Last October, I accompanied a good friend, Ivy, to run a short segment of the Monster Ultra 200. As the event title suggest, participants will run an ultra distance of 200km within 48hrs – with little or no sleep. While waiting for Ivy at Kranji MRT station, I saw a few “Monsters” ran passed me. It was not difficult to differentiate these “Monsters” from other casual runners because you can hardly see people running at 1am carrying a hydration bladder looking very determined. As I looked on, I sank into a state of reminiscing the days preparing for Everest climb. Back then, very often I went on long hours of run-jog-walk to build my endurance fitness. I know I can manage well with long hours of climb, trek or jog without much sleep, and that is the exact reason why Ivy got me to do this with her. I was to be her motivator to help her stay awake during the ungodly hours.

Throughout the run with Ivy, the supporting officials were very kind and helpful, despite me not being one of the “Monsters”, they offered me food and drinks. Along the way, we also met a runner who came specially to catch up with the “Monsters” running pass near his home; he “caught” Ivy the “Monster”. He had also paced Ivy for a distance after I left her. And today, we became friends.

I was basked into a very familiar atmosphere – a community that support and encourage one to push boundaries, to test personal limits, to persevere, to outdo oneself. I told myself, I want, and I must do this again. Then, I found out about Twilight Ultra Challenge (TUC) 2015. I had previously known about this event (held for the past 4 years by the same organiser), I was just too busy climbing mountains that I had not a chance to think about participating. On the other end, I have a group of secondary school friends starting to pick up running to keep fit. I thought it would be a good opportunity for my secondary school friends to take part in a local event that is no frills, and a chance to try out longer distances . Shared my idea with them, and yippee, we have a goal! We had about 4 months to prepare.

We organised running session together, and increase our running distance progressively. But we didn’t manage to clock enough mileage before the event, as a group, we ran up to 14km – nothing close to ultra, not even a marathon distance. I was worried. The only consolation I have is that TUC allows you to run as long or as short a distance as you can manage (or as you wished) in 16 hours. This is also probably the reason why school mates are willing to try knowing that they have little experience with ultra distance running. We signed up as a team, not a solo runner, this gave them lesser stress.

The day came, and I set a target for myself – 45km. Since TUC is an ultra event, I see it as necessary to clock at least a marathon distance, and 45km is a decent ultra distance. *Grin* (Ultra distance is running and walking longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 km).

Before the flag-off at 7pm, we observed a 91 seconds silence for Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Among the runners, some have pledged to run 91km (the late Mr Lee’s age), some to run 50km for SG50. I stick to my 45km target, focus on it, and would review depending on my condition.

I was doing well for the first 15km (3 loops of 5km); when I was on my 4th loop, my legs started to feel jelly, an early sign of muscular fatigue, and pain also set in – my ITB was acting up causing pain in my right knee and my right groin. I started to limp, and I had difficulty bending my right knee and to raise it up to 90 degree. It was obvious to me that this was caused by a lack of running mileage + a long-standing ITB issue. I started to doubt if I could complete at least 45km distance. While I had doubts, I also started to find ways to alleviate the pain, and of course to fight off that jelly legs.

I have good mountain fitness, but extremely lacking in running mileage. It was literally a game of mind over body – mind over dead legs! I stopped at every 5km to do stretches and spent 10-15mins elevating my legs. It proved to be helpful, and it worked! It worked for the next 15km, at least. It also helped when a couple friend came to pace me for 2 loops of 5km.  I managed to struggle a walk-a-jog and had completed 35km at 2:30am. I took 7.5 hrs just to complete 35km. I felt so inadequate because I used to be able complete a marathon in 6 hours. To keep my legs going, and to stay away from remembering the pain, I kept repeating a quote I chanced upon in the internet: Pain is weakness leaving the body. As I repeat my mumbling, it went:

Pain is weakness leaving the body

Pain is weakness leaving my body

Pain is weakness leaving their body

Pain is weakness … “mind went blank” … argh

Pain is weakness leaving my body

Pain is weakness leaving the body

Pain is my body ……… pain is hell!

Pain is a sensation can be ignored!

Pain is a sensation can be ignored!

Pain is a sensation just ignore!

Pain just ignore …omg

Pain is idiot…….pain is …..

After completing 35km, my legs were totally spent. I took a 30 mins break and continue to elevate my legs. By now, half of my team had gone home after completed 30km. I walked the next 5km with Daniel Pong and Jacqueline Oon (who came to give us support), and that 5km walked has helped to release the fatigue in my legs; that left me with another 5km to reach my target distance. Yippee!

By the time when I completed 45km distance, all my team mates had gone home. I was then left alone with the rest of the runners who were still accumulating distances. I have decided to jog another 5km to make it to 50km for SG50. It was an easy decision then, because the fatigue had gone (the soreness came back at the next 10km). At pre-dawn hours, runners who were still on the course were battling their own challenges, some were running strong (yes, run!), some were walking like a zombie. It was very encouraging and comforting to hear call-outs from other runners, some gave a wave, a nod or a thumbs-up which was equally motivating.

