A Home Away From Home: the Relentless Chiang Mai 24-hour Endurance Run

Dear friends,

Here is the write up about the 24-Hour run I put on for FUN, as well as a fund-raiser for Relentless. However, no photos are found on THIS page because I’d have to go back through and re-load all the photos again here, which I won’t do in the interest of time and saving consternation. I encourage you to click on over  to the page on Relentless where I’ve posted the full deal. The event was truly special for everyone and we all did have fun! It was a lot of work but so worth it in the end! I’m so grateful for all your thoughts and prayers and for all the help by volunteers here! I’m also very grateful for all the donations that came in for Relentless!

Again, I’d like to encourage all of you who follow this blog to also follow the blog on Relentless, as well as the Facebook page to keep  up with what I’m doing.

Blessed to be a blessing!

On 25 May at 2pm, the first wave of runners started off the line for the Second Annual Relentless Chiang Mai 24 Hour Endurance Run. It was quite an international group, with twelve different nationalities represented among the 42 participants. Even so, ultramarathon culture transcends all others as the main aid station along the looped course became a home away from home – even as the many expatriates already call Thailand a home away from home.

Located near Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, Huay Tung Tao Lake is encircled by a 3.7 km, nicely paved asphalt loop. The gently rolling road provides just enough diversity to keep the muscles interested, and there is enough shade to keep runners cool for much of the way.

After the swimmers, picnickers and fishermen packed up for the night, the full moon came out so that nobody needed to wear a headlamp. Crickets and frogs joined the chorus. Magical.

Runners had the option of running 6 or 12 hours, and four teens participated in the 3-hour kids’ division! A relay option for teams of up to eight people was offered for the 24-hour time, but nobody took advantage of that – everyone wanted to go hard-core solo!

Another unique feature was that the 3-, 6-, and 12-hour runners had the option of starting at either 2pm, 6pm, or 10pm. Some of the participants wanted to start earlier and get their run in, while others cherished running through the night. This timing also helped to spread out the runners and give the 24-hour people more company through the night.

This event pulled the absolute best from everyone. It was never about “winning” to beat another person – as there were no prizes for 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd. It was all about challenging oneself – an opportunity to push further than previously attempted. The top 12-hour finisher had never run further than 55 km before his remarkable 85 km distance! Nearly all of the runners set a personal record, either in the most distance ever covered or the fastest time it took to cover a certain distance. Most set personal records of over 20-30 km.

A timed event, unlike a distance-oriented event, gives participants the opportunity, when they are tired, to take a break. They eat something, drink some coffee, stretch, and re-evaluate. Then they are ready to head back out for more. It was a safe environment in which to push themselves further than they thought possible. It was exciting to be a part of an event in which so many people came away having bettered themselves and achieved something great.

The aid station crew was no less exceptional. Many friends and relatives of runners volunteered their services and helped crew everyone – not just “their guy.” The kids who ran the 3 hours also stayed up most of the night and were the most cheerful and helpful crew ever! Several volunteers (including the kids) took laps with runners they had met only a few hours prior to keep them company and encourage them along the way. This was most helpful during the hot, middle part of the second day when we were all flagging a bit.

Finally, another remarkable note about this event is that it was a fundraiser for Relentless, a project that fights human trafficking through health care. Although this was a small event, approximately $8000 was raised, over $3000 of that by a single participant!

I look forward to hosting this event again next year and I hope that those of you who may be traveling through Southeast Asia looking for an ultramarathon will consider joining us next year!

Huay Tung Tao Trek 6/12/24 Hour Endurance Run

Where to start when writing about this event? I’ll start with gratitude. Thank you Jesus for seeing me through the organization of this event, for all the help you provided, for the beautiful weather (one can expect a least a little rain in July), for keeping us healthy and safe, and for the wonderful place to run. I also must thank MANY other people, but that would take up too much space on this blog. The whole thing would have flopped without everyone pitching in to help and support one another. Entire families were involved and I feel like we became more like family through the event. Beautiful.

Runners at the start!

Although this was not my first crack at being a race director, a 24 hour endurance run is quite a bit different from a pot-luck “Cha-bu-duo”* 10km run! The idea came as sort of a whim as I was thinking of ways to prepare for my first 100 mile race in September. “I need to start practicing running at night, but what if I could practice running all night…” I mentioned this to a couple of my ChUG** friends and they thought that it was a good idea … or did they really say “good”? Anyway, I thought it was brilliant and went for it! Richard told me as we were setting up before the start, “I may not want to thank you later, so I’m thanking you now for having this brain-fart.”

