The Only Thing The Mountain Trails Care About…

… is that you pay them a visit from time to time.

Make sure, though, that you come prepared. If not, they will chew you up, spit you out, and make you suffer. Heck, even if you do come prepared, you will still hit the pain cave.

Throwback to Peaks Sports‘ GOAT Ultra Trail Race, January 27, 2024.

G.O.A.T. 50KM – the day I almost stayed in bed. Read on, and you’ll know why.

However, I decided it would be a bigger win to just get on with it.

There’s always a certain charge in the air minutes before a race kicks off. Excitement. Jitters. Uncertainty. Hundreds congregating, most having trained well yet still jittery about the impending challenge. Some pondering if they’ll make it through. All united by the same goal; crossing that finish line. Undoubtedly, there are those elite athletes gunning for the win or a podium spot, but for many, merely completing such a trail race would be a triumph – whether it’s the 30km trek with a 2000m climb or the 50km with a staggering 3600m elevation gain.

As the countdown reaches “GO” at 6:00AM, the amazing buzz is ON, people cheering, music blasting, high-fives, the MC’s voice encouraging us to go-go-go. Feet stomping, and the sport watches turned on along with about 100 head torches, as we take off in complete darkness.

Start to CP1: 9.2km

A smart move by the race organizers, Dana and Sam. The course started off in the opposite direction of the mountains. It followed the tarmac road for 3.4km to a U-turn and then back past the start area before going onto an undulating gravel road with a bit of elevation, and then reaching the CP 1 just as the course went off-road and up-up-up the mountain on single track.

This allowed the field to stretch out well enough to prevent people to be queuing together back-to-back, avoiding potential reckless over-takings. As the 30km Assault race was starting just 15min after the 50km Ultra race, this was definitely a smart move.

As I had not really been able to run the 2 weeks prior to the start, nurturing an ankle injury on the right side (same area I fractured in 2 places at a UTMB race some 2 years ago), I took it nice and easy the first 9km, with a pace around 5:15min/km. I had already changed my goal to “just complete the race” and limit the risk of further aggravating the ankle. The unfortunate incident a few weeks prior, had almost made me decide to stay in bed today, and perhaps I should have. Because I knew what was in store. Haha.  

CP1 to CP2: Stairway (Jeep trail) to Ras Ash: 5.6km, 1221m elevation.

THIS was the first dreaded climb. Steep, hard, challenging, unforgiving. I had already been up and down this mountain 4 or 5 times in training for this race the past 6 weeks, so I knew what was coming. Luckily. That’s also why my start was relatively slow. In fact. I was the last person to cross the start line, as I wanted to take my time warming up before this climb and test my ankle. At every ultra race, there’s a lot of people who go out way too fast. I passed many of them up that first hill.

It’s a classic mistake many are victim to; they go out from the start way too strong, not hydrating often enough, not fueling enough, and end up using their glycogen stores too fast, not getting enough electrolytes and salt back in, and then seeing their energy dwindle away. Bonking.

You’ve got to respect the elevation, the trails, the mountains. Especially this one. The hardest race in the UAE. No use trying to be a hero by starting too fast. I saw many doing just that and dwindled away before even reaching half-way up to check point 2. Several of them had never been up this route before, never done a recce run on this course, and a few not even trained running trails!

CP2 to CP3: Ras Ash to Jais Road/Border: 7km, 494m elevation.

At the remote CP 2, in addition to water, we were served Coca-Cola, some snacks, and magnificent views! I couldn’t help to think about the fantastic volunteers and the locals who had brought all the supplies up to this very remote location. Amazing!

I think everyone reaching this CP was elated. Ecstatic, in fact. The first, and possibly the hardest hurdle done. But still 35km to go. Still 2200m elevation gain left. Still 3500m elevation loss, downhill, to go. No real reason to celebrate yet.

While the section from CP 2 up to the highest point of the race isn’t as steep as what we had just done, it is by no means easy. While there are some runable sections to the top, most people will have a hard time running these. This is where it will pay to have visited this course before – knowing what’s in store gives you a mental advantage. Also, if you’re used to do hill repeats, or run in the mountains, you would have an advantage. I am not necessarily talking about an advantage over someone else. Just you against you. Or against the mountain itself.

Between CP 2 and CP 3, I was pleased to see that my race strategy was paying off. Being the last person out from the start, having passed many up to CP 2, I was now passing several people who had started WAY too fast on the flats. I also passed several 30km Assault racers. This group of about almost 200 participants started 15min after the 50km group. Many of them had passed me on the way up to CP 2, but were now feeling the effects of their hard start.

