The North Face 100 km Duo

If there's one thing that I learnt about endurance races, it is this - many things could go wrong even with the best preparation. So what went wrong today? Lest I forget, I should first mention what went right.

First, our race strategy is fundamentally sound - run 8 min, walk 1 min and walk the inclines. Even Matt, the sweeper thought this was a sensible strategy for first timers. Next, it was really good to be at the end of the pack, so we had a good chance to talk to Matt, especially about his ultra races in Ghobi, Namibia, Antarctic! The man! It was also nice to catch up with Spiderwoman, Mohan and many others. Especially an honor to run with Shawn, our own Singaporean Kona Ironlady who just completed her race last weekend! Great to catch up with Alex and Eugene about their putrajaya race.

What didn't go right was, well, cramps. Plain and simple. Starting from 20 - 21 km mark, just as we went into the restricted area at Lor Asmara. I had been taking the electrolyte pills that worked for PK and coach, but in part the hot weather and heavy sweating meant that I was losing too much salt. I increased the frequency of ingestion, but when surmounting the barren Hill 256, another bout of cramping came in. The cramping episodes were dehabilitating - had to wait a few seconds for the cramps to pass. Too many slopes to climb in the hot blazing sun. We reached the first checkpoint within the time limit, but the damage had been done.

All the way back to Bt Timah Visitor Center, I struggled with cramps. At the checkpoint there, we were informed that we missed the CP cutoff, and if we were confident that we could complete. Sure, with another 12 km to go, but the question was when. We made a concerted effort to run the last stretch, with 2.5 hours to go, but the C monster came back to haunt me. The bottom line is that we didn't manage to make the 9 hour cut-off, and didn't get the finisher medal.

To add insult to injury, I accidentally deleted/reset the run from my garmin before downloading - so nothing to show whatsoever.

WD finished with plenty of time to spare, and heartiest congratulations to him! Alex finished in 7.5 hours, and he just raced putrajaya two weeks ago and the salomon 10k last weekend. Hope Eugene would be ok as his knee injury flared up about 10k into the race.

What did I learn? That TNF 100 is no respecter of persons - even the fit may not make it. And that we should respect the terrain, weather and distance. Definitely our preparation were inadequate.

What else can I say? We were glad that we didn't give up and take the shuttle bus back, although we had two or three opportunities. The most important is that I accomplished the ultra marathon goal I set two years ago.

Last but not least, this is the toughest race I'd ever done so far.

Honor roll: Salomon Comp XA, 2XU tights