While on my way to complete my 50km, I met Rima, popularly known as the Tyre-Lady Ice among our local running community. Rima is a long time friend, we have done crazy stuff together, including partnering her to run her first marathon with a tyre here in Singapore! I asked her what distance she planned to complete, as I knew that she must be already going for her 55th kilometers. She said, “65km, the year Singapore became independent!” I paused for a second before saying: ” I will probably stop at 50km”, and she continued, “Hey, how about you aiming at 65km too?” I rolled my eye ball for 360 degree, took a deep breath, gave a smirk and said: “OK, I will try!”. We went on our way. Self-talk moments emerged again: “Do I want a new target!?”, “Can I do it?”, “How’s my legs now?”.  I coaxed myself: “It’s only another 15km”, “3 x 5km”, “I am coming this way one more time, just one more time!”. With my pace, I knew I would need another 3hrs to complete the next 15km. As I plod along the very familiar East Coast Park, deep in my heart, I knew I had already bought the idea sold by Rima; the self coaxing was unnecessary.

The next 10km was a cocktail of emotions – felt crazy, at times a little satisfied, then had regrets when in pain, sometime happy sometime silly – the only time that broke the momentum of those emotions was when fellow runners called out with words of encouragement – “Keep going”, “Stay strong”, Keep it up”. Oh my, I was so looking forward to all these voices and words. Never undermine simple words of encouragement; for me, it was rejuvenating, and faith restored! When I crossed path with Rima again, she offered to wait for me to complete the last 5km together. It was really very generous of her to do that. And so, a little bit of eagerness to want to quickly catch up with Rima.

Finally I met up with Rima, and we started to walk and chat. She is really a honey! Almost all runners who passed her would waved or Hi-five to her. She is everyone’s friend. That’s Rima, and that’s what makes her attractive. We completed our last 5km walk-a-jog together under the morning sun with all the “Hellos” and “Hi-5s”; and of course, Rima’s “ka-chang” that reflects her efforts to reduce trash. (“Ka-chang” – cantonese word for personal belongings or tools)

At the event site, spotted Ivy arriving to help out at the event. And this is also the first time that we turned our roles around – I am a participant, while she is a volunteer.

My Appreciation

Thanks to my fellow school mates who joined me for this event. Ben, Daniel, Michael , Andrew, Robin, Chang Pin, Guann Hwa 学长. Also my appreciation to fellow Alumni who came to support us with drinks and food – Adeline Kea, Jacqueline Oon, Anston Tan & wife, Nancy Goh, Shirleen Phua.

Thank you to the organisers and their volunteers, they were awesome. The team at the check-station were forever so alive. Some of the kids even brought their books to study. I love the splashing of ice cold water. I like the idea of BYOB – Bring your own bottle. Though I did not eat much of the food provided (I took 2 slices of peanut butter bread), I saw that there were good selection of food provided, including marshmallow!

There were runners who gave good morale support. In particular, tag no 203 (Ms Esther Yong) – she never failed to give a thumbs-up or some words of encouragement. Each time I passed her, I felt as if I was seeing a long time friend, and I look forward to cross path with her. That gave me some motivation to keep moving; and tag no 11 (Mr Daniel Ong), this one was a power house. His words was with zest and gusto – “Stay strong”, “Keep going” … Little things like this meant a lot.  Thank you.

Mak and Beelie for so willingly to jog with me, jog at my snail pace for 10km at some ungodly hours where they could have gone home to rest. Jacqueline Oon for walking the 5km with me and Daniel.

My dear friend Rima, who encouraged me, and waited for me to complete the last 5km together. Making it less lonely and less painful.

Raudhah! Her gentle suggestion of completing a minimum ultra distance helped me set my target early. Or else, I would have chosen to “complete as far as I can go” which could be a 20km distance when my legs were complaining. It shows that having a goal is just so important; and having a friend to remind you about your goal is priceless!

My Reflection

Ultra Distance for the unprepared
Running an ultra event is no joking matters. Though I may not have sufficient running mileage for TUC2015, I had previous experience dealing with long distance running and staying up with little or no sleep. I have walked/jogged for up to 40 hours with little sleep, completed three 100km walks, ran at least five marathons. More importantly, I am currently active with my mountain climbing activities, so I have not entered the ultra event with zero fitness. I will advise against entering an ultra event without proper preparation, you either get badly injured physically, or you might just bruised your own ego – either one is bad. For those who are keen to move into doing ultra races, do your homework – read up, and enter a race where organisers provide meaningful support during the race, and offer some form of advise to how you can prepare for it.

I do not have sufficient running mileage to start with, I have to recognise it and be realistic with my target. Having attempted long distance running prior, I know that I will be able to complete 45km in 16 hours; the additional 20km is a bonus. Though the timing I took to complete 65km is nothing really impressive, I am satisfied and feel accomplished. The follow quote relates well with the ultra event:

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Choosing an event to participate
The Twilight Ultra Challenge is the 2nd local ultra races that I ever took part in; my first ultra race was MR25 Ultramarathon. No frills is what I like, I don’t need t-shirts, medals and all the fanciful banners/backdrop because they meant little to me. TUC allows optional purchases, which is a brilliant idea. What matters to me most is the experience and interaction that I will have with myself, and the people involved in the event. Small scale events like this allow us to make new friends. There is a quote that goes – there are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met. That is so true!

We signed up as a team, and here is our accumulative distances:

HYAS Team 1 – 155km

Ben – 30km

Robin – 30km

Daniel – 30km

Joanne – 65km

HYAS Team 2 – 130km

Chang Pin – 40km

Andrew – 35km

Guann Hwa – 25km

Michael – 30km

Would I do it again? Yes, I will, just don’t know when.