An Insane 200miles (6-9 Aug 2021, 76:41h)

 

TLDR:

Pain. Grit. Hallucinate. My very first 200miler as a single-stage tarmac event. 😵‍.

 

Pre-event: 

Planned to attempt this over the National Day long weekend. Studied the route-map for nth time, spinning it in all configurations for start-sleep/rest-end points. Typing out 10km-markers and possible timings on excel. It was too much for my brain. After days of staring, I finally landed on my ideal plan! Or so I thought…

 

D-day (6 Aug):

 

Showed up fresh and perky at my “ideal” start point at the Marina Barrage and saw signages about special event zone. It suddenly dawned on me that I might not get back to the area when I finished on 9 Aug! Alarm bells went off in my head. Googled NDP road closures etc, and made an impromptu decision to shift my start point “forward” so that I would clear the Esplanade/Gdns area first. Took a Grab over to Little India, where my office was, took a selfie and a deep breath, and started my watch. Off I go! 

 

Reached the Barrage again, and took a photo with my little SGP flag, ahh the feels of National Day. The first 50km or so was quite straightforward. Got to Changi Beach Point and took a photo of the “pointing finger” sculpture. I checked on my knees often because I had some issue recently during runs. Gino did a fantastic job (as always) with releasing all tightness the day before and also taped the relevant parts. Happy to be pain-free so far! Arrived at Punggol area to catch a glorious sunset before looping around the Waterway Park and taking the PCN over to Sengkang. Many runners and cyclists were out that evening. 100km suddenly felt “easy”, oh if only I was ending soon. I eventually meandered to Chomp Chomp area and knew that I was nearing MR.

 

D+1 (7 Aug):

 

Arrived at MR around 730am. 118km done. Melvin was there with fresh clothes and a McMuffin. I took a quick shower and headed off. Ran through northern trail to Windsor, and surprised that legs were still quite fresh on the trail! Spoke too soon because I died in the exposed heat on Old Thomson Road. Bought two packs of iced drink and sat at a carpark to cool down. Got to Yishun Safra and a torrential downpour started. I waited it out and took the chance to eat and rest. When there were no signs of abatement, I bought two ponchos from 7-11, donned one to block the wind, and continued in the rain. That was the start of my sole-blister. Somehow made it to Belukar Trail and Rifle Range. It was dark again, and I hurried on, looking fwd to some sleep at my parents’ place enroute later. Alas! the physical and cognitive slowdown meant I had to catch some winks at bus stops. Twice x ten minutes. Hitting Lor Sesuai up and down before sleep point was wicked. I saw my sleep buffer slowly dissipating… Grrr…. 

 

D+2 (8 Aug):

 

214km. Reached home with no time to sleep. I slurped a huge bowl of porridge with marmite, dunked feet into ice buckets, recharged all my gadgets, and took another shower. I had to tape my blister too, each step was a pain. 30h left for 108km looked comfortable (naive thought). Heading out on Brickland and Jln Bahar, I was absolutely toasted. The heat plus pain, I was reluctant and distracted to move. I texted Marie to ask whether she could treat blisters, next thing I knew, she was coming down to NTU with her rescue gels etc! 🙏x1, I owe my continued movement to her. It started raining again, and I whipped out a new poncho. I felt sleepy by now and just going through mechanical steps.

Getting to Yuan Ching was like finding the end of the world. I ate some packed rice and moved to Pandan Reaervoir, where it went downhill. I hallucinated about why I was there in the dark and where I was going. Thankfully there was only one way out. I asked Marie to meet me at Sunset Way, but I dozed off at Clementi til she called (luckily not for long!) I was so afraid to fall asleep and miss the times. I hurried over to meet her and so thankful there was someone to keep me sane. Took a snooze at West Coast and in NUS. Marie ran home to get me her trekking poles (🙏 x2) and they were so helpful esp on Vigilante and Pepys. I was sleep walking zig-zag by then. 

