Racing Strategy

I have experienced The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT), a 100km ultra trail marathon, twice before. I joined the first one, which was also my very first ultra trail of that distance, in 2011 as reported in two parts, i.e. Part 1 and Part 2; and the second time in 2012 as reported here. I have since gone on to do the Vibram Hong Kong 100km ultra trail twice, and the Sundown Road Ultra 100km last year.

Of all the ultra races that I've joined so far, I would say I enjoyed the first TMBT the most, not only because I was racing together with Mia, but also because I knew practically nothing about ultra trail then—the thrill of discovery was both exciting and a little scary. But because failure is not an option to me when I do this sort of thing, I had to come up with a proper game plan with whatever little knowledge I had about ultra trail running. I had to provide for everything and both Mia and I ended up with the heaviest backpack each, much to the other participants’ amusement. It was like we were going camping for a few weeks!

The latest TMBT had just finished a few days ago, and while the majority of the reviews from participants have been positive and encouraging, I'm sad to note that a fair number of my runner friends failed to finish the race. These are those who had to drop out of the race at numerous stages. There were many reasons, but the most popular being unable to meet the cut off times at water stations or checkpoints. Of course there were also cases of fatigue and illness etc.

Those who joined the TMBT, although some of them were first-timers for 100km, are not exactly new to long-distance running or endurance sports in general. I suspect most, if not all, of them would have conquered several road marathons. But here's the thing about road marathons in general—they basically boil down to 2 main things: 1) Endurance/fitness, and 2) Cut off time. The other factors such as course terrains, weather conditions etc are also important, of course, as those can slow down the runners a bit. But they are rarely significant enough to result in failures. In the event of minor injuries such as cramps or blisters etc, medics are just minutes away.

In an ultra trail marathon, however, terrains, weather conditions and injuries (minor or otherwise) can very easily mean the end of the race for the participants. Those who don't take into account these factors when formulating a racing strategy may well find themselves in trouble on the race course up there in the mountain. In the event of injuries and illnesses or whatever other emergencies, it may take significantly longer time for help to arrive. All these may potentially mean life and death. An adventure which is intended to be a fun outing can quickly turn into a tragedy.

Therefore, the kind of preparation (both physical and mental) and training for an ultra trail marathon is much more complicated and demanding than the ordinary road marathon. But I suspect not very many people actually realise this. Or if they did, they did not seriously take these factors into account.

Unfortunately, I am neither a fast nor strong ultra trail runner. I'm horribly weak and slow when climbing hills. But long before the event, I would make sure that I train to improve on my weaknesses. I would go over my game plan over and over again. When the race day arrives, if I think I can't meet the minimum time requirement, I'd rather opt out. There is bound to be another race, another day. It is just not my style to beg the marshals at the checkpoints to bend the rules and let me continue with the race when I have clearly failed to meet cut off. Call it pride or ego if you like; it's just not me.

The most important factor is of course time—How much of it is available from flag off to the finish line? That is a fixed figure, and whatever game plan one has in mind, it must fit within that timeframe. It can be less, but not more. After allowing for a buffer of say 2 hours (for 100km), there is an even shorter time available for the race. Then the allocation for each section between checkpoints; as well as how much stop time at checkpoints, perhaps to top up water bottles. Allocations must also be made for nutrition stops. Step by step. Be honest about your strength and endurance, and don't try to plan for a speed that is obviously beyond your ability! You will only burn out too soon and then have to throw in the towel long before reaching the finish line.

I do realise that some people have no intention to win. They just want to finish the race for the sake of the experience and adventure. That is fine; there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But still, this is a race, and there are strict cut off times between sections and overall from start to finish. So even if there is no intention to win, the participant must train to at least be able to meet the cut off times. 

So, yes, by all means, take as many selfies as you like, savour the beauty of the countryside, but at the end of it all, don't forget that it is a race, and time is the biggest enemy! A seemingly brief stop to replenish the water bottles at the checkpoint can easily consume up to 15 minutes, if not more. If one is not a fast trekker or trail runner, then train to be a little faster; not to win, but at least to make the cut offs. The rules are there to be adhered to. The rest of the participants who made it to the finish line were also subject to the same rules. In that sense, it is truly a level playing field.

Racing strategy, a step-by-step game plan from start to finish, is imperative for a long race such as the 100km ultra trail. An apparently weak person can conquer the distance with a sound game plan; whereas a strong athlete can crumble long before even reaching the halfway point because he thinks he can run the trail like running in a straight line on a flat surface.

So the next time you attempt anything akin to TMBT 100km, come up with a proper racing strategy, and make sure you stick to it all the way to the end. Nobody says it's gonna be a stroll in the park, but it is doable. You just have to trust me on this.

The Most Beautiful Thing 2013

It's unfortunate that I was unable to join The Most Beautiful Thing 2013 (TMBT) as it clashed with the Sundown Ultra that I've registered for. I am, however, able to invite my friend, Hana Sue Harun (pic) to contribute an article, seeing the race through her eyes. To the guys who're wondering—yes, Hana is hot...and still single!

Below is her article, in verbatim. Photos are from numerous sources and duly credited to the respective photographers. Enjoy!

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How To Earn A Holiday by Hana Sue Harun

 Photo credit: Shamsul Adzrin

I spoke about the TMBT Ultra in a certain video and its scenic views like running through vegetable farms and seeing our mountain up close based on last year’s race, my first 100k. For this year’s TMBT I was expecting to experience the same but in true brutal style, the organizers decided to redesign the course, reduce the cut off time from 33 to 30 hours, and best yet, increase 1000m in elevation. TMBT 2013 was going to be an epic adventure in the making.

Prior to race day, I listed blisters and walking in the dark alone (I have a wild imagination) as my two deal breakers. My race plans consisted more on food management and ‘waste prevention’. And by ‘waste’, I don’t mean empty gel wrappers. We were going to be in the jungle I had to know if I was going to be ‘animal-like’ about my bio breaks…

With all the food I was bringing my bag weighed 6-7kgs that morning. I was a walking buffet spread. Felice also brought a stuffed turkey, in the form of Scott Jurek’s Ultimate Direction vest. At the start at Kg Lingkubang while our group posed for the usual photo taking, few people were warming up. Maybe they were elite runners I’m not sure, or probably very nervous too.

