Kiara Hills conquered (in my terms)

Went running the trails in Kiara Park on Saturday.

This was the most casual TOF planned, although albeit unorganised. CA officially completed the 3 TOFs, closing with the peak of Nuang a week before, but I have to go see these trails in the name of tapering (right...).

Che was kind enough to invite friends to join this run. I came in from the hospital after making sure my in-laws are safe in the room, and few nasi lemaks are prepared for them. I thought, after a whole week of not running, I have to do this to keep my (running) sanity (... right...).

Arrived terribly late at 7.30 a.m. and kept Che waiting again (sorry bro!) and being a newbie, I parked my car at the wrong carpark. Quick rectification and few sms-es, we met, then Che and I (no other takers) took off the carpark and immediately started ascending the long road, before we quickly lose ourselves in the trails.

What happened afterwards were sheer fun. I do not remember the names of the trails, irregardless of the route maps given by friends. I would not even care if they put markers in there because I was more content running its course. There are a lot of uphills as we ascend to the top of the Kiara Hill, and many many killer fun downhills.

We were early (relatively earlier) before the MTB riders start theirs, so the uphills were quite isolated, with me trying to figure where the hell were we that morning. It doesn't make sense that I worked in Taman Tun for 2 years plus, and not knowing this trail at all, and looking at its surrounding, amazed at this vast greenness tucked nicely between Damansara and Hartamas. Hopefully this is permanently gazetted as a green lung before any developers could lay their hands on this priceless piece.

We reached the first peak fast within the first hour. Che, having been here long, long time ago, realised many new trails and he headed off on many new adventures going over the marked trails. I was astonished to see that, within the posh neighbourhoods of Damansara and Hartamas, there are still live rubber trees being tapped (by someone). That immediately brought me back running with cousins in my grandmother's rubber plantation, looking for the toughest nuts for our little 'laga getah' matches. Such memories...

We reached the second peak soon enough which offers better 180 degrees view of Klang Valley that stretches between Hartamas, KL, Bangsar and beyond. Too bad camera was not handy. Perhaps next time.

Our downhills were fast and as always, fun. With Che leading the way, we stumbled with many MTB bikers, who by now, were all over the trails. By this time, both of us were slightly dehydrated as neither of us brought our bladders. But we went on what we thought the way back to the carpark only to realise we headed to a dead-end, next to teh Kiara Equestrian. We headed back, and entered another trail. Soon enough we were on a high again (ok, I was, and hopefully so did Che, lah), running up and down, and many times avoid head-on collision with the bikes. Over this trail, the yellow markers (presumably for runners) were not seen, and probably it was designated for bikes alone, I dunno.

At 09.00hrs, we came out off the trails at an intersection with about 20 bikers converged and resting. We headed down, running on the road towards the carpark, to Mosin's for our reward (Milo Ais je) and split. I had to go for a site inspection, and Che for more OHs. All in all, I wished the run would have been longer, but in the name of tapering, are content and made no fuss. I am thankful for Che being an experienced trail runner and knowing his bearings; and we promised a monthly meeting at Kiara onwards before our split. Very doable...

See Kiara again next month. Such a gift!