episode 29: My Crazy Mission - 100km Race Report

On March 16, 3 Dudes participated in the “2013 Taiwan Nanheng International 100km Ultra Marathon”.

The race ran along the Nanheng Road, aka Southern Cross-Island Road, the only road connecting Eastern and Southern Taiwan, which are separated by the Central Mountain Range.

The starting point was at Chi-Shang, one of the 13 rural townships of Taidong County and famous for its rice production and bento lunch box restaurants. Taidong is situated along Taiwan’s southeast coast, offering both imposing mountains and gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean. Simply an awesome place for endurance sports. 

The ultramarathon began at an altitude of 200m. The course entails running 50+ km to 1800km above sea level and back. 

In the past when I reflected on a run that I completed, I usually felt that it was both easier and more difficult than expected. For example, some climbs felt longer and steeper or the overall pain was fortunately milder.

For this 100km (my first)? Everything was much tougher than I had anticipated. Here is what transpired.

March 15

I took the day off from work and hopped on a 50-minute flight down to Taidong City with Tom. We rented a car and drove 45 minutes to Chi-Shang. Andy traveled with his family by train and the 3 Dudes reunited around noon at the hotel. We wanted to arrive early with ample time to find our hotel, scout, eat and relax.

 My wife and son would arrive the next day, and meet me in the mountains during the second half of the run.

Our trusty ride

Enroute from Taidong City to Chi-Shang

Andy and Lucy arrive at the hotel

Andy greeted us with the famous bento lunch box, so we ate lunch while we distributed race numbers, drop bags, gels, bars and other necessities. I wasn’t sure what they were thinking, but I was a bit stressed deciding what to bring in my hydration pack and drop bag. “Holy shit! We are really doing this”.

Then it’s off to scout the race route. Andy and Tom had ridden the entire road, which is 209km, on mountain bikes 5 years ago, so they pointed out several spots where they shat and fixed a flat tire. But it was certainly a different game when you have to do it on foot.

30km aid station, also the starting point for the 50km. Andy with the race flag.

Can't complain when you get to run this

Tom checking out the 90km aid station. So happy to see this the next day

We had an early dinner around 5:30pm, and headed back to the hotel. I was in bed at 9:00pm and was asleep shortly.  

Checking out the view after dinner. We ran those mountains. 

March 16

Pre-race

I woke up a little before 1am (alarm was set for 3:30am). Tossed and turned for a couple of hours and decided to get up at 3am. So total sleep time was about 3 hours, not ideal but I had never slept well before a race anyways. Time to eat and stir up some bowel movements.

Breakfast was oatmeal mixed with cacao powder, an energy bar, water with chia seeds and green tea. Not all that tasty but provided good quality fuel. “Would it be enough? hmm…”

Some of Tom's breakfast - chia, oatmeal and coffee

Tom and Andy joined me at the hotel common area and had similar breakfasts with their personal twists.

Number 2? checked. Hydration pack? checked. Drop bag? checked. Lube job? checked, Nipples taped? checked. We hopped in the car and arrived at the starting point by 4:40am, and 20 minutes to game time.

Over 300 runners getting ready to tackle the mountains. 4:45am

Andy and Tom - last minute preparations

3 Dudes. Pre-start, hoping we would be back here soon

Handed over the dropbags, some last minute gear adjustments, local aborigines performed, took photos, announcements by organizers, and we toed the line. My emotion at that point was a mix of excitement, nervousness and calm (strange concoction).

In my hydration pack:

-1.5-liter bladder filled to about 1liter. (water stations every 5km)

-3 x energy bars

-4 x energy gels

-Chapstick

-Some cash

-Phone
-Toilet paper

In my drop bag, which is available at 50km and 60km (actually the same spot):

-Extra pair of shoes

-Extra shirt

-Extra pair of socks

-Sunglasses

-Sunscreen

-Lube

-4 more gels

-4 more bars

-Muscle cream

Strategy:

-Run steadily for 20km, and then incorporate 1-2 minutes of walking after every aid station (5km)

-Eat 200-300 calories every hour.

-Never let myself feel thirsty and hungry

Game time

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three people shot their bayonet-type guns, a traditional weapon used by the aborigines in Eastern Taiwan, and off I ran into the dark along with 300+other runners. 400 more runners participated in the 50km, which would start 4 hours later at the 30km mark.

Though it was a road race, it was a winding road up the Central Mountain Range with gorgeous scenery. The first 10km is a flat detour through the town of Chi-Shang, which consisted of mostly farms. Runners were going quite fast, but I had decided to stick to a 7-minute km pace and push for a 12-hour finish.

Between 7-10km, I ran with a group of men that is in their mid-50s to early 60s. They carried no packs or water bottles. They asked me if my hydration pack was heavy, and I said not really. I couldn’t believe that they carried nothing. One guy, however, told me that he had toilet paper in his pocket. "Just in case," he winked.  

After 5km into town and 5km back to the Nanheng Rd, it was climbing time. The 45km to the second turnaround was 90% uphill with a few short downhill sections sprinkled in the first 20km. We noticed this on our scouting ride the day before so I was well aware that these presently welcomed downhill segments would turn to murderous climbs on the way back.

