Our Uncle The Diablo Killer
If you are like me who enjoyed the early 80s through late 90s, you would come across a game called Diablo. For those who are familiar with it, you would remember that Diablo was the original networked multi-player role-playing PC video game developed by Blizzard. The game took the world by storm and millions of gamers worldwide were instantaneously hooked on it.
The notion of a group of gamers embarking on an adventure together, each having its own capabilities and strengths, seemed like a novel idea back then. Imagine what a group of Warriors, Rogues, Sorcerers, Barbarians, Crusaders, Demon Hunters, Monks, Necromancers and Wiards could do while battling an army of skeletons, Goatman, Scavengers, Zombies, Overlords, etc. A totally awesome experience. The objective: Kill the gigantic monster Diablo.
The one thing that stood out playing such RPG was the excitement and the journey with like minded individuals through a torturous path of dungeons, mountains and valleys.
Together.
It was like some strange spell that was cast on each player. They watched out for each other even though they hardly knew one another.
So why the backstory?
Simple. Uncle Teow has once again smitten by the 100km bug. He is now on the trail of the most challenging running route in Sabah – TMBT. TMBT, The Most Beautiful Thing, is hardly anything close to nice, except for the scenery. The shear elevation (5000m+) will scare away the weak hearted. Less conquer the heights within a max 33hrs.
He is joined by a group of ultra-marathon enthusiasts who will endure through a 106km trail around the foot of the tallest mountain in South East Asia – Mt Kota Kinabalu. In a way, it is a Diablo adventure for Uncle Teow.
He is equipped with just a backpack full of hydration packs, energy food and gadgets (touchlight, thermal poncho, DJI pocket Osmo video cam, a handphone, etc) to get through the entire journey in “comfort”.
Do expect the usual surprises like sharp-edged rugged boulders, irregular stones, protuding tree branches, muddy roads and visits by wild animals, insects and reptiles. The stand out ones are the unpredicatable weather, like sun, rain, wind, fog and haze. And, of course, the ovenight run in complete darkness and low temperature.
The mental torture of enviornmental shock, biological attacks of hunger and thirst and the onslaught of fear are enough to break down a healthy indivdual who is not trained.
Uncle Teow has trained hard for this event without pausing for long breaks in the past year. He scaled Bukit Timah multiple times every weekend and climbed his HDB flat stairs in repetition to simulate the elevation – daily. He completed his MacRitchie cross country run mutiple times to cover the minimal distance. You can follow his YouTube channel to find out more.
What Uncle Teow is missing is the emotional support from family, friends, colleagues and acquitances. So cheer him on and put your encouraging words in the comments section below.
The entire RunUncleRun team will continue to report on this status after he flags off at 6am Sep 14. Do subscribe to the Facebook link for the latest updates.
https://www.relive.cc/view/vZqNNXEkj3q
Relive ‘Morning Run in Kota Kinabalu 13-Sep-2019’
