Runners that toed the
start line for the TransOmania 300 kilometer non-stop ultramarathon had no idea
what they were in for. This race turned
out to be the most difficult, challenging event many had ever undertaken. I think it would be safe to say that everyone
underestimated how long they would be out on the course for.
The race description was for the most part accurate… but it
was almost impossible to describe the terrain accurately. I had studied the description, and zoomed over
the course multiple times on google earth… but still was a bit shocked at the
difficulty faced early on
The race began at 9pm Monday night. There were to be 13 checkpoints along the
way…some as far as 30 kilometers apart.
The race began with a 5 kilometer easy run to the base of “The Wall”
that we had all stared at during the day.
The mountain rose above our camp and looked deceptively easy to
climb. It was 12 kilometers of
switchbacks to the top of the range…which topped out at about 2100 meters.
The beginning of the climb was tough… but nothing out of the
ordinary to those used to hiking. But it
was the top that was out of control.
There were some sections that rose at a 35 degree angle, and literally
took your breath away. I, for one, was
gasping for air, and leaning heavily on my poles.
CP 1 was at the top of the climb. Runners refueled with the mandatory 3 liters
of water and carried on. All felt that
the most difficult part of the climb was now over with. On google earth, it looked like the next 50
kilometers or so would be on undulating terrain. It should have been fairly easy to get to CP 4
and begin the descent down a single track toward an oasis.
But this was not the case.
CP 1 to CP 2 was 23 kilometers. The
first half of this section felt easy.
Fantastic! It was a welcome
relief to get a break following the insane climb. But the second half became a series of
rollers. Steep, steep uphills where you
would try to catch your breath before heading down…and then another steep,
steep uphill. At the top of each climb you
would wonder whether this was it. And
then there would be another hill and then another. It seemed endless. Running in the dark, it was tough to
determine when, or if, the hills would end.
CP 2 to CP 3 again started off fairly easy and was runnable. But then athletes began to head down into a
canyon. There was no way to anticipate the
beauty of this area. It is referred to
by locals at “The Grand Canyon” of Oman. It is a 1,000 meter deep limestone
gorge. As the sun moves overhead, the
colors of the canyon change from vivid orange to cool blue to softly
violet. It is breathtaking. At the
bottom runners crossed a dried out river bed and then began the climb out. Again, another steep climb and for many it
was getting really hot out. The hunt was
on for any type of shade. It was only
about 30 degrees Celsius, but the sun was incredibly intense. It felt like you were in an oven. There were little pockets of shade here and
there beneath rocky outcrops, and tucking in for a brief moment felt like a
cool blast of heaven. It was tough to
leave it behind. And then the hunt was
on for the next pocket.
The course description indicated that CP 3 to CP 4 was only
4.4 kilometers. You had to reach CP 4
within 15 hours of starting the race…so by noon on Tuesday. Anyone who thought they could make up time here
and easily make the cutoff was dead wrong.
This section was entirely uphill.
It involved almost 1,000 meters of climbing in 4 kilometers. It was extremely difficult. Runners that rolled into the CP were either
at a loss for words and just pushed on…or they were shaking their heads and
cursing the craziness of the course. It
was just so much more difficult than imagined.
The first 60 kilometers of this race saw 5600 meters of elevation gain!
I saw Chris Yeo here.
As you read in my previous blog, he was the guy from Singapore who wanted
to finish this race in 67 hours. He wanted to be back home in Singapore to
celebrate Chinese New Year with his wife and new baby. He was looking strong
and doing well! He just might make it
home in time! To meet his goal he would
have to really push to be done by late Thursday afternoon.
CP 4 to CP 5 was described as being single track. It was a downhill section that would lead
straight to an oasis called Wadi Bani Khalid.
It was a little piece of heaven within the barren, rocky landscape. Runners could stop there if they wished and
soak their feet in the pools of water beneath the welcome shade offered by
nearby palm trees. It is a popular
tourist destination for people looking to venture off the beaten track.
But getting to CP 5 was tough. This was not a single track section. This was a steep, rocky descent over 17
kilometers long. Runners had to
negotiate treacherous sections of rock, and many fell along the way and had
bumps, bruises and scrapes to show for it.
So it was a lot more difficult given that there was not really much of a
track and it was fairly steep going downhill. Negotiating terrain like this was
not new to some of the runners, but
everyone expected there to be a more defined trail…so it took a lot longer to
cover than many expected.
Getting to the oasis was a relief. Many runners stopped and took the time to
relax for a few minutes and shake off the fatigue of the previous 82
kilometers. Only about 200 kilometers to
go now! The worst was over! Italian runner Luisa Balsamo stopped and
soaked her feet in the water for awhile.
