Mount Kinabalu Climbaton 2007

Last weekend on 26 August 2007 was a great experience to me. I went to Sabah and participated in the Mount Kinabalu 2007 Climbaton. I really want to climb Mount Kinabalu for a long time, and by participating in the climbaton, this is my chance.

Flied to Sabah on Friday 24^th, reached Kota Kinabalu at 12.00 noon. I straight away went to Sabah Tourism Board at Jln Gaya, registered my self there. The organizer told me there is shuttle bus provided for the athletes. Took the bus, at 2.00 pm, and reached Kinabalu Park at 4.30 pm. I registered my self, and check in at Rock Hostel. There are many participant took park in the race. They came from all around the world. At the registration table, I saw the Japan team, Philippine team, Italy, Spain team and many more.

After got my room key, I went to my room. I thought I gonna stay alone, but later came one Chinese guy from Brunai. He introduced himself to me. His name is Dio and he told me, we gonna be roommate. Great, now I have partner to chat. Later at night came Shiraj and Yusran. I know Shiraj from UM Dualthon race while Yusran from my Bentong rides a couple of week ago. Shiraj and Yusran gonna compete in the veteran category.
On Saturday, me and Dio went for a walk, just to see how the trail look like. We walk until the Timpohon Gate, it is the entrance to mount Kinabalu trail. From there we walk till the Carson fall, took a few pictures and went back to our hostel. That night, I started to prepared for the race next morning.

The race started at 7.30 am on Sunday. We gather 500 meter near Timpohon gate. Before the race, Mr Balwan the race organizer briefs us regarding the rules and regulation.
The race was tough because all the way, I need to run, walk, climb, and the trail was really challenging due to heavy rain the night before.
Then I reached Laban Rata, looking at the submit, sayup-sayup jauh lagi. If I not mistaken, Laban Rata baru 6 km, nak sampai lagi 2.5km ke submit, punya la seksa. I continue from Laban Rata until reached 7.0 km. Masa tu time dah habis. Climbataon ni, athletes kena sampai puncak dlm masa 2 jam 30 minit. Aku time tu dah 2 jam 50 minit. Jumpa marshal, dah kena suruh patah balik, katanya masa dah habis.
Turun la aku...

I thought turun bawah senang, tapi mak aii, lagi susah. Have to really careful, because of the slippery trail. Silap haribulan jatuh, boleh terus tergolek sampai bawah.
Sampai balik kat Timpohon gate, kaki dah mengigil. Aku start lari balik sampai ada satu van, offer naik, apa lagi, gua naik van terus sampai finishing line.

Total time gua 5 jam 40 minit sampai finishing line.