Trail running ala Taiwan style

It's not like I'm new to trail running, I used to own trail running shoes and run the MacRitchie 10km loop regularly.

But trail running in the mountainous trails of Maokong + trails turned into squishy muddied quicksand-ish conditions since it has been raining non-stop all week = what an adventure!

It was in parts running, walking up stairs, sliding up (where it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back), sliding down (this is easy, whee!)... We ran on dirt, in mud, on road, on concrete paths, up and down stairs, through a few farms (seriously), by a chicken farm, past a few kitchens (with beaming grandmothers cheering us on).... It was just insane!

For the first time in my life I :

- start to run down a trail, and found myself accelerating rapidly beyond control

- tried to slow down and discover to my chargrin, I could not!  It took me a further 10 seconds to slow

- run through the first farm and find myself chuckling to self

- smell chickens as I run and find myself beside chickens in their coops staring back at me

- asking a farmer how much further to the finish line

- slow down midway through to type an SMS to my boss to "go home first, i slow" in the process getting dirt all over my phone

- found myself encrusted in mud from thigh down, and from hands to elbows

- ran the entire 17k in a stupid bright yellow $15nt raincoat from 7-11

Action Asia Taiwan Run