The Most Beautiful Thing 2019 (109km)
I had to cut my running shoe in order to complete the run... literally!
The Most Beautiful Thing (a.k.a TMBT) is one of the oldest ultra trail marathons in Malaysia, held in Sabah every year. I have participated the 109km distance on 14th September 2019 with several friends, three weeks after TMMT 2019.
My recorded Distance & elevation gain: 114km+, with 5,333m elevation gain (I was lost and incurred extra mileage. My watch was in ultra mode, hence the elevation gain is questionable)
Cut off Time: 33 hours (It took me 30hours 50minutes to complete it)
Weather: Cold, 10-20 deg.C
Finisher rate: 61%
The trail was run-able for 85% of the times and the route was straight forward. Due to the heavy rain before race start, the organizer has re-routed the course to avoid river crossing and the overall distance increased slightly.
Unfortunate for me, for unknown reasons, my new Salomon shoe kept hitting and rubbing at the back of my left foot ever since flag off. I tried to remove my sock, remove the shoe soles, fold my sock to cushion the hitting etc, but none of it help. I had to walk slowly to avoid the rubbing.
The irritation slowly turned into torment as my distance built up. After 45km, my Achilles tendon was inflamed. It has became too painful to continue walking in the shoe, so I tried to go barefoot. However the road was too rocky to do that. At that moment, DNF seemed to be the only logical option.
Suddenly a wild idea crossed my mind, why don't I cut away the back of my shoe? So I borrowed knife and scissors from local villagers and took my own sweet time to craft my shoe. Turned out it was the right thing to do. I managed to complete the run in 30 hours 50 minutes after that. I got lost and gained some "bonus" mileage, thus the total distance I did was around 114km.
Many runners claimed that the Pineapple Hills was the most challenging section due to its false peaks. Personally I think it is okay, maybe hikers are good in dealing with false peaks? The last 11km of steep road is the most nerve wracking section to me.
Race location: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Organizer has arranged shutter buses to send the runners to the starting point (as add-on purchase during registration)
Food and water supply: Sufficient. I wished the crews in the early CPs would let me take more isotonic drinks. They limited me to re-fuel only 250ml, because there were plenty of runners to serve, majority from shorter distance categories.
Organizer's crews: Fine. I wish they would have a photographer standby at the finishing line.
Route marking: Reasonable. Some markers were blown away by strong wind nearby Water Station 8-9, and I lost my way.
Difficulty: 5 out of 10 (from the scale of 0 to 10, where 10 as the toughest)
Results: Racematix.com
Conclusion:
- In my opinion TMBT is doable with moderate fitness, since the cut off time is rather lenient.
- I recommend TMBT to those who are confident with their stamina, including first timer who want to do 100km race. It is a well planned race, hence you would have less surprise elements to worry about.
The Most Beautiful Thing (a.k.a TMBT) is one of the oldest ultra trail marathons in Malaysia, held in Sabah every year. I have participated the 109km distance on 14th September 2019 with several friends, three weeks after TMMT 2019.
Race Information:
Organizer's Distance & elevation gain: 109km, with 5,595m elevation gain
My recorded Distance & elevation gain: 114km+, with 5,333m elevation gain (I was lost and incurred extra mileage. My watch was in ultra mode, hence the elevation gain is questionable)
Cut off Time: 33 hours (It took me 30hours 50minutes to complete it)
Weather: Cold, 10-20 deg.C
Finisher rate: 61%
My race report:
Unfortunate for me, for unknown reasons, my new Salomon shoe kept hitting and rubbing at the back of my left foot ever since flag off. I tried to remove my sock, remove the shoe soles, fold my sock to cushion the hitting etc, but none of it help. I had to walk slowly to avoid the rubbing.
The irritation slowly turned into torment as my distance built up. After 45km, my Achilles tendon was inflamed. It has became too painful to continue walking in the shoe, so I tried to go barefoot. However the road was too rocky to do that. At that moment, DNF seemed to be the only logical option.
Suddenly a wild idea crossed my mind, why don't I cut away the back of my shoe? So I borrowed knife and scissors from local villagers and took my own sweet time to craft my shoe. Turned out it was the right thing to do. I managed to complete the run in 30 hours 50 minutes after that. I got lost and gained some "bonus" mileage, thus the total distance I did was around 114km.
Many runners claimed that the Pineapple Hills was the most challenging section due to its false peaks. Personally I think it is okay, maybe hikers are good in dealing with false peaks? The last 11km of steep road is the most nerve wracking section to me.
Verdict:
Race location: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Organizer has arranged shutter buses to send the runners to the starting point (as add-on purchase during registration)
Food and water supply: Sufficient. I wished the crews in the early CPs would let me take more isotonic drinks. They limited me to re-fuel only 250ml, because there were plenty of runners to serve, majority from shorter distance categories.
Organizer's crews: Fine. I wish they would have a photographer standby at the finishing line.
Route marking: Reasonable. Some markers were blown away by strong wind nearby Water Station 8-9, and I lost my way.
Difficulty: 5 out of 10 (from the scale of 0 to 10, where 10 as the toughest)
Results: Racematix.com
Conclusion:
- In my opinion TMBT is doable with moderate fitness, since the cut off time is rather lenient.
- I recommend TMBT to those who are confident with their stamina, including first timer who want to do 100km race. It is a well planned race, hence you would have less surprise elements to worry about.
Some snap shots took on the trails. You will be running around Mt. Kinabalu (4,095m), the highest mountain in Malaysia.
Had to cut my Salomon in order to prevent the chaffing.
#TMBT #TMBT2019
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