Gopeng Ultra Trail 2019 (100km)
Gopeng Ultra Trail ("GUT") 2019 was my first 100km ultra trail marathon. I chose to join this race because of it's moderate elevation and long cut off time (28 hours). The purpose of this run was to gauge the readiness of myself to join Asia Trail Master's races.
GUT was held in Gopeng, Malaysia, on 23rd March 2019.
My recorded Distance & elevation gain: 91km, with 2,380m elevation gain (note: the route was cut short by 10km due to land slides)
Cut off Time: 28 hours (my completed time was 22 hours, with walking only)
Weather: Crazily hot, temperature went up to 41 deg.C during noon.
Finishing rate: 75%
By the time I reached the first check point, I have overtaken about 10 runners with speed walking. I became confident that my strategy would work. I continued to walk at pace 9-10min/km and overtook more people. At some points I saw some fast runners dashed down the hill, I couldn't resist the temptation and started to jog too. A few seconds later my knee protested, "uh huh young man, you might want to behave yourself". Listened to my body, I resisted the urge and resumed walking.
100km category runners need to reach the check point in 48km within 11 hours, otherwise disqualify. Right before the check point, there was a small hill named "Batu Putih Hill". The hill elevation was not very high, but the path was like vertically upward. To reserve my energy, I climbed it while refer to my Garmin's heart rate monitor. I stop climbing whenever my HR reached 154, and resume climbing when my HR dropped below 140.
By the time I reached the peak of Batu Putih Hill, it was already noon. The sun was scorching from top, but I felt more heat coming up from the hill's rocky surface. The heat radiated from beneath, it felt like I was inside a korean BBQ stone pot. Irritated by the heat, I increased my speed and rushed down to 48km check point in Gopeng Town (later I found out from my Garmin watch that it was 41 degree Celsius up there).
Foods were served in the Gopeng check point, but I didn't idle long. The fact that I could only walk made me very insecure, therefore I never stay long in any check point. I only took some watermelon, energy gels and 100plus for the past ten hours. It was a mistake which I would have to pay back later.
Around 51km mark, I started to run out of juice. I felt dizzy and constantly worry about the cut off time (looking back now, I worried too much. My timing was fine). The hot weather had made things worse. There were several small streams crossing our path, many runners bathed themselves there to fight the heat. Some soaked their body into the river, leaving only heads out to breath. Natural spa! Didn't want to lose my time, I walked past them.
It didn't take long until I feel weak. Feeling hungry and lightheaded, I decided to quit. When I reached the water station and ready to sit down for good, that place was filled with bees! "Let's DNF in the next water station", I told myself. After gulped down and refilled some 100 plus, I moved on.
Surprisingly, the 100plus seemed to have replenished my energy. I didn’t know that 100 plus were packed with so much calories. A moment later, we found out that the organizer had cut short the route by 10km due to landslides. This instantly boosted my morale. On the way back to Gopeng town, I shared the news with every runner I met, hoped that it will motivate them.
After that I spent 10 more hours walking the remaining 35km. It took me 21 hours and 35 minutes to complete the 90km run. I was ranked 136 out of 276 runners, including DNF runners. Overall I am happy with how it ends. I started the run with the mental preparation of possibly DNF, I couldn't ask for more.
Race location: Easy access, 2 hours+ away from Kuala Lumpur. The race start and end in Gua Tempurung, a tourist spot which is reachable by car.
Food and water supply: Moderate. Due to the hot weather, ices were provided by the organizer.
Organizer's crew: Could have more photographers.
Route marking: Decent marking.
Difficulty: 4 out of 10 (from the scale of 0 to 10, where 10 as the toughest)
Result: Checkpointasia
Conclusion:
- The cut off time of 28 hours was lenient given than the elevation gain was around 3,000m. The hot weather on the other hand was really scary.
- Pace yourself well in Batu Putih Hill, it is tiring.
- I recommend Gopeng Ultra Trail to those who wish to do a 100km trail ultra, but uncertain about their ability. I praise the organizer for giving beginner such opportunity.
GUT was held in Gopeng, Malaysia, on 23rd March 2019.
