Stage 2- Taiping to Kuala Sepetang
Wednesday Nov. 3
-8k skate around Taiping lake garden.
-1.3k river rock scrambling to 4.3k jungle uphill to waterfall abseil
-Abseil down 25 meters to bike transition
-Bike 24k on and off road to kayak
-Kayak 7.5 k through fishermen village to Kalua Sepetang
-Run 1 k on boardwalk over mangrove to finish
After stage 1 we checked out from the Belum resort and the athlete bus was escorted by several police vehicles and motos providing a rolling road closure all the way to our hotel in Taiping. We were greeted by locals dressed in traditional Malay outfits all lined up offering flowers. The Flemington hotel was elegant and the race organizers pretty much arranged VIP treatment for the entire trip. We were welcomed and had dinner with Taiping District officials and enjoyed music and Malay dance.
After the first leg of the race, Ryan and I were in third position going into the trek. The Swedes were the fastest but we had a good skate and the real race was about to begin. I struggled on the river rock scramble, slipping, falling and bashing my knees and shins on the slick rocks. Following the river section was a grueling 4.3k uphill trek which had to be about 30% average grade of technical and dense rain forest. By the time we hit the top we took over the lead. This is where things got bad and we pretty much gave the entire race away. We were told once at the top it would be a short hike down to the waterfall abseil. This ended up being about an hour of steep downhill on the road, then more scrambling through the river sliding down natural water slides and then steep technical downhill jungle running (and literally swinging on vines). No one accounted for such an extended trek so we were all on the verge of dehydration.
On the rock scrambling, Ryan was leading with the Swedish team between us. I was much slower on that section and was gapped. Then I was caught by the the Yoga Team who caught up to Ryan and the Swedish team. Then the New Zealand team, team Chiru and the Malaysian team caught me. I let them by and followed their lines. I was able to keep up with them so I figured I would regroup with Ryan at the Abseil.
The three teams I was following soon realized they went off course and were lost. The Malaysian team pressed on and had an intuition about where to go. We eventually were pinned next to a waterfall between a fork in the river on a nearly vertical portion of the mountain. We then scaled upward along the edge of the waterfall utilizing plants from the dense forest as ropes and cracks in the waterfall for footing. I remember praying the plants would not deroot. At one point I found a good hold on a big boulder and proceeded to hoist myself upward. The boulder came loose and was about to come down on top of me. I held it up with all my strength to stall it's inevitable plunge in order to warn Mark from team Chiru who was right below me. I could hold on no longer and down went the boulder, my shoulder catching the edge as it fell and I looked down and saw Mark swing like Tarzan into the brush narrowly avoiding the boulder. I stared at the boulder free falling down the waterfall, clacking as it occasionaly smacked the granite face of the waterfall. I stood frozen for a second thinking and in shock. We continued upward until the mountain leveled out a bit and continued to traverse. After some more descending we miraculously reached the top of the abseil. According to the rope guides, Ryan had not been there yet. Unfortunately I did not know that the Swedish and Yoga teams already went down. I thought maybe we beat him and the 2 other teams there somehow and the guide said to go down and he would tell Ryan I went down. I later found out Ryan was back on the course somewhere waiting for me. The other 2 teams had already went by. I went back up to get him and we just cruised the rest of the stage after losing more than an hour. The final km of running was such an unexpected and somewhat enchanting surprise. We ran on a beautiful man made boardwalk that hovered above the forest floor finishing 10th and also bumped down to 10th place in the overall. Read Ryans account and other race coverage on sleepmonsters.com.
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