Race Review KubUltra 20 km Trail Run

EVENT. KubUltra 20 km. Trail Run.

Kuala Kubu Baru 05 March 2016 Time 08:00 [8:01]

Headline Event Owners: ASIAN TRAIL EXPLORERS Race Director: Undisclosed but I expect Alex

Event Management Company: Undisclosed

Race Review SCORE CARD with Official organisers replies.

PRE RACE.

Entry and information:

Ease of entry through the organisers own site was very good and the event information was outstanding. Updates of information was regular and relevant.

Contact via the website and E-mail were fast and efficient. The web-site was without doubt the most informative and comprehensive event site I have ever experienced.

Value of entry price* at RM130 was fair and reflective of similar events.

Race registration and kit collection:

Compulsory postal service, for Malaysian residents, solved all but the few ‘non-delivery’ problems but this was dealt with without fuss. Outside entrants were dealt with separately and it looked a smooth ride. Registration was smooth running. The one down point is that there was no mandatory item check made.

This remains a big, big issue. For our first event we did a physical mandatory items check just before the start of the event, and more than 95% of the participants should have been disqualified. We keep on crusading for the mandatory items since we know how hostile a jungle environment can be. However, the participant's mentality should change, which cannot be done overnight. Unfortunately, participants fail to learn from advice, but rather learn it the hard way through experience...

Race site Facilities:

Space at the venue was more than adequate. Toilet numbers were ample and the conditions were pretty clean.

Staffing numbers were good and cheerful and any information required was quickly made available.

I did not find any designated water point pre-race, but drinks were being given to those that asked.

There were water points at the registration area, next to the start area, but indeed some proper marking would have made it much easier to get access to them.

Parking:

On road parking only. I could not understand why the actual carpark was used for the event stands and tents rather than the more than adequate fields at the site. The local council was very clear: It was prohibited to place any canopies or stage on the grass area. Since we had ample space to park the cars inside Millennium Park along the main roads, we agreed, as per Majlis' instructions, to sacrifice the car park for the carnival area. Unfortunately, the council didn't allow the participants to park the cars inside Millennium Park. We only found this out on race day itself upon hearing the instructions received by Rela personnel.

Shuttles:

Very impressed. The organisers realised there was a transport problem from KL to the venue and immediately reacted by laying on a shuttle.

Care of Competitors:

There was no organised warm up, understandable as there were five different start times. However, there were several announcements made to encourage competitors to do so.

Starting time was spot on and no control was required at the chute as the field was quite small and, as seems normal, trail runners are less inclined to have the need to be at the front. Timing was by start time, timing chips would be better and enable fuller results to be given. We have purchased the timing hardware, but our software engineer is facing some issues to get flawless results. As long as the system doesn't work perfect, we will not it. We certainly hope that for our next event this hurdle has been taken.

Medical facilities were apparently absent from the start area We had a first aid tent with three compartments for medical intervention. There were two paramedics and two medical doctors at the start area, two paramedics at the summit of Batu Pahat and two paramedics in Gerachi. Extra attention was given to sufficient IV equipment since we expected some issues due to dehydration or heatstroke. A third medical doctor joined the team in the afternoon.

Millennium Park is only two km away from the fire brigade station that would supply ambulances in case of a medical emergency. That's why we decided not to have an ambulance at the start area but in Gerachi instead.

The hospital in KKB was informed about the event and on standby. The management of the hospital was involved in the medical intervention programme of KubUltra.

Based on your remark that medical facilities “were absent”, I understand that for future events, we have to make it easier for participants to distinguish marshals and medical crew. Also the location of the first aid stations should be noticeable by the participants.

RACE.

Organisation:

Course management:

Traffic control was good. Route signage was, for my part, pretty good. The difficulty and enjoyment factor of the course was absolutely brilliant. However, I did have a couple of instances where the course marking could have been clearer, causing some searching up and down tracks to locate the next marker. # From what I have heard and read there were a good number of competitors that got lost, supposedly due to no markings, predominately from the 40km distance. We marked the entire 5-10-20km trail with two teams of at least 10 pax each. The 40-60km extensions were meticulously done by two of us.

When we went for a last inspection on Friday late afternoon, we were shocked to see that almost ALL our markers and laminated cards were removed by unknown culprits. We waited until nightfall and marked the trail again as good as we could, given the limited amount of time, only to found out the next morning that the new laminated cards also had been removed, together with ribbons. Worse was that side trails were reopened and our ribbon was used to block the main trail. At certain junctions new ribbons were put in place (but those got the mention AWAS, ours didn't have any printing) to mislead participants. A very dangerous move from the locals...

