The majestic and picturesque Connemara 100 Ultra Marathon at County Galway, Eire.
This road race definitely is in my list of to do Ultra Marathons.
Great alternative if UTMB is beyond reach.
Now let’s start that piggy bank.
Poem by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
This is a great article all about Ultra Marathons 101.
Taken from : Runaddicts.net
If you are a seriously passionate runner, the sky is your limit! In fact, there is no limit to how far you can go. So, if you haven’t been stimulated lately and want to spice things up a notch and get into ultra marathons, this article is for you. Enjoy!
As the name implies, an ultra marathon is any running event that exceeds the standard marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres/26.2188 miles.
Some ultra marathons are particularly challenging as they involve severe obstacles including unpaved roads, hilly terrains, inclement weather, to name just a few!
The International ultra marathon championships are organized by I.A.U. – The International Association of Ultra Runners.
The Badwater Ultra marathon, presently managed by AdventureCORPS, is known as “the world’s toughest foot race”. It is a 135 mile/215 kilometer race that starts at 282 feet/85 meters below sea level in the Badwater Basin located in the Death Valley of California. Guess what, the race ends at 8360 feet /2548 meters elevation at Whitney Portal, Mount Whitney trailhead. To make it even more challenging, it’s held in July when the weather is most extreme! We are talking about 120° Fahrenheit/49° Celsius in the shade!
On top of that, each runner is responsible for arranging his/her own vehicle and support crew. Those who magically complete the race in 60 hours receive a commemorative medal. As for the supernatural ones who finish off within 48 hours, these are rewarded with a belt buckle. No money is involved! Still, every year the number of applicants far exceeds the race capacity. It only proves that the human quest for self-challenging is priceless!
Valmir Nunes is the Badwater Ultra marathon men’s record holder for scoring 22 hours, 51 minutes, and 29 seconds. As for women, the 26 hours, 51 minutes, and 33 seconds record was set by Jamie Donaldson.
Ultra marathons are spread throughout the 5 continents. Interestingly, Australia and New Zealand alone host nearly 100 ultra marathons every year! One of the most prominent Australian ultra Marathons was the Westfield Ultra Marathon, a race between Sydney and Melbourne that was held between 1983 and 1991. Yiannis Kouros, a Greek runner, won this event 5 times!!
The Cliff Young Australian 6-day race, one of the oldest of its kind worldwide, is held on a 400-meter circuit at Colac, Victoria.
The following inspirational quotes from Dean Karnazes’s book ‘The Ultra marathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner’ say it all:
Dean Karnazes is a seasoned ultra endurance runner. The following are some of his accomplishments:
In spite of Dean’s undeniable accomplishments, he was defeated by the one of the most pioneer ultra marathon female runners: Pam Reed . She defeated Dean by 25 minutes in BadWater Ultra marathon in 2003! Pam is a wife, a mother, an author of a book titled “The Extra Mile”, and above all a runner! Long before Dean earned “the Ultra marathon Man” title, Pam Reed was already making her mark in ultra marathons when she won the Badwater Ultra marathon two times in a row in 2002 and 2003.
Tips for ultra marathon runners wannabes
Excited to give ultra marathons a shout after all? Here are some tips to help you out:
Choose the right event for YOU
Well, as you see ultra marathons vary a great deal. So, you need to take your time and check the ones available in order to make a sound choice. You may check out your local listings or look online.
Try to choose an event that it is not in the near future to give yourself enough time to train and make sure that the event of your choice is in line with your overall running goals.
A sincere word of advice here: Keep it simple in the beginning. In other words, the Badwater Ultra marathon shouldn’t be your first-ever ultra marathon choice!
Create a realistic training plan
For some ultra marathons, you may find an established training plan which takes away all the effort. Other ones are rather new to have a ready-made training plan. In this case, you might tailor an existing plan and adjust it to fit the event of your interest.
It is very important to connect with previous contestants and some of the coaches and gather as much information as you can about the race. Also try to take advantage of their experience. Ask them for tips to help you out.
Know what you are up for… Be smart
I don’t need to tell you that Ultra marathons are tough! That’s why; it is crucial to train smart and give yourself enough time. Allow yourself to rest adequately, while ensuring that you get a proper diet and that your calorie intake is in line with your level of physical activity.
If you train smart, your ultra marathon will be a smashing success.
Good luck!
“Dedicated to Haza Zean: thanks for inspiring me to take up Ultra Marathon”
TNF Thailand was my 5th Ultra Marathon overall, my trainings towards the 100km race started right after TNF Singapore last October. Combining trainings and running Marathons towards 100km race was the plan, managed to includes PBIM, SCMS, MR25 and Chiang Mai Marathon into the training plan for the last few months. Surprised myself with new PB at Chiang Mai, although it was considered as training run towards TNF100km solo in Thailand.