If you normally don’t run at 4:00min/km pace in training, how can you think that you will manage that on race day for 9km?! And then climb 1800m up a steep mountain with energy to spare?!

Tip: Race in a similar way to how you have trained. Or; if you plan to race in a certain way, make sure you adapt similar strategy in training far enough in advance of such race, so that you can reach and maintain such efforts on race day.

I reached CP 3 on Jais Rd parking lot at 21.8km together with my great friend Ahmad Janahi, at 3:39hrs. All had mostly been going very well up until this point. I had eaten well, taken my salt sticks, drinking enough. Everything according to plan. Still I felt the tingling arrival of cramps in my right hamstring muscle and abs when bending forward. The right ankle was tender, too, after the relatively hard descent into CP 3, with it’s many twists and turns.  

In instances like these, you have to act. Past experiences have taught me that the best thing to do is to slow down, hydrate, fuel, and lower the intensity for a while. If you push on, or try to continue with same intensities, it will catch up with you at some point. So, I took it nice an easy at CP 3. Eating. Drinking. Having diluted Coca-Cola with water so that the sugar could penetrate the cells. Adding more Salt sticks. Controlling heart rate.

And then I walked.

CP 3 to CP 4.

Luckily it was mostly downhill from CP 3. Yes, very technical at parts, but still downhill. Took it easy. Felt my ankle. Fueled. Hydrated. Controlled heart rate. Ahmad and I worked well together, alternating who was running at the front. Passed a few more people. We are good at technical downhills, because we train that way. Specificity.

“Sh*t!” I almost fell head into the ravines. My shoe got hooked on a fallen tree, and it ripped the top of my left toe box, completely open from the big toe to the little toe. The whole length of it. Ugh. New challenge.

You can train right, prepare for a lot, but you can’t foresee every possible scenario. The one thing you can control, though, is your mindset; your grititude. Your ultra mindset. Just get on with it and be mindful, watch my steps, accepting that small stones and rocks will get into the shoe. All the time.

Reached CP 4, Musaibat, at 4:38hrs.

28.4km. More than half-way. Each checkpoint with the volunteers is like reaching an uplifting energy zone. All of them did a tremendous job, helping us with replenishing water and supplies, cheering us on. Thank you.

At this point, I was still taking it fairly easy to keep cramps away, to save some effort for the next big climb. Drinking every 2-3minutes. Taking in fuel every 15 to 20min. The body can take in and make use of about 300calories from carbs every hour, so that is what I focused on. Preventing cramps. It seemed to work.

From CP 4 to CP 5, it is a lot of downhill. In parts very steep, fairly loose trail, slippery. Stones and pebbles in my left shoe. Annoying.

Towards the last bit of the steep descent, almost all the way down in the dried up wadi where the boulders are, I fell, diving forward onto my hands and torso. Trail body surfing! Haha. Luckily, I managed to catch myself before rolling down the side of the hill. Not too bad, just a bit of scrapes on my hands and knees. The shoe had gotten hooked again. A runner I had passed, caught up with me as I sat and re-tied my laces to see if I can get the shoe to fit better. I ensure him I was ok. Unfortunately, I did not have the black electrical tape with me, which I normally would have. It would have been a life saver. Or shoe saver. Anyways. While you can’t prepare for everything, you can adapt a mindset to be ready for anything.Grititude!

Onwards.

Reached CP 5, The Rainbow Trail at 5:31hrs. 34.1km.

THAT was a nice, refreshing check point. Great, helpful volunteers again, people who are athletes themselves. They knew what we were going through as the sun started to burn, legs battered, energy dwindling… They helped us restock on great snacks, fruits, salty chips, sweets. Oh, and cold water and ice cubes – heaven sent gifts!

It’s 11:30am, and just as I am on my way up along the side of the mountain behind CP 5, I’m very happy to see Ahmad arriving. Cool. Always great to know that my students are doing well.

The section from CP 5 to the remote CP 6, is beautiful. It is the trail leading to the Hidden Oasis. The ravine and boulder section is normally amazing to navigate through. But at this point, it just felt hard. I didn’t appreciate the views much, nor the trail. It just felt hard. My injured ankle had also taken a beating on the last fall, and I had forgotten to ask if anyone in CP 5 had any duct tape or superglue I could use to put my shoe better together. At this point, though, it wasn’t any running going on. What was in store was a long, uphill hike at crawling pace to CP 6 – Baighit, above the green oasis.

At this point I have to admit I struggled. I attempted power walking, which I am normally good at. It was just walking without the power. Or barely even that. It was hot, legs heavy. I forced myself to eat. I saw a few people in front of me, but wasn’t concerned with trying to pass them. I was just focusing on a few minutes at a time, sips of water every few minutes, a bit of food every 10min, as I felt the beginning of some cramps again. Salt sticks, too.