 

D+3 (9 Aug):

 

We hurried to ARC for MacDonalds breakfast and kopi-o. Last 30ish km! Reached Mt Faber and I posed for an almost-300km milestone photo. But the last section is always the most painful and endless. Each time I stopped, it was literal pain to restart my legs. The damn blister caused me more anguish than muscles or anything. At some point, I tried not to sit down at all. The 10km through Tanglin, Ridley, and Botanic Gdns was a whirl-mess. It was burning (we were both trying to sneak under twigs of shade), we were tired and sluggish. The slower I moved, the faster the time ticked on. I was panicking. We got to Stevens Road and it was about 5km to the end. With 1h left, omg! Marie said it would be a hard push and I was not prepared to be cut off. So we “sprinted” abt 8min pace (what I thought I did VS what I really did), she led the way and I simply followed. Two crazy ladies cutting through Orchard Rd, me clacking the poles throughout. We might really get heat stroke! Somerset. Istana. Cavenagh. Why so far?! KK Hospital. Melvin had walked out to check because I way exceeded my estimated finish. I dropped off my hydration pack and poles and just went for that last 400m to Little India. Omg! Done! 76:41h, so close to the 77h COT. Incredulous & unbelievable! Happy National Day! 

 

Thanks so much Marie for accompanying me for 50km and keeping me going (plus all the photos) 😊, and Melvin for meeting me with fresh supplies and picking me at the end. 😍😘

 

Shoutout to Coros Vertix whose navigation mode kept me on track, lasted on full features with only 1.5x recharge. It ended with 30% juice. 💪

#RunningGuild #Singapore200miles

#singapore200miles2021

#rdrcsg #teamRDRC

#exploreperfection #corosSG #corosglobal #mile27

Adventures of 2017

Adventures of 2017

Let's see. Where do I begin? This is the year of several firsts, and many ambitious back-to-backs on red-eye flights and long distance buses, maximising all hours. Could not have experienced all these without the generosity and support of so many of you (spot yourselves in one or more adventures 😉). Grateful for the opportunities.

• January kicked off with my favourite HK100 race, and three days later I was in Argentina. Glad the Aconcagua summit did not evade me this third time. 🙏 • February saw me attempting the TransGrancanaria 125km in the Spanish Canary island, and my first DNF of the year. 🤦‍♀️ • March offered a hiking through the Big Bend national park in Texas, soaking in the vastness of the land and being so so close to the Mexican border. Plus a weekender to Quebec and Montreal to catch the Hotel de Glacé (ice hotel). Discovering my name on #27 of the new Ultra-Trail World Ranking was a surprise bonus perk-me-up! • April was a crazy month, presenting my second 100-miler at Zion100 - a breathtaking scenic meandering through the canyons just outside the Zion national park. A week later, it was The Boston Marathon, my very first! Followed by bucket-list Peru to gasp in wonder at the Machu Picchu ruins and trekking up the amazing Rainbow mountain. • Then Melvin came over to NYC in May where we went snow-shoeing in Colorado, and ran the TNF NY Bear Mountains - got my second DNF of the year. 😂 Graduated from my Masters programme with my family in attendance, and finally home-sweet-home to SGP. 😍
 
• June was the Muar Camel Run 22km, finished 9th place with loads of otah. Then a Krabi chill rock-climbing weekend. • July had the MSIG SG 50km, which was cut short by a thunderstorm, followed by a Malacca weekend drive. • August's poison was my first Craze Ultra 100km, where longans and coconut juice got me to 2nd place. Two weeks later was my first ever win at any event - the GreenRace 60km. • September squeezed in a recee training at Mt Kinabalu, a feeble attempt to "dash" up the mountain. A week later, it was off to Sapa for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon 100km. • Early October was my third Chicago marathon, good to be back in the Windy City. Followed by my first Mt Kinabalu Climbathon - glad I survived it. Loving the high altitude events. • November was relatively low-key, with only the Swissotel Vertical Climbathon, over in like 11min and finished 4th. So I basically chilled for almost two months, which felt like an eternity. • Glad to end December with a local favourite MR Ultra. Soaked up the camaraderie in my favouritest playground, had loads of fun, ran my eight loops with the support of several people, and closed 2017 with a 3rd placing.

