Race Review: The Most Beautiful Thing 30km Trail

EVENT. NAME: TMBT 30k

VENUE: Kota Kinabalu Sabah 6°8'52.75"N 116°26'38.77"E

DATE: 29 Oct 2016 Time: 7:30 [7:50]

Headline Event Owners: Borneo Ultra Trails

Event Organising Company: Borneo Ultra Trails

Race Director: ????

Timing company: Racematix

Registration company: sabahadventurechallenge.com

THE EVENT

The event really started at the Race Registration and Bib pick up and the Compulsory Kit Inspection. So, firstly, I chose my hotel, expensive, as it was where registration etc. was originally organised to be, but that all changed along the way, it just morphed to an alternative pick up point during one of the numerous updates. So, okay we [a group of three] went to the wrong one of the two pickup points, on arrival we encountered the first problem due to the lack of training or willingness on the part of race staff.

We looked around and saw a fair crowd of fit looking folk congregated in a room, must be registration, so in we went and joined the queue. Arriving at the front of the queue I was asked have you done the compulsory kit inspection, no, where is it? “It’s there” pointing to a table adjacent to the doorway that we had just entered. No signage and the guy on the table was just letting the next group to wander through without telling them that he was the ‘kit inspector’. So, back for inspection. I placed my bag on the table, which was covered by a printed sheet depicting an area to place each of the compulsory items, great idea. I unzipped my bag, guy on desk “have you got all the items” me “yes”. Compulsory item check list card stamped and handed back, what a joke, perhaps he was tiered.

Back to collect bib, oops wrong place. No worry they were very helpful and as the original pickup point, the one that morphed into another pick up point, was still going to happen? we could collect our bibs at our hotel at five o’clock.

Five o’clock and us arrived at the pickup point, the pickup point arrived about twenty minutes later. First in the queue, bib number 3052 please, sorry not here, nor the other missing bibs. Three phone calls later and they have been found, still in the office as unclaimed bibs. The office to hotel, fifteen minutes, “can you come back in one hour, Sabah time so one-and-a-half hours” Went for a pre-dinner snack then returned to collect bibs.

Early start the next morning, five o’clock bus for the one-and-a-half-hour trip to our start line, perfect. Participants had been given a seat on a specific bus, who knows why, so at fifteen minutes past five, due to late arrivals, the FIRST bus pulled away.

Surely, the sensible system would have been to check in, get on the first bus, when that bus is full it leaves, repeat. That way late arrivals only effect those who were late rather than everyone.

Once underway the frustrations of the morning soon disappeared amongst the pounding of feet up the first, of many, climbs.

The beginning of the course was predominately run on a concrete roadway up to WS1 at 4.7km then directly onto the trails, and for the most part the remainder of the run was off road.

On route, there was a rather rickety temporary rope and bamboo bridge to encounter, along with several suspended cable bridges, one of which must have been a little suspect, as marshals were in attendance limiting the number on the bridge at any one time to five.

So, why then, when a band of 12km young-guns cut the line, did the marshal allow them onto the bridge with the five that were already on it. If it is more important that a marshal save-face rather than do their job they should not agree to do the job.

Refreshing small river crossings interspersed the run, and one crossing through thigh-high turbulent water got the juices flowing. The poor guy on the safety-rope must have been exhausted after the effort he was putting in to stop some runners from being swept downstream.

The small villages encountered were generally filled with smiling faces encouraging ‘the mad runners’ on our way. It seems improbable, if not impossible, to think that these villagers use the trails we ran on daily, to and from their farms and plantations. I wonder just who are the fit, tough mountain worriers? One village put on a GONG TAWAK¹ band and some of the kind folk also put out water dispensers and fresh fruits for us, people who seem to have very little, but what they have they are willing to share with people they will never likely meet, it says a lot about this world we live in.

We owe much to these people, not just for their enthusiasm and generosity. they allowed us to tramp through their villages, plantations and fruit fields where there was an amount of unintended, but inevitable, damage caused. It is with great relief that I can report that the organisers have already met with affected farmers and villagers and agreed on compensation for damages and discussed how things can be improved for the next event. I am sure I can thank the organisers on behalf of all who took part in this adventure for their prompt action.

Many of the descents were very steep and technical but unfortunately they were generally very narrow so overtaking was near impossible.

All the early climbs were at that pleasurable level of tough but very doable, the last two however, unless you are a Satyr, were not so doable. In fact, the last hill, which was in the newly introduced trail section that took competitors via a river crossing and some steep trail sections to a more spectacular finish, rather than the long slog up sealed and gravel roads of the past few years, was torturous and claimed several DNFs just short of the finish-line.

The definition of toughness has been upgraded.