We went with the police forces to Gerachi on Friday night and addressed the issue with the local head - who had given us his approval earlier. Even the intervention of the police didn't stop some locals in their sabotaging deeds...

Police officials told us that recently a cycling contest was cancelled because all markers were removed. It's very obvious that those people, who might be very familiar with the jungle, don't understand the consequences if someone who is not as familiar as they are, would get lost. We truly hope that, when Forestry Department and Majlis give their approval, the local population at least will "tolerate" our presence for a day or so...

Quite some participants didn't manage to stay on the correct trail. It's difficult to digest for a participating runner but also for an organiser after nine months of hard labour to see all efforts washed down the drain in a few hours time because of some people without any sense of responsibility...

The marshalling quantity and quality were excellent and feed stations were numerous and well stocked with fruits and drinks and overloaded with some great volunteers.

No medical facilities were noticed by me on the course – see start area medical comments.

Medals were given on the finish line, but the goodie bag and finisher tee collection was to say the least a little chaotic. Food and drinks were immediately available. Due some decisions of the event management company, which we didn't endorse at all, we only received the finisher's T-shirts and empty goodie bags at the venue on Friday night... For all our previous events goodie bags, containing the finisher's T-shirt in the desired size, medal, certificate and goodies, were prepared in advance and were at the disposal of the participant immediately upon finishing the race.

POST RACE.

There was no choice of food, one cooked dish plus bananas. # I have heard that food was in short supply. Isotonic and Gatorade were available but no water? A big improvement would be ice, warm isotonic not good!. That there was not enough supply is highlighted by other participants as well. This is of course unacceptable.

For this event we used the services of a new caterer, as per the event management's instructions. What makes it even worse is that the event management contacted other food caterers to open stalls at the venue, which makes it look as if it was a deliberate move to have a shortage of food so participants had to purchase food. We will address this serious issue during our upcoming meeting.

There was ample drinking water available, as well in the finish area as in the food area.

Resting areas were good with plenty of shaded areas to use and although there was no specific cool down area, there was ample space.

Medical requirements were not obviously catered for. See start area comments.

No placings were announced or on show. A simple posting board showing the current finishers for each distance would have been of great interest and very simple to organise. We will have to work on a system that displays the finishing order of at least the top-ten ranked athletes.

Prize ceremonies could, perhaps, have been better conducted individually. I stayed chatting to friends old and new for quite some time but got nowhere near to seeing the prizes being handed out. But with such a spread of distances being run it would have been difficult.

AFTER EVENT

Even without chip timing there were full results on line the day following the event. Even as an oldie I respect and applaud the Asian Trail Explorers stance on age grouping: Although the events we organise have time registration, they should mainly be a leisurely activity. We want to introduce the Malaysian jungle to participants. In the first place we want participants to enjoy and absorb the beauty, not to race... :) Introducing age groups might make it even more competitive as it already is.

Post event communication has been very good, a great sign of commitment from the organisers is that they have asked every participant to complete a survey to help them improve.

I cannot thank Asian Trail Explorers, and Alex in person, for their help and openness in producing this Race, or, in reverence to their ethic, Event Review.

*Based on price against other similar events as advertised.

# anecdotal information.

My overall score for this event is 92.5% the minor ‘errors’ in planning, many outside of the control of the organisers, stops me from giving a mark a little nearer to 95% and anyone who reads my reviews knows that I never give more than a 95% as no matter what, there is always a way to improve in everything we do.

The addition of age grouping, I feel, possibly because I am older than dirt, would enhance the event, at least, a veteran’s category would be good. Further, when timing chips are employed then age grouped results could easily be posted.

Please consider issuing medical staff bibs for your future events to make it easy to spot them, just in case.

Overall I think the Race Director and all who have been involved can be very proud of an extremely well managed and enjoyable event. High Five’s all round.

Happy Running

When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

Other comments;

My personal race.

It’s really difficult to write much about a run where, for the most part, you just put one foot in front of the other to get from one great point to the next. My run was a joy and quite uneventful, with perhaps the exception of two directional stutters due to the lack of course markers and a really good face-plant due to catching my foot in a vine.

The course was all of what it should be, tough enough to make you work hard, both up and down, but not so tough as to break anyone’s will.

Meeting up with friends and making new friends is always so easy when you are amongst trail runners, they are such a laid back bunch. It was especially good to finally find a time to get to know one of our greatest supporters, the photographer that is Rany Tan.

3:15:51 13th of 92 men’s overall of which I am well satisfied. A job well done in an enjoyable event. See you next year!

Congratulations to our Champions: