Northface 100 Singapore 2012

Last year, i had a difficult time at TNF Singapore when doing 50km. There were a few mishaps notably some dishonest behaviour by a few elite runners whose names i will not reveal here and i remembered bonking in the last 10km of the race. I remembered the 'suffering' vividly and i was hoping for a different outcome this year in the 100km category.

TNF 2011

Torn calf sleeve

Rachel sewing up skilfully :D

Pre-TNF meditation. Psalms 91.

Before the race, Ford and i chanced upon each other on facebook and we agreed to run together for as long as possible. 'So it's a date then!', he said before he signed off. Haha.. An amicable friend indeed! However when the race started, i saw Ford in front of me and i tried to run easy to see if i could catch up to him. Soon it turned out that the gap between us was getting bigger and i was having no chance of catching him. I had no intention of speeding up so early in the race so i was content running at the back with Jeri.

At the start

Game on

I met Jeri at TMBT and we only got to speak very briefly then. This time we had plenty of time to chat since i was intent on conserving energy and 'leeching' on her at the same time. My biggest fear in this race was getting lost, so when i knew that i could not keep up with Ford, i was not going to pass out another chance of losing another local with superior knowledge of the trails. As we talked, it turned out that we both had one thing in common. We both studied in ACJC! I had to resist my urge to ask her which year she was there though. Not a nice thing to ask a woman of her age! :D

I was not bothered to find out what position i was in. I knew Ricky Lightfoot, Anders and Ford were definitely ahead of us, and maybe there were some other overseas runners ahead as well. We arrived at 10km mark at exactly 1 hour.

Soon ours became a party of four. We caught up with Sam (my eldest brother's ex-colleague from Barclays who finished joint 2nd place in TMBT 50km), and Matt from Australia joined us from behind. Four of us ran together from 10km to ~16km before three of us started pulling away from Jeri.

Matt from Australia

Ricky with his monster speed

I must say that right from the beginning, I was not feeling too good. For one, I ate too much during dinner. I thought i was going to need those energy, but little did i know that my body was not able to digest them in time for the race. Throughout the first half of the race, my stomach kinda felt odd and i kept having some weird 'pasta/pizza' taste coming up my throat. I had to resist my urge to vomit in a few occasions too.

To make the matter worse, at approximately 15km in the last aid station before we entered into the long stretch of Gangsa Track, I made a highly concentrated electrolyte drink without realising it (i usually just insert one electrolyte tablet into my water bottle but this time the top tablet had been reduced into powder and i must have put all the powder and accidentally inserted another broken piece as well). The next checkpoint was 10km away, and that meant running in the heat and humidity of the night for AN HOUR WITHOUT ANY WATER. At this point, the thought of DNF-ing certainly occurred to me a number of times.

I knew it was going to be a long day from then on. I was not enjoying the run at all. Running in the dark kinda felt like i was boxed into a confined space, with just a small area of brightness in front. Usually in other races, i gain a lot of strength and inspiration from the beautiful surrounding and i use it to power forward. But this time i could hardly see anything in the dark. The progress seemed slow, and though the pace felt like a 5 min/km pace, we were really only running at 6 min/km. The heat and humidity all combined to make it an extremely challenging race for me.

At that time, i thought to myself: It's either i quit now, and call my family and ask them to pick me up, or I persevere.

When we reached Mandai Orchid Garden loop, I saw Anders just completed the loop and was on his way to Lorong Asrama. My guess was he was probably 10-15 mins ahead of us and Ford would not be far away too.

When Matt, Sam and i reached Lorong Asrama, we were told that three runners have already passed. They must be the usual suspects: Ricky, Anders and Ford. After we refilled our bottle, we set off to tackle the hardest part of the 50km loop - Hill 265. Throughout the time, I was slightly ahead of both of them but never out of sight from them.

When i had completed the Mandai loop and reached checkpoint 1, to my surprise, someone called out to me. It was Ford! Apparently he fell during downhill and sprained his ankle. Now his ankle had swollen to the point that medic did not clear him to run. I could see the sheer look of disappointment written all over his face, and I felt really sad for him. His preparation leading to TNF had been flawless and everyone was anticipating him to be the first Singaporean to cross the line. It is such a pity that his race had to end this way.

From then on, I started pulling away from Sam and Matt. I was running alone for the first time, and would be so for the remaining part of the first 50km of the race until around 46km when i caught a glimpse of Anders in front of me. I ran up to him and we both made our way to the half way point together in joint 2nd place in exactly 5 hours.

When we reached MacRitchie, I heard some familiar voices shouting my name. My family and my gf were waiting for me there! Wow, finally something good! Suddenly i felt empowered and motivated to run again. I made a quick transition, and was on the trail once again. In my heart, i was really grateful for the support of my gf and family, and even though the day had been crappy so far, the thought having my family there was good enough to keep me going.

Half way mark with Anders

Rick was more than 1 hour ahead and i know there is virtually no hope to catching him. My goal then was just to maintain 2nd position and finish the race.

The second half was pretty unremarkable except for two things: My stomach played up and I had a sudden bout of diarrhoea at 70km mark (I shall not reveal where i released the bomb! :D :D :D), and i was consistently running 5-10 mins slower than 6 min/km pace for every 10km. I arrived at 60km at ~6:07, 65km at ~6:40, 75km at ~7:45, 85km at ~8:50 and 90km at ~9:25.

My stomach continued to be problematic and I was only able to swallow gels most of the time. I did manage to consume one bar in the entire 100km, but that was with much difficulty and i could only take small bits every few minutes.

I did not know how far was Anders behind me until i completed Lorong Asrama loop and the marshals told me I had a 30-min lead on the third runner.

In the final 10km, my body had taken such a beating for the past 9.5 hours that i felt i have hit the wall. I think i have way exceeded my fatigue point, and the only thing which kept me going was my family. I saw my family at 93km mark again and my eldest brother kept telling me to dig deep to finish the race.

At 93 km mark

The last 7km felt like the longest in my life. I had absolutely nothing felt in the tank. Running for a mere 5 minutes felt like endless and I could not help but walk every now and then. That was exactly how i felt last year in TNF in the final 10km. Physically and mentally i was done. Perhaps emotionally i still had a bit left coz my family was there.

Finally with much alternation between walking and running, i finished the race in 2nd place in 10:44:37.

Finish line

I saw Ford and Jean (his wife) at the finish line and Ford was really just so gracious to stay behind to cheer all the runners on despite having his race ruined by a sprained ankle. In my mind, I have no doubt that if he did not have the accident, he would have finished in 2nd place instead.

Ford and Jean. Lovely couple!

I have always wanted to make my family proud. I was so touched by every single one of them. Although this race would go down in my memory as the most torturous race I have done, it will always carry a tinge of sweetness in it because of them. :)

My family. I have a pretty big support crew heh? :D

Harn just completed his '50km'. 

Thank you, Love

My brother in law - Lin Hui and cute little Joel

Eli (my eldest brother's son) itching to run too!

Harn and his gf

John (my mentor in high school and college) and his two kids 

100km prize presentation

My love and i

Appa (left) and my eldest brother (who screamed the loudest for me!)

Xavier (my 2nd brother) and Zoe (his gf)

Harn (my 3rd brother) and his gf