Ray and Rex ready to rock Amphawa
If given the option between running Full Marathon (42km) or Ultra Marathon, i would pick Ultra Marathon as my first love without blinking an eye. Towards the final weeks of the race, my training was somewhat lost it momentums; i was losing training days and mileage. Only managed to compiled the 100km weekly mileage a week before the event, and i rested those feet the whole week leading to D-Day hoping that i recovered in time to run 100km race.
I brought two pair of shoes for this event, as a backup if it rains in Amphawa; one was a road trainer (Adidas Supernova Glide 3) and the other was a trail shoes (Adidas Response Trail 18). After studying the route map, I assumed the trail would be a mild and flat and i decided to wear the road trainer. I left the trail shoes at 50km check point, just in case if i need to change shoes later. It was a brilliant decision as it turn out that the trails was a bit lame and flat.
The race started at 5:00 am (local time), deferred an hour late due to park authority on runners safety, especially during those dark hours running in the trails. Somehow i made my way in front the pack with the elites at the starting line, looking at the photo i just remember talking with Rex and trying to calm those nerves and race jitters.
There were five categories at TNF Thailand, the 100km Solo, 100km Duo, 50km Solo, 25km run and 10km run. But the focus was on the thirty seven (37) 100km Solo runners at the start line, they will made history to run the maiden 100km race in Thailand. Those who completed the 100km run, will pride themselves as the first elite group of 100km Ultra runners in Thailand.
When the race started at Kaew Cha Roen Temple, the 100km and 50km runners was flagged off together. The weather was cool and quite nice at this early part of the race, it was dark when we started running – that’s why it mandatory to carry head light/torch light. Rex and i used our head lamps from the Energizer Night race, we put the light around our waist instead at the head for better lighting on the dark roads/trails due to lower height.
Ultra Marathon is all about strategy, when to speed up, when to slow down, when to eat and hydrates etc. My strategy for this race was to gain as much mileage under the cool weather, before the sun rises and burn everything under it’s heat ray which makes running much more harder and difficult.
I was going a bit faster but at a comfortable pace, a bit slower than my marathon pace. I was pacing with a Thai women runner at that early stages, she was tall and running strong. Found out later, that she’s a podium finisher at many runs in Thailand.
After the 1st CP, i decided to stop at the WS inside the trails to consume my energy gel and stretch – i forgot to stretch before the race..dang! This is where Shine and Hafiz from SG overtook me, resume my run and caught up with Hafiz and decided to pace with him until CP2. It was getting brighter when we reached CP2, where they served us with water, isotonic, bananas & watermelons. Compared to SD100, this was just bare but sufficient for the runners. I can considered SD100 as 5 star event, their Water Stations looked like night markets with abundance of food and drinks.
Few minutes after arriving at CP2, Kat (Katherine) a runners that i met during the last Chiang Mai marathon caught up with me. Hafiz left earlier to catch the speeding Shine, while i decided to pace with Kat – it’s like Chiang Mai Marathon all over again.
We reached CP3, the 20km marks just under 2 hours, great job so far and the energy level was high. There were four runners in the women 100km solo category, i encouraged Kat to go for it as the leading ladies were not far in front. After CP3 at the SanChao Temple, we heading into the maze inside the coconut plantation – the trails was flat and lame. Nearing to the CP4, somehow my energy levels dropped plus my left knee started to acting up, i had to slow down and let Kat go, she was looking good and started to pick up more pace.
I reached CP4 at 8:04 am, i have been running about 3 hours and 4 minutes now. After doing the WS rituals, top up up my Camelbak, ate few bananas and watermelon and had iced cold sponge bath i left the WS and pace with Tom from Los Angeles, he ran the 50km category. Tom is a veteran runner, he had run all the great races, including Berlin (2 times) and Boston. When he looked at my yellow bib (100km runner), he gave me “are you nuts?” looked. I just laughed it off as we ran very slowly in the hot sun to get to the CP5, which took us forever. We thought it was 10km from CP4 to CP5, boy we’re wrong, it’s 16km! No wonder it took us eternity to reached there.
At CP4 with Roman (Race Director), Hafiz and Yim
As i reached CP4, i met Hafiz there – he was injured and decided to DNF at 50km. As we left for the 50km mark, Yim arrived and we took few photos before continuing the run. I reached 50km mark in 6 hours 14 minutes, at 11:14am. Great first half and i rested for 30 minutes at rest tent, there were food and drinks served. Rex was already there when i arrived, Yim and Hafiz arrived soon after.