Amidst all of this, read a tonne of books and journals and articles, juiced a couple of brain cells, wrote a stack of papers and assignments, organised a conference, completed my studies, re-adapted to work and picked up new skills, and connected with many new faces in our running community.

May 2018 be another year of exciting opportunities and adventures. Looking forward!

Adventures 2016

2016 has been a good year for races and adventures. Run more, climb more, go further. I am thankful for the many highlights and new experiences. With each step, I learn something more about myself and my limits. Below is a quick recap of my race/ events this year, so many memorable ones. If I had to choose..... it would be my Denali expedition and UTMB race, and signing off 2016 with an ultra-marathon of a lifetime. :) May 2017 be a similar year of growth, good health and adventures. Happy new year!

HK 20th Anniversary Marathon (42km) (17 Jan 2016)
The 20th anniversary of the HK Marathon. We were lucky to register two slots (fast fingers) and run the race together. It was a wet and cold run on race day, and we saw some runners turn around and did not even start the race. 3:57h.
 
HK100 (23 - 24 Jan 2016)
Still my favourite-st 100km race, simply because the HK100 was my maiden 100km undertaking in 2012. The 2016 event saw a freak hail/ice-storm in HK that iced up the last section on Tai Mo Shan, where we slid and skidded our way down the last 5km. A most eventful race. 24:41h. (Race blog)

Marin Ultra (80km) (12 Mar 2016) 
Marin County across San Francisco, where one gets a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean from the trails. Alas, it was raining the entire day, which brought the temperature a few notches down from the stated 12C. Wet, windy, foggy, chilly. 13:21h.

TNF Washington DC (80km) (9 Apr 2016)
This was a flat course through the Algonkian Park, DC, so I thought my timing should be pretty decent. Alas, it was a wet and cold day. The trails became all muddy and we sloshed our way through the slippery gooey stuff. The race took us along the Potomac River and past the scenic Great Falls, which made the run worthwhile. 12:25h.

TNF New York Bear Mountains (80km) (May 2016)
The Bear Mts course was one of the tougher ones in the TNF Endurance series, with fairly technical climbs and descents and a tight cut-off. I almost did not make it, being the last runner through one of the checkpoints before it was closed. Whew! Finish it, I must! It was also my first time in a technical trail race without using my trekking poles, and I definitely felt it in my knees post-race. 13:27h. (Race blog)

Mt. Denali (6,190m) (14 May - 7 Jun 2016)
One of the highlights in 2016 was definitely my expedition to Mt Denali, the highest peak in N.America (6,190m). It was an experience of a lifetime, I had never had so much snow and ice before. We landed directly on the glacier in full climbing gear, and I had my first trial at sledding my equipment across the snow fields. My 25 days of arctic survival included getting hemmed in by fierce winds and snow and forced to count days slipping by and our summit window narrowing, a 16h summit attempt followed by long descents towards basecamp through the 'night' (for the sun does not really set in summer), and then being stuck at basecamp because the glacier planes could not fly in. Few Singaporeans have climbed this mountain... precious memories.

MR Marathon (42km) (12 June 2016)
Back from NYC in time to run the MR marathon. Alas, cramps set in on the 3rd loop and my placing dropped from 5th to 9th. But it was good fun to be reacquainted with my favourite playground and fellow trail runners. :) 5:00h

TNF Lavaredo, Italy (119km) (24 - 26 June 2016)
119km in the gorgeous Dolomites mountain range & valleys, north-eastern Italy. Total elevation 5,850m. Cutoff time 30h. It was my first attempt at a distance over 100km, and it felt a lot more like a trekking trip than run with all the climbs, river crossings, and some technical descents. The scenery was breath-taking and some climbs fairly brutal. It was also my first time running close to 30h. I remember crossing the finishing line and wondering why I signed up for the upcoming UTMB... Eeeks! 29:33h.