Photo credit: Sajirin Sahimin

After some delays, we were flagged off at 8am. Felice, Christy and I were together. Koh began his race by singing the song, “The road is long…” but not even 1km into the race our road was blocked. The hanging bridge for crossing over could only allow six to go at one time. There were 800 of us. We were stuck for 45 minutes (some even longer), so Felice made full use of the wait and bought power coffee from the tuck shop and we posed for this picture.

Photo credit: Annette Jannette Hiu

Then, we were off again, for real this time. We crossed a river waist deep, water was refreshingly cool but we knew it was only the ‘warm up’ section. As we hit a rubber plantation, space was building up between Felice, Christy and I. At WS1 I drank a 500ml bottle of water as planned, waited for a bit, then Felice told me to go ahead and wished me all the best so I was running alone from then on.

 Photo credit: Shamsul Adzrin

Next was Tambatuon, a nice place where you can see two mountains together, Kinabalu and Nambayukon. With perfect lighting, it makes a good scenic picture. I caught up with Kairi then Koh and Frankie who did a detour somewhere so I stuck with the two. Walking down a ridge Koh said to me “Don’t fall down, ah,” soon after he slipped and almost ended up in the murky river himself! I could only grab his t-shirt lightly, worried I was going rip it because I’m sure it was an expensive Salomon top. He climbed up and said he was okay so I left him behind. Then I was alone again.

It was the introduction of many muddy and wet surfaces for this race I was actually beginning to enjoy it. At WS2 at Lobong Lobong I met Jai and Pg Rosli I told the Pg, “We meet once a year,” I could never forget him for his classy Louis Vuitton drop bag on the first TMBT in 2011. He told me he was going for Vietnam Mountain Marathon next month and off he went.

I filled up my Hammer Perpetuem before leaving WS2 and I saw Jai drink a can of Coke and he hurried down. I got to CP1 within 4 hours I saw Rodney standing with the radio guys watching the competitors come in.

A million hills later, I finally got to pineapple hill, I knew Miki camp was next. The pineapple hill was nice especially at the ridge because it was quite airy. The bamboo windmills made interesting chant-like noises to scare aliens away. As I got to the somewhat top, I saw Boyd sitting under the windmill. I didn’t see that he had a pineapple with him or I would’ve asked to share some if he did.

 Photo credit: Leong Kwan Weng

At Miki camp, I remembered Coach Corny saying (in a wise Yoda way) “try to finish Miki before it gets dark,” so I kept that in mind. Miki was a loop so there would be a two-way traffic, it’s a good chance to see the others. Halfway in I crossed ways with Erwan and posed for picture. Then I met Jonas at the hanging bridge who wanted to throw me into the river (what? bridges not two-way traffic? Sorry Jonas). It was in Miki that I suddenly felt muscle cramps building up on my legs and I began to panic a little because I was alone and wouldn’t know what to do in case the cramp really hits. Then it started to rain and it got darker in that dense jungle, my imagination went wild. Nothing to do with leeches but if it was a different blood-sucking creature chasing after me for a meal I’d be dead meat.

Photo credit: Erwan Kassim

Heading out I saw Brian, Kairi, then Eric S. Soon after more familiar faces hiding in their ponchos, Yoke Lee, Mary, Justine and Christy.  That’s when Christy told me Felice decided to DNF. But two seconds later, there was Felice! She decided to continue after all.

At WS3 I met with Victoria J and her husband Alex Q. She happily told me she killed a leech and blood was all over the floor. I’m sure the leech died happy anyway. We were already 7 hours into the race. It was angry rain at this point which actually helped with the hike up the very steep road to Kiau Toburi. But the angry rain continued I was worried about getting fever so I popped some panadol at WS4, which was also the 25k finish.

Rodney appeared out of nowhere before we hit Bundu Tuhan so we decided to keep together – phew! It took us a lifetime to reach halfway point which brought us to the most slippery part of a privately-owned vegetable farm. It was premium, gold standard, beautiful mud, so slippery going downhill that I fell a few times.  

We finally reached halfway point in 13 hours, within the cut off time. Spent an hour there ate a decent dinner and reorganized our packs and off we went. I saw Boyd from a distance and gave him the thumbs up to say we were going ahead (to get ourselves hammered again). On our way out, Jai was coming in medal around his neck, looking beautifully beat, and Jumat and Odry who were already cleaned up. Second place and last year’s champion Jimmy Tee ran pass us and wished us good luck.

We went up a ridiculous hill called Kauluan to WS7 by this time it was Rodney, Boyd and I. We overcame the ‘Rock Garden’ and about 3am we did the notorious cabbage farm loop and played with more mud till the sun came up. Here Boyd had already split and gone ahead. I also received a sad text from Claire A to say that both Felice and Christy had DNF due to bad weather.

The next section was a 13km downhill and more mud tracks we were wearing bricks on our shoes. My shin was beginning to hurt. We were beginning to think of other ways to go downhill like rolling down while being inside a drum and sliding down while sitting on a coconut frond. It was obvious that our brains were affected by then. Rodney pointed out Kibbas where WS10 was located. It was an uphill road and looked far. Very far. Then I saw where Perkasa/finishing point was, way up on a hill, in my head I was slowly going down. I couldn’t imagine my legs taking me there but it seemed like my only aim in life.

At 8am under the hot sun we reached CP4/Kibbas, I knew how it felt like being in an oven. The officials said it is the final 12km. It was a sickening 12km, both of us were running low on water and I was feeling light-headed as the elevation went back up 820m. Did we need another hill reminder? I kept looking at the Garmin and started counting the kms, I moved like a snail stopping every 10m. I couldn’t stomach anymore gel nor perpetuem. We were already 26 hours into the race, Perkasa was still up there and I was struggling physically and mentally.

Suddenly I remembered that I had planned a post-race holiday and slowly came some energy reserves. I found my pace back and for the first time during that race I was sure I can finish. With less than 500m to go we were reunited with Boyd. We synchronised our leg work and headed to the finish to the company of a very supportive crowd.

Photo credit: Leong Kwan Weng

It was dead in the afternoon when we finished. I had no blisters. I thought it was an unforgiving course in the worse ever conditions, I was so relieved that the nightmare was over, I couldn’t care for my time all I knew was that we finished the 100k.

Photo credit: Leong Kwan Weng

People ask me why? I say I do it because I love how it feels, in the end.

