UTMF Trip 2015 Day 3: Race Report 1/2

0715Hr.

Good morning.

The sleep was good. I fell asleep shortly after I lay down on the mattress.

A cold breeze kept blowing through my window and I was tucked fully under the thick blanket when I slept. It had rained throughout the night.

Breakfast time.

Your last meal always looks so delicious I am not sure why.

The volunteers from Avid arrived after breakfast and started collecting our drop bags. They were sorted out according to the four different locations.

The drop bags with the labels pasted onto them.

How many drop bags did each runner have was indicated.

Photo from Vins Fong

It was back to the bed for me. I doubted I could fall asleep again but it would be good to just lie on the mattress and enjoy the cold air.

The mind was in a state of blankness. I could think of nothing. Yet there was this sense of calm and nervousness trying to find a balance within me. Time ticked away slowly on my watch.






~~~~~ 9 Points for 2016 ~~~~~

I had tried to ballot for the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) to be held in Aug 2015. It was my first time ballot for the race. The ballot results were announced in Jan 2015. I was not given a slot for the race which many trail runners yearn to go for. I was a little disappointed. The balloting systems works this way: if you were unsuccessful for your first ballot, you will have a double chance for the next year. They call it "coefficient of 2". If Lady Luck is really not on your side for the second year, you will get a confirmed entry for the third year. You are still required to achieve the number of points in order to qualify for the ballot, no matter which year you are in. For 2015, that will be 8 points within a maximum of 3 races.

(If you were unsuccessful in getting the UTMB in the first two attempts, you get a chance to switch to the TDS provided there are still vacancies available.)

In mid Feb 2015 or so, an email from the UTMB. arrived It informed us that for 2016 it will increase to 9 points. What?!!! 9 points?!!! The points have already raised in 2015 to 8. Now, they need 9 for 2016.

I was worried about whether will they raise it again in 2017, if I am unable to get the ballot for 2016. It will be better if I plan out races and start to accumulate points for 2017 earlier. It is not good to search for races at the last minute.

At that time, posts about UTMF appeared on Facebook. On 01 Mar 2015, registration for UTMF opened. Friends who signed up for it posted on FB. At that point, I was still thinking of which race to sign up. I thought UTMF will be a good race. It is a 4 point race. I felt it will be good for me to gain more experience in running a miler. Having said that, I still hesitated to sign up. I had done it before, I know what is it about. The experience from the first attempt will aid me greatly. And also because I had done it before, I KNOW what it is about.

After about 1 hour trying to look for my balls to go for the race, I clicked the "Confirm" button.

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The race starts at 1300Hr. There were 3 shuttle bus timings to bring us to Togawaso Hotel which is behind the start line at Yagisaki Kouen. I chose the latest timing of 1115Hr. There was no lunch provided for us. I had a full breakfast just now. I ate two pieces of moon cake as lunch.

It was time to start prepping. I went to clear my bowels, showered, brushed my teeth. Everything to make myself as clean as I could. I would not be again until I am done with the race, or the race done with me. It felt like a cleansing ritual before important ceremonies.

Time zoomed passed. Everybody was immersed in their own flow doing what they need to do. All these while, the STYers were watching us at the side. I am sure they also felt excited and nervous for us. For them, the game would start at 1200Hr the next day from Kodomono-Kuni. They would cover the second half of the UTMF route.

One last check to make sure everything was in place.

Ready.

(L - R):

The finish line bag.

The racing bag with the rear BIB and supporter BIB.

The official drop bag for A4 Kodomono-Kuni.

We were on our way!

Yagisaki Kouen was buzzing with activities. More and more people were arriving. The air was filled with excitement. People were chatting, laughing, taking photos, rushing to deposit their drop bags, tiptoe-ing to look for their friends. Well wishes were made. Hands were shaken. shoulders were pat. Everyone, running or not, were just happy to be there.

We met Louis from US and Ari whom we got to know in UTMF 2013. Ari was volunteering for Avid Adventures again.

The trucks for placing our official drop bags.

At the starting arch.

As usual, there were local runners dressing up for the run.

With part of the Singapore contingent.

Junko.

Alex from Hong Kong.

Masato.

David Lim. One of the Davids from Singapore at this race.

Harry.

Ellen and Teddy.

Gigantic dog. Would it be running too?

The RD, Tsuyoshi Kaburaki, giving his address.

All was eager to start the race.