TNF Ontario, Canada (50km) (16 July 2016)
TNF Ontario set in the lovely Blue Mountain Village, a quaint ski town resort area north of Toronto. My most blur race ever. (1) Misread the race elevation profile - change of 3,640m and thought it was gain. Mentally psyched to climb and wondered why we were not at the peak of some hills. (2) Confused by the loops and aid stations and thought I had 10km more to go. So convinced that I missed a turn somewhere, I was prepared to DQ and skip the finisher medal as I crossed the finish line. Then realised that I had misread the aid station distances all along - read the 50mi instead of 50k markers. Ah ha! Oh well, the slight DNF panic during the race made me run... It ended well. 6:56h. 

Laugavegur Trek, Iceland (55km; 2 days) (Aug 2016)
Attempted a solo trek on the famous Laugavegur trekking trail in Iceland. A typical trip would take took 3 - 4 days, and I compressed it within 2 days. It is also the same trail route for the Laugavegur ultra-marathon, so I figured that a fast hiker should be able to cover that distance in 2 days in good timing. I was also lucky to have long summer days up to 9pm, which allowed me to cover more distance each day. I There were four river crossings in fast flowing freezing waters which numbed my toes and threatened to sweep me off sideways. In return, I was rewarded with vast endless nature and beauty which no photos could do justice to. Hearts.

Reykjavik Marathon, Iceland (42km) (20 Aug 2016)
Reykjavik Marathon (20 Aug 2016). After a week of drizzles, the weather cleared up to a nice 13 - 17C, with sunshine along the way. Flag off 8:40am, self-seeded time zones. Icelanders were out in running vests and shorts, soaking in the sun. This is a fairly popular race with Europeans, Canadians and Americans, and I also heard some Cantonese and Mandarin. Pretty strong runners, many were chatting while yours truly was trying to keep pace. The 21km and 42km started together, and split off at 18km. It was relatively packed for the first 5km (though not sardine packed like in other major marathons), and then spaced out after the split. I was happily following the pacers' balloons until they went off with the 21km. Oh well...

The course was largely along the Reykjavik coastline with some gentle rolling slopes and bridges, and a teeny weeny bit of dirt track. We were treated to expansive views of blue waters that touched the blue skies, Mt Esja (highest peak in Reykjavik 914m), the Grotto lighthouse (where wildlife resides), and even a mini "waterfall" feature. I ran alongside an elderly gentleman wearing a "Everest Marathon" vest, who kindly shouted out for me to run on the inner lane; "it's shorter", he said. At the 41km point, he got caught in a random fishing string on the ground and took a slight tumble, but then caught up and overtook me. Inspiration! All in, one toilet break, two Gu gels, three refills of bottle, and a 3:47h time. No BQ, no PB but heaps of blue skies and fresh air.

UTMB, Mont Blanc (170km) (26 - 28 Aug 2016)
THE trail race of the year, 10 year in the making. 170km, 10,000m elevation. From clocking qualifying points from races just to get a chance to ballot for UMTB, to lead-up training races, toeing the start line, experiencing sleep deprivation and hallucination, receiving generous cheers and support from friends, to finally crossing that finishing line.... it was a dream come true. An epic race and experience, difficult to repeat. 44:11h, and maybe the 2nd SGP female finisher. Gasp! (Race blog)

Chicago Marathon (42km) (9 Oct 2016)
Last year, I clocked my PB and BQ timing at Chicago. This year, I decided to run it again to see how I would fare. Chicago is known for its flat and fast timing. The race did not disappoint. I managed to clock a BQ of 3:42h, just 3min within the timing for my age-group. Hopefully this timing will get accepted at Boston 2018. Fingers crossed.

Philly Marathon (42km) (20 Nov 2016)
My second time at the Philadelphia marathon. It was a super windy race day, with wind chill bringing down the temperatures to 0C. At times, there was helpful tail wind, but for most parts, the wind was just blasting in our faces and swirling up leaves and twigs on the ground. 3:48h. 

