7/29/2019 River Jungle Marathon

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www.abwm.com.myABWM December 2011 www.abwm.com.my 1716 ABWM December 2011

 The website claimed “The River

Jungle Marathon is one o 

the most beautiul marathon

destinations in Malaysia. Located

 just 20-minutes rom the heart o 

Kuala Lumpur, the marathon is set

amidst a landscape like no other.On this ull marathon route, you

will experience a mix o Malaysia’s

beautiul landscape bringing you

through valleys, rivers, dams and

mountains. We believe running

should be un; it shouldn’t be all

about how ast we can run.

 The River Jungle Marathon is not a race.

 There is no big prize money at the nish

line. It’s simply or runners who nd

 joy o just being able to run! Its a run

that attracts runners rom all walks o 

lie. So we recommend or you to bring

a notepad and exchange numbers!

 This year however, we intend to have a

photography contest. So, be prepared

to whip out your camera and bring it

along or the run!”. This sounded like a

perect day out to me and despite not

having time to train and it clashing with

other running commitments I elt I had

to give it a go. It was my best marathon

experience to date, riendly, relaxed, well

organised. I was going to write all about

it but then I read the ollowing article

and thought i’d give someone else the

chance. This is only the second year o 

this ‘boutique’ marathon, the rst year

only had 51 participants.

My maiden bareoot Full Marathon - River

Jungle Marathon 2011 by CP Tan

I never thought that I would run a ull

marathon bareoot when I started

running 3 years ago. Well, I did it, and it

was one o the best marathons that I have

run. I registered late because I wasn’t sure

I would have time to train. However, I hadread good reviews about this run and

I thought it would be an experience or

me.

 The course is situated near Pekan Batu 18,

Hulu Langat, about 30km rom KL. Unlike

the name suggests, it was not a trail or

o-road run but a road race on asphalt.

 The route takes you through beautiul

scenery: villages, jungle, hill, river, lake.

It was unlike any marathon that I ran

beore, all o which had the background

o concrete jungle and busy roads.

I did a survey o the route one week 

beore. There is this grueling 5%-gradient

3.5km uphill climb that has the nickname“Spirit Breaker”. Ater I saw it, I knew I was

up against the most challenging course.

For many days to come, the uphill climb

was etched in my mind and I was trying

to gure out how to tackle it.

Fast orward to the race day, I arrived

early and heard the race director, James

Wong brieng his 60-person-strong

volunteer team. I met some amiliar

aces (and many more unknown aces). It

was announced that about 370 runners

registered and there were many oreign

runners, mostly rom Singapore. There

River Jungle Marathonwere also maybe a dozen rst-time

marathoners in the crowd.

 The race started at 5:00am sharp. I aimed

to nish this course in sub-4 hour time.

My strategy was to run about the rst

10km in 52 minutes and save some

minutes or the hills. My estimate was

that I would easily lose 2 minutes rom

the sub-4 hour average pace in the

climb. That was a optimistic assumption.

I trained on the treadmill or 5% gradient

with the pace o 6:00min/km, and I ound

it very very difcult to maintain that kind

o pace. I maintained a pace between

6:30min/km to 7:30min/km all the way

without stopping or walking. The eel

good actor came when I overtook a

runner and then a cyclist who was o 

his bike and pushing it. From then on, I

knew I had a good chance to dip below

4 hours.

Instead o letting the hill break my spirit,

I “broke”the hill. By that, I mean that I

ran the grueling 3.5km uphill as smaller

sections. I I could only see the road until

the winding turn, then I would just ocus

on running to that. Then I would targetthe next section o uphill, and the next.

Beore long, I reached the top o the

climb. At the summit, there was a water

station and it was breaking dawn (not

breaking spirit).

Going downhill was not a good section

or me because o the rough road surace

and the impact to the bareoot soles

and knees. I didn’t gain back much time

in the downhill section. In act, I was

overtaken by a runner, who called out at

me as “bareoot runner”.

At the end o the downhill section, the

road condition became even worse. I had

to slow down to minimise the pain. Yes,

the pain. It was painul when I stepped

on sharp stones and rough road suraces.

A oreign runner overtook me beore

the U-turn at 24.3 km mark. This section

o the course was the most beautiul

with the scenery o the Semenyih Dam

Reservoir and the backdrop o green

mountains and blue sky.

 The road surace was becoming worse

and worse. The last 12 km I stopped a

ew times, because o small sharp stones

getting stuck in my soles. In the last ew

kms, I managed to pick up my pace a

little bit and overtook the runner who

overtook me earlier at the downhill

section.

At the nish, I was overwhelmed by

emotion. It was a painul, painul run.

But I had done it! All the way, 42km,

without anything between my soles and

the road. I stopped my timer at 3:57:18.

I had a couple o bananas and some

isotonic drinks, then did some stretching

. I chatted with some volunteers. Some o 

them were amazed and jokingly asked i 

I had an iron plate under my soles.

Ater that, I quickly took out my camera

and started shooting photos or therunners maybe about 50-100m rom the

nish. I took photos or all the runners

who nished ater 4 hours 13 minutes

(including Rachel). I snapped photos

or runners even during the 1 hour

downpour and waited until the last

runners were in.

 The organiser has done very well with

this event. Bravo to all the volunteers

or the support. This was an event by

runners, or runners. And i you love

running, you would love to run the River

Jungle Marathon.

by Rachel Joseph

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