HuaLien 110K Ultramarathon - Race Report

I realise I have not even finished my report for TiTi100 I already started to draft my Hualien 110K report dy, and even before starting to type I already have a feeling this is going to be a long one, so long that I might only finish it after Borneo Death March (in fact I am thinking the nights at BDM may be so boring that I spend to write this report...)

The event

This race was originally a 200K event invitation by Chinese Taipei Assoc. of Ultrarunners (CTAU) via MURA and was scheduled to be held in early May, not that I want to attempt 200K anyway, the date is beyond my reach because I'd already signed up for Borneo Death March that happens from 25/4-1/5. So this event only come into picture when the distance was reduced to 110K and date shifted to 16/4. It is still not a very convenient date because it is too close to Death march, it doesn't fit as neither a tapering race or a simulation because BDM is a totally different event

So why did I apply for it anyway? I was having injury since end Jan and was having a rather challenging working schedule to fit in any training for any long race. But, 'If someone is going to do it anyway, why not you?' That was what I had in mind, and it would be a great opportunity to benchmark myself and learn from Taiwanese runners who have longer and greater history in ultra running than Malaysians.
 

So 2 months passed, I survived 6 events with minimal (should say zero but I did clock some 10K in gym) training, on the day of departure, my right heel was still giving me problem even at walking. This race was going to be a really short trip, I was flying in on Friday morning after returned from Singapore the night before, touched down around 2:45pm, rushed through 1hour in the TaoYuan airport to get pass long queue custom clearance and baggage collection to take airport bus to Taipei Train station. Cost me TWD 125 for the record.   

 

By the time I reached the train station it was almost 5pm, Munin who travelled in the same flight with me missed his train to Hualien which he booked for 4:30pm, thus he had to buy another ticket which was 7pm. Mine was 5:40pm so I need to leave him early, buy some breads and rush to board the train sharp at 5:40pm. It was a 2:10hrs journey to Hualien. Arrival at Hualien around 7:50pm, managed to find my way to the hotel arranged by organizer to check myself in.

So hungry that I bought so much of bread

In the train to HuaLien

 

By the time I settled down in the room, it was almost 8:30pm, about time to get back to the train station to pick up Munin. His train seem delayed abit, so by the time we settled our simple dinner at 7-11 with heated instant food, it was already close to 10pm. I haven't really rested since 5am... So off we went back to hotel and call it a day.

 

Dinner with Munin at 7-11

Picked up race kit

Day 2 (Race day), we can't wait to pick up the race pack early, as only one night of accommodation was provided, checking out at 12noon means we would have to find way to spend the next 6 hours until a pick up from organizer to bring us to the race site. So we extended the stay for another 5 hours and hired a taxi to get us to race site for race kit collection. After picking up the race kit from organizer at noon, we managed to do a quick stop at the famous ChiSingTan (7 Stars Shore) of Hualien before headed for lunch and back to hotel to rest.

 

Nice pineapples, too much to finish even by both of us



The rocks are so smooth with everyday washing by the waves and rubbing against each other

nice rocks

 

Ya I am doing the thing that one should do...

 

 

Come 5pm, wake up, wash up and dress up for the race, I spent significant amount of time to plaster both my feet as the blisters from TiTi100 just recently healed and the skin is still relatively soft and sensitive. I need to make sure for this event I will not have any new blister form again, more like I can't afford to because I won't be able to heal on time for Deathmarch, which, is a serious deal.

By 6pm, I packed up everything and went down go wait for pick up. We were not alone, the Asian record holder for 24hrs race Mr. Hara Yoshikazu (285KM in 24hrs, beat that!) stayed in the same hotel with us, so I took the chance to snap a selfie with him. With some delay, the pick up came at 6:30pm and by 7pm we arrived at race site.

Munin was doing his simulation in mind...

Then I do the thing I do when I am bored...:D

Not everyday you get to meet and selfie with the legend...

