Beautiful scenic route with excellent early start times and supportive crew, but marred by stock-outs of finisher items, cold food, and inconsistent lucky draw procedures across race categories.

**Before the gun** Race kit collection was smooth overall. Parking was easy and not an issue. From registration at the first counter to collecting the race shirt, everything was very fast and efficient. The crew and volunteers were helpful and cooperative. However, once I reached the parking area, someone informed me that I needed to scan a QR code on the wall near the counter to register for the lucky draw. No one had mentioned this earlier, so I had to walk back to complete it. Before the flag-off, everything was fine as well. The atmosphere wasn’t particularly lively, but it was still okay, and everything ran smoothly. **The start** 😌 Calm **KM 16** — Before the race, I didn’t get enough sleep, only about 2 hours within 42 hours before flag-off. Driving from KL to Terengganu made my body even more tired. So I decided to start slow. Everything was okay and went smoothly. **KM 17** — Pain started to kick in -both legs, neck, and back began to feel sore. **KM 22** — Both legs cramped. I had to stop for a while, then continued slowly with a friend. I tried using a spray at the water station, but it didn’t help. Heavy rain caused blisters on my feet, making it even harder to move. **KM 30** — I met a Chinese female medic crew member who gave me ORS and water. She also advised me not to stop, as it would make my cramps worse. **KM 33** — After a few kilometers, my legs gradually improved. Not fully recovered, but enough to jog slowly and walk with less pain. Kudos to the medic crew, she was a real lifesaver! **At the finish** I reached the finish line with a time of 5:44:54. The atmosphere there was quite average, nothing too lively, but I was happy to finish the race. The finish distance was a bit over. My Garmin showed a total of 42.71km (over by nearly half kilometer!). On top of that, collecting the finisher tee required a bit of a walk and climbing stairs. With my condition, it was quite tiring to go up. But it was all worth it when I think back on the route. Beautiful scenery, supportive crew and locals, with dikir barat, a marching band, and even cendol and local kuih. Honestly, it was a great experience! Oh, and not to forget the medal and finisher tee were very beautiful ❤️ BUT The food provided was a bit disappointing. Everything was already cold. I was expecting the bihun to still be hot, like at the Twincity Marathon. If it could be done like that, it would be better in my opinion. **The verdict** *Medal & tee:* 👍 Good *Food / hydration:* 😐 Minimal *Could be better:* This is not about me, but it happened to my friends. I joined this race with a group that I organized myself. 3 Full Marathon runners, 2 Half Marathon runners, and 4 participants in the 5km category. One of my friends in the Full Marathon, who was in the back group, said he didn’t get to have any cendol because it had already run out, and there were only a few kuih left. He should have been entitled to it as well since he paid the same registration fee as everyone else. Two of my friends in the Half Marathon category didn’t get their finisher tees in size S. The staff said it was already out of stock. This is quite unreasonable since sizes were selected during registration. One of them had to take a size M, while the other was told the shirt would be mailed later. I hope he actually receives it. As for the 5km participants, all four of them didn’t receive their finisher medals. They were also not informed about how to make a claim. This should not have happened. They all paid the fee and traveled from far just to take part in this race. One more thing, the flag off time for the 5km was too late in my opinion. It was tough for them to gather and wait in the heat. A 7:00-7:30 AM start would be much better. One more thing regarding the lucky draw. Instead of offering just a few very expensive prizes, it would be better to have more winners. For example, the RM100k prize could be split into RM50k, RM30k, and RM20k. The same goes for the gold bars. Alternatively, keep the main prizes but add more smaller prizes. It’s a pity that many people waited under the hot sun, but only a few winners were selected. As for the Ducati lucky draw, it shouldn’t be handled that way. Calling the number only once and then contacting the winner later is a red flag for me. It could be seen as a potential scam. The proper way would be to keep calling numbers until a winner is confirmed and present the prize on the spot. I’ve never seen a lucky draw handled like that at other events. *What I loved:* The early flag-off times were excellent, 12:30 AM for the Full Marathon and 2:15 AM for the Half Marathon. Many participants were able to perform Subuh prayers after finishing the race, without having to rush or queue for long at the surau for wuduk and pray like at other events. The water stations, medic crew, and toilets provided were sufficient, and I had no issues at all. This definitely deserves praise. *Coming back?* Undecided