UltraMarathon Trial Run

11km UltraMarathon Run -Route 4 (yellow line)

~map courtesy from The Lonely Runner (TLR)~

Went to run, slowly, at Mac Ritchie tdy. Started at 730am. There are 6 routes to run. A few things which I must take note while running.
They are:

1) the split route after Terentang trail and into Sime Trail .. , there are routes pointing to 3 different directions:

(left)Jelutong Tower / MacRitchie Park , (opposite/back) TreeTop Walk/Ranger Station and (right) Bt Timah Nature Reserve.

I must take the direction towards Jelutong Tower, a noticeable landmark in my map.

2) the split route once I reached Jelutong Tower. The 2 routes are:
Rifle Range Link & Golf Link. To continue with the latter route as it will bring me back to the Park.

From the start till right up to the end of MacRitchie Nature Trail, got no problems except for the upslopes, about 6 and the last one at the of this trail was the steepest. Out from here, I saw the familiar stretch of road. Knowing that I had to stick to the inner trail, I avoided the road. So, I went ahead into Terentang Trail. Lots of bends and a few gentle upslopes. This is the start of the deserted route all the way to Sime Trail.

Sime Trail is quite an easy route to run as there was no slopes at all but the ground was a bit rocky.. lots of big stones. Picked up my pace here cos' it was really deserted.

I was relieved when I see a group of nature lovers reading the map. I saw the tower. And this is where i have to check which is the correct direction to take me back to the park.

Golf Link. In here, the route was not too bad either. I think it's the longest trail among all. Running on the stretch of boardwalk, back to nature, then at the outskirts of the SICC.. a breathtaking sight because of the beautiful landscape and greens, .. get to see golfers and gardeners.. quite enjoyable, especially when running with this song, She's Gone by Steelheart, plugged in my ears. Coming near to the last trail, that is, the Lornie Trail, another familiar trail common to everybody. Here, there were people, mostly old grandpas and grandmas excercising, tai chi-ing and all.

Very glad that I have reached this far. I am safe afterall. At first I was so worried that I might get lost or mugged by strangers. Thought of bringing some weapon like pepper spray or perfume..just in case. Thank God, I'm safe. I just can't wait to finish this last trail.

So finally, I have done it. Sms-ed to Kevin and TLR to inform that I have finished running and that was about 920hrs. TLR calculated that I took 1hr 35mins. Not too bad, I think.

To sum up:

From start 0km @ Prunus Trail estimated start time: 0745hrs

Reached at End of Mac Ritchie Nature Trail and Start of Terentang Trail estimated at 0815hrs.

Reached at Petaling Hut (5.20km) along Sime Trail, estimated at 0827hrs.

At Jelutong Tower @ 0832 hrs , ran along Golf Link & reached at start of Lornie Trail at 0853hrs. At Lornie, started to feel tired. Ran whenever there's a downslope & walked up the slopes. Reached the entrance of the park at 0920hrs.

So it's more or less 10km. Didn't run back to where I started.

Walked back to the cafeteria at the top of the hill to sign up for the 10km Swift Run dated 16.01.04. Paid $10 for adults and $6 for under-18. Signed up for Luqman, Kevin and myself. To collect the T-shirt at the same place from 1st Jan onward. Only 800 pcs of T-shirt given out. Will have to be Kiasu a bit so that I get my size as well. Was told that it comes in M and L sizes only.

I am looking forward to Sunday's run. I want to see how far I can tahan.

Not going to do any streneous running from tomorrow onwards.