No medal. No finisher’s jacket. No podium prizes. Just good fun – and a full day of it! What a perfect way to play on our ninth wedding anniversary. Welcome to the Zero Edition of Ultra-Trail Phuket!
It was December 2021, and I’d just moved to Thailand. In classic fashion, I signed Kent up for this race long before he was even in country! The first Ultra-Trail Phuket had a lottery for its limited slots (55 runners only!), so I entered Kent’s name alongside my own – and it was Kent that won! The friendly race organizers agreed to let me join too – and soon we had solid anniversary plans.
Luckily, Kent agreed – and landed in BKK a few days prior to race date. I took him on a few steamy acclimatization runs in the urban parks I frequented. Soon, it was time to head south for Ultra-Trail Phuket!
I’d last been in Phuket on my own, exactly four years earlier. It was so good to be back, this time with my love – and with a purpose.
The race festivities were fun from the start. At bib pick-up on Christmas Day, the organizers were delightfully warm and welcoming. We wound up shopping for race snacks and lingering as we enjoyed the good vibes and conversation.
I’d also like to shout out the race team at Big Blue for making the dang coolest race souvenirs we’ve ever gotten: cloth bracelets with our names (and crabs)! I wore mine for the duration of my sojourn in Thailand.
Additionally, unlike my adventures getting to Thailand by UTMB a couple of weeks earlier, Ultra-Trail Phuket was a pretty low-stress experience. Sure, there was the fact that I made an error when I booked our hotel (right name, wrong location), which meant that we wouldn’t be able to take the race shuttle to the start. But let’s face it: it just wouldn’t be a KnC adventure without a little bit of bonky!
Then there was the fact that the race course looked like shark’s teeth: there were NINE jungle-clad pinnacles to climb, one right after the other. All of our recent running had been Bangkok’s flat concrete jungle. Still, rather than feeling daunted, I was excited for the challenge!
We woke up extra early on Boxing Day morning, our ninth wedding anniversary. Time to celebrate on nine amazing peaks!
The heat and the hills
Everything went smoothly on race morning. We successfully hired a taxi to the start, got ready in the cool quiet of the predawn hours and joined a small gaggle of fellow runners for an intimate race briefing. It wasn’t long before we were standing on the starting line of Ultra-Trail Phuket!
And what a start it was! We sprinted away from the bright lights of the Mining Museum just for a few hundred meters before we faced our first climb. Although this warm-up was the smallest hill of the day, we definitely had to work for it – and it gave us a taste of what was in store for us for the rest of the day!
I was soaked to the skin within minutes. I must have set a new record for sweatiness that day, because I was continually surprised at how wet I remained. But it was craziest at the start, in the dark of night: usually it takes a little while and a lot of sunshine to get as hot as that!
It was sweaty, tough…and speedy! After cresting the first hill, we breezed down the other side. I remember loving this section of dark, silent, swift downhill running. This is why we do this!
In what felt like no time at all, we were zipping past the first aid. Despite the heat, we hadn’t really had time to make a dent in our water supply, so we continued on. It was still darkest night outside, and we wanted to make the most of the cooler hours.
Dawn came an hour or so later, on a sealed road above a reservoir. We’d just scrambled up a rocky ledge with photographers lying in wait, and we were headed towards our second big climb of the day. To my surprise, there were a ton of other runners on this road – and they were not part of our race! Turns out, this area is a popular local place to train.
But we left the colorful crowds behind once more when we took a right turn onto a narrow trail. This route led up, up, up; through a rubber tree plantation.
At a steady pace, we conquered the climbs – and then we’d zip down the far side to the next aid station in a new corner of Phuket. This was the pattern of Ultra-Trail Phuket’s race course, and I liked the rhythm of it.
I also liked the challenge. The peaks weren’t terribly high mountains – just 300 to 400 meters. Coming from sea level, though, they felt huge! And they were punctuated, steep climbs that made me grateful I had my poles. The descents were often similarly steep. So while I tried to let gravity to do the work on the downhill, I definitely felt the hammering in my quads! And sometimes the grade was so intense – and slippery – that I had to pump the brakes and descend zigzag fashion.
By the time we reached the third aid station, I needed a full sit-down break to retie my shoelaces, which had been ripped undone by various overfriendly jungle plants. Catching up to my sweat rate, I’d also drained my liquids and needed a resupply.
The following section was the longest between checkpoints. On this stretch, racers climbed two nearly 400 meter mountains and threaded the lush valley between. And now, in the daylight, we got to know each other a little better. We began to recognize the faces (and shoes) we were leapfrogging on the trail. There were a handful of guard runners offering first aid and cooling spray, and we met folks from Singapore and all across Thailand.
