I chanced upon this race while searching the world marathons website, (originally seeking some interesting swim events since my great experience at Swim To The Moon), and I told Joseph at 2AM that I was buying tickets to Vietnam whether he was coming or not. (We already had ideas to travel Vietnam but this finalized the trip ☺). We took a flight to Hanoi on May 20, had some fluffy time walking around and satisfying my Phở Gà cravings before taking a sleeper van pre-booked from 12go.asia to Mộc Châu. Read more about our Vietnam trip here!
Despite reaching Mộc Châu later than expected and picking our race packets at around 9.30PM at Mường Thanh Holiday Moc Chau, I slept a good amount on the plane and van so I guess waking up at 4.45AM wasn’t too bad. I’m even still wearing my contact lenses from this morning (race day) as I write this post. My eyes hasn’t dried out so I guess I’m well rested. Sunrise in Vietnam is a lot earlier compared to Singapore, the sky was pretty bright when we headed to the race startpoint, back at Mường Thanh Holiday, a 600m walk from our homestay, Nhà Nghỉ Như Ý. It rained through the night, and luckily it was only a light shower during the start so I left my “rain jacket” at the bag drop. I call it my rain jacket because I enhanced it with some Fjällräven Greenland Wax that I think works pretty well.
The 21km and 42km races (half and full marathon) start at 5.30AM. We missed the official start by the time we got our hydration packs filled up, and we were already running late, so we took the time to get comfortable and took a selfie at the start. I definitely recommend having your gear prepared beforehand, so you’re not fumbling with your Garmin watch at the last minute trying to get it to sync after weeks of not using it..
The half and full marathon had the same initial route to the first checkpoint. This was a good 11.5km that I got to run + hike with Joseph. The start was nicely paved and set out with a steep uphill that showcased glorious views of the town overlayed by an array of mist and fog. The temperature was a nice 21°C with high humidity. Parts of the climb were too steep to keep up a jog so we ended up hiking up.
The trail continues, well defined by participants and marker labels. We reached a slowdown behind a line of people at narrow portions that chose to walk, I definitely recommend not being like us and starting in earlier waves to avoid the walkers if you want, but I do like that crowd too since everything feels more chill and joyous.. And hey this is our first official marathon and I didn’t expect to be late, hah. The nice pavement eventually transforms into a muddy path that hugs the banks of the hills. Plum trees with ripened fruit are scattered all over along the trail. They looked really good! The organizers mentioned previously to not take any because they belong to the farmers. We ended up behind a line of people slipping and trying to grasp their way across the muddy slopes. Even with my new Salomon Sense Ride 4 Trail Running Shoes, I too slipped and got my hands muddy, and ended up using my hands to assist in navigating the trail.
Some of the villagers along the trail kindly offered buckets of water for us to rinse our hands in, so my fully muddy hand became half muddy ☺. After a never-ending length of muddy banks, we finally reached some nice gravel, a little downhill and turned the corner to go back uphill through some plum forests. We decided to break out the heed gel brought back from our Frosty Freestyle XC Race. I regretted bringing only one and leaving my other one in the hostel, but oh well. The idea of the first rest stop, expected to have fruit, kept me going strong. We passed groups of friendly village kids that loved giving us high-fives and fist bumps, they were very happy to see us and cheered us on.
About time, the first checkpoint was in site. There was a spread of fruits — oranges, banana, plum, watermelon and even some eggs. I thought the watermelon was really good. My hands were muddy so I was a bit worried about getting mud on my eggs when peeling the shell, but Joseph loved the eggs and ate three. The crew was really friendly, one guy immediately offered me a cup of water when he saw me drinking out of my hydration pack tube. There was also medical care on site with bandages and emergency supplies. Some girls got them to spray some cooling gel on their legs and ankles, so I copied and got the guy to spray my mud splattered hamstrings and calves which were already pretty tight from my training runs at MacRitchie.
After seeing all the walkers we past earlier catch up to the checkpoint, I said bye to Joseph and wished him good luck, heading onwards to the 21km route. There was another steep uphill that eventually faded into a long wide nice gravel trail that was relatively flat, and I managed to keep running almost all the way to my next checkpoint 5K away, that sat at the end of a row of interesting looking shops. I grabbed a watermelon and kept going, running whenever the trail was flat. Although my leg muscles were tight, the cool breeze and beautiful landscape kept me passionate to keep up an easy jog. Trail running has that beat and bounce that makes me feel connected to nature. Rice paddy hills emerged from the farmlands and at this point, many parts of the trail was flooded over. Instead of attempting to avoid the puddles, I succumbed to the fate that my shoes were already half wet and fully muddy, and embraced the deep pools I had to splash through. At this point, my socks were wet but I knew I had to be near. My last checkpoint showed up surprisingly, probably around 2.5K from the previous one. I didn’t think I needed to stop, but I noticed from the corner of my eye some very fresh looking apples that said New Zealand on them, sponsored by Dazzle, and decided to swiftly grab a slice. I definitely should have taken two.
The last section of my run was another length of paved uphills, where some people complained about it being another hill when they were ready to run. They didn’t hike up very fast either and I managed to sneakily past them from my nice deep step lunges. I think my XC ski training helped train these climbing muscles. At last, the tea hills showed up and I knew I was close to the finish. It was an absolutely stunning view, the landscape was so clean and green, I smiled, took some quick shots, and made it to the finish line.
And of course the best part of every event, the food! There was a buffet spread of fruit, some doughy sesame balls with sugar inside, and two hot soup options — Phở Bò (Beef) and Canh Bi Do (Pumpkin). I thought the pumpkin was really good, although one of race volunteers said its not really a Vietnamese style, it’s more westernized. I added some of the peanut salt and sticky rice to it and gobbled it up anyway. After chatting a little more with the other participants, I decided to head back to our hostel to shower and relax. (There wasn’t a restroom at the food tent area, just a tent for rinsing off). I hobbled over with my sore legs to the dedicated bus that took us back to Mường Thanh Holiday. There was a huge sign saying ‘I survived VTM!’. I think it was surviving walking the next few days that was harder for me. Overall I had a lot of fun with my first official trail half marathon experience, I think the distance was a digestible amount and I felt myself going pretty strong all the way to the end. The rain was a double-edged sword; it made the run a lot less hot, but yet also made the muddy trails a lot more technical. I would probably do this again, would you?