 

As Munin didn't want to eat dinner, Chun How, who is another representative from Malaysia, brought me to the nearest 7-11 to settle my dinner, well basically I only take liquid food before race, I look at the time still early, a salmon rice roll would do just fine for digestion. By the time Chun How and I made it back to race site it was 8pm+, which the race briefing commenced in next 30mins. We were introduced together with other invited guest runners from Japan, Korean and Hong Kong on the stage, which I felt quite awkward and uncomfortable.

the 3 representatives from Malaysia

 

if u see carefully, u will see the hidden name behind Chun How's bib...lol

Ya the awkward moment...

Picture with Taiwan famous running biji author

After the short introduction then we were lined up at starting line and at sharp 9pm, off we go, begin my 1st road ultra in oversea. 

1st km into the run, I was already being left behind by the front pack and I found myself at around 14th- 15th position at the back of 2nd pack, a nice place to be at I must say. I didn't want to push myself too hard to stay with the front pack which I know there is no way for me to stay with them for long anyway. Staying with the slower pack didn't make it any easier either, upon exiting the 1st 2km running on lake side and out into the main road, I soon realise the front pack lost in the sight further and further and my pack now breaks into 2nd and 3rd pack, may be it wasn't fair to even call it a pack because runners were distanced away from one another, I could only consider those still within sight of 400-500m range as one pack.

 

The road generally is very clean and flat, it is barefoot-friendly all the way; with the help of the moon light, I can even run without the headlamp, which I did, and I put on a small clip-on LED light on my waist in case I need some lights. Few KM into the race I found myself running alone and there were 2-3 runners ahead of me not far away, thus I pick up my pace a little to catch up with them to strike a conversation, it is going to be a long night, time to kill "time"...

Sliper Uncle and HK runner

So one of them was from HK, he was 1 of the 3 runners from HK, apparently the other two were the more famous as one female was featured in the article as top seed and the other guy was far ahead in front (eventually he finished 4th overall). Here comes my 1st amazed moment in this race, the other guy running along with me was a veteran in his 50s running in sliper, his pace was steady and from the conversation I got to know that a 100KM/12hrs is normal for him, 13hrs would be his target for this event. How about mine? I actually planned a 14hrs finishing (optimistically, especially after a miserable TiTi100) with 15hrs as 2nd tier target in case I suffer big blisters like one month ago during TiTi100.

We ran together for a few KM before the HK female top seed caught up and started to lead the pace for the pack, the whole pack's overall pace suddenly increased with her, which I found too soon too fast, so I decided to drop from the pack and let them go, so I was back to alone again. By the time I hit 10KM water station, they were quite some distance ahead but still within my sight, as soon as crossing 10KM mark, I realised even though I didnt't slow down, the overall pace for others seem increased, those in front went faster and I started to feel the head lamp lights flashing from behind, I guess that was the end of the 10KM warm up lap for this race. :)

Passing 10KM

Though we were supposed to be running along the east coast line of Taiwan, but there wasn't much wind blowing as I experienced at race site during bib collection and at the 7 stars lake, at some sections it was in fact humid and hot without any wind. Along the way there were few sections of running into traffic tunnels where there were hardly any wind.

 

There was not much change in terms of position as there was hardly anyone who catch up, everyone seem to be running about the same pace except the runners in front of me seem to be drawing away from me on downhills while I catch up a little going up hills. There was steep climb but it was over before I start to feel soreness, guess TiTi100 didn't do much damage to my muscles other than the blisters. Before I knew it I was already at 20K+ check point. Did my 1st refill with both front bottles and off I go. I started to get bored already... It was simply like chasing the front runners few hundred metres away without closing much gap and there was no one coming from the back...

Yup, that sums up the whole night: Lonely

Towards the next check point I exchanged position with a few runners, some started to slow down and walk up hills while some appeared to be stronger to overtake me. The 2nd climb of the race was here and to conserve energy I allowed myself to walk some 100 steps for every 500 steps of jogging up. Coming down from the hill I already started to feel the need to refuel, thus I refill my left bottle with Hammer's Perpetuem. One thing to note about Taiwan ultra race is, they emphasize that the body would need only 3 things for ultra races, which is Sugar, Salt and Water, anything else may cause unnecessary burden to the digestive system. So the organizer would provide a mixture of the 3 to serve at water station, the taste is actually not bad except it doesn't have the refreshing taste provided by isotonic drinks. I would down 2-3 cups of this mixture when I am at water station.

