Formosa Trail Run is one of the biggest local trail running event in Taiwan. Organized by Beast Runners, it is one of the best events currently on the island!. You can choose between 5 different distances 10km hike (no ITRA or UTMB index), 18km, 40km, 75km and 104km runs (all runs does have ITRA and UTMB score).
This time around we did with 10 ppl group. Most of people doing 18K race, 2 people doing 10km hike and 2 people (including me) did 40km (2500m+ elevation gain). This is quite a big jump for me from 16km run year before but after doing UTMB 50K in Hong Kong I did feel pretty strong, the main conern for me was if I recovered from HK race which was just two weeks apart.....
My goal for the race was pace based: under 13:00min/km. Also wanted test new Garmin Forerunner 965 and PacePro feature (more how it worked at the end).
Our 40K race start at 5.30 AM when it was still dark, however sunrise during this time of year is around 6.20 AM which means we did not run too much in dark with headlight. There was just over 300 ppl at the start line. First few km in dark we ran trough small city and only after 4 km we reached proper trail which start to be very steep....and long. The first climb was the hardest and longest (around 7km and over 1000m elevation gain).
This is first half of that climb from my Garmin:
I felt pretty good and just tried not to push too hard as I knew still more than 30km to go... however I already saw some ppl that overtook me in the city, to dropping and slowing down, either due to fatigue or cramps...and we did not even reached first 10km mark.... One of the thing that 50K at UTMB tought me ...do not go too fast in the first half...it is long run....
While the first long climb seemed neverending, I pushed trough slowly but without any stopping and overtook some ppl that started off too strong (some ppl already had cramps at 8km mark). Once reached the top there was a first cross road to the first CP. You need to go 3km to CP and back to the crossroad. Not my favorite part when on narrow paths you need to pass other runners that coming back already from CP and also mentally harder as you know you will need to come back same way again. Saying that 1km before CP you reaching tea farm with beutiful view over mountains which helps soo much (mentally) and it is one of the reason I fell in love with trail running!.
1st CP (around 14km in the race) was located in the middle of tea farm and as always on races organized by Beast Runners well stocked, with many choices of snacks and fruits. I did not stay too long here, refilled my soft flasks and took some snacks for later. As always I after CP I do walk for first 300-400 meters just to make sure I finished me food and just to start into the rythm again.
As I mentioned still needed to go 3km up back to cross road and continue to 2nd CP which was 11km apart from CP1. The 7km to next cross road was mix of smaller ascents and descents whith one quite difficult VERY narrow flat section that most of the people going slower... next to the path was just very steep ridge, I did not want to trip on there... By this time as some of you may know you start being a bit more familiar with people running around you. In my case it was one girl that always was overtaking me on decents and me always taking over her on ascents (we did some small talk, it was her first 40km on trail and yeah she did admit she struggles with ascents)... from now on I had one more new goal finish before that girl!:)
Around 20km again (same as in UTMB) I start having pain on the back of my left knee. The pain was worse on decent, going up and flat was not that bad...therefore needed to slow down on decent... Luckily same during HK UTMB the pain start getting managble as I progressed.
Interesting thing was meeting some racers that was going opposite side, even before cross road...which means (as later turns out) they went wrong way.... instead of going to fnish line they were going back to CP1. Once I reached cross road to CP2 I knew why that happened, the marking at this point were not placed properly especially for ppl coming back from CP2...I actually helped two other runners that almost went back to CP1 and showed them correct route... something that organisers may need to correct next year. I need to do another 3km from cross road to CP2 mostly down...which means ...yeah on the way back again going up;).
Again CP2 (26km) was placed around tea farm with great mountain views!:)
This CP was shared with other longer distances therefore there was quite a lot of different food (eggs, noodles and some other hot/salty options). At this CP I met girl that I was "racing" but also my fellow Polish running friend that on this day he was trying to complete 104km. We ate togheter and chat a bit before I head out back and try to finish this:) (and try to beat "the gril" - she was still at CP:))
Leaving CP2 I knew that there is one more final climb... 2,5km and 288 m elevation gain, but I knew this is the last one and it help mentally. At this point I relaxed and even made some photos of eagle flying over my head:)
After reaching crossread (the one few ppl got lost), I start last long (almost 8km) descent.... Most of this part is normal road which I found is not great for my legs ...Saying that pain in left knee start being even more managble and last 4km of descent I manage to run with a quite fast pace and took over few other runners in process.
Last 4km is in the city and mostly flat and I knew that part from last years 16km route. There was another issue with markings in the city as in the morning we ran on opposite side of river and ppl noticed ribbons across the bridge and they ran over there which was wrong direction... luckly for me I saw other lost runner coming back to the correct route and thanks to that (and my watch;)) I did not do same mistake.
Luckily this year was not that hot and last km in the city was quite pleasant. My knee did not hurt and I managed to finish within 8 hours and 32 minutes, 191 overall.
As mentioned before my goal was to keep avg pace under 13min\km, at the same time testing PacePro on new Garmin Forerunner 965. While I met my goal, the PacePro feature was just a bit useful especially on hilly and uneven part (it worked well in the city:)). PacePro does not take into account one thing... how technical terrain is.. it only "sees" elevation and distance. My watch was telling me I can run faster on some flat sections however the narrow path and technical terrain did not allow me to do that... therefore especially in the forrest I did not check suggestions from PacePro. It did help me to see how ahead or behind my target pace I am, which was great.
Here is profile for entire run:
Overall Formosa Trail Run event is great event for anyone. Here is summary of good and bad things about this event.
Good:
Great communication before event (also in English:))
Great venue (they changed this year to campsite, great choice), lots of toilets and showers, more space and nicer than before, no queues to storage.
Decent starting package - good, T-shirt (I like quality and design) and buff etc. Formosa Run does not provide proper medal (well at least last two years, not big deal for me). This year was more like a pendant.
Nice food and drinks during the race at aid stations (in my opinion one of the best choices) but also after the run nice food options to recover from the run (plus for a beer:))
Nice route, allowing whole group to stretch and avoid congestion before hitting narrow trails.
No stairs!:)
Not so Good
race marking could be better, some people got lost
the time for 40km could start a bit earlier for my taste (at least it will give most of the ppl to experience nicer views when sunrise starts)
Highly recommended!
Link to official website: https://formosatrail.com