CP 6 at Baighit, came at 12:37. It had taken me 1:05hr to move just 4.3km with 693m elevation. So slow compared to what I would normally do, but progress is progress. One step at the time.

Two familiar smiling faces at the checkpoint, Gareth and Hanna, put a smile on my face, too. Their happy and chatty attitudes lifted my spirit, and I got new energy under my wings. Or in my legs. So helpful and encouraging.

From CP 6 to 7 was just 2.9km. Yes, another 454m of elevation, but I could almost smell the Jebel Jais Rd. I was eating more, drinking more, had my salt sticks. I felt good and passed 3 other runners on this section up to the road. I didn’t go fast, but it went steady.  

But as easy as you can get a feeling of high, it can come crashing down, too. That’s ultra running in a nutshell. Embrace the highs, but know the pain is lurking.

I reached CP 7, Jais Road, at 13:33. 7:33hrs since the start. I moved quickly through the check point, before running a couple of km downhill on tarmac, then onto the trail on the ridge leading back up towards CP 8 at the 1484 PURO restaurant. That is where the energy just got sucked out of me again. I thought I had been fueling well, hydrating well, but at this point it went extremely slow. It was a 362m elevation from getting off the road and onto the trail before reaching the last check point. It was slow going, to say the least. 54min for 4.2km w/ 362m elevation. Luckily, it wasn’t hot at this point. Something to be happy about, at least. Got to find something to appreciate in the midst of struggles.

At this point I was forcing myself to eat. I didn’t feel like eating, but did it anyways. The only thing I could get in, was pretzels. Not the best in terms of calorie density, but something was better than nothing.

Reaching CP8 was the BEST! The last checkpoint. And their amazing energy was contagious. I got more supplies, more Coca-Cola – diluted in water, and banana. It was very sweet, but I knew it would give me some energy back in my legs…

The people at CP8 exuded enthusiasm, cheerful energy, probably the best checkpoint I have ever been at, at any race. Thank you, thank you, thank you! So with some food, banana, pretzels, Coke, music, I could smell the end. And now it was practically just a long technical downhill left to the finish.

I left CP 8 at 14:28, and hobbled away as fast as I could with my broken left shoe, painful right ankle, and battered quads. It continued up up up on the trail for another 20min or so, and then came the downhill.

Luckily, I like running on technical downhills, and it went very well, all things considered. I passed a lot of people running the 30km race. Some were walking, scared, and some with knee pain and injuries. I helped a lady who had fallen and banged her knee. She had never before done any trail running, having just completed her first marathon 3 weeks prior. She had thought that 30km would be easier than 42.2km.

I learned later that was the sentiment to many who ran the 30km Assault race. More about this observation later.

At first, during that 6km or so long downhill, it felt as if I was not getting closer to the bottom. I was running, 5min, 10min, 30min, and it still felt as if I wasn’t really getting closer. The Ghalilah Dam seemed to never get closer. I passed more people who were walking. Some hobbling along. A lady being helped by a race marshal. A few sitting, resting in the shades.

Until I suddenly I could hear the music from the race village and it gave me wings. I could see cars, then people, and as I turned the last bend running down the last little downhill section I felt I was flying. As I crossed over the finish line at 15:45PM, after 9:45hrs on the trail, it was the best feeling ever!

While I had contemplated not participating in the GOAT 50 due to the ankle issue I mentioned, I am glad I did show up. It will never be easy to run such a tough and technical race with 3500m elevation. While this was a hard fought battle, it was first and foremost a me-against-me. I never had any doubt that I would complete it, and the suffering I endured is pain I plain well just welcome. A dance with mountains like these will never be like hugging fluffy teddy bears. You have to make pain your friend. Accept that, and it will be easier.

As for the race course, it is as brutal as it is beautiful. I did soak in the views, I do appreciate all the sights, the remote areas, the pure and harsh rugged mountain terrain. It is something I feel very privileged to be able to experience and enjoy up close. Some years ago, I was given the prediction from surgeons operating on my back that I would never be able to run again, so I truly enjoy races like these.

I’ve said this before, but will say it again: MASSIVE Congratulations to Dana & Samer at Peaks Sports for a tremendously well executed event. The hardest 50km Ultra in the region. Stellar performances from all involved, sponsors, volunteers, marshals, the great guys clearing parts of the tracks to make it safer and more runnable. And the athletes! Amazing to see so many familiar and new faces supporting Peaks Sports putting this on for us.

