Wet rocks are slippery rocks
Last Sunday I started running in Phattalung as the sun came up at 6. Four hours and 27 minutes later I was back where I started, at the finish line of the Ultra Trail Thailand Phattalung 25 km.
After I fell four times in my race at Krabi a few weeks ago, my strategy for this race was to stay on my feet and try to finish without hurting myself. I’m happy to report that this strategy was largely successful. I navigated a lot of mountain trails, some country roads, and many stream crossings, with just a single crash. That happened on a straightaway through a rubber plantation, when I caught my left foot on a root. At the speed I was going, for I happened to be running rather than walking that stretch, there was no way I could catch myself, and I went down.
Running these races during the southern Thailand rainy season brings all kinds of challenges. Slippery trails. Wet rocks. Turbulent streams. An abundance of vegetation. Leeches. Considering the difficulty of the course, I was quite pleased to finish, and to finish 35th overall.