Friendly vibes continued at the next aid station stop, where we did a spontaneous video interview and I was repeatedly asked about my race tattoos! Ultra-Trail Phuket was starting to feel like a friendly group run rather than a race!
The sixth shark’s tooth separated us from the coast. On the climb, Kent started to feel the heat and we slowed our pace a bit as we wound through another high-elevation rubber tree grove. There were a handful of people out working, moving slowly and sticking to the shade. They eyed us like we’d lost our marbles, and it was easy to see their point of view.
On the back side of this summit, we did a quad-thrashing descent among wealthy hillside homes toward Kalim Beach. It was nearly noon, and we could feel it in the sun’s intense rays. Their strength only intensified as we left the relative cool of the forest and ran on the steamy tarmac towards the ‘lunch’ checkpoint.
It was a challenge to run in on this sweltering out-and-back as other runners ran out. But well worth it: the aid station had shade, picnic tables, cool drinks and an army of helpful volunteers who insisted on refilling our hydration packs for us. It really felt like a rest, and we needed it for what was to come.
The next ascent was by far the hottest, and thus the slowest, of the whole day. It was so exposed: the sun beat down mercilessly on the cement road. We’d slowed to a forced march, ducking under fleeting shade wherever we found it.
Most of the other runners we saw were slogging similarly. But one incredible couple ran on up the road past all of us! They called out complaints but somehow looked none the worse for wear. Their feat inspired us all (and made some of us envious!).
The relentless heat definitely made it tougher for me. However, it exacted a higher toll on Kent. He’s no fan of the heat and had only recently arrived from the chilly California coast. He was riding the struggle bus, on the way up that long hill.
I felt like I caught my stride again when the road petered out into a narrow motorbike trail below the forest canopy. I was ready to ratchet up the pace! But not without my partner of nine amazing years! I’d hike a ways, turn around and call encouragement to Kent and anyone else in earshot.
I recall exactly what this looks like from the other side. There have been times when I’ve been struggling along in the rear; irrationally annoyed at my dear leader who seems to be taking break after break while I struggle along getting no closer. But we stick together, no matter what!
There was a stunning viewpoint we took a short deviation to reach, then more hot hill hiking. But perhaps my favorite memory of the entire race was near the eight peak of the day. We encountered a large boulder alongside the trail, and I remarked on it, pointing it out for Kent. Then I carried on pushing uphill.
After several paces, I turned to check on Kent again, and he was somehow laying on this boulder standing up, arms outstretched overhead and weight resting against it. I burst out laughing and couldn’t stop, even as I had to go back and peel him off his rock.
The last hill of Ultra-Trail Phuket was a gentler, more gradual climb, and Kent turned a corner and found his second wind. We pushed strongly up, and were rewarded with a rolling meander across a bucolic hilltop. The sun sank towards the western horizon, and a breeze stirred the treetops.
I didn’t recognize the exact moment we started to retrace our footsteps, but I did recognize the beginning of the first hill – now the end of the last. We were nearly there!
One last loop around the museum grounds, then we ran hard at the finish. We were the 19th and 20th finishers, with a time of 12 hours and 47 minutes. Nowhere near our best 50k time, and near the back of the pack (only 31 finishers made the 14 hour cut-off!) but no matter: this was one of our most fun race days ever! Plus one of our proudest: just look at this course profile:
Afterward
Our anniversary date at the Zero Edition of Ultra-Trail Phuket was positively perfect. It was a dream to spend our special day doing exactly what we love to do, in a place I’m crazy about!
We would have been happy no matter what, but the race volunteers really made our day. During the afterparty, they asked everyone what brought them to the race. We told them about our wedding anniversary – and they loved it!
The race director even brought the mayor of Phuket over to meet us! A special announcement was made congratulating us, and other runners came up to us to do the same. I have the warm fuzzies all over again just thinking about it!
It was a little like the wedding we never had. I’m not normally very skilled at finding community, but when it finds me, I’m eternally grateful.
And damn, the vacation we had afterwards, just chillin’ on a tropical isle in the phenomenal Phang Na Bay. Ask me to tell you about Koh Yao Noi sometime!
Kent and I had a challenging but incredible day running Ultra-Trail Phuket, and I highly recommend this race for YOU. Running a race is the perfect way to spend any special day. And this race is rad enough to make any day special.
Get after those nine shark’s teeth – you’ve got this!
