Mt Kinabalu Recee Trip - 21 July 06

It rained the whole night and i was having doubt whether the training will proceed. Anyway, rain or shine the training would have to move on. Fortunately by the start of the run, it was excellent weather.



We have breakfast at 7am. Proceed to Mt Kinabalu HQ around 8am. Did the necessary paperworks and meet up Head of Rangers at Mt Kinabalu, he give us a warm welcome and we proceed to meet up with the guides(5 of them). It was a long wait for the paperworks to finish and a briefing on the start and end point of the climbation event. We proceed to Timpohon Gate before i start our training around 9am+



Due to the time that we started, we can't proceed further than Laban Rata gate at 6km. There is a curfew of non-move at 12 noon due to safety reason.

I wear my normal LSD running gear for the run today. I need to test out the gears to see whether it is suitable for this environment. I have my running cap, running(SNW) tee, my swim trunk/thigh, Asics Nimbles and Thrlos sock. I carry a day pack that includes all sort of "rubbish" since i was suppose to bring along all importance document(passports, wallet etc) with powerbar, jacket, 2 water bottles(1 isotonic), camera and gloves.

This is just a familiarisation run today, so do not require to push too much. I expect to climb up till Laban Rata and see how it goes. I don't know what to expect as this is my first "trekking" kind of event. I went gently up without much expectation. This is totally new to me as i soaked up the experience, i moved up slowly upwards, a flight of stairs at a time. Slowly, i reached 500 meters, 1km, 1.5km onwards.

I didnt wear my gloves as yeeshen have informed, i only need them after 6km. I was wrong. I do require the golves as certain part of the climb it is better to use the ladder/rope/handrails that is provided to give a better leavage. Handrails are slippery due to the cold weather. About 20-30mins into the climb, i am already looking forward to the end of the event. Heartrate is about 150bpm and though i prefer 140+(very comfortable range), 150 will do as well. Wow, like that already feeling unintersting leow, what am i doing here? Pretty siong leh, still have a long distance to go leow. Fortunately Anthony was walking nearby with me so we buddy up together. I guess his presence is important or else i could have given up or don't know what will happen?

Finally we reach Layang-Layang at 4km whereby we took a breather. We took about 1:07hrs to reach there. I put down the day pack, put on the gloves and drink some water. Immediately i was attack by the cold bugs and have to proceed to keep the warm going. I guess from this point onwards, i am walking on my own, my heartrate drops to 140+ and i am pretty glad and feeling ok. I guess without somebody walking together, i am not that stress and able to relax.





When i finally reach Laban Rata it is 2:07hrs from the start. During the climb only Timothy and David are in front. I overtook Yeeshan around 5km mark and meet him and Anthony at Laban Rata resthouse shortly while we rest there.


It was pretty cold at there about 12.9 degress.




We meet a beautiful ranger lady there.




We rest took photos, chit chat and i took a powerbar and put on the kneeguards there as well. Soon we make our decent.

Timothy and Yeeshen leads the way, wow the way they goes down are pretty fast while i gingerly find my footings. As time proceed, i gain in confidence and get a hang of things and proceed faster, but also slow down when necessary. I lost my footing at times, slip many times, almost sprains both ankles on a few occassions, fumbles a few times as i learned the trade to run downhills.

I meet a beautiful smiling face some way down the path(which i believe it is IMD's gf). As i trial and test my new learned experience with confidence. I reached Timpohon gate 1:19hrs later. Timothy, Lingram and Carmen are there waiting.

My shoe and sock is dry. My clothes are pretty dry as well. As we stretched and wait for the rest of team members to return. I reflect on the day event that have developed and try to digest, put it onto memory bank.


IMD's gf finally arrived at Timpohon gate and we chitchat for a while.


We took photos and exchange pointers there. When everybody arrived, we proceed to have lunch around 2pm in Kinabalu Park hostel( i think).

It was simple buffet lunch. After lunch, we proceed back to Rose cabin to rest for the day. My room hotwater isn't working, so i took my bath in Carmen's room.

Inside the room, i keep looking at the map of Mt KK, the various stops/landmarks and try to form some strategy how to run the route.

It was a good recee run today, it give me an understanding what i am to expect for the event. My timing is bad(the very least) and i need to reach Laban Rata at 1:30hr. Tomorrow i will put on a better run and see how far i can go. Of course, i do not know after today training, how much fatigue there is? Anyway, my body feels okay at this moment. Time will tell.

We have dinner at 7pm and after that we proceed to rest of the night.

Ronnie will be leaving us tomorrow as his flight is tomorrow at 10am. I guess we are going to miss him.