My First Did Not Finish (DNF) - Craze Ultra 2015 (101km)

In my wildest imagination, I had dreamt that I would become an unconscious potato...or incapacitated to the point of no movement in order to arrive at my first DNF. 

Never had I expected that I would quit a race because my body being in pain, the mind giving up and the heart losing its desire to continue.

Craze Ultra Marathon (101km) was a tough race. This year, 43 out of 152 participants did not complete the race either due to DNF or DNS. 

Statistics of 2015 Craze Ultra 101km Participation

Flag Off at MacRitchie Start Point

It was regrettable that my race was not going as planned since the beginning. I started to develop a small blister on my left foot at the earliest stage of the race. I managed to puncture the blister at CP3 after my wife dispatched me with a nail clipper. However, I could still feel sand particles in my running shoes even though I had frequently removed my shoes and socks to check. It was the beginning of my self-denial stage. I actually thought that it was my mind playing tricks on me, instigating me to quit the race.  In a stubborn mindset, I decided to push on with the race.

At CP3. foot starting to develop blisters

Matters got worse after CP4.  It was then that I felt those really big blisters on the balls of my feet.  Yes. Both sides. It felt like I was floating on 2 pieces of liquid gels in between my feet and soles. This hurt a fair bit. The stubbornness in me made me thought that I could do something about them at the next checkpoint (CP5).

I travelled another 12km along the evil stretch of Timor-Barat highway and Punngol Park connector. To my horror, I suddenly realised that my water bag was empty! To complicate matters, the pain developed from blisters became unbearable. By then, the next checkpoint was 1km away. That time, I knew I had to stop and do something about the blisters. I punctured the blisters and allowed the bloody liquid to ooze out. Ouch!! 

I rested for a while and decided to continue. However, I was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. I felt breathless and lost all my energy. I knew I was seriously dehydrated. Since there was no water top-up point, I had to rest even longer and hoping profusely that I could gain back some energy before crawling my way to CP5. 

Both feet were oozing with liquid after puncturing

Lo and behold, I met my saviours! 2 ultra-runners (Henry Yang and Pris Chew) saw me and  gave me some ice water and coconut water. I drank and was rather revived to continue with the race. At the back of my mind, I started contemplating to quit as I knew that I had reached my physical limits.

Checkpoint 5 (51km mark)

Reaching CP 5 was a wonderful thing. My friends - Raymond Chew and Jackson Chia were waiting to cheer me on. Raymond even bought me beancurd and apples as supplements. I had a good rest there and was telling them about my discomfort. They encouraged me to continue and offered me a ride home should I decide to quit. At that point, any encouragement was a booster. I felt motivated. I thanked them for their support and told them that I would like to proceed with race.

CP5, Enjoying my Beancurd and Massage :)

Continuing was, however, painful. In order to minimise the excruciating pain from the bloody blisters, I was literally limping all my way. Also, the earlier dizzy spell had nonchalantly  drained my energy to the max. 

Never in my life had I to crawl at such a slow speed. In the end,  I accepted the fate to be a quitter and halted the torture at the 65km mark.

2 Big and Painful Blisters at Both Feet

I think I made the right decision to DNF as there would still be other opportunities to redeem myself. I reflected and attributed my failures to the followings : 

(1) over-mileage shoes; 
(2) lack of conditioning training; 
(3) poor discipline of food/water intakes

This DNF, by far, is my greatest defeat in my years of running. I hope this will make me a stronger runner. I swear I will train harder and conquer Craze Ultra (101km) in the subsequent years!!!

DNF at Darul Makmur Mosque (between CP4 and CP3 - about 65km mark)

Acknowledgement

• Thanks to my wife Rachel (aka Mrs Run The Town) for supporting me the entire time. The home cooked lunch was delicious and awesome!!! :)

• Thanks to Raymond Chew and Jackson Chia for cheering me at the 51km checkpoint. Without your moral booster, I would not be able to walk another 15 km. 

• Thanks Henry and Pris Chew for the ice cold water and coconut water. I might have collapsed without your support.

• Thanks to Joel for volunteering to be my pacer at CP3. although he ended up driving me home instead of pacing me. 

• Thanks to the fellow ultra runners who offered me with bandages or encouraging me whenever I was limping (too many to name, so I decide not to name any).

• Last but not least, thanks to the Running Guild and volunteers for organising the run. I will be back!!!