She said it felt so fantastic!
For her it was worth it to spend a few minutes to just regroup and get
back on the course feeling more refreshed.
From CP 5 to CP 6 runners followed a paved road through a
small town and headed back into the mountains. There was another cutoff time to
get to this CP… 24 hours. This was also
the first section where runners had to go 30 kilometers between CPs, which is a
long way. I have never done a race
before where the CP’s have been this far apart. You may be completely alone for the entire
distance and it is always a relief to get to a CP and get a little social
interaction with whoever happens to be there at the time.
From CP 6 to CP 7
runners were beginning the trek toward the desert. The last few kilometers toward CP 7 offered
up a taste of what was to come. There
were small dunes and some very deep sand.
It was here that people started to get lost. For some reason, the markers kept being taken
from this area. Speculation was that the
local bedouin were taking them…even though this had never happened at previous
events held by the race director in Oman.
As fast as the markers were replaced, it seemed like they were disappearing
again.
Athletes became extremely frustrated and discouraged. Race Director Cyril Fondeville was at his
wits end trying to replace the markers and not being able to understand why
this was happening. It just didn’t make
sense. It created some chaos within the
event, which was sad. But it certainly isn’t
the first time that this has happened at
a race. It is, unfortunately, a
complication that does arise from time-to-time and takes a great deal of mental
toughness to overcome.
I have been in other events where I have had to deal with the
frustration of feeling lost and wondering if you are going the right way. It slows you down… and you may start to feel
you are losing your mind. In one desert
race I did there was a massive sandstorm that blew all the markers away, or
buried them under sand. I was lucky
enough to be with a group of soldiers who were pros at navigating by
compass. We took bearings every 10 or 15
minutes or so, and did a headcount at the same time to make sure we hadn’t lost
anyone in the storm.
In another competition, there were markers set up for the
day, but when night fell they weren’t visible because the glow sticks had gone
missing. Race organizers couldn’t find
the glow sticks to put out and runners were getting lost in the dark. Eventually the sticks were tracked down. They
were found in a truck driven by a guy who didn’t know what was in the bags that
were stuffed in the back seat.
In yet another race I did in Canada, the markers were being
taken from certain parts of a race course by a disgruntled person who did not
seem to care for the event being held in his city. Every year, the person would come out to the
race and steal markers and race officials would constantly have to replace
them. They could never catch the person
in the act. Who does this? I just don’t get it.
So even though most races provide markers, I have learned to
become fairly proficient at using my GPS. In races that provide GPS
coordinates, I always put in the waypoints for the CP’s… and sometimes put in
the waypoints for the track so I know where I am minute-to-minute. If I deviate even slightly off-course, my GPS
will show me that I am off track and I will slightly alter my direction.
Having said all of this...the course will be slightly altered next year in this section to prevent this from happening again.
CP 7 to CP 8 was very doable. It was basically a fairly hard packed sandy
surface in a valley with dunes up on either side. Runners were able to negotiate this stretch
fairly easily and CP 8 was at the halfway point. Here they could access their drop bags for a
change of clothing, more food and whatever else they had brought to treat
themselves.
CP 8 was a Safari Camp.
It was basically a compound in the desert where tourists could come and
spend a few days enjoying the desert.
There was an arched entrance into the camp, and a path that led to a
dining tent. There were carpets on the
ground with tables and chairs, and a side buffet. There was also a lounging tent to enjoy
Sheesha or relax and enjoy the desert ambiance.
Tourists could go on camel treks, or 4 wheel drive excursions. There was sand surfing and amazing walks in
the sunset. There were also small huts
that provided beds, showers and toilets.
But runners gathered just outside this compound. They could rest here before pushing on. But the only luxury they could access is
what they had in their own drop bag.
Many stopped here for awhile to work on their blistered feet…or enjoy a
massage. French runner Michel Deschamps
did not finish the 300 kilometer event.
He was a trained masseuse and physiotherapist and he provided many of
the athletes with massages as they made their way along the course. Runners also managed to get some food down
here and then they would push on. There
was now the longest stretch of sand of any desert race in the world to be
crossed…130 kilometers of sand and dunes!
I knew going in that this was going to be a real slog…and it
was. This was not a hard packed sandy
surface like the Marathon des Sables.
This was like Dune Day of the MDS…. But instead of 20 kilometers of sand and dunes… it was 3 marathons
long!!! The sun was intense and there
was no shade. Athletes needed every drop
of water of the mandatory 3 liters they carried with them. A few complained how heavy it was … but it
was quite clear that for safety reasons everyone had to carry this amount. Luckily, there was always a race vehicle
coming by and it would stop and race officials were offering runners more water
to drink or pour over their heads.
