Mantra Summits Challenge 2019 - 75K race report

Run Somewhere Extraordinary

TRAVEL DAY

The race was staged in Malang, East Java of Indonesia. The journey took 3-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Surabaya with another 1+ hour van ride (depends on traffic) from Surabaya airport to the race venue, Kaliandra Eco Resort. I opted for the shuttle service provided by the race organizer from the airport to the race venue. Small additional fee to pay but saves you the headache trying to sort logistics on travel day. A welcoming service for runners flying from abroad.

I always travel one day before the race day if the travel time is short and reasonable.

RACE BIB COLLECTION

The shuttle dropped all runners at the race venue where you can straight away collect your race bib after showing all the mandatory items for the race. There were so many Malaysian runners who came down and it felt like I never left the country. Race bib collected, caught up with friends who I only see during races, carbo-loaded and finally checked-in to our homestay once it started to get dark.

By the way, have I mentioned that flag-off was the next day at 6:00 AM? Let’s try to get some sleep.

Satu kampung came down for this race!

photo credit: Pelari Denai

Bib number 147

RACE DAY

Quick recap on my training – I’d done Four Lakes 100K and Penang Eco 50K in Feb’19 and June’19 respectively, so I was pretty confident with my condition and training going into this race which was in Jul’19.

I signed up for 75K category because this was the longest category prior to 2019 before they introduced 116K category in 2019. Sticking to my rule I made up myself of one 100K race per year, my quota was full (with FL100). Thank God!

Starting line (KM 0): Kaliandra
Altitude: 763 m

It’s show time! Flag-off at 6:00 AM and it was climb, climb and more climb straight from the get-go. Who needs coffee when you can eat elevation for breakfast?

Aid station 1 (KM 9): Pondok Welirang
Altitude: 2,534 m
Elevation gain: +1,626 m
Elevation loss: -11 m
Moving time: 3:00:14

The first check point with cut-off time was at 11:00 AM. Only one runner didn’t make it in time, unfortunately it was our dear Abang Md Zin who was coming back from an injury.

Puncak Welirang (KM 13)
Altitude: 3,156 m
Elevation gain: +655 m
Elevation loss: -2 m
Elapsed time: 1:35:59

You cannot escape the strong smell of Sulphur during the climb-up of the peak of Welirang. There were several Sulphur deposits in this area. Hence, the summit was named Welirang meaning “sulphur” in Javanese.

High on Sulphur at Puncak Welirang

Aid station 2 (KM 16): Sadelan
Altitude: 2,908 m
Elevation gain: +88 m
Elevation loss: -302 m
Elapsed time: 0:43:18

I think this was the most crucial aid station in this race and you really need to refill for water here because the next one was in another 11KM but, this aid station had ran out of water supplies. Apparently runners for 116K category had already exhausted most of the water supplies after their early flag-off which shared the same route. Given the location of the aid station located on the ridge of Puncak Welirang and Puncak Arjuno, it was difficult and takes some time for the organizer to bring up the water here as the station was not accessible by vehicle. Many runners suffered dehydration as runners passed by this route during noon when the sun was high up.

Puncak Arjuno (KM20)
Altitude: 3,339 m
Elevation gain: +561 m
Elevation loss: -167 m
Elapsed time: 2:02:44

This was the highest point in the race. It took me 2 hours to reach here because I was cautiously managing the remaining water I had left and being high up at 3,000 m always make your move slower. This was not a water station like Puncak Welirang but a check point with a view. A damn good view if I may add!

Enroute to Puncak Arjuno from Sadelan

photo credit: MSC116

The peak of Arjuno was behind me but the checkpoint was cut short by 300 m

The best view comes after the hardest climb

Aid station 3 (KM 27): Budug Asu
Altitude: 1,316 m
Elevation gain: 32 m
Elevation loss: 1,969 m
Elapsed time:  2:10:37

It’s downhill all the way from Puncak Arjuno. Stunning view of the landscape everywhere you look. Special thanks to one group of local hikers who were super kind and spared me some of their water which I was really running low with. I would have struggled a lot to reach Budug Asu if it wasn’t for their help. Terima kasih Mas! 

Aid station 4 (KM 38): Wonorejo 1
Altitude: 944 m
Elevation gain: 209 m
Elevation loss: 546 m
Elapsed time:  1:39:22

The halfway mark. This was the aid station with our dropped bags and that means it’s time to chow down some rice. This was the longest rest stop I took which was half an hour of prepping the RTE food, refueling and just simply sat down and rest. The second half of the race was all during the night. Lights on baby!    

