Monday, July 4, 2011

Sundown Ultramarathon 100km Finisher Medal

Sundown Ultramarathon Finisher medal, 1ookm
Ultramaraton Runner

OFFICIAL RESULTS ON RUNPIX
Of the 488 who finished, 12% were Women and 88% were Men.


As mentioned in the earlier post, i met up with my running friend James for dinner on Sunday. He brought along his finisher medal. Right now, i guess this is the only picture avaliable on the net, didn't manage to find one. Sealed in a self-made plastic cover for protection, there was reflection when the picture was taken, precious medal! Nevertheless we can still view it :) When each runner crossed the finish line, the organizer volunteer will putting the medal over your head.

He ran till 70km, didn't rest or take a break apart from the water point. From 70km to 100km, it was run & walk to finish.

Result
13 hrs 50 mins 57 sec. Men's open 67th place with 235 finishers behind.

If you are walking like a penguin, then you have to stop, there's no point walking towards the finish line in a limp, the distance is just too great (there is a cut off time for the race). By pushing through the pain barrier, there might be more harm to your body.
This is the advise given by James after the race, and the organizer had mentioned this before the race. He saw a lot of runners who had to give up at around 50km, there was a bus to fetch these guys.

I'm glad to play my part in helping him to draw out the training plan, yesterday he thanked me for it. Although i have not attempt an ultramarathon before but more or less i did read on how people train for such races. As each runner is different, the most important factor was to know the person well, based on his running experience, looking at the physical and mental aspect, how he can adapt to the training program over the months. Important things to look out for over this training period, more critical in the last month or so. Understanding how the body react during the training, and finally the 1 week rest needed before the race day (tapering).

In return, the challenge he thrown me was to participate in the race next year, now that he had completed the one and only ultra. 100km??? I knew my limit, and the distance i can cover, 100km is simply too much.

Before i ended this post, here is something i would like to share with all (there will be a separate post on more of the specially selected quotation from the book).Finished reading a book on Extreme Running by Kym McConnell & Dave Horsley over the weekend.

The only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and can be reached only through suffering.
- Igjugarjuk, Caribou Eskimo Shaman

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