With the deep sand it was almost impossible to run. The only thing you could do was power walk as
fast as you could and just keep moving. There
is a technique to negotiating sand. You
walk uphill, you run downhill...and you run any flat hard-packed sections. The more desert races you run…the more it
becomes second nature. It is like
automatically switching gears. I also
take advantage of each passing cloud. If
a cloud were ever to obscure the sun, I would pick up my pace a bit and take
advantage of the cooler moment.
Eventual winners Johan Steene and Joao Oliveira played
leapfrog at this point. One would push
on ahead and the other would catch up.
One would stop to catch a nap and the other would catch up again. Johan said that Joao had an almost inhuman
ability to power walk at an extremely fast pace through the sand. Perhaps it came from his marching and being a
member of the Portuguese Special Forces.
This continued through from CP 8 to CP 11. Back and forth they battled it out. They both tried to catch little naps by this
time. Johann figures that in total he
only slept for about an hour-and-a-half tops over the duration of the 300
kilometers.
It was after passing through CP 10 that Johan began to
hallucinate. The Wahiba Desert is interesting
in that it receives some moisture in the way of dew that is carried in from the
ocean. As a result there are little
green shrubs that dot the sand dunes.
Johan was so tired that he began to hallucinate that the bushes were
small animals that were lying in wait for him.
He was positive that as he moved the animals were getting ready to jump
out and pounce on him. He knew at this
point he had to keep his thoughts simple.
Just think about putting one foot in front of the other. But even this was too complicated, and he
couldn’t do it. So he paused to take a
10 minute nap and when he awoke, felt like he had become re-energized.
Just before CP 11 Johan caught up to Joao, who was stretched
out sleeping on a sand dune. Johan woke
him up and they decided to do the rest of the course together. Neither runner could speak the same language. Johan is Swedish and could speak English… and
Joao could only speak Portuguese. But
Johan said there was a universal language they shared as runners with signing
and gestures that they both knew what the other was trying to communicate. It was really quite remarkable.
By this time Chris Yeo knew that he was off his projected
time. There was no way he was going to
make it in 67 hours. But he had made the
decision to finish, and would make it home to Singapore as soon as he could
arrange another flight.
My Italian friend Luisa Balsamo found the race to be
extremely difficult. Many other runners
all thought about quitting at some point along the way…but not Luisa. She is so experienced, and has seen so much
in the countless races she has done…nothing seemed to be beyond her abilities.
CP 12 to CP 13 was 21 kilometers long. There were some beautiful white dunes to be
crossed in the beginning and then there was a long flat plain. Then there were about another 5 kilometers of
sand dunes. It was here as you climbed to
the top of one of the dunes that you got your first glimpse of the ocean. What an incredible sight. After so much sand the blue ocean rippling in
the sun was almost like an illusion. The
finish line was so close now!
Pretty soon civilization came into view. Runners could see a huge radio tower and they
made their way toward it and soon crossed a highway. They had to climb up yet another hill, and
then there it was. The white tents off
in the distance signaled where the finish line was. They were set up on the beach right next to
the water that was rolling into shore.
You could smell the salt! You
could feel the moisture! This was it …
the coast-to-coast was finished!
Most runners were able to manage a quick trot to cross the
finish line into the open arms of the volunteers
and Race Director Cyril Fondeville! I am
not usually at a race as a spectator, waiting at the finish for runners to come
in. It was bitter-sweet. I had dreamt
for so long of being one of them. But it was so much fun to witness the pure
joy experienced by so many as they realized they had completed this extremely
difficult challenge! It was over and
they were successful!
Right after the joy, there was the fatigue. Runners would stagger over to a chair, or
would bend over and support their weight with their hands on their knees. All anyone could think of was eating and
sleeping. Some went directly to their
tents. Others stayed and took
pictures. Most wanted to take their
shoes off right away, and there were some really nasty looking feet!
Johan Steene and Joao Oliveira both finished together in 58
hours 25 minutes…an incredible time.
Johan told me that he thought he was going to complete this course in 48
hours. Most runners seemed to be off
their projected finish times anywhere from 10 to 30 hours. The winners were followed in just a short
time later by French runner Thierry Corbarieu, who finished in 59 hours 50
minutes.
Luisa Balsamo came in fourth place overall, and was first
female with a time of 74:18!