A timed event, where runners run around a fixed loop and count how many loops they can do within the given time frame, is easier to do than a distance race. For example, I only had one major aid station and an unattended water/electrolyte stop halfway around. Furthermore, more people could participate as I made different time divisions: 6, 12, and 24 hour plus a 3-hour kids division!

A total of twenty-two people participated in the  – some were brave enough to travel from other parts of Thailand to participate in this inaugural event. Most people started on Friday evening, but a group of women opted to start on Saturday morning. I was delightfully surprised to see that they were Mennonite! One does not normally associate ultra-endurance events with such groups of people, but they love sport and there are plenty of athletes among them! I love it when people break the mold, break stereotypes and go for it!

The Mennonite women!

The most common question people asked me was, “Do you sleep at all during the 24 hours?” I actually did not know the answer to that. I had never run at night before, let alone all night, and then continue through the next day. Normally, I am NOT a night person – sun goes to bed, I follow close behind – so I was surprised at how NOT sleepy I was through the night. I don’t know whether it was the constant physical activity or just being hyped up about the event, but I never had the urge to lie down and close my eyes. I did take some caffeine, but not nearly enough to account for the alertness.

Amazingly, it didn’t rain as much as it could have as it is the middle of rainy season here. It rained early (about hours 2-3) and so I had to change from my regular shoes into my “miracle shoes” (the ones with 1400 miles on them – one of the kids named them) early on and ended up running most of the race in them.

Faith ran in the 3-hour kids division, then stayed all night, and all the next day to crew the runners! She also ran extra laps as a pacer with runners to support them. A budding ultramarathoner right here! She and her friend Adrianne were a jou I’m so proud of them!

Except for changing my shoes and socks after the rain stopped I never sat down. I didn’t even stop except for the brief hiatus to grab a drink or a bite to eat through the aid station marking each lap. I also took some brief time outs to award medals to participants as they finished – the race director’s privilege!

I suppose I could keep better track of what exactly I ate but generally it was a lot of watermelon, bananas, super-charged peanut butter balls, protein shake + coffee mix, Clif bars, and, the ultramarathoner’s surprise fuel: Coca-cola.

I started my 37^th loop at hour 18. Seemingly suddenly, the level of pain that one normally endures at that point in a race jumped a few notches and I was no longer able to run – at least with a decent gait. I decided it was finally time to take a break, perhaps 20 minutes? I could do that and still make 100 miles. However, as I sat down my friend immediately noticed my angry red and very swollen ankle. I took one look and knew I was done – no amount of will to finish could override what I knew as a doctor: I needed to stop immediately or perhaps risk greater damage. I was not disappointed (another surprise)! I had done well and I needed to live to run another day. Besides, 137km (85.1 miles) in 18+ hours is not too shabby, and this was just a practice run for my first 100 miler in September!

Three of the 24 hour runners made it the full 24 hours and Brian cranked out 101 miles in just under the time!

Ajarn Dee, a statistics professor, is in my Bible Study and she came out to cheer me!

Although the event itself was not a fundraiser, I asked people to give towards my personal run and pledge a monetary amount per kilometer/mile run. Amazingly, I raised a total of $880 for my project Relentless!

Lessons learned:

• I did not have the strength training in my legs that is needed to sustain my legs for such a long distance. Partly because I had been rehabbing some tendinitis in my knee in the weeks prior. Strangely, the knee didn’t bother me at all (argh).
• I have a much better understanding of what it really takes to excel at such events, especially long distance road races, such as Badwater.
• I can “DNF^” with dignity and for good reason.
• I learned a lot about race-directing in Thailand and look forward to next year’s event!

I think everyone who participated or volunteered agrees that the event as a whole was a HUGE success and we are already planning one next year!

THANK YOU:

Sunday brunch celebrating with good friends – runners and volunteers!

Ryan, Richard, Ray, Heidi, Caleb, Henry, Ben, Faith, Adrianne, Karl, Ron, Connie, Sai, Jume, Rhea,  Jung, Atsuyuki-san, Ajarn Dee, and all the other people who came out to cheer and help! You guys have NO IDEA how grateful I am for all your support and help in the prep and putting this on. Atsuyuki-san says it was the attitude of the people involved that made this one of the best races he has ever attended!

For a slideshow of photos from the event, please visit this link. You can also visit the Facebook album. IF these links don’t work, please let me know!

*cha-bu-duo: Mandarin for “close enough” and also the name of an annual 10k in Shenyang, China that I organized in past years. The 4th Annual run happens 1 September!

