…rain, mud, run, repeat…
What do you do on a cold, rainy Sunday morning? Most people sleep in, get cozy, have a long breakfast and stay warm, dry and comfortable. Who could blame them?
Then you have the others…the few…the crazy…the ones who like to push through a challenge and see the job done! Those are the ones who look out the window into the cold darkness that is 3:00 am and go…”Let’s get the show on the road! I can’t wait to get out there” …
And really, what is it that drives you people? Knowing full well you’re about to be cold, wet, hungry, thirsty, that at some point you’ll fall, get covered in mud, spend hours with wet feet, maybe get lost in the forest due to exhaustion or because you ran that downhill too fast and missed a turn…with all that in mind, you still show up at the start line!
Or is it because all you see when you look outside is green lush nature, a chance to reconnect with the earth, to let your body get back to its roots, get primordial, get downright survivalist, is it because you long for that one time a year when you get to join hundreds of others, and communally, in one big ceremonial rite of passage transform into the BEASTS you are!!
The fact that so many people didn’t show up meant that we had a record quantity was left virtually untouched, which is super sad, considering that this year one fruit was sweeter than the other! Pineapples, guavas, oranges, even cherry tomatoes were all so yummy my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Not a lot of people realize, but race-directing a race in the rain has its particular challenges: from technical failures due to poor device waterproofing, to any and all runner lists/cardboard boxes transforming into mush, to completely turning your venue setup on its head. However, we took everything in good spirits and we hope you have enjoyed the after race part as much as the run itself!
We Are The Champions
Everyone who start is champion… The trails were quite decent for the first few runners but quickly turned into a classic, never ending stretch of crazy slippery mud that really tested everyone’s balance and running ability! This also meant that only a few records were broken this year, in the 10k female and male categories.
Records fell like rain in the 10km races, as 蔡朋憲 Peng Hsien Tsai (魔神仔定向越野) won the male event in 1:38:08, breaking his own record by 3min and 40 seconds – no easy task given the trails had already been turned into mud slides by the previous two waves of runners. Second came周俊彥 Eagle Chou (獄卒隊) in 1:48:20, with 王綱 Kang Wang (1:48:33) hot on his heels.
In the women’s race, 14years old Melanie Haarring (Birthday Hash) absolutely shattered the previous record, winning in 1:55:31, a full 23min and 43 seconds improvement, and under much more difficult conditions. Also finishing under the previous course record were 周怡君 Yichun Chou (2:00:26) and 3rd place 楊詩婷 Shih Ting Yang (TRC 野跑俱樂部) who ended her run in 2:12:43.
The women’s 17km event was won categorically by 林筱禎 Hsiao Chen Lin (新竹強) in 3:13:37 who managed to secure a 20 minute lead on second place, Pauline Bodson of Belgium (3:33:24). Pauline did however manage to set a new foreigner course record for RTTJ 17km female, congratulations Pauline! Taking 3rd was 郭美宏 Mie Hong Kuo – Birthday Hash, who finished her run in 3:37:35.
The male race saw 陳嘉政 Chia Cheng Chen (Merrell) win in 2:16:15, just minutes off the course record he set in the 2018 edition, under much better weather and trail conditions. Second came Tom Fifield of Australia who improved his 2018 performance by one rank and managed to only slow down on mud exactly 14 seconds since a year ago, way to go Tom! Rounding out the podium was 鍾少勇 Shao Yung Chung (迪卡儂Decathlon) finishing in 2:37:13 within minute before 4th and 5th.
In the main event, the 34km category, local runner 周青 Ching Chou – Salomon Taiwan/Birthday Hash took the lead early on and in the second half of the course virtually ran by himself, finishing in 5:19:40.
Also in the male race, our own Sasha Tarasov (Beast Runners) and Yuta Matsuyama of Japan (Japan Beast) shared second place, finishing together after a long struggle. This is not Sasha’s first time sharing his position with a runner from Japan, and we can only admire his sportsmanship!
In the women’s race, 陳秀卿 Hsiu Ching Chen – MERRELL won in 7:41:02. Team Merrell had a good day in the Jungle, as fellow teammate陳嘉政 Chia Cheng Chen also took 1st in the male 17km category. Rounding out the podium for the 34km women were local 何若君 Jo-Chun Ho (8:14:07) and Catherine Kaar of Great Britain in 8:42:42.
We want to congratulate all of those who braved the tough weather conditions and came out to face the Jungle this year, as well as thank the friends who came out to support! You make our events great and we couldn’t do this without you! See you in the Jungle in 2020! And in next event of Beat Runners 跑山獸
Useful links
- photos RTTJ4
- results and certificates RTTJ4
- Beast Runners 跑山獸 www.BEAST.run
- Beast Slam and Beast Loyalty
- Beast Runners eShop
www.eshop.beast.run
