This a old skool kind of race....no timing system...just plain stopwatch...other than the MR25 events...this is probably the only proper running event in MR.
And this is my 2nd running event in MR...first one was the MR25 12hrs ultramarathon 5 years ago.
This is also my 2nd running event this year and with my VFF Sprint.
I ran MR almost every sat and did a trial run on this route last Sat so no surprises...in fact, I hope for rain last nite so that the condition will be more challenging and it did.......
The race suppose to start at 8:05am...unlike last 2XU Run in Sentosa which was delayed by 15min...this start was brought forward by 5min...at 8am sharp.
The trail can accommodate not more than 3 runners running side by side so I decided to squeeze myself to the front right from the start......being conservative....until we hit the first big slope....a row of at least 10 runners began walking up or slowed down to a jog....I attack and overtook these slow pack...when I hit the top of the slope...more jogging/walking runners as they tried to recover from the challenging upslopes....I took the chance to push forward even further.....kept myself out of a pack of slower runners, I ran with controlled pace.....
It was towards the end of northern route out of the gold clubhouse that my stomach muscle strain came back (got it since tuesday's tempo run)......I was biting my teeth and slowed to a jog.....the pain got worst as I reached the ranger station....the rocky path was a torture for me....i slowed down almost to walking pace after ranger station and it was until I hit the drain where everyone was walking that I managed to feel better afetr a short rest while climbing up the mud wall..
Saw ultra runner Bernard with his VFF KSO carrying a camelbak in front of me....and saw this speedy jorn with his VFF Classic 2 steps ahead...my muscle strain recovered and the crowd slowed down a lot in front so I pushed ahead and overtook many runners walking up the killer slope along this stretch.....reached the rifle range road U-turn point and grab the wrist band and took a mouthful of ice-water and carry on.....then I realized that since the first upslope...I was able to push fast upslope..and recovered very soon along the down slope and before I hit the next upslope, my feet are fresh again to push for the next upslope.
Out of the rifle range trail and back to the normal route in MR was not good for me...it was a stretch of 3-4km of flat which I will struggle.....I jsut tried to put one feet forward follow by the other as I just tried to maintain constant pace for the flat....only 1 ang mo overtook me for this stretch...it was until the next killer hill that I got energized again....however, in order not to agitate my muscle strain again, I kept to conservative speed....
It was about 2km fromt eh finishing line that Bernard with his VFF KSO caught up and paced me for the rest of teh trail...I hit the flat road and there I struggled (as usual becos my big gear not working well)....and push on to finish in my personal best time in MR for 14km in 73min
My last run was 87 min which means 14min improvement since the last and if the route is 14km...average speed will be 5:17min/km which is my best for MR Trail as well.
Consider I slowed down for about 1km to almost walking because of my stomach muscle strain, I was very surprised by my timing when I finished.
But the best part of this event is the collection of the CamelBag (Hydration Bag) after the run.....for $38, you get a nice quick dry tee and a quality hydration bag...probably the more value for $$ race in Singapore. I paid $12 more for the bladder..
Nice Red bag which fit my colour theme, the blue wrist band is given at the rifle range road U-turn:
The mouth piece for the bladder is surprisingly the one that only exist for expensive branded bladder with the on/off switch:
The hydration bag even got a raincoat cover hidden in a small pocket in front:
It is also expandable by unzipping the side and it was a small holder for handphone at the waist strap:
It has a small pocket for keys and wallet and the main compartment for the bladder:
The back cushioning is placed at strategic location and to provide airflow when carry it:
Now I have 3 hydration bags...which...I havent event started using the new yellow one I got from Guangzhou. 3 different colours....3 different choices...I can use the one that fit my colour theme for the particular run...
That's a total of 360km completed in my VFF Sprint after this run....
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