Race Review The Magnicicent Merapoh Trail 70 kms
EVENT. NAME: The Magnificent Merapoh Trail 70 kms
VENUE: Tapak Pasar Awam, Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia
DATE: 11 AUG 2018 Time: 04:00 COT 14 hrs.
Headline Event Owners:
Event Organising Company: Ten Senses Sdn Bhd and, undisclosed, Belia 4B Merapoh
Race Director: undisclosed [Ten Senses MD Mohd Bukhari “No RD for this year as we want to see how the event move without RD”]
Timing company: CheckPoint Spot [10/10]
Registration company: Ticket2U (T2U)
Hosted by: Asia Trail Master (ATM) a qualifying event for the Asia Trail Masters Championships
PLEASE NOTE: This review is based on my personal observations and experience of the event and is intended to be helpful to other runners for their future event selection and also to aid the organisers by giving an honest and unbiased opinion of both the good and the not so good elements as I found them. Where, on the rare occasion I have used information other than my own it will be clearly stated as such and will have been from a trusted source and corroborated by others.
THE EVENT
EVENT SCORE CARD SUMMARY
PRE-RACE.
Entry and information:
Initial event information and updates:
Most things can be found, if you look hard enough. For me there were three points of contact, the Magnificent Merapoh Trail event page on Facebook which offered nothing much other than where to enter, ATM which gave a good amount of the race information, some of which was marked as “To be confirmed”, such as route maps and elevation, unfortunately they never were. Plus, once you had entered the event, then there was additional information, such as compulsorily briefing prior to race-day, on the Ticket2U site, but again more “To be confirmed” items, again never updated. I left for the race still not knowing the route or elevation profile. [Reg detailed and ease of registration 1/3]
The Facebook page has never been updated, it is effectively a portal to the registration site. There is a message tab but any questions and answers are not shown on the page so it is A not apparent as to whether there were any questions or answers B if there were then they were of no use to anyone other than those who asked the question.
The event website link on ATM took you to the 2017 Howei registration page. The 2018 TMMT Guidebook button on ATM just produces a new tab with the exact same page that you came from. The start time on ATM was 05:00 and 04:00 on T2U. [Social media pre-registration 1/3]
There were no updates to the event. [Updates 0/4] total 2/10.
Contact: [Facebook, Web-site, Phone, E-mail 1/4] [Usage 0/6] total 1/10.
Catagories: I am not complaining, as I knew what I signed up to, but I cannot see any reason why an event should pit the likes of me, at 69 years of age, against young guys in their twenties. There is no logic, they would not consider pitting the ladies against the men. Someone suggested that it could be due to numbers and I would say that there were far more veterans than there were females and they, rightly, had their own category. A few extra trinkets would not have broken the bank and may well have pulled in a few more participants. [Male/female 2/2] [Vet 0/3] [Age groups 0/5] total 2/10.
Value of entry: With the early-bird price set @ RM315.90 this is amongst the most expensive trail events I have encountered in Malaysia. The location makes for additional costs but with everything taken into consideration I cannot see why the cost is so high. total 15/20. NOTE: Ten Senses state that they choose to use local providers, at higher costs, rather than bring in cheaper supplies from KL, to assist local communities. And, I know for a fact that much of the entrance fees are ploughed back into the local community and some good works are being done by the organisers. So altruistically it's a not such a bad deal.
Race registration and kit collection:
Race kit collection 10th August 2018, Friday, 10:30 am to 7:00 pm, venue Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Merapoh.
Mandatory race briefing will be held on 10th August 2018, Friday, 4pm at school hall, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Merapoh.
Collection point, ease of collection:
[Pre-race day, with kit inspection and race briefing 10/10][Organisation 5/6][Pick-up point 4/4]
total 19/20.
Section total 36/70
Race site Facilities:
Venue, space and amenities: [Venue 5/5] [Space for wu/cd 1/3] [Pre-race water 2/2] total 8/10.
Toilets facilities: [Number 5/5] [Condition 4/4] [Lighting 0/1] total 9/10.
Start area: [Staffing 4/5] [Information 5/5] total 9/10.
Parking and transport: [Space 2/5] [Alternatives 0/4] [Free 1/1] An additional parking area should have been found to eliminate the need to park on the road. total 3/10.
Section total 29/40 Running total 65/110
Care of Competitors:
Mandatory kit
Headlamp
Hydration Bag / Bottles with at least 1 litre of fluid
Food / Energy Gels / Energy Bar with at least 300 calories at start line.
