I had heard nothing but great things about this race, so it would be awesome to give it a go!
The Course
Here's where I would be running:
With my in-laws living in Yuen Long and with the aforementioned NF100 under my belt I was familiar with some of the the latter parts of the course, however the journey around Sai Kung (west on the map) would be all new territory.
So what did the elevation profile look like for this? Pretty scary actually, while overall the course didn't have as much elevation gain as ,say, the NF100 the course keeps its nasty surprises up its sleeve for the final half, and includes around 4,500m of total gain:
I was thinking that knowledge of the course would be a huge advantage here - you really need to know how much you can push in the first half in order to save a little in the legs for those killer climbs at the end - and I definitely remembered Tai Mo Shan from the NF100... :)
The Plan(?)
Usual plan for a race consists of 3 things for me:
1. Gear:
No surprises or new things here - I would be using tried and tested gear that I know is comfortable and doesn't cause any known issues
Pack: Salomon Sense Ultra 5
Clothing: Salomon Slab shirt, Inov8 3/4 pants
Shoes: Nike Wildhorse 3
There wasn't a huge amount of mandatory gear for this one so the Salmon Sense Ultra 5 was more than enough to hold everything. In terms of shoe selection, I just went for something that was a little softer and flatter underfoot as I wasn't expecting any soft mud or slippery conditions - but more hard packed trail and rock. I do find the Wildhorse lack a little in grip, but make up for it in comfort!
2. Nutrition
I'm still struggling to find a good nutrition plan that works well - I certainly prefer liquid fuelling, so Tailwind is my choice at present, which does the job just fine, it tastes pleasant enough (compared to some other products), but I feel I need something substantial to supplement it. For this race I knew the aid stations were well stocked and would even have solid food eg noodles so would rely on this with some Clif Shot Blocks to keep me going between checkpoints.
3, Race Strategy
Being unfamiliar with most of this course, and knowing there were some huge climbs at the end, the most important thing for me was to be at least a little conservative during the start. The first half of the course looked extremely runnable, and I would just have to try and reign it in so there were no blow ups at the end. I could then push more on the climbs and descents later on. After finishing many ultras there is one thing I hate more than anything else, and that's being passed by 50 runners in the last 10km because there is nothing left in the tank!
The Race
On to the race itself? Besides a little sickness remaining (I seem to be ill for every single race these days its no surprise any more), the start was amazing - perfect temperature and weather with a nice gentle downhill to get the legs going. As expected the first 10km was flat and reasonably fast with a few gentle hills - I made a very conscious decision to stick to the plan and hold back, so after the first 10km I was feeling very comfortable!
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| VERY comfortable at CP1 |
After this, the remaining half of the race in Sai Kung was beautiful - nice rolling trails, a few beach crossings and a couple of short sharp hills it was really enjoyable running and I was suddenly aware after 30 or so kms that I had been going faster than I had originally planned. I settled down again, and dropped a few places but didn't let that get to me - I would stick to the plan this time! One thing I did begin to notice was a hotspot developing on my foot, which is always an ominous sign, especially with a lot of climbs/descents coming up. I stopped at CP5 to take care of it and realised I had forgotten band aids/tape - doh! Rather than get help, I thought I would see how it went during the next section. The weather was getting a little drizzly now and the trail wound through some flat-ish forest sections which made for some faster running, however this was taking its toll on my foot.
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| Enjoying the flat sections |
The hotspot was now a full blown blister and was now getting worse. After some pretty amazing hills, it becamevery painful, and I would have to stop at CP7 to get it looked at by first aid.
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| The uneven terrain and hills played havoc with my feet! |
I lost a bit of time at CP7 getting it treated, but I could at least run now instead of hobble, so the first aiders did a great job of patching up my foot. More and more hills were coming now though and slowly but steadily the pain grew worse again... By the time I had got over Needle and Grassy hills I was almost hobbling again! The weather was also getting a bit worse - with some more rain and the top of the hills getting very foggy, which combined with the fading light made for some poor visibility.
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| It started getting pretty foggy up in the hills |
Just before reaching the final checkpoint, Lead Mine Pass it was dark and pretty thick fog - my headlamp was basically just reflecting right back at me and the short but very sharp descent to CP9 had me careering off the track more than once as I could only see about 2ft in front of me! :)
Once there, I took a short break to nurse the foot (extremely painful now) and just gather myself for the final push over Tai Mo Shan. I was a little frustrated here, because I felt I had a lot left in the tank from being conservative in the first half. However, it just wasn't possible to push any kind of pace with such a (now huge) blister on my foot. With luck, I bumped into a friendly face just after leaving the CP. Local (amazing) runner Marie McNaughton had caught up, so we stuck together over Tai Mo Shan - she acted as my guide, and I (hopefully) had an impact with my positive attitude!
Although its a tough section, it wasn't too unpleasant, and eventually we both crossed the line at 12hrs 26mins. Me in a respectable 50th place and Marie getting an unbelievable 3rd place podium finish for the ladies. That was the easy part over - the hard bit was now trying to get a taxi back to Yuen Long (my Hong Kong pronunciation is TERRIBLE)...! :)
Summary and Event Review
Overall, I was pretty stoked with the result - it was my first 100km for a while, and I think this race almost went exactly according to plan. Everything seemed to work, especially the race strategy as I found I had a lot of energy left going over Tai Mo Shan. The spanner in the works was the blister which did have quite an effect - I've also had one or two minor issues with feet in the last 2 events so i may have to look at a half size up in the Wildhorse. Don't get me wrong I think it's an awesome shoe I think the problem just lies with my oddly shaped feet (small but quite wide in the forefoot). Everything else was spot on!
The event itself? Incredible - its well organised, the course is fantastic, varied and extremely challenging. The sheer amount of runners, quality of the field, the atmosphere, the volunteers/support - all absolutely top drawer, I look forward to attempting this one again in the future.
Vibram HK100 Course Ratings (out of 5):
Toughness: 4
The first half of the course is gentle indeed, but be prepared for a gradual increasing difficulty as the course goes on.
Runnability: 4
A lot of this course is runnable, some technical terrain makes certain spots tricky, but these are few and far between. Some killer hills though, requiring some good power hiking skills.
Fun Factor: 5
Beautiful scenery, brilliant organisation and volunteer support, tonnes of spectators, top class racing crowd and an excellent varied course. You will have fun on this one.
TOOPP rating (Toys Out Of Pram Potential): 4
I can definitely foresee a few runners pushing very hard on the initial 50km, only to come spectacularly unstuck on the back half. This time it didn't happen, but only because the course profile practically spelled it out for me!
For now I'll take my finishers trophy, and go for a beer with Henry Bear (my travelling buddy).
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