The question is, will I do it again?

Training Advice

A fair number of athletes who've googled up for "The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT)" have found their way to this blog because of my race reports for TMBT 2011 as posted here (Part 1) and here (Part 2); and TMBT 2012 as posted here. Some of them, especially the first-timer ultra trail runners, have asked me for training advice not only because I've experienced the TMBTs, but also because I'm a Sabahan and presumed to know a bit more about our local terrains. But after a while, their questions have begun to sound very similar to one another, and I've decided perhaps it's a good idea to share whatever little that I know here in this post.

Let me hasten to say, however, that I'm not an expert in trail running. In fact, I don't even have a proper training schedule for the ultra 100km. I am for the most part a road runner, and I hardly ever run trails unless if I've signed up for a trail-running event.

Unfortunately, I have signed up, and now training for, the Sundown Ultra 100km in Singapore scheduled for 14/15 September, and will therefore have to give TMBT 2013 a miss since the latter falls on the same dates. And that is quite a shame, because it appears that TMBT will be even more challenging this year!

Now a standard training programme for an ultra trail is very punishing to say the least. Apart from the weekday runs of not less than 10km each and often rising to 15km each, there are the so-called back-to-back (B2B) long runs on Saturdays and Sundays; and when I say long, I really mean long! But you see, I just don't have it in me to follow that "standard" training programme, so I have modified it a bit to suit my own (limited) ability as well as the amount of time I have for training. Therefore, I can never dream of finishing among the top finishers. But it is still possible to target a "decent" finishing time.

I still continue my weekday runs, usually 3 days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and each not less than 10km. Then my weekend B2B comes in a slightly modified form, i.e. cycling on Saturdays and LSD run on Sundays. By doing so, I'm hoping to spare my knee for a bit. I rest on Mondays and Fridays, although this recently, I also swim on those days. On alternate Sundays, I did hill training on village paths (we have plenty of those), and I would peak about 3 weeks before the race with an approximate 12-13 hours of hillwork on Sunday. After that I would begin to taper for the race.

There isn't much more to share except that for those not used to the Sabah terrains, I would recommend a good dose of hillwork, especially those of you who are used to running only on flat roads. So if you haven't already done any hillwork up to now, it's a good idea to start soon. Hills, hills, and more hills. And after you have done those hill trainings, do some more hill trainings—it's almost like it can never be enough! You just have to trust me on this—we have ridiculous hills here in Sabah, and I'm only talking about the foothills around Mount Kinabalu!

So there you go, quite a simple training advice. Good luck to you!

Vibram Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race 2013

As I was approaching CP5, which was the midway point of the race, it was already past 10 hours from the flag off. I had just overtaken Dr Liaw going up a hill, but as I was descending to CP5, it was fast getting dark. I stopped for a moment to fix my headlamp.

Dejavu—I was almost exactly at the same location and at the same time about a year ago during my first attempt of the Vibram Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race. That was the time when I failed to bring home the elusive bronze trophy. You see, in order to qualify for the bronze trophy, one has to complete the race within 20 to 24 hours. Last year I finished in about 25:41.

This year we had a bigger group from KK—Mia and I, Dr Felice Huang, Hana Harun, Bobby Tseu, Dr Liaw Yun Haw, Boyd Gimbang, Dr Peter Ong. A Canadian friend, Paul Bourget, also decided to join for the second time.

It was a much larger crowd at the starting line as the number of participants had grown from about 750 last year to over 1,200 this year. Before the flag off, people were busy taking photos.

I bumped into Dr Pui San, a fellow Malaysian from KL, at the starting line and we invited her to join us in this photo.

From left: Mia, Hana, Dr Felice

It was good that Felice was able to make this event, as she could motivate us to push all the way. That's the beauty of having a gynaecologist with us. As for Dr Peter (extreme right of photo), I'm not sure what he's checking on, but I want to put it on record that he wore a pair of 2XU Compression tights for the first time in his life that day. I'm not sure if all the compressions were just right at the right places. I can still remember when I first bought my compression tights a while ago, he shared his opinion about the compression element, as reported here.

After the customary countdown, we were duly flagged off. The first kilometre was a pleasant sealed road, but then we came to a bottleneck up a narrow path. Shortly after the flag off, I turned to Bob, saying that we should try to reach CP5 within 8.5hours. If that could be achieved, then we might have a shot at the silver trophy! Hana was closeby and she gave out a strange surprised cry, but actually she had a silver trophy dream of her own!

As we were all stuck going at snail's pace at the bottleneck, I suddenly noticed that Hana had already sneaked up ahead. And a few minutes later, she was already out of sight! I had estimated that we would be stuck at the bottleneck for about 40 minutes, but it was almost an hour later when we emerged on the other side! By the time I reached the first support station, all the guys in our group were already ahead. Felice and Mia were still behind me, but still quite near.

I arrived at CP1 feeling a bit annoyed with the sand in my shoes (having crossed a beach section). I sat down on a chair and as I was cleaning my shoes, I saw Dr Peter sitting at the next table, apparently also busy ridding his shoes of sand. After dealing with my shoes, I grabbed some food, and while I was biting into a banana, I saw Peter leaving.

There were of course many other participants, but I felt a little lonely without any of my friends. Although I didn't exactly have the luxury of time, I spent just a few moments savouring the beauty of the views along the route (in random order).

By the time I reached CP2, it was clear that there was no way I could reach CP5 within 8.5hours. It was then that I reverted back to my original plan for a bronze trophy. I reckoned that if I tried too hard to aim for the silver, I'd burn out too soon, and that could eventually jeopardize even the bronze!

The rest in my group were still going strong. I was thinking they were probably a mere 10-15 minutes ahead of me at that point. But little did I know that they were much faster than that. Hana was just getting the hang of the trekking poles, and as she was busy pole dancing in the direction of CP3, Peter caught up with her.

In fact, all four of them—Peter, Liaw, Bob and Hana—were racing at more or less the same pace. I have to admit that it was so tempting to rush ahead to keep up with them. A friend of mine, Teo Chen Lung, would throw a big party, I'm sure, if Hana finished the race before me. I was determined not to let him have that satisfaction. But at the same time, I did not want to lose track of my bronze ambition too.