~~~~~ Training ~~~~~

My training have been constantly changing race after race. When I know certain trainings will help me, I try to incoporate them into my weekly training schedule.

The usual long runs are a must. No questions about it. They form the base of training for an ultra. There are also the hill repeats. The closure of Bukit Timah meant we have to search for other places to do our hills. In Singapore, there are not really that much. I will do stairs repeats at Pinnacle Duxton followed by the hills at Mt Faber. That will be for the weekends

During weekdays, I go for shorter runs before my work. I have tempos and easy runs, which I like a lot. I am definitely not a speed person. Hill intervals were done at Fort Canning. Different days will be catered for uphill and downhill separately. I do the hill intervals not for speed. Did I mention I am not a speed person? It is to help strengthen my legs. So that during an ultra, I will not die so early.

~~~~~ Objective ~~~~~

Very simple. Primarily, it was to get a better timing than my first attempt. If that fails, Plan B would be to just finish the race and get the 4 points.

Without any injuries.

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Ultra Trail Mt Fuji 2015 (UTMF)

Date: 25 Sep 2015, 1300Hr

Distance: 168.6km (Revised 170.3km)

Elevation: 8337m D+ (Revised 7889m D+)

Cut-off time: 46hr

Shizuoka to Yamanashi 2015 (STY)

Date: 26 Sep 2015, 1200Hr

Distance: 80.5km (Revised 76.7km)

Elevation: 4610m D+ (Revised 3828m D+)

Cut-off time: 20hr

Race route (Anti-clockwise)
(Before the change of route)

Elevation profile
(Before the change of route)

START LINE YAGASAKI-KOUEN
Distance: 0km
Altitude: 837m
Time of day: 13:00:59

Photo from AllSports

Photo from AllSports

Everybody was cheering as we crossed the start line. Supporters lined both sides of the starting chute and reached out their hands to high five runners as they run pass. Even the residents in the area came out to cheer for us. The atmosphere was electrifying.








~~~~~ Strategy ~~~~~

The continuous rain before the race made me worried. The trails may become muddy and slippery as a result. Highly likely the trail conditions would this 100 miler become tougher. The Tenshiyama section between W1 Fumoto and A3 Fujinomiya is already very brutal during normal conditions. Now we have rain to spice things up even more.

I reckoned conserving energy during the early stages of the race would be paramount. I decided to be conservative in my approach during the first half of the race.

----- -----

A total of 1363 runners started on the UTMF. A journey that would bring them one loop around the majestic Mount Fuji, across 170km. The elites were expected to finish around before lunch tomorrow, while the remaining of the field may take up to the maximum of 46 hrs.

As the runners made their way out of Yagasaki Kouen, they were directed into the walkway beside the lake which was just wide enough for two person to walk abreast. A bottleneck quickly ensued. We managed to keep moving forward fortunately.










It had been raining since yesterday till this morning. The sky was totally covered when we started. Most of the runners had their jackets on when they started. Now they were starting to feel warm. Many runners stopped at the side to remove their jackets.

The trailhead was at the 3km mark of the race. I followed the pavement and was ready to enter the trails when suddenly everybody in front of me stopped moving.

Nobody knew what happened. I asked one of the volunteers why we were stopping. He tried to explain to me but could not do so as he could not speak English. Luckily, another volunteer who could speak English was nearby and she explained that the trail was very narrow. They were releasing around 100 runners at a time to enter the trails.

As I was using a conservative pace, I was already behind the mid pack of the runners. Those who had stopped to remove their jackets had join back the group and were now at the very rear of the pack.

Calm down. Calm down! This was just the beginning of the race. You have time to catch up later. There is still a long way to go.

I kept reminding myself to stay focused and keep my head in the race. I believe I would be able to catch back the time later.

Everybody was in order waiting to be let off into the trails. I lost 30 mins at this blockade. Those at the rear lost at least 45 mins.

Barely lesser than 50m into the trail, the path abruptly converged into a single track of steps going uphill. More waiting ahead.

