It's been one year since this, but it definitely deserve an entry of its own. The 2nd time being a champion, both on the same year, when I was still suffering from my anemic condition. Alhamdulillah.
So I was not over yet from the trail mission. Been having a few during day time in 2016, and boy, it was a cause of many trouble. I wanted to try a longer trail. Going far from home and those that require an overnight stay and having to leave the kids behind was really not an option. Not yet an option until now. So this was very apt. Just few minutes from home, night time hence the kids will not notice my absence (as was the case with all my ultra races, come to think of it), not total complete jungle hence a nice transition. Got my permission earlier, but guess the hubs didn't really see the complete extent of the race.
So I packed up the gears as usual. I had to be more self sufficient then. Since that would be the first time that I wouldn't be looping (well, not completely off, still had to do 2 rounds of the same route). And it was in the dark with minimal lights and in the jungle. Brought my telekung along. Extra batteries for the headlight. Didn't have any reflector, which didn't seem to be highly beneficial since it was mostly in the jungle. Saw few familiar faces like Hanim. Didn't stay very long before the flag off
But boy, everyone just stormed off after that. I was left behind by many not after.
The route started with the road, uphill for quite a while. There were many marshals around, especially at key points and turns so that was really nice. It got into the trail not long after that. That was my first time being in the dark. Movement was very limited in the dark. Only then as well that I realised that the headlight that I had wasn't enough. I should have used a much brighter headlight. Runners started to disperse off and scatter even more. So I followed these 2 chaps, without their permission. But they understood as well and let me tagged along. I was tailing them for quite a while until the first loop which was about 25 km. So that was the key ingredient of survival. Tagging against someone. It was one of the darkest moment. I wasn't that scared for ghosts or the likes, I was worried for bad guys, who might have just popped out from somewhere, dragged me inside the bush and no one even noticed that I was gone. Cause really, I wasn't that friendly with any of them. The route passed by some Chinese cemetery. It should have been scary, but it wasn't so much. I survived the first lap. Reloaded myself with something quick and didn't spend that much time resting. Others did, but I didn't think there really was a need for it. I just wanted to finish early so I could get home quick before they even realised it.
Before I got to continue on, the volunteer asked for this guy to run with me. And so we did for most of the rest of the journey. Quite glad that we had quite a similar pace, although he kept on saying that I was going quite fast. Subuh arrived just before we need to go back into the trails again. So it was quite timely. And I stopped for prayer, but the guy didn't. So that was when we parted ways. One good thing with him around was especially for the light. I had to struggle a bit in the dark after that. And we had to pass by this dark, and muddy area. I almost took a wrong turn. But the marshal nearby shouted and chased me to make sure that I headed back to the right path. Phew, it would have a been a big drama had I continued on. The trails were nice. Even nicer when there was already morning sunlight when I had the 2nd lap there. There was this muddy, thick grassed, downwards section where you really need to be careful heading down, else you might fall facedown. Then there was this stretch where there were some big pipes (let's hope it was not human's excrement pipe). Then, there was this pure red earth section. Come to think of it, it was one of the nicest route, having different types of terrain and all. I skipped this in 2018 and as I'm writing this, am already thinking of joining again this year.
My earlier target was to finish around 9 hours gold target and maybe 10 hours as silver target. Was so relieved that it was more or less around that. Totally no clue what position I was on. I was handed out the 4th placing tag when I reached. It was totally unexpected, especially after I was left behind by many at the start. I had to leave early, had to rush to send the kids for football, Qays would have a tournament at Bukit Kiara and I had to send him there. Hubs had a race elsewhere. So I had to leave early. So I told the organiser that I had to leave early and for someone to pick up the prize for me. As I was heading back, I was checking the online result. It was already available. And to my surprise, I was actually placed 1st instead of 4th. They mixed up my category. So I quickly texted them and they agreed to it and would arrange the prize to be passed to me. It was a big and pleasant surprise. From simply grateful to have positioned fourth to actually being championed in my category. Ultra running among veteran runners is definitely a much tougher category.
So I got home, didn't even get to shower, didn't even get to eat much, headed straight out to send Qays. I survived the lack of sleep, ultra trail running ordeal and headed straight to mummy duties purely on winning endorphin. Had to even attend wedding at noon, despite the sleepless night.
It was a very nice way to wrap up 2017. It was good to actually benefit something from running, especially when you knew your fitness were next to none. Allah is great. He works in his mysterious way. That day was my 12th anniversary. And it was the best anniversary present ever.
p/s The present was in the form of Key Power Sport voucher and I got myself my first 2XU compression from there. And the compression was a heaven, godsend.
Ultimate Direction The Signature Cross Country Ultra Series 2017
Date: 2 December 2017
Venue: Batu Arang
Distance: 55 km
Position: 1
Official Time: 9:39:24
Personal Time: 9:39:39
Pace: 10:40
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