Back to Endurance 12 hours 2015 - Race Report

I have not run road distance this long in my life.

I didn't plan and train for this race in fact.

This is my 1st win in any run.

Why and how did I do it anyway ?

I have done Back to Endurance 2013 and Back to Endurance 2014, both I did 50KM and I stopped (I came back to walk a few more loops in 2013 and finished around 60KM). I have done Nuang Ultra 2014 and 2015, both stopped at 50KM. I joined Watergate 16H this year and I stopped 50KM.

The reason I always stop early in these races is because I am worried of the injury that haunted me in 2013.

But something changed this, itchiness kick in and I really want to benchmark myself to my own analysis and forecast for a distance beyond 50KM on road/pavement. Do I have a target? I wasn't sure at 1st, the longest I ran on road was Route68 with 69KM, I used that as benchmark and I figured that I can possibly hit 100KM or more, so I set the target at 45 loops, knowing that most experienced runners would set at 44 loops to break the 100KM barrier. 45 loops seem easier to break down into check points of 5 loops.

End of background story.

Having worked the Saturday before, I woke up on Sunday morning with some fever, I have the intend to take things easy and slow down/rest if I have to, but I have already committed to complete the 12-hour race this time. The race flag off on time at 6:30am with light drizzling, to prevent from losing too much body heat and shield from fever chills, I started the race with a light jacket in an easy pace.

Before flag off, fever look

Quite cold actually

End of 1st loop

with Kevin Chu, very potential young runner

It looked bad on me when I ran with a better looking runner

In the rain

Alone (after toilet break)

The 1st few loops with companionship from Kevin, I started to get used to the pace for the race and the weather is surprisingly cooling due to the rain. I only removed my jacket after few loops and started to get used to the weather without jacket. The 1st aim was to hit a sub4 at FM distance, that would be sometime into 19th loop. Having run with someone made me forgot about visiting the toilet (since lap 1) until the urge was strong enough to force me for a pit stop and let Kevin go, lol!

Rain is over, 20KM is covered

Overtaking is routine

Full steam abit before 50KM

When did I do this?

Since the start has been good and the fever didn't bother me much in the beginning, I changed into Under Armour to test it out after 15 loops. It feels OK and I think it does qualify as a base layer for distance run.

Result update at 3-hours

I managed to hit the full marathon distance at 3:54 hrs, which was on target, then my next check point will be for 50KM, and I really like to see if I can do an easy sub5 here, that would be 22 loops, 66 mins to spare for 8KM, the naughty idea became to hit a sub4:50 with some good time to spend at water station on eating and drink.

Next 4 loops passed really fast and I hit a 4:45 hrs for 50KM, at that moment I just feel like texting Karsten and say: Look, 4:45 hrs and I am not even racing yet, lol! At this point, I kind of confident that hitting a 100KM is not an issue, given that I do not have any issue at that point of time, but like any long hours event, anything can happen.

Lap 16, I think

Under Armour shirt made the run look serious

Smaller steps begin

I think I heard: water or your own drink?

What pace should I run next?

Minum air mesti bergaya

My next check point became every 10KM to set benchmark for myself, changed to my favourite long distance T-shirt (Borneo 2013 event T) after 25 loops and I started to slow myself down to prevent sweating too much, it was already close to noon time. I managed to hit 60KM at 5:56 hrs and 70KM at 7:07 hrs when I started to spend more time drinking and eating at water station, a good 7 min pace allowed myself to cool down better too. I tried out an eating method that I 1st saw in Watergate 16 hours, to eat on the walk, only managed 3 scoops of nasi lemak and I couldn't do it further, Shine Teh has definitely mastered this, I need to practice on this, lol!

Results update at 6-hours

By 7 hours I have already built up a 2 loops advantage over Seng Heng and according to him, Ben was around half a loop in front of him. With 5 hrs to spare for the next 15 loops to hit 103KM seems very generous actually, on mind calculation, I could do one lap walking and 2 laps running to get there...But it was never be that simple and easy anyway...

One of the best way to cool down fast, is around the neck and shoulder.

Wet is good

Cooling down

Having said that, I did not mean I was not tired at all, I was, physically how could I be not tired ? I have not run this far on road before, if anyone had tried to talk to me during the past 7 hrs, they probably find me responded selectively because my mind was set to do calculation to divert attention from thinking of tiredness and I only focus on looking for my drinks and suppliers. And this got worse in the next 5 hrs....

Resting between laps

I caught myself only listening to my own voice and counting the runners on the pavement, whenever I re-enter aid station my mind was only looking for what I wanted and needed, I hear voices and noises but very few words get into my mind. I was staring but I wasn't looking. 

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There is pain

But surprisingly I was unbelievably calm and I do not have mental suffering as I expected to get beyond 8 hours. Physically my right shin hurts at some point, triggered my mental alarm that I couldn't run as fast as before and I needed to adjust my landing, which may in turn cause impact on my left waist.

I tried to change to my spare shoes Kinvara 5 to get better support on the feet, which was probably the single biggest mistake I made in this race and my only moment sitting down during the race. The shoes is new, I knew very well about breaking in shoes before race, but I have run in Kinvara 1-4 in over thousands of miles and raced in brand new Kinvara before; except this time, my feet have swollen a little for a fitting shoes, I didn't adjust the shoe laces for this, the moment I step out of the aid station, immediately I felt the tightness on the feet. So my mistake for not testing the right shoelaces tension too.

The only loop I wore this shoes

I thought this could due to this somewhat long break sitting down, I may need some times to adjust to the shoes, give or take 500metres or 1km, but the tightness turned into pain, so painful that I even thought of making U-turn for shorter route to get back and change back my shoes (fuck that 1 loop!). Positive mind set me back on the course, I practically have to move my mind else where to pass this longest torturing loop in the race and immediately change back into old shoes Virrata (erm, who says minimalist can't do ultra ?)