Now that the grueling adventure was all over, well fed, rested and in dry cloths it was onto the bus and back to our hotels for some well-earned sleep.

Wait a moment, well, nearly a couple of hours. The delay was again due to extremely bad planning or utilisation of the buses.

As one would expect on such an arduous course the field was very widely spread and arriving at the finish in dribs and drabs, therefor using a 50 seat buses meant that earlier finishers had to wait hours for the large buses to fill.

Had the small mini buses been deployed first it would have cut down the waiting time tremendously.

But worse still, I was told, first hand, by one of the top placed finishers in the 100km race that they, the earlier finishers, were left more than twelve hours before a bus was available for them to return. That is just unacceptable and smacks of total disregard for the care and comfort of the participants in favour of saving a few ringgits.

My overall, and lasting impression of this year’s course is that it takes as much will-power as it does know-how to achieve your own success in this event.

The Most BEAUTIFULLY BRUTAL Thing.

For me, one downside of the new finish was that you could hear the guy on that dam mic from about five-kilomtres out screaming “just a few more steps”, I didn’t know whether to hug or hit him when I finally got there.

ITRA rating for the 30km was 2, very well earned, points.

Congratulations to each and every person who finished this and the longer runs, you are a winner!

The event results were out in full very efficiently, and, the organisers have promised to consider age grouping the results for 2017. The efficiency shown by Racematix, I am sure that this will be no problem to them.

¹ Gong Tawak, a Bornean ceremonial drum,

usually seen at the front gates of a longhouse

to greet visitors

EVENT SCORE CARD SUMMARY

PRE RACE.

Entry and information:

Event information and updates were full and comprehensive but far too many changes. 7/10. Contact details: Facebook, Web-site, Phone, E-mail all available. Questions always answered promptly 10/10.

Value of entry price at RM 350 incl. of bus transfers 16/20.

Race registration and kit collection:

Collection/registration/kit inspection point, three days in central KK. Prior arrangements could be made for a late collection time. Not a good experience. 13/20. 46/60

Race site Facilities:

Space at the start venue was good 10/10. Toilets, number was woefully inadequate and condition ‘rural’ 5/10.

Start area staffing and information 9/10.

Parking and transport:

Bus transfers were available from several KK pick-up points but so many problems. 3/10. 27/40

Care of Competitors:

Starting time late, but, timing done well 8/10. Medical facilities at start/finish and on course was there but looked a little thin on the ground if there was a major problem. 17/20. 25/30

THE RACE.

Organisation:

Course management: Trail space in places very narrow. Signage generally OK but small. Difficulty high and enjoyment factor very good. 36/40.

Marshaling quantity was inadequate and ineffective on the course 11/20. Food and water stations numbers were adequate and well stocked. Water station volunteers were generally great and cheerful but there was a lack of basic training. 16/20. 59/80

POST RACE.

Finish line ease of medal/shirt/food/bag-drop collection was disorganised, the choice of food looked good but no choice of hydration was bad 7/10. Resting and cool down areas 10/10.

Top placings posting board would have been good. Prize ceremony? Not sure as it was all over by the time I arrived back. 8/10. 25/30

AFTER EVENT

Results. I joined the event knowing that there were no veteran categories, however, I must mark down accordingly.

Results not age-graded. Borneo TMBT Ultra Trail Marathon: Hi James Willis. We have had 1-2 requests over the past 10 days asking if we would consider doing this. We won't be able to do it for TMBT 2016 but we will certainly assist to plan ahead and offer it on the results set up for TMBT 2017. We could potentially do this after the event as a separate project and will keep everyone informed about this. The very comprehensive race results were delivered in very swift fashion. 17/20.

Post event communication, apart from the results very little other than that they will not be available from 30th Sept to 2nd Nov. Hope nothing urgent arises 7/10. 24/30 Total 210/270

My overall score for this event is 77.8%

COMMENT. A wonderful, adventurous trail experience spoilt by too many fundamental mistakes.

Would I return to this event: Probably not, but not because of any problems. As I feel that if you know what to expect then it makes for a better experience and if I came again I would not expect the organisation to be top-notch.

I prefer a more runnable route, this course is as brutal as it is beautiful and I know I would enjoy it even more the second time around, but, for me there was too much in the way of climbing sections that could not be run or even walked, it was hands and knees stuff, but, never say never!

Happy Running

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

My personal race.

7:02:02 24th of 277 overall.

I would like to start by saying that regardless of all my moans and groans regarding the peripheral organisational problems I had a fantastic time trying to tame the untameable.

My five am bus actually left at twenty-three minutes past five due to us waiting for late arrivers. And, when we left there were others still waiting. To cap our late leaving our bus driver decided he would stop off on route for a twenty-minute pee-brake.