MR Ultra (12h cut-off) (18 Dec 2016)
Again, I got back to Singapore just in time for the MR Ultra, my final race for the year. It was a nice cool day because of the overnight rain and cloudy skies. I stayed conservative and tried not to over-push so that I would not get cramps. The race went well and I was in the 1st - 2nd lead, until I did a superman spectacular flat-face fall near the Jelutong Tower and suffered a deep cut (two stitches) above my eyebrow. The first-aid and subsequent medical checks cost me a good amount of time and I was lucky to be able to regain a steady pace on the next few loops. Managed a 3rd place with 8 loops (80km) in 11:36h.

HK100 (22 – 24 Jan 2016)

My fifth edition of the popular Vibram HK100 event – I had managed to run every year except for its inaugural run. This year, the weather forecast was wet and cold. Indeed, if last weekend’s HK marathon was any indication, it would be a lot more chilly and miserable up in the mountains. Especially in the night and exposed on the peaks.

We decided to stay at Tsuen Wan this year (near the end-point) instead of at the hostel at Pak Tam Chung (start point). On hindsight, it was an apt decision given the lousy weather. On race morning, we shared a cab to the start. It was very windy but thankfully the rain had stopped. I made a last toilet stop and contemplated puttig on my rain/ wind pants right from the start. Hearing the winds howling outside made the decision easier. However, in doing so, I started slightly after the countdown flag-off, and was right at the back of the pack.

The first section into the trails was always a huge bottleneck. Coupled with the heavy winds that threatened to blow runners off the exposed ridge of the water dam, I took 30min more than usual to reach the first support point at 12km. Somehow I felt out of shape (literally and figuratively) for the run and not as agile as I had imagined. I looked out for fellow Singaporean runners and it was only after CP3 that I spotted Louis, and caught up with Kenny and company at CP4. I also managed to snap a photo with Cheryl (Philippines) along the way.

Despite the wind, the weather on Saturday was actually pleasant for runners who were used to colder climates. I saw many elites in T-shirts and short tights, and this year’s top male set a new race record of 9:32h. So I guess it was still a good course for the fast runners.

This year, I reached the half-mark CP5 just under 10h, almost an hour slower than last year. It then took me 40min to change into a fresh set of clothes. For my top, I had on a heavy-weight Columbia baselayer, a micro-fleece, a Nike synthetic down running vest, and a TNF rain/wind shell. For my bottom, I already had a CWX insulated compression tights and a Montane rain/wind shell. I added a mid-weight Columbia baselayer. I have a low tolerance for cold, and this combination kept me 'unfeeling' when the wind blasted into me.

Surprisingly, the section between CP5 to CP6 was not as windy as expected although I had begun to sleepwalk a little. Downing two bottles of caffeinated 5h-energy kept me alert through CP7 and CP8. There was a slight drizzle but bearable. It was about 20h when I reached the Lead Mine Pass CP9, where it would normally be a homerun thereafter. I had given up notions of a silver finisher trophy but thought that the bronze one (sub-24h) was still attainable. However, 人算不如天算。 It started raining again, and I was jolted out of my complacency when faced with the semi-icy slippery rocks on Tai Mo Shan. The skies pelted ice at us and it was painful when the strong winds blew those ice bits on to my face. After an hour, I could hear a sound crackling each time I turned my head - my jacket hood was frozen! The hours of rain in the close-to-zero temperature resulted in a very slippery terrain. I had to deliberately walk into puddles because where there was water, there would not be ice. It was there that runners really looked out for one another, shouting out warnings, tips and words of encouragement. Looking down and focusing on my steps, we finally made it up and out of the trails. 