 

Water station 3 was supposed to be at 30K point but I clocked slightly higher mileage, I was informed that that was at 34K and next station will be at 44K, it was quite impossible because hitting 34K in 3:15 hours would mean I am doing a close to sub4 marathon pace, which, I knew very well I wasn't doing that kind of pace and not especially with the weight I was carrying. I took extra 1-2 mins to rest and prepare my drinks. Took a slower pace for next section just in case I need to run longer than 10km, when I reached the next station, it was only 40K on my watch. Here was where I bump into Munin, if I bump into Munin this early of the race means something must be not going right for him, he seemed to be struggling a bit with his pace. Together with him was the HK female top seed, she seemed to suffer quite a bit too, honestly speaking looking at her reported timing for 50K at 5:36 hrs, she probably push too hard in the 1st 40K. So same deal, drink enough, refill and I left the station together with Munin, took some easy walk to allow the body to absorb what I just drank and slowly set in my pace after 2-3 runners overtook me (quite normal as after rested and refilled at water station, runners will exit the station in faster pace..)

 

As I continued to set into my ultra pace with more mid to heel striking, I was still able to keep my pace around 6:30min/km, my goal was to reach 50K point by 5:39 hrs, at least better my TiTi mid point  time of 6:09 hrs by 30mins, then I am still on track for a 14 hrs finishing. Keeping my pace set and keeping my mind focused, I slowly over took 2-3 runners ahead of me and back into position of around 16-17. After leaving the coastal road and making a right turn into housing area (and got bark at by some real fierce dogs...), we started the real climb of this race, to cross over to the other side of the mountain before we get to enjoy the flat road back to finishing line, that was what I thought...

Crossing the the mountain after a right turn

Towards the 50K point the route was total darkness and it was just up down up up up down up up up kind of route, there was no one else but myself moving in the dark. When I switch off the light, I almost couldn't see anything. Somehow this route reminded me a lot about the Japanese anime "Initial-D", for no reason (funny thing happen in the mind when it is mid night). After a few times walking and jogging I finally arrived at the 50K point. I was already very tired as running in total dark in open road will require the mind to focus more and tensed up.

I must salute the guy taking care of the water station here, all alone with a power bank to charge his phone, nothing else except the table and chair and the supplies, and he is going no where but to wait for runners to pass. I arrived at 5:40 hrs, almost right on the target, I celebrate by taking extra few minutes of rest here, it was not half way point yet but 50KM without major problem certainly deserves a celebration! Left there at 5:45hrs into the race with another 2 runners came later.

 

Just when I thought the climb was over, I was greeted with another 6-7km of slow climbing. Surprisingly in this section I was not alone, the other 2 runners weren't getting any faster, so I was able to catch up with them if I do not walk and keep my slow jog uphill. At some point, I started to see a shadow moving in the dark some 200metres in front, I am talking about something moving in the total dark ahead and this was around 3am+ in the middle of the night, up in the mountain with no lights.

 

Scary as it may sound, I was lucky to be with another 2 runners, as one of them was a bit faster, he caught up with that moving object, it was tall and it turned out to be Pavel Paloncy who didn't start the race with headlamp and reflective vest, and he actually didn't carry hydration bag or bottle too. He made it this far and struggled with this uphill thus he was walking all the way but for someone at his size, his walking pace is already my jogging pace, which was why I couldn't get much closer to him than I already was. At the end of the climb was a good 4-5km of down hills, this was where I lost the faster runner and Pavel who ran down hill and I still keep to my plan to jog down the hill to an unknown distance because I no longer trust my watch or the distance announced by the station.

