Race Review: Adela Trail Run 2019

Joining this run was accidental.  I was thinking, since this year I have another major race coming up, so I should explore JB more.  Never had a good impression of JB due to many horror stories, being robbed and attacked etc. One of the major criteria for oversea races is to race safe.

This race is in Kota Tinggi towards East side of Malaysia Peninsula.  At first, I was still quite hesitant to go as I need to navigate and drive about 120 Km to the town of Adela Felda. This town seems like a project by the local government to create a sustainable neighborhood for the locals. The town itself looks very organised. There are schools, shops and also mosques.

RACE INFORMATION

The race is really not that expensive only RM73, it includes the Race Tee, Bib and Medal. Of course, a small goodie bag with refreshment was also provided.

After looking through the map to Kota Tinggi, I was confident to drive to the race starting point. I invited my run buddy, Fowler to the race and glad that he accepted my invitation.

RACE ITSELF

Only 10Km, 3.5Km categories were available.  A lot of locals signed up for the 3.5km. Could see quite a few serious runners were here to vie for the top ten. Hampers were given to the 6th to 10th runners and 1st to 5th runners get not only snacks but also cash in kind for the effort.

The route itself is a mixture of trail through the Oil Palm plantations and some roads. Oil palm plantations are not so technical as the forest are neatly laid out but it is just a little muddy.  Overall, it was very relaxing to run around the area. We also got to see the Kampung area, running through the schools etc.

I passed about 3 water points, they had isotonic, water and some homemade Popsicle.  It was really very old school. The ending point is also the starting point which is the Felda Adela Multi-Purpose hall. There were booths around selling local drinks and foodies. The drinks were really a little too sweet for my liking, so I never really drank much.

Most of the participants lazed around the area and chilled out catching up with each other. The multipurpose hall was beside a community mosque, there was a pavilion where the runners can chill out and relax to enjoy the kampung feeling.

Highlights

The good part about the race is the lucky draw, there were many lucky draw prizes, and most participants stayed back for it, from electrical appliance to protein powder. The atmosphere was really good. It made me felt like I was back to the 80’s where people were closer with their neighbours. Being the only Singaporean people in the race, it really felt special.  Luckily before the race I had checked and realise most ladies wore scarves for the run, I took a more covered up option of the tortoise running tee. The lucky draw grand prize was a 40 inch TV screen. It was won by a young boy taking part in the 3.5km race.

Although I did not manage a lucky draw prize. I was lucky to come in as 1st for the Women Veteran group. It was indeed worth the 100km drive up.