I wasn't expecting too much from this one.
Since getting back from Malaysia on Monday night I'd been hobbling around with a very tight left calf and a tweak to my right ankle. I went out for a wee leg stretch on Saturday, the day before the race, to test the water and things were not pretty. My ankle was sore but manageable but my calf was not happy at all after only an easy 50 minutes trot. Not ideal. The rest of the day was spent grumbling and alternating between ice and liberal application of diclofenac gel.
Since getting back from Malaysia on Monday night I'd been hobbling around with a very tight left calf and a tweak to my right ankle. I went out for a wee leg stretch on Saturday, the day before the race, to test the water and things were not pretty. My ankle was sore but manageable but my calf was not happy at all after only an easy 50 minutes trot. Not ideal. The rest of the day was spent grumbling and alternating between ice and liberal application of diclofenac gel.
On Sunday morning things didn't feel as if they had improved much. I decided in the taxi going up to the peak that there was a pretty high chance that I wouldn't make it to the finish so I might as well go for it and just run until my leg told me to stop.
Anyway, as we lined up it was clear that we were looking at quite a competitive field. RD Michael Madess of Action Asia Events was obviously trying to up his game a bit and had flown in a few people including Salomon international team runner Yan Longfei from China and Caine Warburton from Austrailia, along with a few top local guys including Wong Ho Chung from Champion System Adventure/ The North Face. There were also a couple of really fast guys (Linus Holmaster and Vlad Ixel) running the 24km event which goes off at the same time and covers the first half of the course before peeling off.
Soon the gun went off and we were soon haring around Victoria Peak. I managed to behave myself for all of 3 minutes before deciding that I might as well wind it up a bit more on the tarmac and go after the leaders, at least until the trail proper started, that way avoiding the need for any passing manoeuvres later on when it got narrow. So off I went after them, not really pushing hard, just going at a quicker than sensible pace for the start of a 50k race.
Soon the gun went off and we were soon haring around Victoria Peak. I managed to behave myself for all of 3 minutes before deciding that I might as well wind it up a bit more on the tarmac and go after the leaders, at least until the trail proper started, that way avoiding the need for any passing manoeuvres later on when it got narrow. So off I went after them, not really pushing hard, just going at a quicker than sensible pace for the start of a 50k race.
I got to the start of the trail just behind Vlad which was a bit of a surprise, and eased off a bit going down the first steps letting him go at the bottom of them as my calf started to complain. After easing off a bit to try and shut it up over the next couple of kilometres with no effect I decided instead just to press on. But now all concept of a sensible race plan was out the window. I ran on at a fast but sustainable pace up to the first check point at around 1okm. I arrived here in a slightly stupid 46 minutes and after refilling with the usual standard of AAE check point efficiency off I went. By
now I guessed I was leading the 50k race but I wasn't 100%
sure and I had no idea where the 24km guys ahead of me were. After the first few hundred metres of climb up Peel Rise it became a little clearer as one of them into view. We exchanged a few words about me doing the 50 as I passed and off I went.
I bashed out the next section of lovely rolling trail to near Wanchai Gap without any drama, then down and around Mt Nicholson. I intentionally took an quick breather and hiked up the steep steps up onto Middle Gap, the one major climb in the first half. I ran this without issue, easing off the throttle for a moment or two on the contour around Mt Cameron to get a gel down me. Around half way around this I heard a cow bell ringing ahead of me, and about a minute later I passed Andre ringing his bell and shouting 'only two k to go' which made me laugh. I wished. Onto Blacks Link and down to Wong Nai Chung Gap passed in a blink and I was at CP2, half way in 1.58.
After chugging down far too little water for the section ahead and refilling my bottle, I took off, now realising I was definitely well off the front of the 5ok race. Ohoh, this was new. At least now I wasn't even thinking about stopping due to my leg though. Actually, by this point I think my leg had long since got the message and had decided just to play along with the rest of my body the best that it could. I didn't for a minute think I'd be able to stay ahead of the field for another 25km but I thought I might as well try my best to make it difficult for them.
The next 8km or so is also super quick and it passed in an instant. I started to get a few twinges of cramp in my hamstrings climbing up the road section here but I just gave it a poke as I ran and kept on moving. Fortunately it didn't come to anything and I was able to carry on at a decent clip. By the end of Sir Cecils Ride I was starting to feel the fast running though, and stopped for a soaking of cool water from the spring there before hitting the CP at 33km in 2.45, still miraculously in first place.