Mahapena (KM44)
Altitude: 2,127 m
Elevation gain: +1,190 m
Elevation loss: -15 m
Elapsed time:  2:35:09

The temperature quickly dropped at nightfall. This was an out-and-back trail to the peak of Bukit Mahapena. So I managed to see few front runners bombarding down from the peak.

Aid station 4 (KM 50): Wonorejo 2
Altitude: 944 m
Elevation gain: +1 m
Elevation loss: -1,185 m
Elapsed time:  1:36:08

Back to the same aid station where our dropped bags were. Many runners decided to call off their race here. Don’t hang around too long or you might have second thoughts to continue the race yourself.

Puthuk Lesung (KM62)
Altitude: 1,427 m
Elevation gain: +813 m
Elevation loss: -321 m
Elapsed time:  3:09:13

At this stage, I hardly saw any runners at the front nor at the back. As midnight falls, the streets became empty and the trails were much quieter. Almost 19+ hours in, I can feel sleep deprivation started to creep in. This was my least favorite part of ultra trail running because it was also the most dangerous part of ultra trail running.

Aid station 5 (KM 64): Mbah Kawad
Altitude: 1,213 m
Elevation gain: +211 m
Elevation loss: -422 m
Elapsed time:  2:04:06

My worst nightmare. This section was located on the side of a mountain slope. The next aid station was just 2KM from Puthuk Lesung but it took me 2 hours to reach there because I got lost.

First mistake: I lost track of the markers and I didn’t track back. A school boy error. In my mind, a marker should pop out anytime soon as further I went, but it didn’t.  

Second mistake: Given that it was an open mountain with low trees and shrubs and with the help of my GPS map watch, instead of tracking back, I went off trail trying to cut through to get back to the original trail.

This was where it went from bad to worse. The further I went, the bushes got thicker and the grass got higher. I couldn’t see what was in front of me. I didn’t even know the ground that I was stepping on was solid or not. I didn’t know how many times I lost my footing and tumbled over. I was scrambling through bushes and branches which made my socks and clothes wet. I even had to crawl on my knees and arms at one point. I shouted for help. I kept shouting “Tolong! Help! Someone help me!” over and over again. No reply. As I was cutting through, I reached a dead end, a cliff stood right in front of me. That moment felt like the end of life was staring back at me.

I was lost and alone at the bottom of a cliff on the side of a mountain in the dark at 3:00 AM. I stood there for a while to calm myself and gather my thoughts; pissed off with myself for not knowing better and gotten myself into this stupid and dangerous situation; thinking about my wife and family back home, praying to Allah seeking his help and protection; thinking about giving up and hoping that the rescue team would send a helicopter to pull me out.

Since it was still too early for any kind of help to come, and I had not suffered any injury, I picked myself up and kept going. I couldn’t climb over the cliff because it was too steep, so I went around it. I kept shouting for help until I heard a distant voice responded back (it’s a runner I hope). I headed towards the direction of the voice and didn’t follow my GPS navigation on my watch anymore. We were shouting back and forth so I could get a sense where they were until I finally saw a headlamp light. Then, I was back on a trail and regrouped with the runners, there were two of them.

Little that they knew, they had saved my life that day.

Section of the race where I got lost

 Give that guy a map
Where is he going?

Finish line (KM 75): Kaliandra
Altitude: 763 m
Elevation gain: +398 m
Elevation loss: -834 m
Elapsed time:  2:06:05

The time was almost 4:00 AM when I reached the last aid station at Mbah Kawad. Another 10K towards the finishing line with two hours left before the 24 hour COT. It’s going to be tight but I know I can make it. I knew I needed to run all the way and that was exactly what I did. I ran with what was left in my legs after 22 hours of running since I started the day before. I passed by runners who said we’re not going to make it in time. I finally reached Kaliandra Resort’s front gate entrance and one last climb along the side of the Kaliandra Resort which was very frustrating, then a downhill run before reaching the finishing line.

The saying goes “I can accept failures, but I cannot accept not trying”.

That day I’m glad I did.

Total time: 24:00:33

Total distance: 78.64 km

Total elevation gain: 5,789 m 

Total elevation loss: 5,786 m

Min elevation: 720 m

Max elevation: 3,265 m
Min temperature: 15 C
Max temperature: 33 C 

(Recorded on Garmin Forerunner 935)

75K category results

Registrants: 84
Starters: 73

DNS: 11
DNF: 46

Finishers: 27

Finisher rate: 37%

Crossing the finish line

photo credit: MSC116

The last finisher

photo credit: Heru Prabowo