 

At the bottom of the hill, running pass the cemetery for some time, alone, was quite spooky, ya my mind started to wander around on stories that I know, before my imagination gone any wilder at 4am+ with sleepiness and hallucination kicking in, I arrived at a turning to the right at road junction and arrived at the next check point that says 61km+, this means the route forward will be heading towards the starting line. I was told the next station would be 12.5K away. Plus minus would be 74KM, I was telling myself. Leaving this station was entering some village kind of single lane road, it reminded me of those Hong Kong ghost movie where you travel on long straight road and both sides are some plantation fields and you can't really tell at far end was it a person standing or a road sign. May be I was too sleepy or tired, I keep thinking the was someone ahead of me running slowly but I just can't draw myself closer (Looked like Pavel but not Pavel). I put this blame on Pavel as he was the only one without head lamp running/walking in the dark.

Steep climb from 50KM

But to my surprise, I did start to overtake other runners on my way to 74km point and started catching back some positions lost in the last 20km. Moving back into top 20, as the dawn started to set in, I started to pick up my pace a little by changing my strike back into forefoot and do more continuous jogging than walking. The rest with walking was over, I tried to reach next station before 6am which is 9hrs into the race. And I did, 8:51hrs as I reached the water station to refill and did some stretching. The next section was 11km to arrive at 85km point where support station will be set at 5km interval there after. So, I guess one station was taken away since it wasn't like in the plan of every 10km one station.

 

The Sun was almost up, I must have rested well to have my 11km jogged and overtook a few more runners and eventually overtook Pavel and the faster runner in the dark 30km ago. I must have pushed myself further closer to the top10 now because I can count who are in front now, and knowing they may be much stronger runners, this may be the highest position I can reach in this race, which was already far ahead of what I expected.

 

 

From 85km (10:30hrs) onwards I got lazy, knowing there was 25km to go with 3.5-4.5hrs to spare, I know I could certainly afford to walk/jog to cover a distance of 6.5-7km an hours. By the time I reach 90km station, the runners which I overtook earlier had already managed to catch up and because I choose to walk, they were able to overtake me. With non-stop rolling hills which I walked up and jog down, exchanging greetings with runners from 25/42/54km category that flag off at 6am, the 5km to 95km point doesn't seem too long anymore because everyone will keep telling me "Almost there", LOL!. Arriving under 12hours, I thought I was still on track for the timing I set for this race, even if I walked the next 15KM I would make it under 14hrs for this event. So I decided to walk the remaining distance, position to me no longer mean anything.

As I passed the 100KM water station, as expected since mid race, it didn't look like there is going to be a 105KM water station because I already can see bridge and the park where we 1st started the race, it meant I would finish the race in less than 105KM and probably under 13 hrs I want to make the push. But I didn't, so I walked and jogged following the downhill, crossed the bridge, turned into the park which means less than 2KM to finishing, enjoyed the moment for that final 2KM and crossed the finishing line at 13hrs 3s, watch showed 103KM, I checked with a few other runners, they clocked about 105KM too, lol!

* But later during BDM day 1 which I forgot to switch ultra tracking to normal GPS tracking, I clocked 26KM for 30KM, it could mean that under ultra track mode (which I hardly use, not even during TiTi100), the distance is tracked slightly shorter, yet to confirm further.

 

 

Finally bump into the President, we 1st met during the UM24, he did very well for this event, I never had a chance to see him throughout the race.

 

Surprisingly finished 2nd for my age group, lol!

Some of the articles coverage by Taiwan famous running.bji blog:

http://tw.running.biji.co/index.php?q=news&act=info&id=92763&subtitle=【賽事】各路英雄一較高下 風獅盃超馬點將錄
http://tw.running.biji.co/index.php?q=news&act=info&id=92908&subtitle=【賽事】洄瀾灣超馬 終點，日出等著你
http://tw.running.biji.co/index.php?q=news&act=info&id=92952&subtitle=【賽況】國際長跑菁英匯集 挑戰台灣後花園 110 km
 

Post Race:

The organizer helped us to pre-purchase the return train ticket to Taipei which was scheduled for 2pm, thus we need to leave the race site by 1:30pm. By the time we reached Taipei train station it was already 4pm+, I managed to make a short trip to the Taipei 101 tower with the help of my ex-colleague in Taipei. 