Race Information:
Organizer's Distance & elevation gain: 100km, with 3,175m elevation gain
My recorded Distance & elevation gain: 91km, with 2,380m elevation gain (note: the route was cut short by 10km due to land slides)
Cut off Time: 28 hours (my completed time was 22 hours, with walking only)
Weather: Crazily hot, temperature went up to 41 deg.C during noon.
Finishing rate: 75%
My race report (extracted from my Facebook):
Gopeng Ultra Trail's 100km category runners flagged off at 4:30am. Handicapped by my problematic right knee, my strategy was to complete the 100km with only fast walking. Theoretically it should work. 5 minutes into the race, everyone started running and I became alone in the dark. I started questioning myself, "These people are seasoned ultra runners, and none of them were walking. Did I calculated my timing wrongly? Am I making a big mistake?". After some thoughts, I stuck to my original plan.
By the time I reached the first check point, I have overtaken about 10 runners with speed walking. I became confident that my strategy would work. I continued to walk at pace 9-10min/km and overtook more people. At some points I saw some fast runners dashed down the hill, I couldn't resist the temptation and started to jog too. A few seconds later my knee protested, "uh huh young man, you might want to behave yourself". Listened to my body, I resisted the urge and resumed walking.
100km category runners need to reach the check point in 48km within 11 hours, otherwise disqualify. Right before the check point, there was a small hill named "Batu Putih Hill". The hill elevation was not very high, but the path was like vertically upward. To reserve my energy, I climbed it while refer to my Garmin's heart rate monitor. I stop climbing whenever my HR reached 154, and resume climbing when my HR dropped below 140.
By the time I reached the peak of Batu Putih Hill, it was already noon. The sun was scorching from top, but I felt more heat coming up from the hill's rocky surface. The heat radiated from beneath, it felt like I was inside a korean BBQ stone pot. Irritated by the heat, I increased my speed and rushed down to 48km check point in Gopeng Town (later I found out from my Garmin watch that it was 41 degree Celsius up there).
Foods were served in the Gopeng check point, but I didn't idle long. The fact that I could only walk made me very insecure, therefore I never stay long in any check point. I only took some watermelon, energy gels and 100plus for the past ten hours. It was a mistake which I would have to pay back later.
Around 51km mark, I started to run out of juice. I felt dizzy and constantly worry about the cut off time (looking back now, I worried too much. My timing was fine). The hot weather had made things worse. There were several small streams crossing our path, many runners bathed themselves there to fight the heat. Some soaked their body into the river, leaving only heads out to breath. Natural spa! Didn't want to lose my time, I walked past them.
It didn't take long until I feel weak. Feeling hungry and lightheaded, I decided to quit. When I reached the water station and ready to sit down for good, that place was filled with bees! "Let's DNF in the next water station", I told myself. After gulped down and refilled some 100 plus, I moved on.
Surprisingly, the 100plus seemed to have replenished my energy. I didn’t know that 100 plus were packed with so much calories. A moment later, we found out that the organizer had cut short the route by 10km due to landslides. This instantly boosted my morale. On the way back to Gopeng town, I shared the news with every runner I met, hoped that it will motivate them.
After that I spent 10 more hours walking the remaining 35km. It took me 21 hours and 35 minutes to complete the 90km run. I was ranked 136 out of 276 runners, including DNF runners. Overall I am happy with how it ends. I started the run with the mental preparation of possibly DNF, I couldn't ask for more.
Verdict:
Race location: Easy access, 2 hours+ away from Kuala Lumpur. The race start and end in Gua Tempurung, a tourist spot which is reachable by car.
Food and water supply: Moderate. Due to the hot weather, ices were provided by the organizer.
Organizer's crew: Could have more photographers.
Route marking: Decent marking.
Difficulty: 4 out of 10 (from the scale of 0 to 10, where 10 as the toughest)
Result: Checkpointasia
Conclusion:
- The cut off time of 28 hours was lenient given than the elevation gain was around 3,000m. The hot weather on the other hand was really scary.
- Pace yourself well in Batu Putih Hill, it is tiring.
- I recommend Gopeng Ultra Trail to those who wish to do a 100km trail ultra, but uncertain about their ability. I praise the organizer for giving beginner such opportunity.
Me (the guy in blue shirt) waiting for my blisters to be treated.
#GUT2019 #GUT #GopengUltra
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