Tanaosri Trail (or TNT as I shall be referring to it from here on in) is commonly considered one of the toughest trail races in Thailand. In 2020 I made my first attempt at completing the 110km distance resulting in my first ever (and at the time, entirely predictable) DNF. I caught COVID the week before the postponed 2021 edition of the race. So Christmas Day 2022 was my chance to redeem myself and that damn, pesky DNF.
TNT takes place in the Suan Pheung region in the far west of Ratchaburi province, on the border with Myanmar. It is without a doubt, one of my favourite places to go running in Thailand. For those of you looking for a good weekend of training runs not too far from Bangkok it really is hard to beat. Running (and by running I mostly mean hiking) up Khao Krajom or Huai Khok Mu and peering across the mountainous border into Myanmar is wonderful and well worth the effort. I say all this because, despite everything coming up I still would recommend anyone goes there for training runs even if you decide that TNT itself is not the race for you.
The race started at 9am on 24th December, meaning that we were all destined to run throughout the night. The drop bags were kept at the halfway point allowing us to leave extra layers ready for the overnight part of the run. As it turned out in this case it never got cold enough for me to need the layers, but I have heard of runners having to DNF before due to it being colder than expected overnight.
The first 12km or so take you almost immediately up and down two very steep hills. A 2km warm up jog is all you are allowed before it's straight up some single track trail. As can be expected this does make the first ascent somewhat frustrating while everyone figures out their paces. Although I do feel that I should add that any frustration I did have at this point was likely compounded by the tailend of a truly terrible hangover, so maybe take these complaints with a pinch of salt. There were certainly no UTMB-esque queues! Once up the first climb it is straight back down a steep and dusty slope, before repeating it all over again. I usually have to remind myself to allow the first 10km to warm up and not to allow myself to start making any race judgements until then, but on this day it took at least that first 12km to find my stride. Looking at the first half of the race, it was this first 12km that was by far the most difficult.
At 12km was the first aid station. This was supposed to be mostly a water station but there was an abundance of snacks, electrolytes and sugary drinks. These were appreciated even more than normal due to the aforementioned hangover. What followed was about 5km of ever so slightly ascending trail to the first big aid station of the race. This part was a genuine pleasure. Despite it being the middle of the day, there was enough shade and the temperatures were cool enough that I did not struggle anywhere near as much as I had thought I might. I might even go so far as to say I felt Good. Which is a dangerous feeling to have so early in a race this long.
Bor Wee is the first time you get to the border with Myanmar, and is also the first really big climb (not that the first two weren't pretty notable on their own). Bor Wee is also quite a technical climb. It starts off easy enough, with some fairly runnable sections, but soon becomes steep and slippy with deep ruts making the trail very challenging to run on. It also follows a very rocky riverbed for a few hundred metres, which needs to be taken with care. It is an out-and-back climb so you need to be ready to leap out of the way of other runners at any given moment. This was my third time on this trail and to be honest I was really quite enjoying it. Third, fourth and fifth ladies (at that point) were all running together for much of the downhill, which was lovely and also challenged me to push myself just that little bit harder than I normally would. The thought of my first big meal at the next aid station helped as well.
A hot tub of rice and some kind of veggie soup thing later and I was ready to face the next climb: Huai Khok Mu. This is a very different climb to Bor Wee. A sweeping dirt road frequented by 4x4s takes you up to border. It is not at all technical and not too steep, meaning that power hiking and slow jogging are definitely possible. It was on the uphill here that I found myself in third place. A restocking of sugar at the top, followed by a wonderfully easy run down left me in a fantastically good mood. A quick pit stop back at the aid station to pick up a banana and knock back another cup of coke and then it was a nice, easy jog back to the headquarters in the dimming light, where a change of clothes and my next hot meal awaited me. It was at this aid station that the lady in fourth overtook me. Perhaps I should have been more efficient in the aid station, but to be honest based on the rest of the race I think she would have caught me sooner or later anyway.
The next 10km or so were lovely. Easy, rolling hills on mostly dirt roads with a little single track. The only technical part was coming into the next aid station down a slippy slope, but by then you could smell the snacks which really helped motivation. There was a brief moment where I managed to lose sight of the ribbons, but luckily this coincided with some time spent with another runner, so any panic was easily forgotten. This aid station had only, up until this point, been visited by 100km runners and as (for the time being) a relative front runner it was here that I really got to see the spread that had been laid out for us runners. Snacks, drinks, hot food, so much space made available to sit and eat. At that point I was not ready to eat another meal, but I filled my pockets with fruit and chocolate bars, happy to see how well we were all going to be taken care of.
