The North Face 100 – Trail Running Challenge

Deciding to whip myself back into shape because I’ve toned down on my training since IMNZ, I decided to participate in the  The Northface 100  (Oct 15 2011) with a close friend.  Together, we signed up for the 50km Duo, where participants in a team runs 25km each).

Wung Yew teamed up with his colleague to form Team CMI (Cannot Make It), while my team mate and I decided to call ourselves Team Deep Fried Pork Knuckles (which sounds nicer than the originally intended Team Thunder Thighs ).

Putting the competition aside, I made a deliberate decision to document the race (my excuse for not putting in enough training!) because the trails were not easily accessible to non-runners.  While darting around the trails to find a good angle for my photos,  I witnessed how fellow participants, who started out as strangers, forged friendships in the trail as they lent a helping hand to those who had difficulty climbing steep slopes and crossing big ditches.   At one point, a lady put her hands on my butt to push me up a slope and yelled encouragingly, “You go up! You go up!”  It was hilarious and we broke out in peals of laughter!  It was worth the effort!

On the downside – the second water station ran out of water – but at least they were giving out Milo and bananas. Thankfully I still had iced-water in my water bag.  After grabbing a few cups of Milo and a banana, I squatted under the shade of a tree and ate.  Nice.

Realising only much later that I must have taken too much time snapping pictures, I made a mad dash over the last 5km to make it back before the cut-off time.  Boy was I glad to see Wung Yew and my team mate who had finished earlier, yelling at me not to stop!  :D 

Then are will be readers who are curious as to what my nutrition was during the race .  So for the diehards, here it is  – 1.5l of water, half a Powerbar, one banana, 6 cups of Milo, 1/2 bottle of 100+, and many loud burps. 

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