Signed up this race because I was going back to Taiwan and thought maybe I just search for one race to join also. This time back to Taipei was also to settle some of my Grand mother’s stuff after she passed away 3 years ago and also visit the relatives who are all getting sick.
Not knowing how my condition will be after the race in Hong Kong, I decided to go for something easier and probably more manageable. I originally wanted to do a road race but to be honest, whenever I do a road race ego comes over and I do not want to go slow. Somehow trail is my “relaxed” mode to enjoy the scenery. I also have not been training much for roads with addition of many sorts of pain in the body especially the ass which I suspect to be piriformis syndrome. This pain had been there since last year and I do not really know what is the main reason, maybe its degenerating or maybe its truly deep injury. In any case , I think this year I will need to put some effort to really recover and heal.
SUPERACE
After browsing through the https://www.taipeimarathon.org.tw/ , a web page where I usually search for all my Taiwan races, I found this race and thought it was just nice because the timing fits and also it is near to Taipei in a place called Ruifang. Although it is also trail, the distance is 20Km which is more manageable( I hope). Ruifang has a popular place called Jiu Fen where the Ghibli movie, Spirited away was modelled after. However, Ruifang station is just another regular taiwan town with a temple and a rather busy night market. I stayed in an Hostel really near to the station but to be honest it was not very impressive and was just basic. After exploring the transport option, I was pleasantly surprised that the weekends have buses running through the city to Ruifang <965>and it is very near to my aunty’s place also.
So on the rainy night of 30 Jan 2026, I took the bus down to Ruifang to check in the hostel Delicate Perfume Ruifang, it rained the whole time and weather forecast has it that it will also rain the second day also. All wet and drenched and I began to feel kinda cold as compared to the previous days. I went out to the nearby 7-11 for a quick supper before going back to prepare. This time round I really did not plan much just go with the flow, totally not going to try my best and enjoy hopefully injury free. I am still a bit reluctant to run since last week’s 100 K.
The Race proper
The race starts at 7 am from Ruifang Professional Technical school, it is across the train station. At first I need to go a big detour just to cut through the station over to the school but I was lucky to meet a fellow runner and we found a way to just go through the station without having to buy ticket. I just had a small drop bag with some small change of clothes just to keep myself warm for bath. The rain did not stop at all in fact there were snippets of heavy rain, as I did not wear a vest I just put everything that I need in the T8 shorts. Basically I only brough the poles, some salt sweets, a 500ml bottle and that was it. A lot of mandatory Items I did not bother to bring as I thought it was a short 20km , and some more it should be done within the day.
There were not many people at the flag off and most were actually participants of the stage race which happened since Friday. The stage race is indeed quite tough because it has no support stations and you had to practically settle your own logistics. It does not help that the Ruifang area is quite rainy during this season. But I saw quite a few tough athletes in this race.
After the flag off was road before cutting into small bits of green trail, stairs and more stairs, the condition was a bit too slippery and I found it to be a bit dangerous however for the first parts I managed to go up and down injury free. Some of the scenic places that the trail brought us to was 九份老街, jiu fen old street, 猴硐 Houtong, mining area with some historic landmarks. The main Peak was Bu Yan Pavilion 不厭亭. After Houtong was home run back to Ruifang technical school. Up the Bu Yan pavilion was one rest point with water and some jelly sweet only, the next check point was at Houtong with red bean curd to replenish and some hydration. But the weather was too cold I hardly drank any water, the Bu Yan Pavilion portion was really cold for me and I was actually shivering there when I could head down. It doesnt help that there were some rope climbing after the pavilion, a bit like Lambak except it was colder.
Just before the home run back to Ruifang, there was quite a bit of descending. And a lot of stone steps, this was where I was not careful and slipped. I sprained my left feet and had a small bump on the right. I was so worried that this time I be gone and need to DNF, but somehow the feet was still okay and I just pull it through. Thank god the ending portion was road all the way. I must say the road portion was almost 80% of the race and only a small portion of the real mud. The next common terrain was stairs, it would have been good if it was not raining then the stairs would not be so slippery.
Finale
Just before I come in the finish line it started to rain again it was a bit narrow towards the end and there were no road closure so it could get a bit dangerous especially if large buses come through. We were given a medal. There were some changing facilities in the school compound and organiser had a lunch thrown in at the school multi purpose hall. I helped us to keep a bit warm during the rainy day. Overall this race is quite enjoyable and we have some really friendly runners. The volunteers are also very helpful, most of them could speak English, unlike the previous Taipei race were most could not speak English. I paid about S$100 for this race which I find a little steep. Somehow I felt if the weather was better it would have been good and I personally will not specially come to this race, it was just happen that I came back to Taiwan and thought I might as well do a race.