 

 

 

Back to Taipei station around 7pm, bought my 8:18pm express train ticket to Taoyuan station (and take a shuttle bus to the airport). My flight back to Malaysia was 11:45pm which arrived the 2nd day morning, :)





 

For the record, below are my splits for this event:

10KM - 0:57 hrs

20KM - 1:47 hrs

30KM - 3:15 hrs

40KM - 4:31 hrs

50KM - 5:54 hrs

60KM - 7:07 hrs

70KM - 8:27 hrs

80KM - 9:45 hrs

90KM - 11:07 hrs

100KM - 12:38 hrs

103KM - 13:00 hrs

 
Special thanks to CTAU for the invitation and warm reception as the host this event, and not forgetting MURA for giving the opportunity to represent Malaysia for this event. it is a very fruitful event and great learning experience for myself.

 

 

Penang Ultra 50KM - My Story

I start to write my report late because I wanted to find out how did I end up being the 1st male to cross the finishing line for 50KM. Drama right?


Here is the story:

The race for 50KM started at CP3 which is 34K point for 84/100KM category, the cut off for 84/100KM at this CP was 2:30am but was extended till 2:40am, with some runners managed to get through this window period, including my ex-coleague. But unlike many of them, he was motivated to carry on, while a few of the runners I observed, they looked like the game ended long before they reach here. In fact, they need volunteers to tell them that they should continue their run, but I know, they have lost the battle, or maybe they just never take this seriously at all.
 

Back to 50KM race, so we flagged off at 3am, out of the school gate, I tried to get to the front pack to know where do I stand for the start and to pace myself accordingly. 300m into the run I was able to see clearly that there were 2 guys far ahead followed by Debbie Chin, ya, she joined the 50KM this year, so the race was to determine which lady will be the 1st runner up not champion and my vote went to Toh Hui Sung as I know she is fast.

That said, means I was once again started a race at 4th position like how it was in Eco100 last month! I tried to keep up with the front pack but to realise after 1KM they were still drawing distance away from me, and that was at a pace of 4:50min/km!!! I told myself it is time to pull back and do what I planned instead of chasing the rabbits and risk burning out too early and worse if I exaggerate my on and off shin splints that put me in rehab mode for most of the September.

So I slowed down, keep my pace around 5:10-5:20min/km, and watching the blinker at the back of Debbie's hydration bag fading away from my sight in the next 2km. I was kind of like back to Eco100 all over again, lonely but not alone coz there were a lot of the 84/100km runners along the route. Time flies as I followed the route, overtaking them who had done more than 40km at this point, with the throbbing pain at my left shin distracting my mind. I was hoping it to go away as I switch to lighter mid foot and smaller strides, 10km into the run, it didn't get better, or worse, I supposed I can assess if I am still good at the next CP. Bump into Hong Lan towards the end of this stretch, she was walking but she seem ok, based on timing she was doing well for half mark of 84K.

 

The 2 leading guys from the start

Debbie, the leading female all the way (that's me at the back)

me tailing far far away behind

Reaching CP4 5mins ahead of my upside timing, which was a good news to me. CP4 was supposed to be a very happening place to be in, but I didn't make a long stop, refill some 100 plus and off I go.

I wish I could slowly keep up with the 2 guys ahead later of the race, but I was happy with where I was then. Took a slow jog to the starting of the Teluk Bahang climb to allow the gas from the 100plus to come out from the bottles. Moon was out and the sky was clear, pace was better than I thought, average 6min/km up without exerting much of my energy and surprisingly the pain at the shin stop coming back. While I enjoyed the cold breeze going up, I saw some ambulance lights further in front, I was thinking the organizer must be expecting people to need help especially for the  84/100km runners and stationed medical assistance on the way up hill.

Soon I realised I was not reaching the ambulance at all, it was moving! But which ambulance would move so slow if it was fetching casualty? Soon the truth revealed when I got close enough to see it, it was actually a police car moving slowly, so the next thing came to my mind was: it's a podium runner ahead. The best thing about ultra running is that there is no rush and I have plenty of time to think: so, a podium runner at this point can only be from the 50K category, ahead of me is only 2 guys and 1 lady, I don't think Debbie will slow down so early in a race given her track record of winnings, that means it must be a guy in front.

