Cendana Hikathon 2006 report June 25
Date: 25th June 2006
Distance: Approx. 8km. Mostly trail. Max elevation is about 500m.
Prelude: Been looking forward to this race since last year’s race. Last year’s race was a disaster. Was sick the days before the race, and finished the race with hardly any energy left. When I heard about this year’s race, there were no second thoughts. Looking at the route, this year’s route was slightly shorter. Last year’s route had to run about 2km on tar. This year, this part was significantly reduce. Furthermore, this year’s route was in the opposite direction. I think this was a good decision as there was one part that was a bottleneck. I did a trial run a few times, and finished it in about 1hr 30mins.
So, my target was:
1) Finish in 1hr 20mins (Last year I finished in about 2hrs 14mins)
2) Get a medal (Only the top 20% gets it)
3) Less than 1.5x the winner’s time
Race day:
Arrived at about 7am. Registered, collected the first ribbon, and as usual the some stretching and warming up. Race flagged off at 8am. The route
Ran a short part on tar, then it was uphill from then. I ran a little bit on the uphill intially, but then started walking. Some people overtook me, but didn’t stop walking up. I took this route once, so I was a little bit familiar with the terrain. After about 25mins, reached the first junction, which is the normal route that connects Point 5 and Point 84. Collected 2nd ribbon.
From here, it was mostly flat with some slight uphill, but not as steep as the one before. Whenever it was flat or downhill, I ran. I lost some places here, because some of them can really run fast on flat land. After about 45mins since the start, arrived at Point 84. This was the first water station.
Then on, it was uphill all the way to the peak of Bukit Cendana (hence the name Cendana Hikathon). I think I reached the peak just above 50mins (since the start). Collected 3rd ribbon just before the peak. From here, it was downhill all the way (and I really mean all the way). Ran all the way down, just slowing down at sudden turns or slippery path. It rained almost the whole day the previous day, so this part of the trail was slippery. Furthermore, the front runners made it worse. I slipped once, but manage to recover almost instantly. After less than 10mins since the peak, reached Point 5. 2nd water station.
Then, I started getting cramps on both my calves. Thought of continuing, but thought I’d better stop and stretch a little. In a blink of an eye, all those that I overtook earlier or were just behind me overtook me just like that. After a few rounds of stretching, it felt better. Continue running down, and luckily the cramps didn’t come back. Arrived at Moon Gate after about 1hr 10mins
From here, it was about 1km to the finish line. It was a run-walk affair for this stretch. I looked behind occasionally, but there weren’t any from my category. But I still had to beat my target time. With all I had left in me, ran to the finish line.
Finished in 1hr 18mins 40secs. Yay, beat my target time. Initially, they gave me the certificate, and lucky draw number. No medal. As I was starting to get disappointed, the next official gave me a card. I was placed 32nd in my category (Men Open), and hence will receive a medal. Promptly collected my medal. This is my first time I got a medal due to placing, and not one of those finisher’s medal. As for my 3rd target (less than 1.5x the winner’s time), was still uncertain at that time.
The cutoff time was 3hrs, so I still got over 1.5hrs to the prize ceremony and lucky draw. This year, they had free drinks provided, namely 100 plus, Sunquick Mix Berries flavour and Indocafe.
Finally, the prize ceremony and lucky draw started. Guess what, the winner finished in only 50mins 47secs! I think this guy must be a X-men mutant or something. Just over 1.5x his timing. The 10th placing in my category finished in about 1hr 2mins. Didn’t win any lucky draw prizes.
Overall, very satisfying race. Well organized event. Free drinks was a plus. Next year’s target? Top 10 maybe?