Unfortunately, that elation was short-lived, for the tarmac road up to the Observatory had a layer of black ice, and some runners started skidding backwards from a lack of shoe grip. Just as I thought things could not get worse, it was time to head down the winding road – which was impossible given the black ice. Everyone was skidding, sliding, butt-sliding and falling spectacularly. One guy shouted for everyone to keep a safe distance from the person in front, because we could all really roll over like bowling pins. It was all I could to try not to fall – well, I still did a couple of times. It was so slippery that if I sat on the road, I could not really control my slide direction or brake. My trusty trekking poles were immensely useful - and thankfully I use the carbide tips (instead of plastic) - they saved me from a few tumbles. 

It was extremely cold after more than 3h out there, due to the unprotected exposure to strong winds and a reduced level of aerobic activity. I was purely in survival mode, because there was no alternative to backtrack. As runners were trying hard to make our way down, many HongKongers were trudging up to catch a rare glimpse of the ice and frost! After an eternity, I finally got to a part of the road where there was slightly more traction. I happily went down the road, only to realise that it led to a dead end, and that I had missed a directional sign! Oh bummer, I reckoned it was about 1km down and I had to trek back up to the missed fork. In a bid to divert runners away from the curious crowd, the organisers had re-directed the last 2km back into the trails – which was not great for me because there were more steps and descent. 

Finally, finally, I finished the HK100 at 24:41h, missed that bronze trophy and picked up a finisher medal. By then my hydration pack and jacket was already frozen over with a thin layer of ice crackling up. Only after the race did I learn that the organisers had stopped the run, leaving only those of us who had passed CP9 to continue on to the finish point (well, there was no other way out anyway). It was a good call, because the roads would only have gotten more slippery with more black ice.

What an eventful HK100! With every race, I learn something about myself and gain new experiences for subsequent events. This was truly an eye-opener, kudos to the organisers and volunteers who worked tirelessly in the cold to account for all runners and ensure that everyone was safe and warm. Hopefully better weather would prevail next year.

A Year of Races and Climbs

The past twelve months had been a whirlwind of races and climbs around the world, not by deliberate design, but certainly an experience that I would look back with fondness. Many of these races were new to me, and each a cherished opportunity. I had a pseudo-masochistic target of having a monthly race, travel or adventure. With my previous work, I often woke up in a different country each month. That changed when I switched job in Sep/ Oct 2014, and thought that it would be auspicious to symbolise a new chapter with a race. So I gamely signed up for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon, and the rest fell in place. The majority of these races took place over a weekend (eg. Fri – Sun) or a public holiday long weekend. Race travel was often a creative challenge of finding the right flights and logistics.

There were so many races, PBs, awards, newfound self-awareness and growth, that I could not blog timely about all of them. So here is a chronology of events since May 2014 (yes I know, that is more than 12 months back), and some top-line recollections about each of them.

·        Mt Rinjani climb (1 – 5 May 2014) - A corporate expedition with bosses and colleagues. Half the members had taken part in the Mt KK Challenge in 2013, and we had a good rapport going. It was my second visit to Mt Rinjani and around the crater lake. On hindsight, the experience definitely came in very handy at my subsequent Rinjani Ultra race in Aug 2015. 

·        Salomon MR Marathon (22 Jun 2014) – 4^th position; PB 4:41h 

·        Elbrus climb (26 Jul – 7 Aug 2014)

·        Vietnam Mountain Marathon (70km) (18 – 22 Sep2014) – 16:00h

·        SG TNF100 (50km) (11 Oct 2014) – 5^th position; 5:37h

 

·        Salomon LT70 (Lantau 70km) (1 Nov 2014) – 15:45h

·        HK TNF100 (100km) (12 – 14 Dec 2015) – My second time DNF. Ooops. I started too conservatively and only warmed up/ picked up pace much later in the race. I also spent an inordinate amount of time at the checkpoints, stuffing myself silly with sushi-rice dipped in salt. I paid the price subsequently by getting myself cut off at CP8 (about 80km). Haiz. 

·        Vibram HK100 (100km) (16 – 18 Jan 2015) – This was my 4^th edition of the race, and I still loved it. After learning from my un-planning errors from the recent TNF HK, I was determined to keep track of my times, especially how long I spent at each aid station. Happy to finally improve on my race timings and earn the Silver finisher trophy for coming in below 20h; 19:37h.

