"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
- T.S Eliot, 20th century English poet.
- T.S Eliot, 20th century English poet.
26 December 2010, Sunday
MR25 Ultramarathon, MacRitchie Reservoir Park
Boxing Day might not have been ideal to do a LSD. With the holiday spirits still in the air, the norm is for me to relax before serious work commenced.
Including running.
Including running.
Yet, here I am at MacRitchie, the day after Christmas, up and ready for my virgin ultramarathon experience. This came three weeks after I completed the Stanchart 42K race, a first for me as well.
MR25 Ultramarathon is slightly different from other ultra distance events held locally (not that there's a lot of such races in Singapore to begin with). Runners are required to complete as many 10K loops as they can within the MacRitchie trail areas and in a time frame of 12 hours. 52K or 5 loops will qualify them for finisher status and a commemorative singlet. Of course, one can choose to go beyond the minimum requirement but that's another part of the race where a fewer number dare venture.
Since I had never ran above 42K, my participation in the race was a personal gamble of sorts. It's not just the distance being the main concern. A recent change in route this year will get runners to shuttle back and forth along the Northern Trails for each loop. This particular stretch is famous for its series of hilly inclines and declines and at 3km of rugged terrain, is enough challenge for most runners.
Ground conditions aside, I'm glad that many Team Fatbird runners, including alumnis of the Operation Sunbird marathon training program, are participating the race. Other running clubs joined in as well including MR25, the event's host club, and Punggol Runners.
I reached the MacRitchie grounds around 6 in the morning, about 1 hour to gun-time. By then, a good number of runners had already formed and some were registering and collecting their race bibs. Although this was the third MR25 events I participated, I still found myself being humbled by the presence of these athletes who seemed to be of a higher calibre of fitness I'm probably not on par with. Maybe it's the tanned skins or the apparels and gears they wore, I don't know.
In a group of like-minded strangers, there were familiar faces like Mika Kume, MR25's ultra champion and Sean Hart, the Caucasian guy with a thick beard, who beat me by seconds in my first time trial. Soon, more Fatbirds appeared; Mohan, the club's cheerleader, in his bright yellow singlet, Sammi and Kerk, among the handful of marathon couples, Anthony 'The Chief' and David Ong. The usual warm-up ritual commenced with chats about the day's event and pep talks to get us ready for whatever's in stored for us in the next 12 hours.
A few minutes before 7, runners started to gathered behind the start line outside the MacRitchie Amenities Centre. Fellow Fatbird Danny had some trouble with his new Garmin 310XT and as I helped him to calibrate the data settings, the race official blasted the horn.
The race had began.
"Never mind, you go ahead", Danny said.
Together with a fielding of 253 runners, I embarked on what might be, the longest race of my life.
MR25 Ultramarathon is slightly different from other ultra distance events held locally (not that there's a lot of such races in Singapore to begin with). Runners are required to complete as many 10K loops as they can within the MacRitchie trail areas and in a time frame of 12 hours. 52K or 5 loops will qualify them for finisher status and a commemorative singlet. Of course, one can choose to go beyond the minimum requirement but that's another part of the race where a fewer number dare venture.
Since I had never ran above 42K, my participation in the race was a personal gamble of sorts. It's not just the distance being the main concern. A recent change in route this year will get runners to shuttle back and forth along the Northern Trails for each loop. This particular stretch is famous for its series of hilly inclines and declines and at 3km of rugged terrain, is enough challenge for most runners.
Ground conditions aside, I'm glad that many Team Fatbird runners, including alumnis of the Operation Sunbird marathon training program, are participating the race. Other running clubs joined in as well including MR25, the event's host club, and Punggol Runners.
Early Birds: (from L-R) Me, Steven, Kerk & Alex.
(photo courtesy of Tejinda Peh)
I reached the MacRitchie grounds around 6 in the morning, about 1 hour to gun-time. By then, a good number of runners had already formed and some were registering and collecting their race bibs. Although this was the third MR25 events I participated, I still found myself being humbled by the presence of these athletes who seemed to be of a higher calibre of fitness I'm probably not on par with. Maybe it's the tanned skins or the apparels and gears they wore, I don't know.
Team Fatbird & friends at the MR25 Ultramarathon 2010.
(photo courtesy of Tey Eng Tiong)
In a group of like-minded strangers, there were familiar faces like Mika Kume, MR25's ultra champion and Sean Hart, the Caucasian guy with a thick beard, who beat me by seconds in my first time trial. Soon, more Fatbirds appeared; Mohan, the club's cheerleader, in his bright yellow singlet, Sammi and Kerk, among the handful of marathon couples, Anthony 'The Chief' and David Ong. The usual warm-up ritual commenced with chats about the day's event and pep talks to get us ready for whatever's in stored for us in the next 12 hours.
A few minutes before 7, runners started to gathered behind the start line outside the MacRitchie Amenities Centre. Fellow Fatbird Danny had some trouble with his new Garmin 310XT and as I helped him to calibrate the data settings, the race official blasted the horn.
The race had began.
"Never mind, you go ahead", Danny said.
Together with a fielding of 253 runners, I embarked on what might be, the longest race of my life.
Runners at the start line outside MacRitchie Amenities Centre.
For many, the MR25 Ultramarathon might be the longest run of their life.
(photo courtesy of Tey Eng Tiong)
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