I gulped down as much fluid as I could without throwing up before disappearing off around the contour trail towards General Rock. I started dawdling around here, exactly the same as last year and suffering from the heat, which was now close to 30 degrees. I bumbled towards the turn for the biggest climb of the day, a rough and bushy scramble up the side of Mt Parker. Shortly after starting this climb I knew that my legs were toast and that it was only a matter of time before I got caught. By now things were painful enough that I barely noticed my calf anymore and I was more concerned with nursing my twingey hamstrings up the stupidly steep climb. Its quite enjoyable if you have the legs for it, but unfortunately mine were rapidly deserting me. Sure enough, around half way up the climb I heard someone behind me, and I looked round to see Longfei just behind me. We stuck together for much of the climb. At one point I stepped aside to let him through thinking he would disappear ahead of me but the gap didn't really get beyond 10 m or so. The top section of this is quite technical, requiring use of the ropes and trees to clamber up. Popping out onto the road I was just behind Longfei who walked a while to the next steep section of climb to the summit radar section. This surprised me a little and gave me a little hope....it also meant I felt I could walk it too and take a breather. On the climb I passed him as he paused to stretch out a bit and kept going down the rough and technical descent down to the Boa Vista trail with him just behind me. This is quite a long descent and by the time I got the bottom I was starting to feel it. We stuck together for the first rocky few km of the trail back uphill to Quarry Gap before he put in a roadie style kick to drop me. This should have been my first clue as to his background.
I pulled into the last check point just as Longfei left and went through the same routine. With hindsight I should probably have drunk a bit more here as over the long final section I knew I was becoming properly dehydrated. I left the CP and could still see him ahead of me up the steep steps leading to the top of Mt Butler but I now was just maintaining rather than feeling I had any chance of closing the gap. It was the same up Jardines Lookout, I could see him but I was toiling and having to nurse my hamstrings to fend off a few twinges of cramp. A quick skip across the road at Parkview and the final climb up Violet Hill. half way up here I saw Andre with his bell again who informed me I was still only 1.30 down. Frustratingly I couldn't do much to pick up the pace by now but I still managed to keep running on everything other than the stairs to the top. The descent was slower than it should have been but by now I needed to take it easy on my hamstrings in case they locked up. I stumbled my way around the super rocky first half of the contour trail grumpily battling my way past the hordes of Sunday hikers, who as usual were treating their outing like an assault on Everest. The trail becomes a concrete catch water path for the last few km and here I was able to pick up the pace a bit and stretch out my legs without fear of cramping. I knocked this out at a solid pace and soon popped out onto the road at Wong Nai Chung gap and down the steps to finish in 5.03, 3 minutes and eight seconds back from Longfei, the sore leg and plans to stop early long forgotten about. The next runner home was Justin Andrews, a strong American runner living in Chengdu, China who finished in 5.15. I am not sure what happened to some of the other pre-race favourites but there were certainly a fair few DNFs.
I was happy with the result but not as positive about it as everyone else seemed to be. Initially I was slightly vexed that I had been dropped but not exactly blown away. Surely I could have found such a slight difference in there somewhere? As it turned out it wasn't entirely surprising that Longfei proved a bit stronger than me on the day. I was soon told that he was a graduate of one of the Chinese state athletics academies, and a 2.15 marathon runner. He had also placed highly at the Sky Running World Championships in Chamonix earlier in the year. I suppose this should be some sort of consolation but in the end the chance of an elusive first win against a strong field had escaped my grasp despite having run a good 1o minutes faster than last years winning time.
Now its time for a few weeks off racing to sort the legs out and get some solid miles in before the next one at the end of November and the scarily hard TNF 100 in December.
Photo Credits: Action Asia Events, Andre Blumberg/Paper.
After chugging down far too little water for the section ahead and refilling my bottle, I took off, now realising I was definitely well off the front of the 5ok race. Ohoh, this was new. At least now I wasn't even thinking about stopping due to my leg though. Actually, by this point I think my leg had long since got the message and had decided just to play along with the rest of my body the best that it could. I didn't for a minute think I'd be able to stay ahead of the field for another 25km but I thought I might as well try my best to make it difficult for them.