Blinkers
Mobile phone
Whistle
Medical Kit (small)
Personal cup
Luckily I carry my safety kit for safety rather than because I am told to. Because a space blanket was also part of the mandatory kit but was not in the list given on the Ticket2U site.
Starting time, race & safety briefing and control:
The race briefing was a shamble. The MC read out a list of ‘what to be expected’ for the 100 km route, without pointing out, where appropriate, that the same route would be covered by the 70 and 35 km runners. No reference was made to the course markings, trail etiquette, special needs arrangements, drop bag availability and no safety numbers were given. In effect the main part of the ‘briefing’ was to advertise Asia Trail Masters. I have no worries about plugging sponsors and partners, but it should be secondary to a proper safety briefing. [Briefing 1/6] [Start time 4/4]
total 5/10.
Medical facilities. Start/finish and on course: There was a medical team and ambulance at the start/finish area along with several treatment beds under cover. But, there were no medics at any of the CPs and for the most part the ambulance would not have been able to access the trails. [Start/fin 7/8] [Ambulance 7/7] [Mobile/Aid stations 0/5] total 14/20.
Section total 19/30 Running total 84/140
THE RACE.
Organisation:
Course management:
There was no emergency number given, which may not have been of much use depending on the carrier you used, at best only 50% of the course had coverage, I doubt my carrier had any? Mandatory kit was checked the day prior to the event but there was no sign of, or announcement of, any start-line or on course checks. [Safety: emg # 0/4, kit insp 4/8, Enforcement 0/8] The course management and signage were first class. [Signage 10/10] the course predominately followed existing trails, tracks and roadways so there was very little, if any environmental long-term disturbance. [Environmental impact >10/10] total 24/40.
Course design and enjoyment factor:
Excellent – Very High - High – Med – Low (subjective) I would have rated the course as excellent had it not been for the long sections of, unavoidable, tarmac. total 19/20.
“This race is a fast course with less technical sections and cater for beginner and intermediate trail runners. “
I cannot quite agree with the events statement due mainly to the two waterfall sections. I am sure that very many of the novice trail runners, and few of the not so novice, had great trepidations about climbing down those waterfalls, especially as there were no course marshals there to assist and/or advise, and plunging into waters of unknown depths.
Marshaling: Many of the on-course marshals just sat and watched as we passed, quite a few were more interested in their phones than what was going on around them and at least two were fast asleep as I passed by. [Quantity 4/5] [Quality 4/7] [Friendly/encouraging 1/3] total 9/15.
Feed stations: What an amazing difference, the staff were so brilliant. Almost without exception they were enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and encouraging. There was one young lady, I think at CP4, that was counting positions, what a boost it gave me when she told me I running in eighth place. It created an instant second wind. I tried to ensure I thanked everyone but if I missed anyone THANK YOU.
There was one major problem, the distance between CP5 and CP6 was way, way over that advised, I would say up to 5km, although I have read 7km which I am sure is incorrect, in one report. I for one judged my fluid requirement by the advised distance and ran out way before CP6, this could have been a danger to many inexperienced trail runners. [as advised 4/5] [Number guide: /8km 5, /10km 4 /12km 3 /15km 1. 4/5] [Staffing # & quality 4/4] [Stocking 5/6] total 17/20.
Section total 70/95 Running total 153/235
POST RACE.
Finish line: [Control 2/2] [Ease of medal/shirt 3/3] [choice of food and hydration 5/5] total 10/10.
Resting and cool down areas: Good – Sufficient – Lacking. Subjective total 8/10.
Finishing information: [Placings posted 0/2] [Announcements 1/2] [Prize ceremony 6/6]total 7/10.
Section total 25/30 Running total 178/265
AFTER EVENT
Clean course policy and implementation: The event did not issue any policy regarding keeping the course clean. NOTE: It is of my opinion that ALL events should issue, and carry through, on a no littering policy with disqualification to those who ignore the policy. [0/10] total 0/10
NOTE: Congratulations to the participants as I only saw a single gel pack discarded on the course.
Results: [Timely 24hrs 5, 48hrs 4, 72hrs 3, >5days 1. 5/5] [Full results 3/3] [Age Grouped 0/2] total 8/10.
Post event communication: Good – Limited – None. [Organisers photo 2/3] [Event videos/write ups 2/4] [Participants comments 3/3] total 7/10.