The traffic jam continued way up the mountain. People were queuing in order, waiting for their turn to move up. Perhaps that was a Japanese culture. Nobody around us cut the queue, expect for a runner from a country very near to Japan with a very big landmass.

If this were to happen in Singapore, or in Hong Kong as several HK friends would later tell me candidly, everybody would be rushing up by the side of the path.

The trail opened up further up the mountains. By this time, we were already 1hr 30mins into the race. Due to the blockade and bottlenecks, we only managed to cover around 6km.

I noticed that the ground was stickier, maybe due to the rain. We had to use slightly more strength to pull our feet off the ground. The fog also affected our visibility.

This was a viewing tower at the top of Ashiwadayama. The very first mountain we need to cross. I recognised this from the previous STY 2012 and UTMF 2013.

On a clear day, Mount Fuji could be clearly seen on our left. Just before reach this tower, there was a bend along the trail where we could catch a view of the lake Kawaguchiko and the town. Today we could see none.

I was happy to reach this tower as I knew we would be going downslope now. The trails started to get muddy. The condition was made worse by the runners who ran through them before us. Several runners slipped and fell as they tried to balance themselves while running through the mud.

Photo from AllSports

The vegetations were much greener this time compared to the previous times I was here. That was during the month of April / May at the end of their winter.

This Narusawa Ice Cave is another familiar landmark along the route. It would be a few kilometres of road before we reach the trails again.

The terrain was flat. People were slowly overtaking me. I could have also picked up my pace and made good use of the flat terrain to catch back some time. However, I chose to stick to my strategy of being conservative.

I thought maybe the massive jams were over. The field may have spread out by now so there would not be any more bottlenecks ahead.

This highway was another familiar sight. Mount Fuji would appear on our left on a clear day.

The route took us through the outskirts of Aokigahara again. Also known as the Suicide Forest.












A1 SHIJIKO
Distance: 19.1km
Altitude: 922m
Time: 3:22:59
Time of day: 16:22:59
Placing: 1136

Finally we reached the very first aid station of the race.

The race has a new special ruling this year. Runners and supporters were required to brush their shoes before they enter an aid station. This was to prevent the transferring of dirt, seeds to other regions. Another requirement made due to the strong environmental movement in Japan.

I was curious to see how they would plan to let every runner brush of the dirt on their shoes. Strangely, there were no brushes at the entrance of A1.

I did not stop to have the noodles. I began to realise that I need to pick up the pace starting from now. I had taken much too long to reach A1.

I quickly filled up my bottles, grabbed some oranges, bananas and chips and went off. I saw David Wong leaving A1 as I entered. When I left, I met Masato who was also about to leave.

It was now gear up time. I hope I am able to slowly make up the time that I had lost.

We skirted around the foot of the mountains passing through gigantic trees on our right that reached towards the sky. The terrain was rather flat so it was runnable.

We reached the foot of Eboshidake at around the 23km mark. The time was around 1710Hr. There were volunteers shouting out some stuff to the runners in Japanese. From their actions (they were pointing to the headlight they were wearing), I could guess they were asking everybody have their headlights on now. In a short while, it would be sunset.

Eboshidake was the first technical ascend of the race. It was single track and it began to get steeper as we get higher. Runners formed into a single file of marching ants, slowly moving forward step by step. Some parts were steep but also not nothing around for us to grab and pull ourselves up. I remembered there were 2 volunteers playing the saxophone for us (I was sure I was not dreaming.) as we passed them. I do not know the name of the tune but I recalled it was one which Patrick regularly hum to during our trail runs in the past. As we climbed higher, the tune faded into the surrounding trees.

There were everal bottlenecks in this section as we needed to clear some big rocks or roots which delayed everybody further.

I made it an effort to overtake any runner whenever I could. However, most of this stretch was a single track making overtaking difficult. I was also worried of knock ing into somebody if I were to cut pass them from the side. Some parts of the trail was flat. It definitely looked runnable to me. Yet, the runners in front of me were walking. If it had been a couple of runners, I might have had the chance to overtake them but the line of runners stretched long ahead.

It dawned on me that my conservative pacing had landed me far back into the rear pack. With everybody trapped in this single track, I could only move along at their pace.