Net result I arrived at the start-line four-minutes before the start time. Finding a toilet, oh how I wished I had joined the driver, was my priority, if I missed the start then so be it, I would start late and alone. When the last call to the start-line was announced there were still at least thirty of us queuing, for one toilet stool for the ladies and one for the gentlemen.

Thankfully, someone used common-sense rather than a time sheet and we were set off twenty-minutes late.

Set off, but, without a single moment to stretch or warm up, just the perfect start for a grueling mountain run.

I started off as part of two groups!

I was, very willingly, seconded to run as part of Team Philippines with long-time Facebook and now real friend Angelica Paz and her group that traveled from the Philippines just for this event.

As well as with my Mont Kiara Running Club (MKRC) pals.

The long slog up the concrete incline gave me the opportunity to try, for the very first time, running with poles. I know, never try anything new in a race! But, as it had only been a week or so that I had been advised, no compelled, to use poles by an experienced mountain trail runner I had no opportunity to practice. The intension was to try them up the first hill if they really didn’t work out ditch them at the first water station. Am I ever glad that I decided to use them, I’m not sure I would have finished without them. Thanks Jason.

At WS1 I saw the last, until the finish-line, of my running groups, from MKRC, the French Foreign Legion [Kévin Morisseau 15th and Amaury D’oleon 14th], were leaving as I arrived.

The remainder of the route was largely run on narrow trails where it was very difficult to find places to pass. And, unfortunately those I was passing were mid-pack 50km runners rather than anyone from my category. I had left WS1 & WS2 in twentieth passion and only went backwards from there.

The next seventeen kilometres were relatively uneventful, the terrain was as to be expected in the foot-hills of Mount Kinabalu, the tracks were narrow and slippery, the climbs were exilerating, the very technical descents were frustratingly slow and the suspended cable bridges were bouncy.

While I was queuing at the suspect bridge, I did become a single-handed barrier to those trying to cut line, why do people allow this sort of behaviour to happen, marshals and other participants?

There was the minor face-plant incident at a river-crossing, tripping into the river would have been refreshing, out of the river was just very, very muddy.

Oh yes, there was also the lesson in using poles on the trails. Beware! The outside edge of a track may look secure and solid enough to plant your pole and push off, but, if it isn’t as secure as it looks the pole will penetrate the trail edge and continue downwards and you, the pole holder, will follow. And follow I did, straight off the edge but thankfully into a heavily populated shrubbery. A moment or ten of hanging upside down trying to extricate myself from the vine wrapped around my left leg while not daring to let go of the bush with my right hand when the cavalry arrived. Three runners came to my rescue, pulling arms and legs in all directions until their panic settled and we worked out a strategy for us all to go in the same direction, up. Back on terra firma we all jogged off, quite slowly at first. At least one of us was contemplating what might have been.

However, it wasn’t until WS3 that I dropped back, five places, I know I lost one place on the course as I was overtaken by Munikah Ginsos, the eventual winner of the women’s 30km, but I believe that the other four passed me during my extended stop. A stop that cost me quite a lot.

WS3 was to be my only refuelling stop, I needed to take on water and that was where my problems started.

I was scanned in and made my way directly to the rest hall, took on some refreshment in the way of fresh pineapple, banana and hot sweet tea. Now to refill my water bladder. I stripped off my water jacket, opened the bladder and looked around for the water dispenser, nowhere to be seen! I went to the person serving the food and asked for water, they replied “no have, you must buy” pointing to the table opposite loaded with all sorts of good stuff, including bottles of water. I seemed to remember reading that there would be no bottled water, only water dispensers, so I asked the lady who was dishing out the tea. This time no reply, but, she did point straight at that same small table. I was up that creek, without a paddle or any money, that was in my finish-line pack.

So, nothing more to do than reassemble the back pack, remind myself to conserve the tiny amount of water that I had, and set off on the final near 8km, the toughest eight kilometres I have ever faced, bar none.

Looking at my last section kilometre splits I can see the point where I ran out of fluid, and subsequently food as I was unable to consume my energy bars without water. The one attempt I made was awful, the bar clagged-up in my mouth and it must have taken more than five-minutes to consume and rather than boosting my energy the sickened feeling it left me with just drained me even more.

That last five or so kilometres were run, walked and scrambled on shear will-power and mental-strength, something I have been telling myself I had a lack of.

What a way to find out I was wrong.

P.S.

I found out from other runners at the finish that there was plenty of water. It was outside the rest hall in massive containers. The only problem was that I missed it and those inside didn’t know about it. If my brain had been functioning I would have asked a runner, another lesson learned.