Have heard about the Cameron Ultra for very long until it has became the 10th edition. But I had never joined mainly because the transportation there was a bit of a hassle and I was not sure in the earlier years who were the Singaporean operators whom I could tag along with. However, this year because it was the 10th anniversary, I decided to give it and just plan for the logistics to go to this race.
The race is held in Tanah Rata area in Cameron Highlands, this place is about 1440m above sea levels, making it very cooling and really it does remind me of Europe’s landscape a lot. The race has always been held at the field outside of the Century Pines Hotel which was also the race official hotel. It is therefore also very difficult to reserve it unless you reserve way way in advance. You can either self drive, take a chartered transport to the highlands. The nearest airport should be Ipoh because from Ipoh up to the highlands is only about 100km.
Registration and Prelogue
I wanted to register through the checkpoint .com site once it opened, but the slots were taken up really fast because it is the 10 year anniversary. Luckily I was inside the X trail blazer group and they had a special code to register for balloted slots. I managed to secure the 60km which is a more manageable distance , the bib costed about $148 singapore dollars which is pretty decent price now that the full marathon in Singapore is around 138. Next was to think about the transport, I decided to take a plane to Ipoh and with the help of my friend we rented one car from the Ipoh Airport to drive up to Cameron. The distance from Ipoh up is about 93 Km. The highway up was route 59 and it was the fastest than if we were to go south to the highway and back up on 59 in a different direction. The only problem is it is narrow and parts of it only have one way. In between the towns there were jams because of the one way.
After a quick dim sum breakfast at Ipoh with Joey and ben. We went up on our way, unfortunately the friday was rainy and that meant that the trails will be muddy. But I was praying hard that the rain will stop and some sun will somehow dry up the place. But that did not happen.
Race site was crowded and very happening despite the heavy rain from early noon. The race bib and goodies collection point was at Century Pines resort, which I wanted to book and stay but by the time I got the bib it was all sold out. In the end , we lived further down the road but also pretty near the start line, The Beautiful Marigold Hotel. We had to provide a hard copy of the medical cert ( which had to be loaded with the indemnity form) at the collection.
The goodies were bountiful, beside the Boh tea sachets, discount vouchers for shopping at the race site in the padang. All the participants got a backpack, event tee also. Finishers will get medal, cap Actually Tanah Rata is a very easy convenient place, there are a lot of food, convenience store and even night markets for your necessity. There are not many fast food or Chinese food, but a lot of Indian and Malay selections.
The weather is very cooling, in the day it was about 22-23 Deg and I believe it gets colder at night. This place really need a hoodie and long pants , at least for me. But I think for some people they enjoy that extra cooling weather throughout.
Race Proper
Since the 60km starts at 2:45 am we had to retire early around 8 pm , so after a quick dinner it was time to rest. At 2 am the 100K people started to flag off, I was actually not in good health condition and even wondered if I can finish the race. But I plucked myself up and quickly packed up the stuffs. This time I met Richard at the start line he was also doing the 60k it was his first time so it was quite exciting.
There were a total of four check points to go in the 60km, CP 5 is the main check point at the Boh Tea guard house where you first get the drop bag for any mid way needs and before returning to finish you visit CP5 again. All the check points were very well replenished with good hydration , water isotonic, coke, hot coffee. For food wise, even the CP which is mentioned no food, they had snacks , dates and fruits like water melon and oranges. CP 5 was a spread with fried rice, bee hoon, porridge, green bean soup , eggs , sweet potato. It was like a buffet. There were ample seats and shelter at CP 5 to shield from the sun and rain.
Beginning half of the race to about 25 Km was really hard core technical , at least for me, it felt like Lambak with thick forest climbs and descent. It did not help with the rain the day before make the whole trail super muddy and it was another small mud fest. As usual my descent was still very cautious and careful, but this time I did not use the pole for the ascent only for the descent when my feet is starting to feel swollen, not sure if it is due to the shoes.
And soon the 30km folks started to join in the mud fun, now I began to remember why those who had been before said that if you want to complete it fast, you really have to whack the first half and get out of the forest fast as there are many choke points with human jams. Luckily the 30km folks were very understanding, those portions where there were human jams they actually let the 60km and 100km people go first.
In any case when I reach the first time CP5 the feet was already quite bad shape. But I decided not to take out the shoes and change as there were not much time left. What hit worse was that I suddenly could not swallow my food and keep burping badly. I took sometime to sort that out and finally I decided just move already spent more than 20 minutes in that check point.
Lucky Thing
I can only say if it was like Gede Pangrango, I confirm will DNF already. The second half was more forgiving rock trail than the technical part, that being said having hit the noon time already it was hot and scorching and without the vegetation it was really hot. Without much nutrition, I just keep straggling on, this part of the races was through the plantation and by right it was a part where people will start to run and keep up with the missed times in the forest. However, I was just not feeling the strength and to make things worse the piriformis pain got the best of me, at times it was so hard to even bend down. When I managed to once again reach CP5, I finally had some proper food , this time I make sure I chew better with liquid before gulping the food. With some torrential rain in between, the weather was cooler and finally I make it to CP7. Last part heading back to the finish was the brutal Robinson falls, in the beginning we were descending it and now we will ascend. Thank god again because if it were the reverse I would have DNF.
After the final muddy climb, we get to run through a pasar malam and finally main road leading all the way back to the field. I came back the last few, Richard had already finish long ago and I guessed it he got the podium.
Overall, I was just happy that I could finish this race, it felt really tiring, that being said, I still feel it is a very enjoyable and balanced race with trail and roads put together. The vibes was good also and weather was cooling. I guess I will need to come back again to get a better timing.
