The Most Beautiful Thing 2017

In The Beginning

The longest distance that I have done in a real race so far is a full marathon.  The Thailand Ultramarathon, which I wanted to do the 50km race, had been cancelled due to the King’s death.  Nevertheless, I went for the trip since everything has been arranged.  Fortunately, I met a fellow countrymen there, and also at the lodge itself, we met a couple of others who were there to just “run the place”.  So technically speaking, I do know what the taste of ultra is like.  To speak the truth, I personally feel a full marathon is not that tedious but of course, I am still unable to run that distance everyday.  So physically I was able to finish a 50km rather comfortably.

The idea of TMBT or The Most Beautiful Thing came when 2 of my ultra runner friends, MK and Joey, were joining.  Among us I had the shortest distance clocked in my life, so I was contemplating whether to join as I might be a drag for them.  But they assured that it is more for completion than for personal best.  As early as March, they have already asked me about it, since the Thailand Ultramarathon had been cancelled due to them not able to obtain the permit to conduct the race in the forest of Soppong area, I decided to join them.

Preparations

The preparations are really not something I am used to because my furthest distance done in a real race is 42.195km, a full marathon.  I have simply no idea what distance to clock and what kind of program to get into.  My two friends told me I really need to go some stairs climbing and also go into the forest to get used to the environment.  In Singapore, we have very limited places to simulate elevation, even our nature parks are semi man made with well structured park floorings by NEA.  The only place that most trail runners go for training is Mandai, Bukit Timah Hill ( or BTH as affectionately name by most runners), the Dairy farm park area and of course Macritchie Reservoir.  There are some hidden trails here and there but none can be compared to the forests around the region.

I went for 2 trainings in BTH itself with them, with the longest distance clocked at 25km.  MK actually showed us some of the important techniques to muster when ascending and descending hills, he also shared on some of the equipment and how to prepare logistically for the race.  I had this feeling that a 100km race is like going for a 2 days 1 night camp.  Nevertheless, all these tips really helped a lot and for once I ditched my Vibram five fingers to a Merrell Agility Peak Flex for women.  Its been a long time I wore normal shoes for a run and trail, I presume such a long race, it is best not to overlook the exhaustion on the feet.

TMBT 2017

Official Website:http://www.borneoultra.com/tmbt1/

Organised this year on Saturday 16 Sep to Sunday 17 Sep 2017. The Compressport TMBT Ultra-Trail®  is the oldest ultra trail running race in Malaysia, deemed to be ” The Most Beautiful Thing”, the race brings participants through a tough trail around the famous Mount Kinabalu.  Mount Kinabalu stands at the height of 4,100m, making it one of the highest peaks in Southeast Asia, it is also a world heritage site.  The race promises extraordinary scenery of nature but at the same time enough brutality to achieve one of the highest DNF ( did not finish) race in Southeast Asia.

There are 4 categories this year,  12km, 30km, 50km and the 100km.  Participants can expect river crossing, going through sling bridges, extreme forest conditions, hard road elevation and varying degrees of weather, from cold to severe heat.  In fact this year the race sees an elevation of 5,270m for the 100km folks.  Due to the unstable land conditions in the area, there was a ferry service that took the runners from W5a to W5.  Of course, the distance was also made up in the end to be 100km.  Total of 12 water points, with W12 being the last and finishing line.

Race collection

Kota Kinabalu town itself is vibrant and full of activities with the Sabah Suria Mall and Jesselton Point, but the race pack collection for TMBT is in another part of Kota Kinabalu, called Metro town.  The place is generally quiet and its very new within the industrial estate.  There are a couple of interesting nice food joints within the Metro town and a drinking place called Bulldog.

To speak the truth, I felt that the collection location was not ideal, its jammed up on the second floor in an office.  The mandatory check was also done there but it is very crowded and the check was really snappy.  After which you are to collect your pack from another counter, we had to fill up the indemnity form first and it is really worth to do it in advance as the office is crowded with people.

The race pack is simple, a black compression sport draw string bag with the compression sport race tee.  There are some vouchers inside.  The race bib is also included and that is about all.

The Race ( Day 1 )

I am not going to elaborate from W1 to W12 as this is a long arduous race.  Just keeping the gists and important things to note for this race.  Flag off timing was the same for both the 50 and 100 km runners.  The organisers do provide transportation services which will ferry runners from Kota Kinabalu Town and also Metro Town.  We stayed at Avangio Hotel in Metro Town.   The hotel is new, clean and also has a full fledged gym with good swimming pool facilities.

We reached the start point early in the morning around 5:15 am, it was a good 1 and half hour ride.  The start point is rather cold in the morning.  We all gathered in what was like a school in Lingkubang.  Even before getting to the start point, we need to cross a single plank bridge in the dark.