Well, I arrived at CP3 and CP4 without catching a glimpse of them. It was then that I realised that they were farther ahead than I thought. Looking at my watch, I was horrified to note that I would take well over 10 hours before reaching CP5. That's the same amount of time I took to reach the same station last year. It certainly did not seem very promising even for a bronze!

Felice and Mia were still behind me. And I had a feeling that Mia must be about an hour or two behind by then.

But later on, as I was climbing a hill when approaching CP5, I was surprised to bump into Liaw. His trademark cramps had caught up with him by then. Well, we eventually arrived at CP5 just shortly after nightfall. There, I saw Peter and Bob. Hana was also there in fresh clothing and ready to go. They've been there for about an hour when I arrived.

I was just about to start on my cup noodle when Bob said he and Hana would start for CP6. Peter and Liaw, in spite of my telling them to go ahead, insisted that they'd like to start from CP5 together with me. Peter had by then suffered knee pain; Liaw had his cramps; and I had my knee and ankle problem. After popping up a pain killer each, we departed from CP5 about 20 minutes after Bob and Hana. But just as we were about to leave CP5, Felice arrived in her gung-ho fashion.

We were well prepared for the cold. Peter asked me if the second half of the race was gonna be tougher. I replied in the affirmative, and the expression on his face became very grave. I told him to expect plenty of seemingly unending climbs. He responded amicably, saying that "Everything is bound to come to an end eventually." He went on to tell his life story on how that line came about. I just love this guy for his positive thinking attitude.

It was almost 11.5 hours from flag off when we left CP5, and it was obvious to me that I had to make up a lot of time for the bronze. But I wasn't sure then if the energy I had saved during the first half of the race was enough for the feat. I took perhaps 10-15 minutes to fire up my system again. When I felt that I have had enough warming up, I started my brisk walking routine up the long asphalt road. Within minutes Peter and Liaw were out of sight behind me.

I kept a steady pace, except for the ridiculous climb up the unending concrete stairs to the ridge. But actually, Peter was right—the stairs did come to an end eventually! Along the way, I overtook a fair number of participants. Up and down, up and down, and then shortly before arriving at CP6, I finally overtook Hana and Bob for the first time in the race. As I was passing them, I said we needed to pick up the pace for the bronze. Bob agreed, saying that he, too, realised that time was a bit tight.

We grouped up again briefly at CP6. Then I started for CP7. When I left CP6, Peter and Liaw had not arrived yet. The distance to CP7 wasn't very long, but at that stage of the race, every kilometre was a torture. I lost count on how many times I looked at my watch. Thankfully, however, there was a long sector of downhill out from CP7. I took the opportunity for a slow jog, combined with brisk walk intervals. In my mind, I wanted to have between 5.5 to 6 hours cushion to the finish line from CP8. This was because when I reached CP8 last year I had about 3.5hours for bronze, but that proved to be insufficient even though it's just 17km to the finish line!

Out from CP7, I felt very sleepy. But I had no time to spare for a rest, let alone sleep. I merely kept going all out. At CP8, I topped up my bladder (2-litre capacity) for the last time, had a bit more cookies, 2 small kit kats, half a swiss roll, a banana, 2 cups of mushroom soup, and half a cup of coke. It was as good as a full meal. Not exactly a good idea for racing. Throughout the race, I ate small portions of about 300-400 calories at each CP. But according to my plan, CP8 was a little bit different. I needed the extra energy for that final climb. The idea was that if I was lack of time when I reached CP9, I wouldn't even stop for a break. Whatever I ate at CP8 would therefore have to last till the end!

But when I arrived at CP9, I had about 3.5hours for bronze. So another 2 cups of mushroom soup, coke, peanut butter sandwich, and off I went for that final climb to the highest point of Hong Kong. I barely had enough energy to reach the top. It was a slow climb. Foggy and windy. Visibility was down to about 5m. When I hit the flat ground at the top of that sealed road, I had a little over an hour to spare. I knew then that I was safe. I then took my sweet time to walk leisurely for the last 5km or so downhill. A friend from KL came along shortly later, and both of us walked to the finish line together.

I finished in the official time of 23:28. Boyd was there at the finish line. He had finished his race in 21 hours. After I received my bronze trophy, I kept an eye open for Bob and Hana. There was then about half an hour left for the bronze. I was hopeful. Unfortunately, Bob eventually finished in 25:00 and Hana in 25:23.

We weren't sure when the rest would finish, so we took a cab back to the hotel. At the hotel, I was surprised when told that Mia had already checked in earlier. I was worried that she was injured somehow. But she withdrew from the race because she couldn't keep up with the cutoff times. She threw in the towel at CP7. It's never an easy thing to see one's wife suffer. But, you know, after all she's an ex-St Franciscan; she's a stubborn woman. She said she's coming back for another attempt next year.

Well, Liaw finished in about 26 hours; Peter in about 29 hours; Felice in about 30 hours.

 This is the close-up shot of the bronze trophy.

Now, I wonder if there is a way to change the colour of this trophy to silver in 2014...

The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT) 2012

I was trekking up the Kipouvo-Kokol route with my friend, Pamela Fletcher, a couple a weeks ago as part of our training programme for The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT), and I was telling her that the easiest part of an endurance event such as a road marathon or the ultra trail marathon is the race itself. Pam was rather taken aback, but I hastened to explain my statement. You see, the hardest thing about an endurance event is in the training, not so much the event itself. A race may take a few hours to finish; perhaps up to 30 hours for an ultra trail marathon (100km) like the TMBT; whereas a decent training programme may take up to months of regular workout—running becomes almost a daily routine; and almost the entire weekends are used up for long workouts on secluded village roads in the hills.

Training requires a lot of discipline and quite often a lot of sacrifice. Such was the case when we were preparing for TMBT. This year a lot of my close friends had opted to attempt the 100km category of TMBT, although some of us were doing it for the second time.

I was chatting with a friend, Esther Sim, via Whatsapp one day, and she said she's aiming to finish the 100km in 20 hours, and I almost fell off my chair! I have gone trekking with Esther to Terian last year, and she did not seem to be an extremely strong and fast trail runner to me. So it must have meant that she's improved by leaps and bounds since then.