If I am going to walk, I might as well carry a drink

Struggled a little to get back into running but it was all good, and I am able to run in consistent pace. Since my crisis was solved, I started to pay attention to where do I stand in the race now, I was pretty sure I didn't overtake the 2 fast horses at the beginning of the race, but where are they now? I looked at the board updated at 9 hrs and I could not find any of them, what bothers me was that another guy was running a consistent pace with me for a few laps, every lap he would be faster than me and I will catch up just before entering aid station, almost every time.

Results at 9-hour mark

In other words, if this continues and he didn't show sign of tiredness, I could very well be overtaken at the final hours, because I cannot be sure if I will last till final hour, anything can happen. But I didn't want to get myself into a chasing game that probably drain myself faster, I made a longer water stop next lap and let him go ahead of me, as long as he doesn't pass me in any lap, I am still leading.

Ong with his scary pace

A few laps ended with just in front of Ong

There were not many people on the course coming to the final 2 hours of the race, even few were actually running. Whoever running at this time, are running to surpass themselves, namely Frank, Poh Chye, Ben Swee, Seng Heng, Fuji Loh and Rich Chai.

At 10 hours point, I have covered 93KM on my watch (probably 94KM /41 laps on chart), I knew I could hit 103KM even if I just speed walk the next 2 hours, but trust me, walking actually caused more pain to my feet, the whole walking mechanism involving toes lift, heel strike motions, made my feet hurt so much. I would walk because I didn't want to waste too much energy and catch some breaths, resuming to running was a torture!

If I decided to walk+run that loop, I bring water along

Which loop was this now?

End of another lap

Tiredness will make the neck weak and head will tilt downward

Distance chart for reference, if you remember how many loops you have covered..

Some laps I would have some wind to do the running

Some laps I would suffer inside

How fast the shirt dry up gives me an indication of how hot was the lap

Good thing about having crew to help carrying water when there are less runners on the route

Another walking loop

By the end of 11 hours, I already reset the course record with 101KM (44laps) and for some reasons I didn't want to attempt a 110KM, 108KM was very realistic and do-able. But I couldn't eat anymore, I was hungry, forced down half a banana and some drinks (can't even remember what I had). So I would walk the 1.5KM of the loops and start running when I reach the canopy, at some point I just used Ben or Seng Heng as benchmark whether this pace was too slow. Managed that for 2 loops and I decided to run to complete the final loop.

Begin of another course record setting loop

45 mins to go and nope, I am not going for 110KM

the final dash towards the end of loop 47

Final loop, chased by Shark Attack!

The Final hole punching on the bib

Succumbed to Shark attack...

I just need that, after 12 hours..

The end of loop 47

They said must take photo with the clock...

and also with my personal crew..:)

My watch tracked 30m less each loop.

with others

Someone dispute the result on board (just kidding)

Some of the questions being asked after the race were:

Q1. If it was not a looping race but an actual road race, will I be able to do it this well?

A: I don't know, it could be a yes and it can be a no too. Looping allow me to see the difference between myself and the closest contestant, only good if I am leading. If I am not leading, an open route will drive me better without knowing how much I fall behind or how close I am to the one ahead. Having said that, during B2E, I used Seng Heng and Ben as benchmark alot, like few hours.

Q2: Will I be able to do 120KM under same condition and weather ?

A: No, I can't. Even if I skip the walking and shoes changing, the best I can think of is 115KM, but if I set that as target, I probably burn out faster than I think. But still a NO for 120KM, not when I am not a regular 100KM runner.

Q3: Why do you think you can win/ Share your winning factors ?

A: There is none, I know who are the strong runners (there are alot actually) joining this race, they may have their own target, just like mine, I just have a bigger target than others and I stick to my plan and promise to complete the 12 hours. If there is anything I did during the race that I think contribute to my winning, that would be on myself, FOCUS and LOOK VERY SCARY, lol!

with Seng Heng and Ben Swee

Used to take photo with few VIP friends here...

2013 B2E

2014 B2E

Post Run:

I couldn't eat well after the 12-hours, only managed some porridge and simple dishes, the appetite came back at least 4 hours after the race. I think keeping enough food in the stomach is important, otherwise the stomach will shrink over time and refuse to take in more food. Another thing it could be the mind telling the stomach the race is over, the absorption of drinks slow down too.

Resume to my weekday evening run 48hrs after race, struggle to even maintain a 6 mins pace for 10KM, the body still very tired. 6 days after race, went for trail running at FRIM, exerted too much on steep climb, energy level went down fast too, gave up the idea of long distance ended with 12KM.

Sunday did another long distance run (25KM), didn't manage to hit target pace although pace has improved alot, energy level dived again but at longer distance passed 17KM. 9 days after run finally able to resume to faster pace (15KM) without any post run fatigue. A good benchmark for myself to see how long I need to rest actively before the next long race.

For those who likes technical data, below is my splits by 10KM:

 KM  Splits      Pace/KM

10	00:53:30	00:05:21
20	00:54:52	00:05:29
30	00:55:40	00:05:34
40	00:58:07	00:05:49
50	01:03:12	00:06:19
60	01:10:40	00:07:04
70	01:11:15	00:07:07
80	01:16:00	00:07:36
90	01:15:34	00:07:33
100	01:20:48	00:08:05
107	00:51:00	00:07:37

0-4 hrs  - 43KM
4-8 hrs  - 34KM
8-12hrs - 30KM

Photo credits to all supportive photographers of the event, they made this report less boring with nice pictures to see. :)