Chris Yeo came in at 82:41. He had wanted to finish late Thursday, but
ended up making it across the finish line early Friday morning. Chris finished in 8th place overall out of 29 competitiors that completed the 300 kilometer race. There were 50 people registered for the event. He went straight to his tent and got ready to
head out of camp. He had a plane to
catch. Cyril Fondeville had a car ready
for him to make the trip back to Muscat. From there Chris would fly on to
Singapore.
But he was the only runner to leave. Everyone else stayed to welcome in the other
runners still crossing the finish line.
I was so impressed. Joao had won
the race, and he stayed on to help runners across the finish. He helped them to take their packs off and
despite being stiff, was able to kneel down and help them untie their shoes. This is a guy who won the Spartathlon ultramarathon
in Greece in 2013!
He was just so nice
and so gracious, as was Johan Steene.
Johan is a member of the Swedish ultramarathon team and placed 13th
in the 246 kilometer Spartathlon. Both
men impressed everyone with their
athletic prowess and yet their absolute humble approach to running and to
life. I think it can be rare to see both
traits in a great athlete.
Runners trickled in after that, and everyone in camp would
stop what they were doing and cheer them on as they came toward the
finish. There was German athlete Brigid
Wefelnberg, who paused to call her boyfriend in Germany so that she could take
him across the finish line with her!
And it just wasn’t the 300 kilometer runners who were coming
in. There were also the runners
finishing the 200 and 100 kilometer races. One of these was Miquel Roig Ballester. He had raced in the 200 kilometer event. This was his first ever ultramarathon. What an introduction to ultramarathon
running! He said it was the hardest
thing he had ever done… but he loved it.
It tested him like nothing ever had, and that was why he came to this
race. He is from the Spanish island
Mallorca. He said the heat never
bothered him because he was used to it.
He also said that he brought along enough food, and that he was happy
with all his gear choices. What a pro! Miquel is now hooked on desert racing, but
will have to put off running for awhile because he is training now to become a
police officer.
Miquel was incredibly tough, because even seasoned ultrarunners
found this event to be so difficult.
Some of the athletes who had very little experience at ultras…found this
event to be too unforgiving. They would
never come back.
Many of the European
runners, however, had years of experience.
They, too, found TransOmania to be one of the most difficult events they
had ever competed in. But the more races
you do, the more knowledge you acquire.
And with the years of experience, the more you see and encounter at races,
and the tougher you get.
I had recently taken on the Italian race… Tor des Geants. In fact, Luisa Balsamo is doing the race this
year. It is a mountain race in
Italy. I will tell you that TDG is an
incredibly difficult 200 mile non-stop race that will take everything you have
to finish. There are huge climbs,
treacherous descents and miles upon miles of rock and scree to cross over. And then there is the occasional snowstorm
that can come along and coat everything in ice.
So there are other equally tough races out there…I am not
going to go into naming them all… but there are a handful of other really
challenging events. This is now one in
that handful. It is the toughest desert
race I have ever encountered. I did not
get far in this event because I started the race with dysentery and never
recovered. But I will be going back next
year. And I am also looking forward to
doing the sister event in The Desert Challenge series… TransArabia.
TransArabia is going to be held in Jordan in November. It will also be featuring 300, 200 or 100 kilometer non-stop
races. But now organizers have decided
to add a stage race option. What is
really great too, in my opinion, is that runners who start off in the 300
kilometer non-stop event and find it too difficult, can switch to the stage race
at any point.
To tell you the truth, I am not really going to change much
in my training. I feel that I was ready
to take on TransOmania…and I am just going to carry on this summer working on
maintaining and building on my fitness.
I know what to expect, and will be heading to TransArabia with my eyes
wide open. There is a great little
expression I heard awhile back at one of the races I did.
“It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.”
I love it. A great
race tests you. It throws everything at
you and then some. You are going to
laugh, and you may cry. You are going to
curse, and you are going to hate everything and everyone. You are going to make great friends, and
maybe lose some. You are going to be
brought to your knees with crippling pain, and you are going to be on top of
the world when you witness the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen. At the end of the event you may swear to
never come back or do another race ever.
But after a few weeks the pain fades and the body recovers. The mind only remembers the joy of certain
moments and the relief at the finish.
And pretty soon, you are looking ahead to your next event…and you are
planning the following year. Difficult
races will either push you over the edge and you will decide to stick to what
you know and do best…or they will propel you forward toward more unchartered
territory. Pushing the envelope…that is
what I love. You fall down, you get back
up. That is all there is to it. One can always FIND A WAY.
I will be heading back to Oman next year to take part in the 300 kilometer TransOmania. I cannot wait! If you would like to compete in this event you can contact me on FaceBook. I am the race representative and will do what I can to help you prepare for this challenge.
