Isetan 25th Birthday Run

I was up early on Sunday morning and was at the Royal Lake Gardens aka Taman Tasik Perdana at 6.30am... There was already so many people who were there clad in sky blue t shirts, prepping themselves for the run.

Yes, I was there for a run, ISETAN Kuala Lumpur's 25th anniversary birthday run in partnership with Hope Worldwide Malaysia as part of its corporate social responsibility initiation...

Everyone in Kuala Lumpur should know ISETAN. It is one of my favourite departmental store to visit for quality or choice products. ISETAN is not only well known in Kuala Lumpur but there are ISETAN stores throughout Japan and East Asia, including Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Jinan, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin.

It was certainly a fun filled morning and it started with a welcome speech from Managing Director  of ISETAN Kuala Lumpur, Mr Nobuharu Yutani, who was all dressed in the sky blue shirt sponsored by LeCoq Sportif dry fit shirt and shorts, ready to join the participants on the run as well...

Yours truly got to join in to and received a race kit consisting of that pretty sky blue Le Coq Sportif dry fit shirt, an Uchino Face Towel, Pocari Sweat drink, Lanaeige sample and a race bib....

Naturally, there was a small aerobics and warm up session and it was pretty heart warming seeing little kids doing their best to follow the instructor on stage as well...

At 7.30 am, the Men's Open 7 km category and the Women's Open 7 km category got ready at the starting point...there was a huge crowd there as over 2000 people gathered there ready to run for health, fun and charity. 

You see, ISETAN Kuala Lumpur donated RM10 for each sign up and all of the proceeds were to be given to Hope Worldwide Malaysia in aid for underprivileged children....

Well, in this age and time when digital cameras and smart phones are all the rage, and when there is such a huge crowd what else but a mandatory wefie which even got Mr Nobuharu Yutani getting off his pedestal where he was preparing to flag off he participants to join in.....

Mr Nobuharu Yutani flagging off all the participants in the Men's and Women's open 7 km category...

Just about 10 minutes later, the Family 3 km dash, the sponsors and media category which included yours truly were flagged off....

It certainly was great seeing families bonding together, exercising together, running together though naturally with smaller kids, there are bound to be parents stopping to tie up loose shoe laces, picking their little ones who tripped and even carrying them after the first few metres....

There were certainly a lot of captivating and interactive activities around for participants to enjoy.. such as vendor booths selling delicious imported snacks...

and there was also the Children Inflatable Play Zone, where you could see little ones bouncing up and down in delight.....

As well as meeting and greeting Pororo the penguin...

Then when the adults came back, the last category to be flagged of was the kids for a Kid's Dash...where these little kiddies just dash 1 km and came back victorious to earn their medals.... 

What is a birthday without cakes... and for that there were hundred of colourful cupcakes all ready to be given out....

And the symbolic "birthday cake"... isn't it huge...

Runners were still seen coming back from their 7 km run ... and for those who came back, they got to refresh themselves with nice cool Iced Milo from the waiting Milo truck, mineral water, a banana and a Corny muesli bar.

For those who like to leave their prints, they were welcomed to leave their hand print on the Handprint Wall...

When everyone was back from their race, some hardly breaking a sweat, being used to this kind of thing, some panting (like yours truly here) and some clearly dripping with sweat and all exhausted, the cake cutting ceremony commenced...

Mr Yutani and the key management staff of Isetan gathered round while everyone sang " Happy Birthday"

And they cut the cake....there is an actual cake in the huge mock up of the birthday cake!!! 

Then it was time for the moment a lot of people were waiting for...lucky draw...there certainly was very interesting prizes there from RM200 and RM500 cash vouchers from Isetan, a pearl necklace, a GPS watch, a Kipling sling bag, an mini iPad 4 and a Sony Bravia LED Internet TV.....

There were various winners and even this cute little girl got lucky winning herself some Isetan cash vouchers to go shopping.....

Mr Yutani then handed over the RM20,000 cheque to a representative of Hope Worldwide KL during an intermission from the lucky draw......This money will be in aid for underprivileged children...

And the lucky winner of the grand prize was all smiles as she received her lucky draw prize from Mr Yutani....

All in all it was a very invigorating and exciting morning full of fun and energy... Thanks ISETAN KL for having me over....