Dana Matar Eid and Samer must be the most patient human beings EVER; the amount of questions they took the time to answer in the Event’s WhatsApp chat group for 3 months leading up to the race, of which 98% had been shared again and again, was amazing. Dana & Samer; YOU were the biggest winners of the day!

Gear I used

The last few years, I have been using the following gear in most of my training and races.

Naked Vest: It’s compact, comfortably tight, comes with the mandatory emergency whistle, offers enough room to carry 4 x 500ml water flasks – 2 at the front and 2 at the back, also from Naked. The front stretch pockets allow enough space for a good amount of energy bars, nuts, dates, and supplies to carry without needing much re-stocking of snacks.  

The stretch pockets at the back had space for the mandatory emergency kit and windbreaker. Stretch pockets on both sides, allowed for toiletries in case nature would call, and more supplies in the opposite pocket.

Naked Waist Belt: For extra supplies, extra water bottle, and to carry my phone, car keys. Also great if you want to attach the bib at the front or on the side. Very useful.

Runderwear Long Sleeve Shirt: Very comfortable, without seams, so preventing chafing. Very snug and warm as the weather was cold for several hours, especially at the top.

Runderwear boxer shorts: Had them under my shorts. Again, no chaffings, very comfortable, and offers great support where support is needed.

Socks: While I normally use Versus socks which has great cushioning under the toes, I used some new Injinji toe socks for this race as I wanted to test these out on rough terrain. Both Injinji and Versus can be recommended for trails like these.

Shoes: I practically always use VJ XTRM or VJ MAXX on trails like these as they have the best grip on the planet. Unfortunately, I had worn my last pair out with about 1300km in them on rough HAJJAR terrain, and had not been able to break in any new shoes the past few weeks, so I went with my Altras. Not to say that Altras are bad, not at all. Altras are awesome, but also these had gone a fair distance – about 700km. Thus, I went with those as they seemed to be the better options with less mileage. Needless to say, the upper on these shoes were probably somewhat “tired” and thus ripped when it got hooked on the fallen tree. For terrain like this – if I was to do the race again (which I will next year), I will go for VJ XTRM.

Nutrition

Don’t try anything new on race day. Practice nutrition in training. Have a strategy. Get used to whatever it is that you think you need or want to eat or ingest, be it gels, bars, dates, nuts, salty/savoury or sweets. Find out what works for you, how much salt you need, electrolytes, water intake. It’s a fine line between energy out and energy in. It goes hand in hand with your intensity levels during the race, how hot/cold it is, did you sleep well, or not, training loads and fitness levels, to name some.  

I ate approximately every 20 to 25min. About 300calories per hour ingested. When it went steep up, I ate more frequently. I mixed it up between all the items, according to feel.

Here’s what I carried:

5 Secret Training gels of which 2 had caffeine. Lovely tastes, and no issues.

8 Nature Valley Bars

20 dates

30 walnuts

6 Dutch wafers

100 grams of crushed Lays salt potato chips

14 Salt tablets, capsules

I ate it all, in addition to various fruits and snacks on the aid stations.

Observation

It’s great to see people taking on amazing races, especially a beautiful challenge like this, put on by trail-passionate people, namely Dana and Sam. However, ignoring to train for it, or not following their 3 months-in-advance-recommendations to visit these technical trails, or not do research about what 2000m elevation means, or 3500 for that matter, then you will suffer. Potentially get injured.

Out of the 184 people who did start the 30km race, 12 did not finish. Also, the cut-off time was extended from initially a fairly generous 8hrs to a very generous 9hrs to give people a chance to finish on time. Lucky for many, as 22 people finished between 8 and 9hrs. Not only that, another 16 people spent between 9 and 10hrs to complete 30km, and another 15 people spent between 10 to 11:39hrs to finish that distance. So, a whopping 54 people spent more than the first 8hrs cut of time. This is a clear indication that you have to respect the mountains and train for trail races like this, and heed the organization’s advise to not attempt it if you are not trained for it.

Of the 98 people who started the 50km ultra race, 13 did not finish. The cut-off time for this race was also extended, from 15 to 16hrs, which was great for 6 who finished passed 15hrs on the course.   

The trails and mountain races can teach us so much about resilience, discipline, reminding us of the importance of perseverance, being resourceful and flexible, and perhaps the most important in reaching the finish line – determination and GRITitude. In other words mindset.

All in all, it was a great day out, seeing people smashing goals, crushing limiting beliefs, getting better at life, and enjoying – in the midst of suffering! Living Live Ultra!

A great amount of respect and kudos to Peaks Sports with Dana & Sam at the helm, and all their volunteers! It was a top-notch executed event from inception, communication, planning, execution, and post-race updates. I will recommend this race to anyone. I will do it again next year.

By Ole Brom