The next section was a long slow climb up Khao Krajom. Some quite technical trail led us about halfway up and then it was dirt road to the summit. This was trail that I knew quite well and I had been looking forward to it. Unfortunately this was also where trail sulk set in. I ran pieces, but mostly powerstomped my way to the top unable to shake the sulk. My quads were sore which caused me to blame my slowing pace on them. But as I would find out later, it was really all in the mind and not eating enough. The sulk lasted all the way back down Khao Krajom to the aid station at the bottom. This should have been a lovely, sweeping run down on easy dirt road but tiredness, sore quads and a very sulky mindset really got in the way of that. I had also slipped to fifth place at this point. Don't get me wrong, this is not something to be sad about in normal circumstances, I was still relatively speaking, going strong, but it didn't help the sulk.
The next aid station cheered me right up. I'd been considering having a nap there, and the sleeping area did look very inviting, but after having had Mama noodles and an incredibly strong coffee made for me I perked right up. Looking back I think I realise that most of my snacking had been fruit. Now, while fruit is wonderful and refreshing, it also doesn't have quite enough calories for a 24+ run. A note for future me - eat fruit, yes, but make yourself eat more of the really high calorie stuff. It is worth remembering that almost every problem in an ultra (actual injury aside) can be solved with an energy dense snack.
In every race there is a point where you know you are going to finish. This was that moment for me. There was a steep climb and then a(nother) steep descent on yet more technical single track to the next aid station where familiar faces helped keep spirits up and a noodle soup breakfast gave me just enough energy to get to Khao Laem. Khao Laem is notorious for being incredibly steep. I think knowing this and knowing what to expect really helped me at this point. I wasn't moving particularly fast and I definitely was getting overtaken by runners from other distances, but I managed to keep moving. The descent was another story altogether.
At the end of the day, if you enjoy steep technical descents then this is the race for you. If you can throw yourself downhill, bouncing off trees and miraculously springing back up at the bottom, then you will thrive off this race. Unfortunately, that is not me. I knew coming off Khao Laem was going to be challenging, but honestly I hated every single step. I'd done it before, I knew what to expect, but while that had helped me on the uphill on the downhill it just depressed me further. It seemed to go on forever and while there were other points in the race (Khao Krajom, I'm looking at you) where I definitely could have pushed harder, this was not one of those points. This was always going to be long and slow and horrible.
Luckily, once at the bottom of Khao Laem there was only one more climb to go, and while steep it wasn't too long. In fact the remaining trail is quite enjoyable on fresher legs and with a fresher brain to help with the whole hand-eye coordination thing. Unfortunately I had neither of those things available to me at that moment, so I slowly stomped on getting annoyed that either my race map or my watch was lying to me about where the water station was. But I knew I was near the end, so one foot in front of the other I slowly was making it. The final downhill is not easy, but also far from being the most technical trail of the race. However, constantly stopping to let fresher, far more skilled runners past was really starting the get me down. I know, I know, I could have pulled myself together and moved a bit faster myself, but why do that when you can have long internal conversations with yourself about how unfair it is that everyone else is finding it so much easier than you?! (Sometimes ultras really do bring out the self-pitying, entirely un self-aware person in all of us. It is not a good colour on anyone.)
Finally, just as I got to the last river crossing approximately 500m (or possibly even less) from the end I spotted 6th placed lady coming down the hill right behind me. I am not exaggerating when I say there was a definite murmur of excitement from the (not quite) crowd. And so I dug deep and found something more in me. I absolutely pegged it! Leapt (probably not) gracefully over rocks, found the path on the other side and ran as fast as my exhausted legs would take me. Which was honestly surprisingly fast. Unfortunately (for me, it was fantastic for her) 6th placed lady dug deep and found something even better. About 300m from the finish she became 5th placed lady, and I conceded defeat entirely gracefully this time (mostly because I was far too tired to do anything else).
At the finish line I was happy to have the chance to speak with her. It turned out that at the aid station at the bottom of Khao Krajom where I had considered a nap, she had actually had a nap. It had refreshed her enough that she was able to catch me and find some truly incredible speed at the end. I am beyond impressed.
So some valuable lessons were learned:
1) If you do not feel 100% first call is to eat something PROPER.
2) Fruit doesn't count. It's good for snacking but it's not calorie dense enough to see you through the whole race alone.
3) Take a nap! At the end of the day, if you're tired to the point of not enjoying it and you have the time to spare - take a nap. You never know, it might give you wings.
4) We all have trail sulks from time to time. Sometimes they can be all-encompassing and so difficult to work through. But they too shall pass. Just keep plodding forward, eat, have a hot drink when one is available. Maybe sit for a bit and annoy friends in different time zones who aren't asleep. Soon you will forget what you were sulking about and remember that this is (mostly) FUN. It's an adventure, don't take it too seriously!
At the time I said I would never do it again. It was so well organised and mostly a lot of fun, but I thought just not my kind of trails. No one has memory as bad as ultrarunners though. Never say never...
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