Slowly, the field dispersed as we traversed across the mountains. At the final downslope leading to A2 Motosuko, I was close to the cut off time of 06:30. Picking up pace, I cut the few runners ahead of me and sped down the switchbacks. As I ran, I could hear the shouts from below the mountain and I assume it was from the aid station. Were they shouting at us to hurry? I kept checking my watch as I ran, while constantly reminding myself to be careful and not trip.

A2 MOTOSUKO
Distance: 31.5km
Altitude: 907m
Time: 6:13:22
Time of day: 19:13:22
Placing: 1091

A2 Motosuko was located in a school compound. Junko was already leaving as I entered what looked like the canteen of the school.

The first thing I noticed as I ran into the aid station was this announcement informing us that the cut-off time for A2 had been extended for 1hr to 2030Hr.

The organisers might have realised that many runners were affected by the many bottlenecks and would be cut off.

This extension was not necessarily a good news to me. I was still way behind time. The overall race cut-off was still 46hr.

A2 was crowded with runners there was not much space to move around. People were sitting at the back chatting or resting. Were they not worried that they did not have much time in their buffer?

Based on the original cut-off time of 1930, I had only about 15 mins buffer. This was way to close for comfort. We were not even one quarter into the race distance.






Images are from the UTMF website.

Next up was the section affected by the change in course. We would first run along the side of Motosuko. Rather than making the almost 600m technical climb up Ryogatake, we would detour around the foot of the mountains and take a slightly longer route to W1.

The route was long and rolled high and low under the night sky. I reminded myself to focus on the race and keep pace. Since we were not climbing up the mountains, this would be a good time to catch up some time into the buffer. I managed to overtake several runners during this stretch.

What was meant to be about 16km felt like 20 over kilometres as we manoeuvred the twists and turns along the route. The bright moon helped to provide some illumination on the trails for us. The dark mountains stood silently on our right as we ran forward.

Focus on the route. Calm down.

Until a point I saw a mountain in the distance ahead, with a stream of lights moving up. I know W1 was near us. I recognised the mountain with the little lights moving up. That was the start of the Tenshiyama region.

The nightmare of the race would be coming soon.

W1 FUMOTO
Distance: 46.5km
Altitude: 804m
Time: 9:08:43
Time of day: 22:08:43
Placing: 891

Inside W1, that was the supporter's area.

This was the racer's area which supporters could only enter if they have the supporter BIB.













I rushed to the supporters area to look for the Avid crew. The first person I saw was Namiko who was waiting for runners under Avid to arrive. She quickly found my drop bag and I grabbed it and ran into the runners area.

Quickly, I refilled all my bottles, including the soft flask which I left in the W1 drop bag. Food was replenished into my hydration bag. The light weight fleece was stuffed in too. The weather does not seem very cold that I would need to use the fleece though. A fresh set of batteries was changed for the headlight. Knowing how tough the next section is, I tried to allow myself more time to rest but I did not have much time to spare too. Grabbing onto the piece of moon cake I placed in the drop bag in one hand, I quickly returned the drop bag to the Avid crew. I noticed there were still many drop bags unopened. I asked the Avid crew if these runners had not arrived and they replied me yes.

I left W1 munching the moon cake. As I turned left and looked up, the dark silhouette of the mountains could be seen clearly in the night sky. This would take very long.

As I approached the foot of the mountain, some volunteers asked us to step into a big tray containing some brush like layers. We were supposed to rub the base of our shoes onto the brushes. So maybe this was the brushing of shoes the website was speaking about?

I still do not know how to describe the climb up. A 800m elevation gain to the peak of Yukimidake across 3.5km. That is a 22% slope. Saying it is very steep, perhaps was an understatement. We tried to grab hold of everything we could to help us up. Trees, branches, ropes, rocks, and roots. I even tried to hold onto the plastic ribbon which was the race route marker. Several instances, I even had to claw my hands into the ground to climb up. It was a "heart pumping, hands pushing onto knees, spitting and cursing at everything" climb.

If you need a place to question about life, the Tenshiyama region is maybe where you want to be. Or do not want to be.

The peak could never be reached. It just gets higher each time you look up.

The climb up to the first peak Yukimidake took me around 1hr 45min.