I was also impressed by another lady friend, Hana Harun, by her strength during training. She demonstrated her ability to sprint up a steep slope after trekking for several hours. I'm able to run uphill too, but I very rarely do so during training. I'm always approaching the endurance training the old-fashioned way—no sprinting business. Another friend, Claire, has been training almost entirely out of sight for months. Anyway, these ladies really made me think that I'm getting too old for this sort of event; they kept me on my toes! And I was, like, "I'm not even a ballerina!"

Last Saturday morning, we found ourselves at the starting line in Kundasang town. It was a fairly cold and windy morning. There were a number of familiar faces in the crowd.

Mia was all smiles together with her ex-classmate, Pam, and her friends, Jennifer, Georgina and Esther.

Then I took the opportunity to take a photo with the girls too. But I had to make it a very quick pose, just in case if Mia would want to twist my ears.

My other friends were also there; among them were Erwan, Darren and Bob, my running buddy.

Hana was also there in her outstanding outfit; and of course not forgetting Claire the creature with a pair of long sexy legs.

It was a strange start—we were still busy chit-chatting when suddenly there was a whistle, and everybody started running. We were not even aware of the countdown. A short climb to the road, and then it was a pleasant downhill stretch. I turned to Bob and suggested that we do a slow jog down the slope as a warm up; and while we were at it, I watched in amazement Esther Sim surging ahead. Others in the group—Boyd, Eric and Jonas were also among the front pack.

At the bottom of that road, we came to a sudden turn to the left and up a steep concrete driveway. Not long after that, I caught up with Mia, and I was, like, where did she come from; how did she sneak ahead of me? But by then Bob was lagging behind a bit.

I had planned from the beginning to briskwalk uphill and try to jog downhill. It's a very effective strategy which I've adopted in Vibram HK 100. About an hour later, I began to overtake some of my friends; I overtook Esther and Frankie, then later I overtook Cynthia Gan shortly after WS1. But by WS2 Bob had caught up with me again. He seemed determined not to waste too much time at the water station. There was a commotion as Dr Pui San was somewhat doubtful to go to the nearby bush to take a leak.

We proceeded up to the Mesilau golf course and then turning to a gravel road on the right. Later that morning, Darren had the opportunity to take a picture with Claire along that road.

Perhaps because of those pair of painfully long legs beside him, Darren decided to strike a pose as if trying to pick a fight with other participants. Amazing what a pair of sexy legs can do to men!

And of course Esther and her bodyguards were still going strong along the same road [Courtesy of Rudy Boyou]

Later on we went through several vegetable farms with magnificent views of the majestic Mt Kinabalu in the background [Courtesy of Rabani Ayub]

The view of the mountain was simply awesome on a clear sunny morning.

After making a big loop across several vegetable farms, we made our way back to WS1, which was now known as WS3. As Bob and I were filling our water bottles, Dr Pui San and her friend, Agnes, were also there. Agnes was telling Pui San to run along with her, but Pui San said she'd take a short break. So Agnes said she'll walk slowly so that Pui San could catch up with her. Then off she went in a jiffy. Just about then, Bob and I, too, got up to continue with the race. And several metres ahead, we could see Agnes. Of course as soon as she was out of sight of WS3, she began running again—so much for walking slowly. Bob turned to me and remarked that Agnes was supposed to walk slowly; and I replied, did he really think that she'd do that? We laughed out loud together.

We went through some rugged terrains, and I soon realised that Bob was becoming increasingly fast. I had no problem to run fast at that stage, but it did not accord well with my plan. Eventually, we were going down a long slope and from far away we could see an impending climb to WS4 [Courtesy of Dr Dev Sidhu]

 

I shifted gear to briskwalking mode all the way down the slope, and I timed a short pause to eat a donut and a power gel a few minutes before the climb. Just about then, I was surprised to see Pui San passing by. The sun was hot then, and the climb was quite a challenge. So many of the participants stopped several times on the slope. Slow and steady briskwalk, and finally we arrived at WS4, which was also the finish line for the 25km cagetory.

We spent a few minutes for inventory check, filled up our bottles and then continued our way to WS5. A short climb from WS4 brought us to the main Ranau road, and crossing that road, we went to the southern valley. At first it was a pleasant asphalt road. As we turned the corner, Bob was close on my heels. Then I started my briskwalk again. As in Hong Kong, Bob had to jog to keep up with my briskwalk. I remained focused, and as the asphalt road broke off to a gravel road once again, I kept my pace going the entire way down a slope all the way to a small stream. But by then, Bob was nowhere in sight. Crossing the stream, I embarked on what turned out to be a long climb. In the hot sun, it seemed unending. Up and up and up. And then from afar, I was surprised to see a man sitting on the ground. As I approached the man, I was surprised to see it was Boyd, the super hill climber. As usual, he had pushed too hard at the beginning and burnt out too soon. He said he vomited 3 times so far. Slowly, I passed him and caught up with some other participants.

Many minutes later, I arrived at WS5. Bob has long gone out of sight, so after filling up my bottles, I decided to wait up for Bob. But 10 minutes later, Bob still did not show. It suddenly occurred to me that WS6, the 50km point, was only 4km away from WS5. I thought it would make more sense to wait for Bob there as I could eat while waiting. Hence I continued walking again.

Well, as I was approaching WS6, I saw Yim leaving the ground to proceed to WS7. I was thinking aloud, that he was supposed to race in a sarong. But he said his sarong has been blown off by the strong wind. I duly arrived at WS6, had an early dinner, then replenished my supply of chocolates, back up torchlight, and some other items. I waited for a little over half an hour before Bob finally arrived. He looked totally bonked by then. I thought of waiting for him to eat, but he said he wanted a longer rest, and told me to go ahead. I was doubtful at first, but in the end, I reluctantly had to proceed alone.

A short way out of WS6, it was a long way downhill, and I took the opportunity to jog for the most part of that road. But then at the end of that descent, after crossing a small bridge, I came to a sudden steep climb. A horrifyingly steep climb—it's ridiculous, really! And it felt like there was no end to that climb too! A winding concrete driveway of several kilometres up, which later broke off to a gravel road. More climbs ahead. In the failing daylight, I took out my headlamp.

I finally caught up with some friends from Singapore and KL. We stuck together for a while and then later another friend, Deo, walking briskly from behind caught up with us too. Soon after that, we arrived at WS7. There we met up with some other friends. After a short break, we decided to walk together. Somewhere along that dark road, though, Philip, the Perakian friend who's working in Singapore, suddenly came running back from upfront, as if he has seen a warewolf. Took us all by surprise he did. But it soon became clear that all he saw were 3 cows with green reflective eyes. I merely said there's no need to fear—there's only cause for concern if those eyes were red. We were careful not to provoke the animals though, as we were not in the mood to play matadors at that stage of the race.

