Trailblazing... second time round..

Last Sunday, BK and I went again for this year's Genting Trailblazer, and it was yeah... FUNZ!! For those who don't know, GTB is a 14 km trail run around Awana Genting, and it is one of the tougher trail runs I've ever been to as the tracks are not as straightforward as it seems. This year, we were in the competition category, hoping to win some moolah.. hehe.. and so, with tt in mind.. off we went.

We had a lot of change in plans, so we air-asia-ed to KL LCCT, bus to KL Sentral, Cab to Awana. Chked in and registered.....
And off we were to our room.

After a short break, it was off to Rajawali for makan. The food was only so so this time, and the dessert platter not as nice as last year's. Lotsa ppl were there to eat their fill.. and I'm sure the restaurant was fully prepared for us.. hehe

BK happy and finally full

After that, up to Genting for a stroll. Walked around First World and tried to shop for shoes.. As usual, failed miserably... conclusion: I am so not a women's shoe/sandals shopper.. hehe

BK enjoying a Candy floss

Me and my gorilla

The next morning, it was super misty... had a Power Bar and prepped for the race. Walked to the starting point.. and there were sooo many ppl. Found Ah Tey taking photos of everyone.. hehe.. good ole Tey...

Lotsa ppl at the starting point

The before pic

The race started with about a 3km run through the roads along the golf course. Mind you, not a flat road, but one long one filled with slopes, and with the surrounding mist, it was hard to gauge when the next upslope was (plus, it kinda felt like some Silent Hill scenery too). After about 20mins or so.. we hit the trails.. and whoa.. it was damn muddy and slippery. My shoe had no traction most of the time, and I fell a few times even on the flat trail ground (ok, ego bruised here) leaving with me 2 deep cuts on my right palm.The first part was similar to the previous TB route and was up and down and up and down over and over again. Some parts required us to slide, some parts had ropes to pull ourselves up.

After about the 3 river crossings (where I consistently cleaned my hands) we reached the hardest part of the race... the almost never ending UP UP UP hill. This itself took about 20 to 30 mins to complete and I had to stop and take a breather about 3-4x before completing the hill climb...

Small river crossing

ok.. starting to see steps.. gg to reach liao... about 10 more mins..
and yes!!! I am on the road... yay!!! the last water point and toilet break before head on to the finish point.


The last part last year was a road run to the obstacle course.. and it was mainly downhill.. and I thought it was the same this year.. I WAS DEAD WRONG.!!!... we turned off into another sandy trail area and it was upslope... AGAIN... before heading down to the obstacle area.
Now, HERE is where the fun begins. There were a few water pits and a tall mound on the site. We had to go through the water pits.. and I didn't know of it was deep or shallow. There were a few photogs on the mound to the side.. and well.. we asked.. they said just go ahead... I took one step.. and.. whoopps.... I went into the water. I stood up and the water was at my shoulder level.. haha.. oh well.. ok.. cursed at the photog for abit.. hahha.. next were walls limbs, more water pits, bamboo bridge walk, well.. let the pics tell the story.

Wading under the bamboo poles

Big wall to climb, then jump into the muddy water

Bamboo pole bridge

Climb up and jump in to the water

Anyway, we ended the race at 1:55 hrs and it was fun!! We were mixed number 7.. damn ... missed the podium by 2 positions again.. oh well..

Some new frens at the event : Tweet & Ribbit

Ah Tey at his job!!

Back to the room, showered, ate food, took more pics, before heading back to the room to clean up and pack. Had a nice HOT bath .. mm.. I love hot baths.. and chked out. BK bought some Brooks shoes and off we were to the First World again to get bus tickets to head back to SG.

The medal and shoe bag

As usual, had lotsa fun times this race, although it was tough. To me, this year's race was better than last year's, maybe cos a little but fitter and that the route changed a bit. The obstacle course was different as well, with new varieties of obstacles to go through. This was much more interesting and was soooo much better than just climbing last yr's walls. Hope they make it better and better as tiem goes by.. so...

Might join again next year, so watcha waiting fer !!

Trudge on...