Race Review: Back 2 Endurance 12 hour
EVENT NAME: Back 2 Endurance
VENUE: Taman Botani Padana (Lake Gardens), Kuala Lumpur.
DATE: 10 Sept 2017 Time: 06:30 [06:30]
Headline Event Owners: Information requested but no reply.
Event Organising Company: Malaysia Ultra Running
Race Director: Jeff Oii and others
Timing company: Runners Unite
Registration company: Checkpoint Spot
THE EVENT
EVENT SCORE CARD SUMMARY
PRE-RACE.
Entry and information:
Initial event information and updates: 8/10.
Contact: My request for RD etc. was never answered. 7/10.
Catagories: Thank you to the organisers for introducing a veteran category this year. Now I'm only competing against children twenty-years younger than me. 7/10.
Value of entry: @ RM155 (RM180) it could appear expensive but when you consider that the event needs to be serviced for more than twelve-hours I feel that it is a very fair value for money price.
Race registration and kit collection: Collection point, ease of collection: With both local pick-up and race morning pick-up for out station participants my only comment is the choice of venue for the local pick-up being a city-centre shopping mall. 18/20.
59/70
Race site Facilities:
Venue, space and amenities: 10/10.
Toilets facilities: 9/10.
Start area: 9/10.
Parking and transport: 8/10.
36/40 95/110
Care of Competitors:
Starting time and control: 9/10.
Medical facilities. Start/finish and on course: A little difficult to have a comparative score as this was a short loop (2.3 kms) course so a single static medic station worked well for this event, which would have scored quite low for another event. My visit to the medic found them wanting, they only reacted to my suggestions rather than them advising me. 17/20.
26/30 121/140
THE RACE.
Organisation:
Course management: Again, a non-comparative score as there was no real need for anything much in the way of course markings, traffic control ETC on a very short park loop. 29/30.
Enjoyment factor: Excellent - High – Med – Low Subjective but any course that you run around 39 times cannot be very high on enjoyment, however, take into account that you are consistently in touch with almost the whole field as you pass by on your laps, or as they pass you, the contact with other runners and the interaction with the other park users contribute highly to what makes this a unique event. 17/20.
Marshaling: There was only need for marshaling at the start/finish area although I did notice one roving ‘marshal’ on several occasions. 14/15.
Feed stations: Only one, but stocked to the hilt with several meal options through the day all served by a willing and supportive crew. 15/15.
75/80 196/220
POST RACE.
Finish line: Due to either a misunderstanding of how the lap counter worked or a timing fault there was much confusion over what lap you were on, several participants that were aiming for a specific medal were told they had to run an extra lap when they believed they had completed their distance. 6/10.
Resting and cool down areas: Good – Sufficient – Lacking. Subjective 7/10.
Finishing information: A vast improvement over last year! 9/10.
22/30 218/250
AFTER EVENT
Results: Very rapid full results. It will be many years in Malaysia before 16 is the top mark as I will only increase my scoring when age-grouping is adopted.16/20.
Post event communication: Good – Limited – None. At the time of writing only the results page link had been added. 5/10.
21/30 Grand Total 239/280 giving an overall score for this event of 85.4%
COMMENTS: An extremely well run and fun event, an ideal introduction event for a first time ultra runner.
Would I return to this event: No – Unlikely – Possibly – Yes
Happy Running
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Photographs curtesy of: Chan Wk, Delia Willis, Vincent Liu, David Lau, Distance Force
My personal race.
11:07:56 of the 12:00:00 were spent on the move, the remaining 53 mins were wasted resting and eating. 91.05 Kms my longest race run to date.
3rd. of 55 Veteran [40 plus]. 9th. of 223 overall.
My race was more of a getting even with last year’s performance than anything else. I had my aims of course, my aim was to win the veteran category FAILED, to complete the entire twelve-hours ACHIEVED, to cover 100 kms FAILED, to take the MKRC top distance in this event (94 kms) FAILED, to get my Gold Medal ACHIEVED.
How can so many failures be part of such a great personal success? Did I set my standards too high, no setting your aspirations high is a good thing so long as they are achievable and I believe they were.
Last year I just turned up and ran, that taught me a lot more than you need to specifically
train for an event like this one, the fact that you can stop at will and pull out at any time makes this possibly the toughest mental battle I have ever taken on. The real fight is within yourself, the neg-nags that creep in and give you every reason to give up, a battle in your head that takes it’s tole on your legs and your heart to continue. That, to me, is why this event is such a pull to many who really want to test their inner strength.
This year was planned, splitting the twelve-hours down into four sections by taking fifteen-minute rest breaks after each two-and-three-quarter hour sessions. Session one in the coolest part of the day was to yield 27 kms, 3 mins off schedule but on distance.
The next two sessions in the heat were to be slower, aiming for 24 kms per session. Well the first thing I noticed was that finding your pace again after a rest takes time, in my case over twenty-minutes before I felt I was back into rhythm. At around 37 kms I felt a really nasty sharp pain in my right groin that forced me to slow rapidly, however it wore off quite quickly, panic over just a stitch? Several, but less painfully twinges were felt before half way, but each time a short walk and a reduced pace soon dissipated the feeling. At half way I was just half a kilometre off my 100 km schedule. Lunch became a fifteen-minute power-nap and I was on my way.
Section three, what a shi, shame. After the struggle to find my rhythm the sharp pain in my groin had turned to a persistent ache, a sort of lower extremity tooth-ache.
A visit to the medic at least more or less confirmed that I was now the proud owner of a double-hernia of the nether region.
Two ice bags strategically placed I now looked like a real man! The advice was to stop and go to the hospital, I went to the resting area, sat and pondered my fate, another silver medal, another excuse? I chatted through my predicament with a friend and I am fairly sure that I talked her into believing that carrying on at a much slower pace was the way to go, after all the gold was now only around thirty kilometres away.
After several laps my entire pit crew, my wife Dee, was back and I stopped to tell her the good news. Her reply was “that’s a shame you had been fourth placed veteran and you’ve dropped down to seventh”
That was all I needed to hear that fourth place was mine, a renewed vigour and sense of purpose pushed me onward. The one-hundred was off the scale and Craig’s record would have to stand for another year but gold was possible.
Session four was always planned to be just do what you can and see where it takes you. Well, with over twenty-five minutes to spare I had earned my gold medal and made my way up into third place in my category with a lead of a lap over fourth so by way of a thank you and I could not have done it without your support I asked my wonderful wife to walk the last lap with me.
This mentally though event will always have a special attraction for me, whether I will ever attempt it again only time will tell.
Update: Double hernia confirmed seeing the specialist tomorrow regarding a minor surgical procedure, otherwise known as eight to ten weeks off, oh no!