Also somewhere on that slope it began to drizzle for a bit. But we were all prepared with our raincoats. The night wore off gradually, and as I began to become sleepy I had unclear memories of the water stations. It was increasingly difficult to keep track of the WS, but when we arrived at WS8, we were welcomed with hot tea by friendly marshals. A short while later, 2 white men arrived, and one of them was asking about the pizza that he had ordered—apparently a clear case of gradual transition from mental strength to mental case due to exhaustion. We had quite a number of standup comedians on the course, you see. But from WS8, we still had to survive another punishing mother-of-em-all climb up a steep hill till kingdom come. The white man made an impressive announcement that he had ordered a pair of fresh legs waiting for  him at the top of the hill.

As we passed midnight and encroached into the wee hours of the morning, I could feel my heavy eyelids and couldn't stop yawning.That went on and on for a while until we arrived at WS10, where we stopped for a longer break. Like a famous magician, George pulled a 3-in-1 tongkat ali kopi from his bag. Half a pack of that helped to keep the sleepiness at bay for a bit. It's kinda funny how we got quite well along with each other, gossiping about people, discussing about practically any topic we could think off.

I'm not sure if it's the exhaustion, but I somehow felt that the last 12.5km of the course was extremely tough. The climb up the Bundu Tuhan road was at snail's pace. Then off to a gravel road again. Undulating in nature and seemingly unending before finally breaking off to a sharp downhill concrete driveway, eventually arriving at WS12, which was just a pickup truck with a marshal holding a clipboard; his friend sleeping soundly in the truck. From that point, we had only about 5km to the finish line. But what an amazing 5km!

First the steep downhill walk through a vegetable farm. So steep was the terrain that George was mainly moving on his butt on the ground. After a long way down, we came to a gravel road. More hills to come. And then even more until finally we emerged at the main Ranau road once again. It was just about sunrise then, and although I could feel the surge of excitement, I could also feel the sudden drop in energy.

The rest of them said they wanted to finish together, but I told them to go ahead, as I was gonna be slow. We finally arrived at the final turn to the road leading to the finish point, which was the same school wherein WS6 was located. I couldn't quite remember how much further to the school, but although I promised myself not to ask the villagers, I lost my cool. Hence I asked a man how much further to the school. He answered impressively, that it's very close!

And then a little further down the road, I met an old woman, and again I asked her how much further to the school. She looked at me for a while from head to toe, as if seeing a mad fellow hiking in the wee hours of the morning, before answering me. She made a dramatic gesture pointing with her finger, and twitching her mouth, and spoke in the best of Dusun accent, that the school was just around the corner. And as I was walking away, she was still explaining the exact location of the school, perhaps about to give me the coordinates of the finish point up to a 3m margin of error. But I had no patience to wait for all those. I merely thanked her and continued walking while she was still yapping away in the background.

Turning a corner at the top of the slope, I could see the school from afar. Excitement mounted, and I suddenly felt invincible and found myself jogging again! As I was trotting my way down that slope, Aman, the race director, came passing by in his truck. I ran all the way—would you believe it—till I turn into the school compound and was so relieved to see the finish point. It seemed like so long ago since the flag off at the Kundasang town, but actually it's been less than 24 hours ago!

The rest of my friends were already there. A lady marshal put a medal around my neck, and then gestured me to reveal my bib number which was then hidden under my jacket. I fancy there was a moment's suspense as I unzipped my jacket, and as I parted it open, I thought we were gonna see a capital letter S there. But no, it wasn't a capital letter S after all—just the same number, 386.

I waited for a bit, before the organiser arranged for a transport to send me back to my hotel. I had a quick shower and caught about 2.5hours' sleep before getting a call from Claire, announcing that Mia was approaching the finish line. I jumped out of bed and drove to the finish line just in time to witness Mia making the epic finish.

Earlier, Hana, too made a dramatic finish in fifth place in 24 hours 52 mins.

And somewhere out there on the course, Pam was still struggling on the hills. But she, too, made it to the finish line in the end in 31 hours 42 mins.

So we had happy endings. All the hardwork; months of torture, culminating in this mighty medal!

And a bragging right that we have conquered TMBT 2012.

In the end, I finished in 22 hours 46 mins. Mia did it in 28 hours 29 mins. Esther finished strong but missed her target by about 5.5 hours. All the doctors, Felice, Helen and Liaw made it too. Boyd continued after a long break at WS6, and eventually finished in a little over 24 hours. Bob finished in 25 hours 16 minutes. It was mainly happy ending for all.

I was there also in its first edition last year, but there's no question that the organiser had improved the organization of the event substantially. It is no easy feat to organise an event of this magnitude, of course, and to blend the beautiful views of the course, the challenge of the slopes, and the delegation of so many tasks throughout the route. It is all too easy to fall in love with this event, and ultra trail lovers should absolutely make it a point not to miss it in 2013!

TMBT Training at Inobong Station

It seems like it's been only a few weeks ago when I was struggling in the 100km ultra trail marathon, Vibram HK 100, in Hong Kong, but actually it's been a few months. I have since run a half marathon in Brunei, a full marathon in Singapore, and another full marathon in KL. Oh! how time flies! 

And then suddenly, I'm left with only 8 weeks before The Most Beautiful Thing 2 (TMBT)—another 100km ultra trail marathon. I have conquered the first TMBT last year as reported in 2 parts here and here. I can still remember my reply to a question from a friend immediately after the race: 

Never would I do anything crazy like the TMBT again, ever! Been there, done that. Period!

Yet we all know that humans are very forgetful creatures; the lust for challenges that shapes men's ends had since brought me to Hong Kong in February for an ultra trail marathon. And hard upon that the lure of the TMBT 2 with a new route which is substantially different from the first one. The cut off time for the entire race had also been reduced from 36 hours to 30 hours. Well, I know I said no more TMBT, but this time it's tougher, what was I supposed to do? I had to oblige the challenge!