Section total 15/30 Grand total 193/295 overall score for this event of 65.4%
COMMENTS: It may come as a surprise to many of you that, given the low scoring by this event, I would say that it was one of my most enjoyable competitive runs. With one small addition to the registration process, i.e. advising participants to follow the Running Project Facebook page for updates, many of the initial problems would have been solved. The Running Project page was very informative and kept up to date.
Putting the right person in charge of maintaining communication through all the various sites would improve the organisation immensely.
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: JX Productions, Steve Wiseman, Eyes of the Pisang, ActionPix Malaysia, Running Malaysia Magazine.
Video curtesy of: Inspired Trail Runners.
My personal race.
10:03:2702 9th. Male and 11th. Overall of 193. Open only event.
My last Ultra trail race of 2018 has taught me a few things about myself. Firstly, I have lost something, I don’t know if it’s the desire, the ability or the nerve but whatever it is the technical down hills at speed had disappeared without trace. Secondly, I am really in love with this sport!
I made sure that I started steadily as almost from the very start we were on a tarmac incline, nothing worse for burning out your leg strength than overdoing the early hills. Gradually the field came back to me and after a while I found myself at the back of the chasing group, chasing down one lone Canadian. I was just about comfortable hanging onto their coat-tails until the first technical section when they just left me for dead.
I have never been the most dynamic of runners on technical downhills, but this was just ridiculous, they were pulling away a metre in every two, and a few more runners also passed me and left me in their wake.
Once onto the more straight forward sections I again started pulling back some of those that had passed me. This yoyoing continued, each technical decline I lost ground only to claw it back on the inclines, flat and the rivers. Yes rivers, a first for me, around three kilometres of the race were run in the river, mainly in areas that were up to mid-calf depth with the occasional waist deep section. Oh yes, and two waterfalls to climb down. They weren’t so high but they sure were steep and slippery, heart in mouth moments on them babies I can assure you.
A steepish incline finishing with a stair climb to CP4 brought me great joy. The wonderful young lady who was refreshing the cold water and coke advised me that I was running in eighth place in the men’s race. I was amased, it certainly pepped up my ambition, could it be a top ten finish or dear I even think of a top five podium place. There was no harm in trying!
Before CP5 I had caught up with the group of three that were between me and that podium and for around ten kilometres we ran together, each taking turn to pace the others, it was a fantastic period within the race, working together. The distance from CP5 to CP6 was supposed to be about ten kilometres, but it was well over and some of us ran out of fluid, me at about twelve. I could sense that the others were becoming more and more despondent as the distance grew, I however was feeling good, thirsty but good. So I took full advantage and went to the front and picked up the pace, so much so that at CP6, at least fifteen kilometres, I had time to refresh myself, eat, drink and fill my bottles and still no sign of those I left.
I now had a podium position and a visible lead, so I just needed to stay on pace.
Through CP7 and onto the last river section. This one just short of a kilometre but by far the toughest, the water was deeper here and just getting through the water was noticeably taking it’s toll on my legs.
Coming onto dry land my legs felt like jelly and my pace dropped markedly for a while. Life gradually returned to my legs and my pace returned as I made my way to CP8 and the last ten k. As I stood filling my water bottle Bala Krishnan and Mohd Syafiq Kharirul stormed through the CP without stopping, they were on a mission and the mission was my podium finish.
I left the CP with a plan, 6:30 pace to the finish and see how we get on. The next two km shaded through the palm oil plantation went perfectly to plan, 6:22, 6:32 the out onto the open road and the blazing sun, the temperature was now thirty-seven degrees, burning hot and for me it was just like a brake being applied. Willpower was no match for the heat and exhaustion and I slowed until there was just three kms left and I started to walk, I had nothing left, even the sight of another runner passing me only spurred me into a token couple of hundred metres of resistance, the needle was on empty. The next guy past me didn’t even urge me into walking faster I was spent but I was going to finish.
The two guys that passed me at CP8 took eighteen minutes out of me in the last ten kms so my plan would only have put me just about with them rather than past them, but my execution of the plan put me in ninth place.
Disappointed by my failure to be able to respond as I crossed the finish line, but soon my thoughts turned to a realisation that this old guy just finished in the top ten of an open event, and all my running pals around me were slapping me on the back and telling me just how well I had done. I now bow to their superior knowledge, thanks everyone and congratulations to all those who completed, especially those four guys who had it in them to finish so strongly.
To watch the brilliant video produced by Inspired Trail Runners copy and paste: https://www.facebook.com/inspiredTrailRunners/videos/250141749157667/