**ChUG: Chiang Mai Ultrarunners Group

^DNF: did not finish

Suanpruek 10 Hour Ultra-marathon

Three weeks ago, I learned about the Suanpruek 10 hour ultra-marathon, a timed race in which participants race to see how far they can go within the time period. I didn’t have much time to prepare, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run an ultra marathon that is so close and easy for me to go. Plus, the timing was perfect because I was due to be in Cambodia on 7 May and would be passing through Bangkok anyway. The women’s record, set by last year’s winner was only 84km – certainly I can do that! Besides, a chance to race is a chance to learn and there isn’t anything to lose! Check out this inspiring video!

I arrived at the race start with my kit: mat, toolbox with food, electrolytes, changes of clothes, and other essentials. Walking around the area looking for a good place to camp, I noticed that various running clubs had set up canopy tents, so I struck up a conversation with one of them, BangKhunTian.

“You are alone, and no team? You are welcome to put your stuff here!”  SCORE! The cameras came out and before I knew it I was part of their team – which would mean so much more as the race went on.

Pre-race fare was hot coffee, white bread spread with jelly or pandan paste and rice dishes like khao man gai (rice steamed with chicken). Talking with people during the race, many of the participants weren’t even there to run all day – they were there to do a certain distance and then stop – and not even try for time. Just run/walk, enjoy friends and the event, then camp out and eat and cheer on all the other saps the rest of the day. It is definitely a different – and refreshing – running culture here. Sure, there are plenty of tough competitors, but a 10 hour ultra-marathon didn’t scare the average and recreational runner from participating. The same goes for the 5 and 10km runs that happen nearly every weekend. It was great to have so many people (over 200?) at the start, and 28 women were signed up for the 10 hour open.

A colorful runner!

I’ve never done a timed event like this where you run around a tight (2.1km) loop, but the brevity of the course lent to intimacy and a lot of people interaction. Spectators were cheerful and smiling and helpful. There wasn’t a time where I was bored, or wish I had an mp3. I was also the only white-skinned female participant (an African woman was part of a relay) so I suppose I was a novelty as well. The event also featured a 2×2.5 hour relay so there were always runners cruising through the course.

My adoptive team started really coming on board about three hours into the race. When I came in for a shirt change, they gave me one of their shirts! I got many more thumbs up from the spectators after that – I was running with a Thai team! The team started telling me my place and informing me about how far back my competitors were. They gave me cold wet towels for my face. When I was cramping and stretching they offered to massage (I declined the chair) but massaged me as I stretched. When I needed more water or electrolyte beverage, they supplied.

The temperature at the 6am start was a balmy and overcast 28C. By 10am the temp would hit 40C and would stay at least that high for the rest of the day. “Drink before thirst, eat before hunger” is what they say and I tried to put electrolytes and sugar in my body every time I took a sip. I also took in fruit and powerbars with a bit of protein as well.

I felt pretty good through the first half of the race, and had logged about 50km by the five hour mark. As the race went on, however, it was all I could do to concentrate on my running, eating, and drinking. Sunny Blende, sports nutritionist, says that “ultra races are really an eating and drinking contest with exercise and scenery included”. This is so much truer in hot weather when fluid and electrolyte balance can cost you more than a race.

I gradually succumbed to overheating, got dehydrated, and behind on electrolytes, all of which contributed to nausea. I kept pushing fruit and liquids down until at last – relief! – I purged and cleared my stomach.  I downed a gel a few minutes later, and kept up the drinking and eating as best as I could, but the cumulative damage was done. I was just gonna fight the rest of the time. Knowing the dangers of heat exhaustion (and worse) I kept checking to make sure that I continued to sweat and convinced myself that I was.

The Thai running community here is helpful and caring to each other as anywhere. I was a perfect stranger – as a lone white female, stranger than most. When I was paralyzed with leg cramps, runners stopped to help massage and sprayed something on them to help. When I was puking, a runner stopped and put his hand on my back just to show he cared. Finally, a one of my new teammates offered (no, insisted) to run with me and I had a buddy for the last two laps – how grateful I was for her!

The woman on my right ran with me the last two laps, the one on my left was my masseuse.

While I did all that I thought I could do to prepare, it occurred to me that perhaps I should have done more runs at 1pm than at 6am. Sometimes, though, things go wrong and you learn a lot from the experience as well. Even so, I led most of the race and was passed within the last two hours when I really tanked. My goal was to reach the women’s record (84km) set by last year’s winner (who didn’t place this year) and if I happened to win or place – great! Second place, a goal achieved, and lessons learned is a great experience indeed!

from left to right, 3rd, 2nd, 1st

More photos can be seen here, here, here, and here (notice the cheerleaders!)…