So with only 8 weeks of training left for TMBT2, yesterday morning I joined a few friends to the Inobong Station in the hills in Penampang for the long-overdue training. I've never been up there before. Last year, we trained along the Kibambangan-Terian route. Judy had been up to Inobong, so she played tour guide for the day. Except that she brought us to a wrong junction! Thankfully, however, Dr Liaw and Jonas have been to the Inobong Station before, so we ended up following them instead.

Shortly after we entered the junction, we came to a small substation. As we were about to get out of our cars, Jonas suggested that we should park our cars in the compound of a house by the main road. So we drove out again. In hindsight, I think it was all in Jonas' evil plan to torture us with the extra 100 metres or so!

It was about 7am when we started. Looking at the sky, it was obvious that it's gonna be a hot day. We walked a short distance to the junction again, and then into a gravel road with a mild climb. Jonas started running, and the rest of us followed almost automatically. Soon, we came to a steeper climb before reaching a cemetery.

I have to admit that hills are not my strong point, so eventually I was reduced to brisk walking. But Jonas continued running, and soon enough, he disappeared into the hills ahead. We alternated running and brisk walking. Pretty soon, it became obvious that the hills are very steep; in fact, they reminded me of the torture of TMBT last November.

There was a good dose of gravel road.

And long stretches of concrete driveway.

As well as stretches lined with palm trees.

But almost an hour later, we finally arrived at the main arch of the Inobong Station.

It may be surprising, but people would actually go to this park for a holiday. I saw nothing very special, but little did I know that that was just the entrance of the park. A little further beyond the boom gate, we came to a concrete driveway, which was ridiculously steep; I mean really steep!

Liaw and I tried running up the slope, while Judy decided to take this photo. I looked back over my shoulder and said the slope was "fun"! Judy started laughing. And then I said, "How come with all the effort, I don't feel like I'm moving forward at all?"; and that made Judy laugh so hard, I thought she was about to faint. But luckily she didn't after all. Otherwise, Liaw would have had to run down the slope to perform CPR on her. While Judy was still in her fit of laughter, Jonas came running down the slope like he just saw a ghost. He ran pass us, merely slowing down for a bit to say, "Right up to the end, guys, no cheating!". I think if I had a shotgun, I would have shot him there and then!

Well, it seemed like a never-ending climb.

But in the end, we arrived at a corner where a shed appeared out of nowhere for no apparent reason. Liaw and I decided to pose for a photo, but I swear there is nothing going on between us, even if the place is perfect for lovers! 

 

After all the trouble, we were rewarded with this breathtaking view. It was surprising that we had actually climbed such a long way!

From that point, we could see the sea, the islands and KK City in the yonder... awesome, awesome view.

We went all the way up to the dead end before stopping to rest for a few minutes. It took us about 1hour 10 mins to reach that point. Then the return leg to our car. One would have thought that the downgoing should be easier, but actually, it's quite harsh on the knees. Still, it's easier than going up. On the way down, we met Jonas again on his way up for the second trip to the park. Damn! I think one of us should bring along a rope or something on the next visit, so that we can put Jonas on a leash.

Well, we reached our cars again, refilled our bottles, and up we went again for a second round of torture! The sun was already up and scorching hot. I marveled at Liaw with his sexy outfit. But perhaps it's OK for him to get a bit of sun tan, since his skin is so fair as if he's been applying whitening lotion on a daily basis!

The second trip up the hills was much tougher as expected; especially when we met the devil again on his way down when we were just about halfway up! By the time we reached the top again, I could feel both my quads and calves aching.

In spite of the exhaustion, it was mainly happy thoughts on our final descent—until about 4km to the finish when we saw Jonas running up the hill from the opposite direction. And I was, like, "Again!?" (Where is the shotgun when I need it?). However, despite his getting carried away with the training, Jonas had to turn back because he ran out of drinking water! We had hardly any water left on us, so in the end Jonas turned back and ran ahead of us. Might as well, because I might have kicked his butt so hard he'd roll down the hill like a rock!

We finished the workout in about 4 hours 35 minutes; and distance covered was just 26km. All the pain, and it's just 26km! So, OK, that's a good start. We'll come back again in 2 weeks from now. Who knows, perhaps by then we'd be able to do 3 rounds up the hills? But for now, my quads, calves and buttocks are killing me!

Vibram Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race

Shortly after torturing myself in the 100km ultra trail marathon, The Most Beautiful Thing (TMBT), last November, as reported here and here, someone named Michelle Zheng Min provided a link to the Vibram Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race in facebook.

The Vibram HK 100 is essentially a similar race with the TMBT, and someone actually convinced me that it would be fun to run the 100km in Hong Kong. It must have been a case of temporary insanity, but I soon found that I've signed up for the event. It was a surprisingly popular event as it was closed due to overwhelming response even before the end of the early bird registration period.

The time control for the Vibram HK 100 was 32 hours. However, the organiser added some sweeteners, i.e. those finishing within 16 hours were entitled to the gold award; within 20 hours, the silver award; and within 24 hours, the bronze award. Beyond those times, finishers were entitled to a finisher's sweater and a certificate each.

I finished the TMBT well over 33 hours, but in that event, I was basically reduced to the role of a baby-sitter. For the Vibram HK 100, I had intended to race. What's more, I had intended to bring home at least the bronze award!

My friend, Robert, was also able to secure a slot and as we got closer to the race day, he somehow convinced me that perhaps a silver award might be doable! At first I was rather doubtful. But later I allowed myself to consider that possibility for a bit. Maybe it's because of my faith in Bob; or maybe because I wanted so much to bring home the silver to protect myself from the many warewolf politicians here in Sabah, but in the end, I thought, "Why not?"

Little did I know that the race was somewhat different from the TMBT. In the case of the TMBT, we had many, many hills—rolling hills—but the route was such that the tail end of the race mainly comprised an overall descent. Whereas in Hong Kong, it's the other way round—as the race progressed, the hills got substantially higher and steeper. In fact, the highest and steepest slope was the very last one!

The other factor which almost put an end to my race was the cold temperature. It was announced that the temperature was between 12C to 15C, but with strong wind high on the mountain ridge, it felt like freezing point.

We were flagged off at about 8am on 18th February, Saturday. There were 755 participants on the organiser's list, but I suspect there must have been some who did not show up that morning. All of us had a timing chip each attached to the bib.