At the start point, we could see participants from around the world, all of us were getting excited and ready.  We met another lady, Sally, she came alone and ended up together with us.  MK and Joey had earlier on got to know her at the Koh Chang Ultratrail race in Feb.  It is always nice to have someone to run together with.  The common toilet was crowded so we kind of did it in the wild and of course in the dark.  Mount Kinabalu can be clearly viewed from here,  many of the runners started to snap away.

The race itself sees many ascends.  Already from the start there is like up hill all the way.  MK kept reminding us not to burn out using too much energy.  He was right, our race cut off time is 32 hours, which means a day and 8 hours more, that is really a long long way to go.

The beginning part of the race sees a lot of forested areas, river crossing and bridge crossing.  It was also sunny and scenic.  The daylight begins around 6am and by 5:30 pm the sun goes down and by 7 pm, it was already dark.  The forested area was technical with slippery ground and a lot of rocks and vegetation to tackle.  Whether its was up hill or down hill, they were equally challenging.  The track was narrow too, which mean the slow movers have to constantly give way out to the fast runners.

By afternoon 4pm on our first day, the rain started to pour, it was not a light drizzle but cats and dogs type.  We were all drenched and wet, seriously at that point, I was thinking, if the rest of the race was going to be this crazy rain, will I get hyperthermia( which can be fatal when your body temperature drops too much)? This was the thing I was worried about because I have really low tolerance level for coldness. But somehow the idea of DNF did not come up, I was thinking even if I were to crawl I will give it a shot to finish unless I cannot make it through the cut off timing.

Mid Point Perkasa

The rain did stop, I was relieved, I cannot imagine running at night with tons of pour.  We also reached our mid check point which will also be our ending point eventually.  Perkasa Mt Kinabalu Resort Hotel is the mid and final point for us, unfortunately we were not settled inside the hotel itself, but the large tents outside of the hotel.  Inside the tents were our half way drop bags and also the fuel up point with hot food like macaroni and hot soup.  There was also chicken and some rice, desert table with sweet stuff like fruits and Snickers and fruit cocktails.  Hot coffee was also available.  In short, it is a very well stocked up place to eat and rest.  There were however not that many toilets and you need to walk a distance to the toilets.  The weather was cold at night as we were in the mountains already.

Night falls

We moved off for the night around 7pm, the night portion was less technical but there were some portions which proved to be challenging like the cabbage patch at Waterpoint 7-10.  We put on our headlamps and also the luminous vest with the blinking lights.  These were the mandatory items.  Night may be cold and also dark but it is also very tranquil and peaceful.  By this time, runners were more or less spread out as the 50km runners would have finished by then. For the 100km runners, some were really not able to keep up and would have dropped out by then.

The night sky is really beautiful dotted with constellations of stars, a scene hardly visible in Singapore.  The night is also a time where fatigue really draws in, this is especially so when it is 3-4am.  Sleepy and tired, we drag and do our best to beat the Z monster and continue.  Finally dawn breaks, around 5:30 am, there was a portion of more technical forested area, and when we reach W11, we were really broken by then.  It was really mental from this point on.  We could see the Mount Kinabalu afar, very beautiful indeed ,  filling up our hydration for the last time, we started our last leg of 11km to the end.

Water Points

Just a special mention about the water points, they are all very nicely nestled in an enclosed area, like a school hall or something, there are chairs and places for you to rest or even sneak a snooze.  Instant noodles, mushroom soup and of course hot coffee tea and plenty of clean portable water for the runners.  Most stations have fruits like water melons, banana and also dry stuff like biscuits and potato chips.  The friendly volunteers were there to ensure that we were well replenished.  Every water point we reach, we need to tap in to show that we were indeed there.

W11 to Finish

Seriously this last part was a mental torture, up hill all the way with loads of ascends.  The road might not be that bad but the elevation was.  Turn after turn we thought it was the end, but turn after turn, it was another slope.  I was really tired but just kept moving at a slow speed, both Sally and Joey were way ahead, while MK companied me worried that I might just let go.  But there were times I was moving alone.

Finally we saw the Finish sign, which points to .. another SLOPE! Climbing up and turning into the Finish point was really euphoric! As we held our hands over the finishing line, the organisers passed us our finisher medal and also we collected our finisher tees.

This time I was really tired out.  My tigh were painful and really could not walk properly, it is really like the first time I did marathon where my legs were like gone and cannot move.  Limping, we went to the hotel for a change and wash up.  We were only given a room each female and male for the change up.  So it really takes time waiting up for your turn.  Actually the hotel is kind of old and the facilities are not as good, so the shower is just a simple one and the water pressure was low.

We had our Day 2 lunch at the hotel provided by the organiser, it was simple but we did not have much appetite anyway, more like exhausted.  We waited for the bus to come to fetch us back, but the system was not good, there were no proper signs or images to tell us where to go and wait.  Eventually we just got up the last bus that took us back.

Aftermath

I was very happy to have finished this race, seriously the timing really did not matter, we completed it around 28hours plus.  But the completion was really crazy for me.  I kept telling MK that I would never do it again, no more 100km, but I know deep down, I would like to conquer a race again… life is about challenges!