 

·        BKK TNF100 (50km duo) (3- Jan – 1 Feb 2015) – First time pairing up with Kee Leng, naming ourselves Chilli Padi. It was a relatively easy terrain; apart from a short scrambling early on in the race, the rest of the distance was definitely run-able. The race flag-off was 5am in cool weather. By 9am, the sun was out in full force and I was secretly glad that I was not attempting the 100km (two loops of 50km). Kee Leng was running with another friend, Hwee Hoon, who was training for her upcoming MDS desert race. I went ahead slightly, since the race was a cumulative timing of both runners. Along the way, I passed 1 – 2 other female runners but I had no way of knowing which teams they were in. I could only do mental calculations and hoped that we were not too far off. It was quite a close fight amongst the female teams, and an anxious time at the finishing line waiting for the girls to appear. We came in 2^nd position with a combined timing of 12:40h; personal time 6:00h (1^st for the duo and 4^th compared to solo timings), earning our team S$1,200 worth of BKK TNF vouchers. Woohoo!

 

·        Mt Aconcagua (6,962m) climb (7 Feb – 2 Mar 2015) – Second attempt and a lot more conditioned. Alas, still did not manage to summit this bad-weather-prone peak. We were snowed in before High Camp, and on summit day, the snow was too soft and deep for me to tackle.

 ·        TransLantau 100 (100km) (13 – 15 Mar 2015) – This was a brutal, agonising 100km, the toughest of the HK 100km series; The total elevation was about 5,200m, taking us up the major peaks on Lantau island. I was fresh off Aconcagua and well-acclimatised for climbs. Nonetheless, I was hit by the z-monster and continued my tradition of sleep-walking after 2am. Luckily I had company throughout the race, and we completed it together at 26:50h.

·        Wu-Lai (U-Lay) Marathon (42km) (3 – 5 April 2015) – My first trip to Taiwan, to race in an event organised by a Singaporean (Sam). Finally, a road marathon! It was refreshingly simple in logistics and mental expectations. The route took us through the scenic mountains/ valleys of U-Lay, a popular hot-spring area near Taipei. We followed the vehicular path that wound itself around the valleys like a spring. Got a surprise 4^th position (3:58h) at the race. J After the marathon, there was an optional 7km leisure distance. It was fun trotting alongside people who were walking their dogs and having a nice outing.

·        Gede Pangrango (42km) (1 – 3 May 2015) – This was my first time taking part in a race organised by Hendra Wijaya, one of Indonesia’s top ultra-endurance athlete. His races are nothing short of no-frills-back-to-basic crazy. This was the first race at the Gede mountain, comprising impossible ascents and descents of 1,000m at one go, over insane tree roots and an ultra-technical terrain. I was the second female runner but could not meet the cut-off time of 16h. In the end, there was only one female finisher, who was from Indonesia. And all our Singaporean runners DNF-ed. Good golly, lol. But it was a valuable experience that would serve me well in my future races. 

·        AU TNF100 (100km) (15 – 17 May 2015) – Absolutely enjoyed this race, and clocked a PB (18:50h) for my trail 100km! For that, I got a bronze finisher belt buckle - what I might do with a giant metal buckle is a separate story. The run around the Blue Mountains was incredibly scenic and well-organised, with a perfect weather and runnable terrain to tantalise runners. It was also the farthest trip I managed to accomplish over a Fri – Sun weekend. I would gladly do this again.

·        Mt Kota Kinabalu climb (20 – 23 May 2015) – a corporate event that I organised; it is always good to be back in the mountains. Alas, this was also two weeks before the devastating KK earthquake, a shock to many of us.