Rex & Yim took a breather at 50km rest tent
I started my second loop just before 12 noon (11:50am), it was bright and hot at the time. I was dreaded this 2nd loop when thinking about the barking dogs, my concern soon comes a reality when i reached this particular village road between 50km –60km, there we two dogs parked in the middle of the road… dang! I had enough, i took a big stick from the road side and showed it to the dogs – magic happened! The dogs moved away from the road, although still barking at me, they were just testing me. The tips was just to ignore those dogs and continues running at your current pace – the dogs were there just to guard their territory.
Every time i felt too hot by the burning sun, i stopped by at the village shop for iced cold Cola Cola – cost me only 15-20 Baht each. I guess i need sugar loads during the run, stopped 5 times that day during my 100km journey.
Like SD100, TNF Thailand also have cut-off timings. 100km runners need to complete the whole run in 18 hours, 50km in 9 hours (2pm) and 70km in 12 hours (5pm).
The second 50km was a insanely hot, i run between the tree shades and walked a lot during these times. Met Yim at CP7, he was bitchin about the weather and the boring route..he he
Made my way to 70km CP at 3:11 pm (10 hours 11 minutes), glad to reached that final cut-off CP. 30km to go with more than 7 hours to spend, i could walk all the way with this time buffer.
Then it’s another run into the boring maze inside the trails of coconut trails, i was bored out of my mind running during those 5km trails. When i reached CP 10, i knew i got another 25km to go at 5:01pm and it was going to get dark soon. Another runner soon arrived at CP10, he was a Thai runner named Jan. I decided to paced with him to the finish line due to safety reason, it’s better not to run solo in dark and another pair eyes is needed to looked at the route markers, especially after many marshal no longer at the road junctions.
We reached the final CP (CP11) at 7:07pm, it was already dark when we reached the check point. Felt relief and quite happy here as i need to cover just another 10km, we walked a lot the final 10km. We walked on the concrete road and only run on the tarmac on the main road.
With Katherine (Women 100km Champion)
Nearing the finish line, we were escorted by the 2 motorcycles. As this was Jan’s first 100km Ultra Marathon, i asked him to go ahead and finish first. I arrived 10 seconds later with Malaysian flag flying high, i completed my second 100km Ultra Marathon in 15:53:19. The Malaysian contingent waited for us at the finish line, thanks a million guys for your support. I could see Shine, Yim, Rex, Aini and even Mohan from SG waited at the finish line.
Rex completed his second Ultra stronger than before, given his age at 25 – i believe he can improves to be a competitive runner in the future, he got plenty of time in his side.
Amazingly, the next day i was walking normal as ever. I completed the Ultra without any injury, just a small blister on my left feet – that’s all. It felt like i never ran 100km a day before, I recovered quickly and could run another Marathon. Training wise, i might be doing something right after all.
Overall, the organization of the this race was excellent, the route markers were clear, the water stations were sufficient – the iced cold sponge was heaven sent, the volunteers & staff were attentive from morning till nightfall and marshals were placed at every route junctions. My only comment is that the medal given to the finishers are all the same – 100km finishers received the same medal as 50km, 25km & 10km runners, unlike TNF SG.
Congratulation to Roman - the Race Director for the job well done and providing us runner with great experiences and memories in the inaugural The North Face 100 Thailand.
My 100km splits
| Start | 0 | 5:00 am |
| CP1 | 53:39 | 5:53 am |
| CP2 | 1:40:05 | 6:40 am |
| CP3 | 1:59:36 | 6:59 am |
| CP4 | 3:04:21 | 8:04 am |
| CP5 | 4:53:03 | 9:53 am |
| CP6 /Start & Finish Line | 6:14:42 | 11:14 am |
| CP7 | 8:25:43 | 1:24 pm |
| CP8 | 9:40:57 | 2:40 pm |
| CP9 | 10:11:59 | 3:11 pm |
| CP10 | 12:01:38 | 5:01 pm |
| CP11 | 14:07:12 | 7:07 pm |
| Net Time: | 15:53:19 | 8:53 pm |
| Finish Time: | 15:53:22 |
I have never met most of the runners that inspired me to run, i watched them on YouTube, i read their books, but never had known them personally.
But one runner stands out – Yim or the VFF Sarong Man, as he’s fondly known now is one of runners that i really looked up to. He inspired me with his enthusiasm towards life, running Marathons, wrote details running reports in his blog and the ability to stay humble despite his monstrous achievements in his running journey – not easy to do for some.
Somehow his enthusiasm rub on to me, I'm glad that i knew him when i started this running odyssey. It was at ENR 2010 that i first met him after exchanging numerous comments on our blogs, i was doing my second Half Marathon and while he was attempting his 5th or 6th Half Marathon.