The next 8km or so is also super quick and it passed in an instant. I started to get a few twinges of cramp in my hamstrings climbing up the road section here but I just gave it a poke as I ran and kept on moving. Fortunately it didn't come to anything and I was able to carry on at a decent clip. By the end of Sir Cecils Ride I was starting to feel the fast running though, and stopped for a soaking of cool water from the spring there before hitting the CP at 33km in 2.45, still miraculously in first place.
I gulped down as much fluid as I could without throwing up before disappearing off around the contour trail towards General Rock. I started dawdling around here, exactly the same as last year and suffering from the heat, which was now close to 30 degrees. I bumbled towards the turn for the biggest climb of the day, a rough and bushy scramble up the side of Mt Parker. Shortly after starting this climb I knew that my legs were toast and that it was only a matter of time before I got caught. By now things were painful enough that I barely noticed my calf anymore and I was more concerned with nursing my twingey hamstrings up the stupidly steep climb. Its quite enjoyable if you have the legs for it, but unfortunately mine were rapidly deserting me. Sure enough, around half way up the climb I heard someone behind me, and I looked round to see Longfei just behind me. We stuck together for much of the climb. At one point I stepped aside to let him through thinking he would disappear ahead of me but the gap didn't really get beyond 10 m or so. The top section of this is quite technical, requiring use of the ropes and trees to clamber up. Popping out onto the road I was just behind Longfei who walked a while to the next steep section of climb to the summit radar section. This surprised me a little and gave me a little hope....it also meant I felt I could walk it too and take a breather. On the climb I passed him as he paused to stretch out a bit and kept going down the rough and technical descent down to the Boa Vista trail with him just behind me. This is quite a long descent and by the time I got the bottom I was starting to feel it. We stuck together for the first rocky few km of the trail back uphill to Quarry Gap before he put in a roadie style kick to drop me. This should have been my first clue as to his background.
I pulled into the last check point just as Longfei left and went through the same routine. With hindsight I should probably have drunk a bit more here as over the long final section I knew I was becoming properly dehydrated. I left the CP and could still see him ahead of me up the steep steps leading to the top of Mt Butler but I now was just maintaining rather than feeling I had any chance of closing the gap. It was the same up Jardines Lookout, I could see him but I was toiling and having to nurse my hamstrings to fend off a few twinges of cramp. A quick skip across the road at Parkview and the final climb up Violet Hill. half way up here I saw Andre with his bell again who informed me I was still only 1.30 down. Frustratingly I couldn't do much to pick up the pace by now but I still managed to keep running on everything other than the stairs to the top. The descent was slower than it should have been but by now I needed to take it easy on my hamstrings in case they locked up. I stumbled my way around the super rocky first half of the contour trail grumpily battling my way past the hordes of Sunday hikers, who as usual were treating their outing like an assault on Everest. The trail becomes a concrete catch water path for the last few km and here I was able to pick up the pace a bit and stretch out my legs without fear of cramping. I knocked this out at a solid pace and soon popped out onto the road at Wong Nai Chung gap and down the steps to finish in 5.03, 3 minutes and eight seconds back from Longfei, the sore leg and plans to stop early long forgotten about. The next runner home was Justin Andrews, a strong American runner living in Chengdu, China who finished in 5.15. I am not sure what happened to some of the other pre-race favourites but there were certainly a fair few DNFs.
I was happy with the result but not as positive about it as everyone else seemed to be. Initially I was slightly vexed that I had been dropped but not exactly blown away. Surely I could have found such a slight difference in there somewhere? As it turned out it wasn't entirely surprising that Longfei proved a bit stronger than me on the day. I was soon told that he was a graduate of one of the Chinese state athletics academies, and a 2.15 marathon runner. He had also placed highly at the Sky Running World Championships in Chamonix earlier in the year. I suppose this should be some sort of consolation but in the end the chance of an elusive first win against a strong field had escaped my grasp despite having run a good 1o minutes faster than last years winning time.
Now its time for a few weeks off racing to sort the legs out and get some solid miles in before the next one at the end of November and the scarily hard TNF 100 in December.
Photo Credits: Action Asia Events, Andre Blumberg/Paper.
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