·        Philippines TNF100 (100km) (11 – 13 Jun 2015) – 7^th position womens in 27h (out of 7 female finishers and an overall race cutoff of 30h); This year’s route was Nuvali – Tagaytay – Batangas, with a total elevation 3,574m. The climbs for this race were all upfront, and there was a major checkpoint cutoff at 54km; alas the organisers had to extend that timing by an hour or many would not have cleared it (myself included). The weather was unrelenting hot, and by night time, it was a real struggle to keep awake after being baked in the sun the entire day. It was my first race where I took a 10min nap, which refreshed me tremendously. I was touched by the Filipino runners’ and local villagers’ hospitality. One guy bought a coke from a street vendor and shared it with me, as we commiserated our misery fast-tracking to clear the mid-point cutoff. This timing of 27h was also my PW. :)

 

 

·        Salomon X-Country MacRitchie Marathon (42km) (28 Jun 2015) – Four loops of MR in the usual counter-clockwise direction (which was tougher than last year). This was my playground and I really wanted to do well at this race. Unfortunately, I went out too fast initially and the hot weather caused some very serious cramps on my last loop, where I had to be supported on the walk out. Lost my lead and dropped from 5^th to 6^th position, finishing in 5h. A hard-earned experience on what major cramping was like.

·        Sundown Marathon (42km) (4 July 2015) – I had challenged myself to attempt a sub-4h when I signed up for the race. However, that bubble burst after the spectacular cramps and tight ankles from the MR marathon in the previous week. Ran an ok pace, completing in 4:08h.

 

·        SG MSIG 50 (50km) (25 July 2015) – This was a new race, organised by our local Queen of Trails, Jeri; After the MR cramping experience, I took it slowly and conservatively, finishing 6^th position with 6:50h. The hot weather and the endless Green Corridor made the race ever so mental, especially the last 10km or so out to the Tg Pagar end and back to the finishing point at Portsdown. It was forever. 

  

·        Mt Rinjani Ultra (52km) (6 – 9 Aug 2015) – In my mind, this was the penultimate race before I left SGP. One must not be tricked by the race distance of 52km over a seemingly generous course cutoff of 22h. The total elevation for this race was about 5,200m (in comparison, that was a similar elevation for TransLantau 100k). This race had a very low finisher rate of less than 20%. It was a similar traverse route to the summit and down that trekkers typically take 3 days to complete. The climbs were brutal, averaging 800m - 1000m in a single ascent from one checkpoint to another. The descents were equally punishing, sometimes 1500m - 2000m straight down. I was extremely apprehensive and anxious, being alone at this race and not sure whether I could finish it. The timing was very tight, it was literally "chiong sua" (dash up mountain). I made a race plan, plotted the checkpoints and assigned tentative time estimates, with about an hour buffer for delays, but as runners would know, races seldom play out as planned.

      It rained fairly heavily just before the race, but stopped once we set off. The good weather held throughout the race, and thankfully it was not rainy or windy on the way up the summit. Although Mt Rinjani was the second highest in SE Asia (after Mt Kinabalu), it was known to be more difficult due to its scree terrain at the summit area; it was very easy to keep sliding backwards and moving forward took double the effort. I loved the climbs, but was typically much slower coming down. The race was so so so very brutal; but for once, I did not experience any stomach upsets (probably thanks to the Tailwind endurance fuel/ drink mix that I was using). The race food was typical Indonesian sweet kuehs; it looked like steamed corn/ tapioca, filled with gula Melaka – it was delicious and energising for me! The trail running scene in Indonesia was in its infancy, largely due to the effort of race director, Hendra, and many local runners still retained that ‘kampung’ spirit on the race. One guy offered to take over my trekking poles as we scrambled down a particular tricky section, and then, as innocuously as he had offered, he returned them to me with a simple “You will need these now”. And at my last 5km, another runner generously paced and encouraged me in the trails, ending his selfless deed with a “Go on, you can run all the way now (knowing that he was not able to catch my pace on the flats).” I was extremely touched. I barely scrapped past the cutoff (22h) with a finishing time of 21:52h, nail-biting to the very end. All in, extremely proud and happy to be the first SGP female finisher at this race. I even brought a little SGP flag for the summit shot, in celebration of SG50.