend that gets you out right towards the lake before going back in, you will meet the hard left turn that gets you into the hill ‘squiggle’. Here you turn more than 90-degrees fairly gently before starting the climb. Go up in a straight line for about 50 metres before reaching a comfortable 360-degrees turn around some cones. Usually, there are marshals at both turnaround points, but on the day I visited they were both unguarded. After you turn around, it’s a pleasant steep(ish) downhill where you share the path with runners still suffering their way up the hill. At the bottom, you merge with the lakeside path using a path just after the one that got you up.

It’s not long before you reach a bridge and run under it, providing some visual diversity. After that, you will keep running along the lake with similar, beautiful backgrounds. Soon you will start seeing the beautiful mosque at the horizon. It appears slowly at the other side of grand, monumental bridge. As the route follows the lake, you eventually reach the bridge and turn left, running to its side for a short while. Look across the arches for a peak at some interesting fountains.

As you reach the bridge, a short downhill to the final turnaround point just at the foot of the bridge. As you go back up again you will be on the same path and have to run it all back again. You have gone through roughly 2.6km at this point, so a little more to go before you can drink and stop sweating profusely. The nice views will keep you going.

Once you are back where you started, turn hard right and the finish funnel will not be far at all. If you have any energy left, it is time for your sprint finish! The short funnel will welcome you after your effort in the heat.

Congratulations on completing Precint 18 parkrun, Putrajaya!

Facilities at Presint 18 parkrun

Presint 18 parkrun takes place next to a large fitness centre and parkrunners have access to its facilities. Along the route, other facilities and shaded rest areas can be found.

Toilets are in the main building fronting the futsal and basketball courts. Can access them by the side next to the cafe, where the female toilets are. Male are on the opposite side. Shower rooms are also available.

The cafe serves a large Malaysian style cooked buffet with a lot of available tables. I did not have time to stay for breakfast, but I bought a drink and it was incredibly cheap too. Bear in mind they did not accept cards, so bring some cash with you.

Presint 18 parkrun: Video Highlights

As usual, I’ve taken a few video snippets during the run to give an idea of the course. If you like it, please subscribe, it’s a fun past time for me 🙂

The other parkrun videos on my YouTube channel are all linked on the course review and video highlights summary page.

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Achievements and performance

Bonus content: the fantastic world of the Voronoi Map

Conclusions

The early morning Grab taxi to Putrajaya was a great way to finish my week-long business trip to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The local parkrun event is familiar in its organisation, welcoming core team and sequence of events. However, it is very different when it comes to weather, peaceful lake, tropical lush vegetation and gorgeous architectural backdrop.

It is a very scenic, pleasant and fun run. If you are in this part of the world, definitely come over to visit and experience the only parkrun in Malaysia. It is great.

Finally, obviously, thank you, Presint 18 parkrun team for your hospitalit!