 

My best guess, must be the 2nd guy with orange calf guards, because he did look like he was following the 1st guy's pace and following someone else at fast pace probably was draining him fast early. While I was having these thoughts above I was slowly closing the gap between myself and the police car, and I was able to see the runner ahead, yup, it was him. This came to me as a bonus as I never thought of catching any of them 2 this early. So about 1.5km before we hit the end of the up hill climb, I overtook him and I didn't know how the policemen know I am from 50K category, the car started to follow me.

 

Before I reached the peak of the climb, I saw Tay Poh Chye, gave him a shout out to overcome the climb and there came the down hill ride. For the beginning of the down hill I do enjoy the pace but as I feel more vibrations on my quads and impact on my shins, I started to worry about later part of the race. The downhill was as windy as uphill, some parts were pretty dark, while I adjust my hydration bag fitting coming down hill, my blinker on the shoulder fell and crashed to the ground, I didn't realise that until I reach dark zone to notice no blinking light coming from shoulder. i blame it to the police car because its siren light blinded me from noticing the blinker fell off, I heard something fell but never thought it was my blinker.

 

Down hill was good, I was trying not to land too hard or run too fast, reached the next CP (CP5) after 8KM+ of down hill, to my surprise I saw Debbie was leaving the CP, checked my watch to measure the difference in timing between hers and mine until I leave this CP. Refilled my bottle with 100plus, took a banana and do some stretches before I hit the road again, the difference? 2mins++ I wasn't planning to chase Debbie, knowing that there was a guy much ahead of us, at least I have no obligation to chase her. Still managed to see her from far in the dark but after awhile, lost sight of her again.

The next 10KM was along Batu Ferringhi, while some may like the flatter route here, some may not, this 10KM is rolling hills up and down, while I hardly do any long distance training since RJM, I spent the next 1hr trying to maintain an average of 6min/km pace while taking time to finish the bottle of Recoverite mixed with 100plus (by accident actually, I handed the wrong bottle pre-filled with Recoverite powder for 100plus). There were less runners along the route now, traffic was a lot busier than Teluk Bahang with buses moving both ways every now and then. There were quite some runners doing their training early in the morning here. Before I knew it, I was already at CP6 (37KM mark) and again, right before I went in the CP, Debbie was leaving!

I was a bit tired now, sat down on the chair while waiting for my bottle to be filled, 100 plus and iced water, I was not feeling hot, not sure why I felt the need to fill both bottles for a 8KM run next. Left CP6 about 3mins after Debbie. The next 8KM was actually quite a pleasant route to run with the sky getting brighter and running into housing area with many runners pack doing their training here, exchanged hi-bye with them and the comfy route made me wanted to take a walk somehow, so I did, took a 2mins walk before I picked up jogging pace and running again. Ended up spending extra 6mins vs planned. 

Reached Gurney Drive CP7 which was the last CP, no longer seeing Debbie, of course, she won't wait while I did my walk before coming here. Routine of filling up some 100 plus, and this was the only stretch I knew where I am heading. Took a slow jog along the Gurney drive and enjoy the morning scenery of the sea before taking the cornering and turn straight towards the city hall. Wanted to take a walk in the final 3KM but told myself to hang on as it was the final 3KM, instead I picked up the pace a little, after a while I could see the town hall and the familiar road, followed the longer loop while I saw Debbie already crossed the finishing line, there was no rush at all here. Made the final turn and cross the finishing line at 4:54 hrs in my watch.

Though I hit my target timing on the upper side, I feel there is room for better timing, psychologically I was tuned to be 2nd for men open, thus I was not on racing mode.

 

I later found out that I came 1st for male category, the next question was: what happened to the leading man ? if he dropped from the race, when did he drop ? I spent the next few days looking through the photos from the race and I couldn't find much photos. The only clue may be at Teluk Bahang climb, he was already not there, thus the police car was already following the leading male which I overtook. So, it was a win by accident, would I have chased after Debbie if I knew I am the leading guy ? Probably yes, but I don't think I am a match with Debbie on road chase, :P