Running on Old Legs Race Review Sungai Menyala Forest Trail
EVENT. NAME: Sungai Menyala Forest Trail Run
VENUE: Hutan Simpan Sungai Menyala, Port Dickson
DATE: 09 April 2017 Time: 07:30 [07:40]
Headline Event Owners: Information requested 20 March 2017 unanswered.
Event Organising Company: Malatra Ventures
Race Director: Rafiz Yahya
Timing company: Checkpoint Spot via MyLaps.
Registration company: Checkpoint Spot.
THE EVENT
EVENT SCORE CARD SUMMARY
PRE-RACE.
Entry and information:
Initial event information and updates: The initial Facebook and registration information was good. However the Facebook page was never updated. There was plenty of good information but you had to search for it through other channels as there were no links between pages. 6/10.
Contact: Once the right place was found there was good interaction between the organisers and participants. I do wish that they put links to their information on the event page as I didn’t find the information until the evening prior to the event. 6/10.
Categories: Only male and female open categories were offered. This, especially being as the event was without cash prizes, is no way to encourage younger and older participants. 1/10.
Value of entry: At RM150 I feel that the entry fee was very good value. 18/20.
Race registration and kit collection: Collection point, ease of collection: With various collection days and points, including the morning of the event at the race site, it could not have been better. Race morning collection was very slick. 20/20.
51/70
Race site Facilities:
Venue, space and amenities: A refreshingly different venue but a little cramped for space. Warming-up and cooling-down could only be done on the course. Pre-race amenities were sparse. 7/10.
Toilets facilities: There were sufficient, on-site and porta-potties. A sign to indicate where the porta-potties were situated, behind one of the main buildings, would have saved many of us unlacing and removing our running shoes to use the inside toilets. A not uncommon general Malaysian problem, no hand drying facilities. 7/10.
Start area: Staffing seemed adequate but there was little in the way of information given out by the MC. 8/10.
Parking and transport: The only good thing you could say about the parking facilities is that road-side parking, half to one kilometre away, was free. 1/10.
23/40 74/110
Care of Competitors:
Starting time and control: A bit of a shambles really, firstly the timing mats were on the wrong side of the start chute causing competitors to initially gather on the wrong side. Then once in the correct area it was announced that the start had been changed from a mass start of both the 25 and 50K races, as advised, to two separate starts ten-minutes apart. I cannot understand the logic behind this change. The 50K was set off first, this meant that the faster 25K runners were then trapped behind the slower 50K runners on the single tracks through the forest.
Had they chose to reverse the start it would have given the same problem to the elite 50K runners. 4/10.
Medical facilities. Start/finish and on course: The one ambulance arrived just a very few minutes before the race start so was of no help to anyone who may have needed assistance before the race. There was no sign of the advised first aid facilities at the check points, to the extent that when I arrived at one check-point with blood running down my arm, sustained by a vicious attack by a tree, there was no one to even administer some disinfectant. 12/20.
16/30 90/140
THE RACE.
Organisation:
Course management: The was no safety briefing and no kit requirement. As this event was advertised as suitable for beginners there should have been some advice given. I doubt that any beginners found the course easy. Course markings were generally of a high standard. At one questionable point, after a group of runners did an extra loop through the village, the organisers immediately posted a marshal to ensure there were no further casualties. 17/30.
Enjoyment factor: Excellent – Very high - High – Med – Low. I just loved the way the course varied, a true test of cross-country skills with fast open sections and a good climb thrown in for good measure. 18/20.
Marshaling: Not a lot wrong with these guys and girls. 14/15.
Feed stations: The feed stations were adequate and generally well placed and well stocked. I have deducted points as CP2 was unmanned and empty. 12/15.
61/80 151/220
POST RACE.
Finish line: The choice of food and hydration was not good. 8/10.
Resting and cool down areas: Good – Sufficient – Lacking. Very restrictive space. 7/10.
Finishing information: Individual placings were available at the start finish area but no race results were posted. The prize ceremony was held hours after the majority of competitors had finished. I had a cool-down run to my car and back, changed into dry cloths, eat my food, spent some time chatting with others and would still have had to wait more than two more hours for the presentations. 2/10.
17/30 168/250
AFTER EVENT
Results: The full results were out quickly, but not posted on the event page. 14/20.
Post event communication: Good – Limited – None. There were photographs posted by various individual photographers, thank you all for your time and support, but nothing else 2/10.
16/30 Grand Total 184/280 giving an overall score for this event of 65.7%
COMMENTS:
Malatra in the form of Razif and his team can be proud of this first attempt, they produced a great course, a fun environment and a well organised event. I am sure that the experience this year will only ensure that they will produce a much-improved event next year.
Therein lies the dilemma, the venue is great for the run but cannot accommodate the numbers that this event will attract next year. Even with the small number of participants this year cars were parked along the only access road for as far as one could see.
There must be a limit imposed for any future event, for the good of the forest environment. And car-sharing and park and ride need to be looked at.
Would I return to this event: No – Unlikely – Possibly – Yes a really enjoyable event surrounded by logistical problems.
Happy Running
Photographs and videos thanks to: Jesselyn Pang, Zamri Karim l Films, Kakironda,
My personal race.
11th overall, 8th. male. 3:13:52 [including 1.8Kms extra village loop]
My run was just a great experience.
A very different type of trail run from the normal Malaysian hill slog. This event had a bit of everything.
True forest running is not easy to come by, but, for much of this event that was the order of the day. From wide open forest walking trails, well marked single-track through the lowland primary forest to sections of dense forest regrowth where you just had to make your way from one flag to the next. Truly some of the best running I have done in a long time.
Let’s not forget the stream crossings, less than a metre wide but with twenty or more metres of knee-deep mud either side, a real mudfest.
Add to this some short, but testing, climbs and long slogs through open plantation track, being more than caressed by the thirty-degrees of sunshine and there you have it, a Spartan run without the man-made obstacles, everything you could wish for in an off-road run.
A very pleasing effort with good friends, old and new.
www.facebook.com/zamrikarimfilms/videos/1636422393051790/
