Dalat Ultra Trail 2024: chasing the COT and a journey of not giving up

Today, even though two years have passed since the Dalat Ultra Trail, I still feel a lot of emotion about this journey, because back then running more than 30 km was already beyond me

Although I completed a tracklog of 78.22 km with 3,435 m of gain, at the Ultra Dalat 2024 race I went over the COT & DNF and there is still a lot to improve.

My journey through each CP (Check Point) was a true chase of the deadline – and in this race, a chase of the COT (Cut of time)

CP1 & CP2: 20.5 km, gain elevation ~ 1150m (CP1: pine forest with continuous climbs; CP2: climbing the Langbian peak)

Started at 3 a.m., Valley of Love (the day before I had dinner at 6 p.m., went to bed at 7 p.m., tried to sleep and woke up at 1 a.m. to get ready)

This part was my own fault for being too complacent => when CP2 was extended by more than 1 km, I got there at around 8:02 and was stopped for going over the COT. However, I and a few others who arrived like me said we were late because the distance had been increased, and asked for help; this part took 5 minutes for the staff to work with the organizers (BTC) so that we were allowed to continue. At this point, the hope of finishing the race was very slim because I knew beforehand it would be very challenging with the limited time, but I still took a really deep breath and told myself: “calm down, Tri, and I will do my best”

CP3, CP4, CP5: 25.2 km, gain elevation ~ 916m (CP3: descent to Mong Dao Nguyen → toward Suoi Vang Lake; CP4: pine forest with continuous climbs, through Cong Troi village)

At this point, I had regained my spirit and strength, with the goal of reaching CP5 before 3 p.m. => the descents (Rada hill) and the continuous climbs, and the harsh March sun of the highlands, were also quite challenging. My willpower was quite high at this point, I kept following my nutrition and balanced my energy to make the COT as well as to pace myself for the next section, so I reached CP5 at 2:30 p.m. (In this part, I lost 10 minutes because the directions had only a sign saying 112 km, 75 km to go, and I fumbled around running the route backwards to check )

After finishing CP5, my spirits were a little excited because there was still hope (even though the probability was very low)

CP6, CP9: 19.5 km, gain elevation ~ 629m (CP6: the longest rolling section - pine forest with continuous ups and downs, CP9: a short but very steep section)

So there was 1 more COT, at CP9 around 7 p.m.: meaning only 4h30 left to run more than 19.5 km and gain more than 629m => my spirits were back up, so I just ran very comfortably and raised my pace a bit more

Arriving at CP6: it was 5:55 p.m., I decided to stop for only about 3 minutes to get water & take an energy bar & Gel, take my headlamp to continue to CP9, without changing shoes & spare shirt to save time…right after leaving the CP was a stretch crossing a stream in the forest => it was ice cold and so refreshing, and I also silently thanked my Alpha shoes because their design drains water well, so my feet were not affected for the following CPs

This section brought me the most emotions, I tried to raise my pace and ran with everything I had to reach CP9 (more than 5 km with 120 m of gain still to climb). I ran tirelessly in the darkness but my pace could not get any faster because it was dark & my strength had dropped, looking at the slopes above, looking at my watch to see the time left, and in a brief moment of 20 seconds tears suddenly fell from my eyes because I knew I could not make the COT at 7:00 p.m. Then I reassured myself again, I thought about my earlier training, the hardships I had been through, I told myself that I must have a story about not giving up to talk about with my child, and I again said to my body: I love you guys so much…please keep playing with me…Within just those 30 seconds, I became excited again and tried my best and reached CP9 at 7:05 p.m. At this point, I asked a guy there whether I was already late, and he said just go to the check point right there and it will be fine

Here, I stayed for 10 minutes to fill up water, eat porridge, put on my jacket, get nutrition, put on my jacket

CP9 -> CP10: more than 6 km and more than 300 m of gain: this part I was a bit worn out physically, just a little (but not tired because my spirits were high) overall this part felt VERY EXCITING

CP10 – Finish line: more than 7 km and more than 450 m of gain

Night had fallen and I was in the forest so the temperature was quite cold, I still followed the nutrition I had set and my mind was also quite relaxed, enjoying the night journey…

After 3.5 km I met two sweepers coming up, and this part was relaxed because I got to chat with them (however I only remember Tien because he talked with me quite a lot,). This part was quite fun because after a bit I met two more Bib75 runners, so I chatted with them…the funniest was when the two of them met me at the Finish line and said: huh, aren’t you a Sweeper? (probably during our conversation they often asked about km, kilometers, how to keep cool and I also helped the sweepers answer…this is because my Coros watch shows all the stats)

LESSONS FOR MYSELF:

Physical preparation: this time I only had 1.5 months to prepare so it was not very good (because of the Tet interruption, before that I had also trained regularly for 5 months)=> I will learn from this for next time to prepare better
Complacency: don’t be complacent and have a more reasonable strategy for the CP sections => I will stick to the plan more closely to calculate time and pace better
Stamina: fine => Keep following nutrition during the race: I used Tailwind, BCAA, energy bars, Gel Sis, and I drank water quite sufficiently.

Try to train really well next time so that even if the organizers (BTC) increase the km and the gain, I will still be in a position to finish the race on my own terms

Mindset: I have always liked the saying NEVER GIVE UP so I will always carry it with me
When facing the darkness in the forest, I realized that when you focus on the goal ahead, the darkness no longer exists

THANKS:

Myself: thank you to my body and mind for always staying with me to get through the challenging sections together
My family: thank you to my rear guard for managing everything on the weekends when I went to train at Nui Dinh & went to races for 2-3 days
My coach: the training time was only 1.5 months but I improved a lot; I would like to thank my coach for the thorough training plan as well as the precious moments of encouragement and the very uplifting words. Thank you, teacher
Em Tuan Dang: the enthusiastic younger brother who came to meet me at the Finish line
My Trail STR friends: supported me with logistics for the hotel, meals, and teasing each other
The volunteers (TNV) of the Ultra Trail race: young, enthusiastic people full of passion who always supported with all their effort…thank you all so much

The two Sweepers, BiB75: thank you both so much
The race photographers: those who worked hard in the fog and in the sun to get beautiful photos
COROS watch: the battery lasted long enough to save the track log of this journey, because with a weak battery these precious distances would not exist