First Trusmadi climbathon gets off to a flying start

Sabah’s second tallest mountain overshadows Mount Kinabalu

Running up Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia’s tallest mountain at 4,095 metres, is tough for many a mountain runner. But Mount Trusmadi, two-thirds its height at 2,642m that makes it the country’s second highest,  has overshadowed Kinabalu as being the most challenging. And the inaugural Trusmadi climbathon got off to a flying start on May 25 with 368 runners, tripling the number for the last iconic Kinabalu climbathon six years ago. The Kinabalu race is making a comeback this year after the Sabah government killed it, saying it has served its tourism purpose. Details will be announced at a press conference later this afternoon (May 28).

Although Trusmadi fell short of its target of  runners, it has attracted 27 of them from 13 countries from as far as the Czech Republic, Poland, and America. The rest of the participants are Malaysians. And they dominated the fields, sweeping all the prizes; except for a lone Kenyan who came in fifth in the men’s section.

This is understandable as foreign runners were more adept on rocky trails. Trusmadi offers a different terrain from Kinabalu:  muddy, wet and slippery with lots of steep drops. Foreign runners weren’t prepared for it. The Trusmadi race offered two categories: 30km for foreigners and 21km for Malaysians.

All eyes are on how many participants the Mount Kinabalu climbathon will attract when it returns most likely in October. In fairness, there was a cap of 120 runners at the 2017 race. Even then, it fell short of four.