The first 15km or so of the race was quite pleasant. The terrain comprised mainly gentle undulating footpaths which eventually connected to an asphalt road. We arrived at a huge reservoir with stunning views, and both Bob and I went to a nearby bush to spray some fertilizers on the trees. The temperature then was quite pleasant, and I turned to Bob, jokingly saying that it would be nice to run the whole race on a flat surface like that.

Bob is basically a cyclist, not a long-distance runner. In fact, the longest official running event he had ever participated in was a half marathon. However, he did join me for a 25km long run on a recent Sunday. Because of his inexperience in long-distance, he decided to play safe by running the entire race with me. I was fairly amused to see all the hi-tech electronic gadgets he had on him. He had a Garmin on his wrist which was not even a watch. To be honest, I don't even know what that toy was for! But every now and then, Bob would consult his Garmin to keep track on our pace and distance covered.

It was basically a mild workout, and about three hours later, we arrived at CP1, where we found glorious food and drinks waiting for us. I soon realised that Bob becomes hungry extremely fast, and is a big eater for his size. One of these days, I must try to research where all those food go to after he swallows them.

Well, I indulged in a bit of fried rice and as I reached for a banana, Bob approached me, saying that there's also some egg sandwiches on a nearby table. So I took one too.

Bob seemed fully engrossed in all the food, grabbing this and that...

And at one point seemed to be having a hard time deciding what else to eat.

But soon after that we had to shake ourselves out of it to continue with the race. I went ahead, and Bob followed close behind. For races of this nature, it's always a good idea to run in pairs, just in case of emergency. Besides, it could have been useful to have someone looking like Captain Jack Sparrow as my bodyguard, if there are robbers trying to make their moves. But actually, all the volunteers at all the CPs that day were awesome—they were polite and so eager to help the participants in whatever way they can.

We continued our journey like that throughout the day—plenty of smiles—still not knowing the kind of temperature waiting for us during the night.

Up ahead, our friend, Jonas, had already gone so far ahead that we did not have any chance to meet him throughout the race. First thing that morning, he merely said to us "not to suck on his nipples", and then he was gone in the crowd with his friend, Paul.

Bob and I stuck to our racing strategy by combining intervals of running and brisk-walking. But Bob, perhaps because of his years of experience as a cyclist, had stronger quads—a valuable asset when climbing hills. Besides, he backed that up with a pair of trekking poles.

I couldn't help but smile to myself looking at him with the trekking poles from behind, as it sort of reminded me of the movie, E.T. And in my mind, I saw E.T saying "ET phone hooooome..."

But flat surfaces and going downhill were not his strong points. So he'd struggle to keep up with my brisk-walking. He had to jog to keep up with my walk.

We reached CP5 (52km) just shortly after getting dark. I went to the toilet and had to squat down. When I was done with my business about 5 minutes later, I had to muster all my courage and energy to hold on to the railing on the wall to pull myself up again. A quick cup noodle and some cakes, and we were ready to embark on the second half on the race. From that point on, it began to dawn on me that it was a big mistake not to bring along gloves for this race. As we walked into the night up a neat asphalt road in the park, I began to feel the cold. And the cold became increasingly something I couldn't cope with.

CP6 proved to be quite a challenge, as it was located perhaps 15km or 16km away. The hills in the second half of the race were also getting more, and higher, and steeper. But we found ourselves at CP6 after more than 2 hours later. We stopped to replenish our bottles, and grabbed some peanutbutter sandwiches. I had another cup noodle. Seeing me eat, Bob had one too.

Shortly after we left CP6, Bob complained feeling a bit dizzy and wanting to vomit. Good thing he did not keep that to himself. I told him that that's an early symptom of dehydration and told him to have a few sips every few minutes. That helped to solve the problem.

Well, we continued all the way to CP7 through more hills—ridiculous hills—and was pleasantly surprised to find a fire going. We sat around the fire with some other participants and soon found it hard to drag ourselves to start running again. But in the end, we headed out from CP7 downhill for the most part. I decided to gain a bit of time with my brisk-walking routine. Bob was struggling to keep up in the dark of the night. We were passing an area with lots of monkeys, and I think Bob heard a sound in the nearby bush. He turned to look, but when he turned back, it was too late to avoid walking into a tree, resulting in a small cut on his knee.

As the night wore away, we found ourselves approaching CP8, feeling exhausted, sleepy and shivering uncontrollably from the cold. There were paramedics there, and we took the opportunity to sneak into a tent in our attempt to warm our bodies. A volunteer came with a warm cup of coffee, and my hands were pathetically shaking that I had trouble trying to hold the cup steady.

It was then that I seriously considered surrendering from the race. Then a lady volunteer walked into the tent, and perhaps because she saw my handsome bodyguard, Bob a.ka. Jack Sparrow, gave me her gloves! That inspired me to push on. By then, it was clear that the dream of the silver award was already gone. But we had about 3.5 hours to cover 17km for the bronze. I turned to Bob, saying that if we're gonna make it, it would be very close.

In the wee hours of the morning, in what appeared to be freezing temperature, we embarked on our epic final leg of the race through the most punishing hills. The journey to CP9 was just 7km but it took about 2 hours to get there. The remaining 10km had the tallest and steepest slope up to the highest point in the whole of Hong Kong. It was clear then that even the bronze was out of the question.

I had to reluctantly accept that I have failed to achieve even the bronze. And then suddenly I felt a big relief. With about 22.5 hours on my watch, I left CP9, taking my sweet time walking up the hill. Bob caught up with me several minutes later.

We walked and walked, and as the day became brighter again, the temperature started building up, and we no longer felt like dying in the cold. When we crossed the finish line 25 hours 41 minutes since the start horn, we were ecstatic.

I think the Vibram HK 100 is very much better organised than the TMBT. The volunteers knew exactly how far between CPs, unlike the TMBT staff who deliberately made fun of participants by telling them false information about distances. All the CPs had plenty of food and isotonic drinks, and participants can be assured that they won't go hungry.

TMBT is more technical in nature when compared to the Vibram HK 100. It had river crossing, hanging bridges almost virgin forest to go through. These were not in the Hong Kong race. Instead, the hills were much more punishing in Hong Kong. So I guess it's a matter of personal tastes. But for me, I find the Hong Kong race more challenging, because I simply can't stand the cold.

Would I do it again? You bet! I will be back to bring home at least the bronze award next year!