I also met Daud and Syah the Avatar for the 1st time at ENR2010, Syah was the season Marathoner at the time. While i was nervous prepping for my Half Marathon, Syah looked relaxed and cool while doing his preparations – putting Energy Gels into Spibelt, pinned his bib and attached the timing chip on his shoe, all at the same time! As a Half Marathon runner at the time, i was awed – Marathoner was so damn cool! Especially if your name is SyahSully.
With Yim and Daud (ENR2010)
As a newbie, i could always depend on Yim to get running tips and he would answered my endless questions about running / Marathon. Thanks Yim, and there’s the races that we ran together. It always comforting at the start of the race, when you could see familiar faces, especially Yim, Mohan and others.
I was glad when i decided to do my 1st 100km Ultra Marathon at Sundown Ultra 2011, Yim was there to run that race together. I’m sure there are other runners out there that are inspired by our own SarongMan.
The Kiasu gang – 1001 and 1002
Congratulation on your recent award – “Anugerah Pelari tegar Chap Ayam 2011”, if there’s anyone that deserved this awards, it’s you Yim – Pelari Tegar Sejati.
Please keep running and continue to inspires the rest of us.
Congrats to Zaki Mansor @ Akiki, voted as the new President of Chap Ayam Runner (CAR) 2012/2013 during the AGM held at University Malaya this afternoon.
A million thanks to Azri, ex-President for his hard work and leadership during his tenure last year.
Akiki (in red) the new president.
Awards to the runners that accumulated most mileage during races in 2011, were also held during the AGM – “Anugerah Pelari Tegar CAR”. Last year the awards were given out to top Men and Women only, this year CAR decided to add the awards to 2nd and 3rd runners with most mileage.
Lucky me, i got number 3 in Men category. Thanks CAR, the trophy with personalise photo of the runner is a very nice touch. This definitely would go directly into my glass cabinet.
Proud to be among the selected few finishers that completed the inaugural TNF Thailand 100km Solo, congrats to the organizer and especially to all volunteers for doing a great job in supporting us runners. Thanks a million :)
Statistic on 100km Solo participants:
| 1 | Solchai Choosakul | Male | THAI | 09:28:10 |
| 2 | Andre Blumberg | Male | GERMANY | 11:12:07 |
| 3 | Laszlo Tigyi | Male | HUNGARY | 11:43:48 |
| 4 | Katherine Welch | Female (1) | USA | 12:02:38 |
| 5 | Sanya Kanchai | Male | THAI | 12:10:44 |
| 6 | Wee Teck Hian | Male | SINGAPORE | 12:25:49 |
| 7 | Say Huat Tan | Male | SINGAPORE | 12:25:50 |
| 8 | Yee Chuan Teh | Male | MALAYSIA | 12:32:23 |
| 9 | Lance Bracken | Male | THAI | 12:33:55 |
| 10 | Hideki Miyazak | Male | JAPAN | 12:42:12 |
| 11 | Atsuyuki Katsuyama | Male | JAPAN | 12:57:23 |
| 12 | Donald Smith | Male | CANADA | 13:25:17 |
| 13 | Yiu-Fung Ho | Male | CHINA | 13:36:25 |
| 14 | Poonsup Thammapiti | Female (2) | THAI | 13:38:18 |
| 15 | Somsakul Aramwatanapong | Female (3) | THAI | 13:48:55 |
| 16 | Jacqueline Tan | Female (4) | SINGAPORE | 14:20:49 |
| 17 | Pitinon Poonsaengsathit | Male | THAI | 14:31:05 |
| 18 | Abdul Muiz Sadeq Bin Mohammad Musadek | Male | MALAYSIA | 15:23:54 |
| 19 | Heng Fatt Yim | Male | MALAYSIA | 15:27:03 |
| 20 | Sitti Prasitpeanchai | Male | THAI | 15:37:51 |
| 21 | Ukrit Rittidej | Male | THAI | 15:37:53 |
| 22 | Bunlom Kiarttikanbun | Male | THAI | 15:41:34 |
| 23 | Panghin Ong | Male | SINGAPORE | 15:41:36 |
| 24 | Hou Jan Lin | Male | TPE | 15:53:03 |
| 25 | Razif Yahya | Male | MALAYSIA | 15:53:19 |
| 26 | Azrulhisyam Hussin | Male | MALAYSIA | 16:46:57 |
| 27 | Wolfgang Seifert | Male | GERMANY | 17:03:21 |
| 28 | Samer Abou Daka | Male | KUW | 17:06:29 |
Another 100km Ultramarathon in the bag.
Completed in 15 hours 53 minutes 19 seconds (15:53:19)