The North Face 100 (TNF100) Singapore 2011 edition, in it's fourth year in Singapore, is no doubt the toughest and most challenging race in Singapore, AND I am not joking.

Held on October 18, over 1500 trail runners armed with their hydration kits and energy boosting food attempted the trail routes. Trail routes are no joke and are easily underestimated. You need to try it out yourself before you actually comprehend how tough it actually was. Obviously I underestimated it and suffered due to zilch trail run trainings nor had enough hill works to tackle the slopes efficiently.

To emphasis on the course difficulty, only 60 of the best athletes based on the times of previous runs will be selected to race in the 100km challenge. This was probably meant to maintain image of the race's toughness while at the same time assess the participant's capability and safety. 100km Solo runners starts at 1am in the wee morning while 100km Duo and 50km Duo starts 8am and 10am respectively.

A last minute change in the flag off timing for the 100km duo (7am to 8am) initiated a massive debate on The North Face Singapore facebook page due to the short notice which apparently only occurred a week plus before the race day. The change upset the flights and plans of many oversea runners.

Further outroar took place when the news that no isotonic drink will be provided at the various checkpoint was made known. The organizer eventually promised 100 plus at two separate checkpoints and this action appease the runners. The reason provided for a later flagoff was however not acceptable. Affected runners had little choice though but to make necessary arrangement so as to make it for their flights.

Stuff provided by the sponsors for this race was pretty decent. At least most of the stuff were good to eat, nice to hold or great to read. The sponsors they found were pretty good but I just can't figure out why there was no isotonic drink sponsor for such a big event. It was really puzzling. Milo is a good drink but definitely not a good race drink.

The routes were made known a week before the race day and for those that went up all the way to Mandai area, I really salute them since they had to do the 265 hill - a well known killer ground for TNF runners, and double salute to those that need to do the whole cycle twice! 

Some runners checked the weather forecast provided on NEA website and reminded everyone to water proof their equipments but Mr Rain did not appear. It was scorching hot on event day but everyone braved through the obstacle as all the runners aim to Break All Boundaries.

Vivian gave a life so we arrived early to find a nice parking lot and at the same time wanted to get hype up by the event. We entered the pit early after getting our hydration kit weighted and everyone started pouring in after a while. The race started pretty sliently, without much hype of any sort. I was expecting an emcee but apparently none was around. The race happened... just happened... and we just ran. Rather disappointing.

The hills were actually providing me enough problems as I attempted the 25km route. Uphill was draining on the muscle and downhill was no way better. I couldn't go any fast because of the uneven grounds. I don't want to create a humanball down the slope. That's a great experience for me who have done no trail runs before. 

Three refreshment point were provided for the 25km Route at 7.1km, 14.7km and 18km mark. Isotonic drinks and milo were given out at both the 7.1km and 18km point. GU gels & chomps, banana and water refills were provided at the 14.7km mark. I managed to boost my tank with little of each but there were complains from my buddy and other runners that water ran out at the 14.7km point and everyone was scooping whatever they could get hold of like ice, milo or even the water from the toilet 200 meters down.

The lack of water at WP2 was, in my opinion, a problem created by both the organizer and the runners themselves. Wastage could be observed by runners and should have been anticipated by the organizer and  should have prepared more water at that checkpoint knowing that many people will be crossing that point. Littering was another big No-No as well but it's another habit that runners needs to rid off by having some trail etiquette

Signage was another major grumble in this race. I'm used to running on flat ground and the distance marker provided at every km was a great pacer and motivator for me. I came to realise after this race that it was never a practice for trail runs. Another lesson learnt. What was however not very acceptable was the lack of directional guide nor marshaller at junctions. I heard of sabotages done on the signboards, removed by who I do not know but that should never deter them to place marshals at critical points.

These acts created major problems for people as they missed check points and did not have their timing recorded, went extra miles thus wasting precious minutes and those extra fatigue clocked resulted in a bad timing and in some cases caused them to not finish the race.

What was a surprising act by the organizer was actually the giving of cold, wet towel which was like a gift from heaven under this scorching sun. It was very well appreciated by the runners. Other than the organizer's gift, cheering supporters who captured the runner's moment with their DSLR also distributed life-saving drinks and ice packets! These kind gestures is what makes trail race heartwarming and a good race experience.

Trail runners are bonded somehow as everyone helps everyone in a way or another. We motivate one another to move forward, gives way to overtaking runners, guides one another forward (either the right way or the wrong one), helps each other when you fell and someone to notice that you are not feeling well. I'm impressed at the bond this community creates and am not saying road runners doesn't do that but it just wasn't as obvious.

Another group of people worth praising were the volunteers who helped gave out food and drinks. They did every little thing they could to help make this event successful. Kudos to them.

There were disagreement on wherever finisher medals should be given to runners who did not complete within the cut off timing as runner. One side debated on the integrity of the race to stick to their cutoff timing and respect the toughness of the race while another side defended stating they did finished the race while suffering a penalty for being lost in the trail. It's difficult to deem who is right but medals were given to the finishers.

Refreshment at the end of the race exceeded my expectation as they had subway sandwiches & cookies, fruits like strawberries, grapes and bananas, jellies and hard boiled eggs. Cold Milo were served and plain water ran out pretty quickly. Despite experiences from runners in previous years, I was still impressed at the quality and quantity served. 

The free massages was well received but many runners actually preferred to sit, stretch their sore muscles and chat about the gruesome treatment handled out by the hills.

Results took three days to be published which wasn't unbearable for me but the results shown wasn't at all accurate. Furthermore, results given was purely gun timed which in my opinion was not useful at all. These deeply handicapped the runners who left the gantry late due to the huge participation rate. Furthermore, there were numerous cases of runners passing Checkpoint without records resulting in their disqualification. It's frustrating for runners to get an unjustifiable result after paying that exorbitant entry fee to enjoy a great race. These not only burden the affected runners but other runners since this messes up the ranking system and runners will not know where they were placed exactly. There were speculation that the number tag provided was of poor quality which I hope is not the case.

I got a ranking of 98 with a timing of 3 hours 21 mins and 31 secs but I know for sure that was the guntime and am happy I finished within the cutoff timing being my first attempt but at the same time was disappointed that my first experience that didn't give me a real gauge of where I stood in this race.

The organizer was responsive in my opinion as compared to the many different races seen but the many screw ups were unforgivable, especially when timing and poor signages leading to wrong route ran were of concern.

If questioned on ever taking part in this challenge again, i would probably give a Yes, provided a better organization takes over the planning.

And finally congrats to Yang Jiagen, 26, a Chinese student from Beijing who clocked a timing of 10 hrs 02 min 55 sec. He won TNF100 China Solo category with a timing of 08 hrs 01 min. The heat and humidity level in Singapore must have got to him but he did well.

PS: Some pictures shown were not taken by me. If you are the picture's owner and would like for the pictures to be removed or acknowledge, please drop me an email @ yg1983@yahoo.com