Hadn't run in such gorgeous weather for quite some time

The climb to 30km was mostly gentle but I gave back quite a bit of the mountain over the next 5km, which meant the next 20km to the turnaround (highest point of the race) should jump a notch in intensity.

Combined the sunny weather with mid-20 degree Celsius temperature (we had been mostly running in cold weather the past several months), I was diligent with my water and electrolyte intake (I peed a lot throughout the run).  

50km/65km aid station. Thank you to all the volunteers for such a well organized race

At the 35km aid station, they had water melon. Never really cared for water melon in the past, but man! did that hit the spot!! For some reason, I decided to sing “water melon water melon water melon” to the melody of the song of MacGyver’s title sequence. The thought of more water melon up ahead kept me going for another 10km despite significant increase in inclination, but I had to walk a lot more than planned (strategy out the door). 

Kilometers 45-55 drained me, and I missed the first dropped bag point (I thought it was at the 55km turnaround). I was out of gel and bars between 45-60km, but the spread at the aid stations were enough to sustain me. And though we only climbed to 1800km in altitude, my breathing was more labored than usual.  

I ran briefly with a 50 something year old lady. We chatted and she told me her son is running the 50km. She sped ahead after the turnaround and I never saw her again. Much respect to her downhill ability.  

50k milestone. "Only half way done," I whined.

The turnaround. "What!? no drop bag!!?"

I reached the turnaround in over 6 hours. I refilled the bladder and stretched a bit. Steep climbs meant steep descent, which was something I was really worried about. Downhill running is another kind of beast, especially when it’s down for 45km. 

When I reached the drop bag station, I put some homeopathy cream for muscle pains, relubed and packed in some more gels and bars for the final 40km. “Just a Marathon”, I told myself. The next 20km, I incorporated more and more walking. Probably about 2-3 minutes of walking to 15 minutes of running.

Lower back, knees, hip, quads, top of my foot, bottom of my foot, hip flexors, ankles, you name it, took turns speaking to me. Yet still bearable.

I made a mental note at the 65km aid station, because 65km was the longest I had run previously. “Entering unknown territory.” 

Around the 80km mark, I saw Eva and Eric coming up in a car, a welcome sight. They said hi and drove up to find a place to make a U-turn. Shortly after, Andy’s family scootered down. His brother in-law Wes asked me how I felt. “Feels like I just ran 80km,” I replied. Witty.

I knew by then that I wasn’t going to finish under 12 hours, probably wouldn’t even be close (I was too arrogant. Not enough respect for the mountain and distance). 

The next 7km, I had my family along for the ride. I walked more and more, probably 3-4 minutes to every 10-15 minutes of running. It was endless downhill that punished the lower body. I recalled reading that a lot of DNFs were due to quadriceps failure.

With 12km to go, Eric got off the car to run with me, and Eva drove down to the finish line to wait for us. She thought I would be done in less than 2 hours (wrong!)

My pacer. Couldn't have done it without him.

We tackled the final stretch with several remaining uphill segments. Not all that steep, but it might as well had been the Himalayas at that point.

Wild swings took place physically and mentally. When Eric first started running with me, I couldn’t talk much. A few kilometers later, I was able to hold a conversation, and told him about some of the things I had seen and  people I had met throughout the day. We were walking mostly by then with brief 5-10 minute runs if the road was relatively flat (both up and down hills were to too much).

The last 5km was just painful. “a whole new world of pain, la la la” I was singing to the theme song of “Aladdin”. One minute I was trotting steadily, and the next all I wanted was to swear as loud as possible and sob.

I told Eric to run ahead so that I could let out the emotions, but he was a bit tired as well and rather walk with me. It was around 97km that I began feeling numbness in my hands and lips. Just a weird sensation that I had never experienced before. I had to sit down on the side of the road twice to check that my body wasn’t about to collapse.

I finally cried during the final 2km, and let out some native-level French (ear muffs. Eric was like “what the F#*^!?!”). Few minutes later, I collected myself and attempted to run the final leg, but gave up after a minute when I developed a bit of a breathing issue. A guy ran by me and saw my face of pain, and said “it’s not that bad”. I’m sure it was meant to be encouraging, but I wanted to punch him in the face.

Step by step, I walked. I heard the MC and music up ahead, and then I saw Eva with a camera. I walked up to the finish line, promptly found a grass patch, laid down, place hat over face and sobbed. 13 hours and 6 minutes. Exhaustion. Happy Exhaustion.

Voice in my head said, “I am always going to remember this.”

The Teng Crew

Tom made a new friend. Helped him with a strong finish. All the medals were hung on the sword of the statue. Pretty cool.

The face of Pain and Joy

"Where's Mommy?" ,Tom shriveled up post race. 

3 Happy Dudes.

You can also follow my running adventures on https://www.facebook.com/pages/3-dudes-on-ultra-mission/271137916280936 or https://twitter.com/williewenli