KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Jeff Lau has run in the freezing cold of the Arctic Circle, the intensely hot temperatures of the Sahara, and humid Amazon jungles — five times in total.
For these ultra marathons (read: who in their right minds would do it?), he has had to lug a host of equipment and food.
And during four of the five marathons, he has had a companion ― the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) teddy bear.
It did not exist for his first run in the Sahara back in 2014.
“It helps to start the conversation. People will ask me about the bear and I can talk to them about MAC (Malaysian AIDS Council) and MAF,” he said.
Lau recently returned from his latest run, the Beyond The Ultimate Ice Ultra 230k Arctic race in Sweden where he ran 230 kilometres over the span of five days.
So far, he has raised more than RM200,000 for MAF.
His sponsor Sanctband Active donates cash to MAF while another two, Montanic Outdoor and Under Armour, provide the gear.
“There was one participant during one of the races who had never heard of HIV,” he added.
To increase visibility of his cause, Lau had his mother fashion a hook for the bear so he could put it onto the front of his backpack. The bear is just as exposed to the elements as Lau is.
“I think there is still some Sahara sand and dried up bits from the rivers of the Amazon and ice from the Arctic. I keep having to squeeze the river water out of it,” he joked.
Starting out and racing tales
Earlier on, Lau started exercising to lose “baby fats”.
He added he entered the world of running when he was recovering from a ligament surgery.
During this time, he also met MAF trustee Ralph Dixon who had also run ultra marathons to raise funds for the foundation.
Lau decided to do the same and even though he saw his first run in the Sahara as “more for himself”, it was different the second time around.
A HIV positive friend confided in him when the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 tragedy happened on July 17, 2014.
There were HIV experts heading to the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, (where he was studying then) who were on board the plane.
“I wanted to do more. I knew this (running to raise money) would help people.”
Jokes aside, listening to Lau talk about his marathons can be quite enthralling.
He has lost two toenails (Amazon), twisted an ankle (in the latest run) and had a foot infection that took three months to recover (Arctic).
“The nails on my last toes fell out towards the end of the Amazon run. We had to cross 55 rivers and the water was chest high,” he said.
“I didn’t realise my nails had softened until they fell off.”
He also had to go through treks that had just been cut through the jungle and race at an altitude of 4,000 metres.
The other four times Lau has put his body to the test were the 6633 Arctic Ultra Race last year, Marathon Des Sables (twice at 250km and 257km respectively in 2014 and 2016) and the Jungle Ultra Marathon last year (230km).
The coldest temperature he has had to face was -40 degrees Celcius while the hottest was 50 degrees Celcius.
He only managed to complete half the distance for the Arctic Ultra Race that was 560km, which had its own drama after he was disqualified when he lost his bivvy bag.
The bivvy bag was needed with his sleeping bag to keep warm during the race as they had to sleep by the side of the roads.
“It was more for my safety,” he said.
He managed to continue after organisers allowed him to take the bivvy bag of a participant who dropped out.
“It didn’t matter (that) I was disqualified but I still wanted to continue,” he said, adding that he went on until his foot developed an infection.
Of his twisted ankle, Lau said he was afraid it would stop him from competing as it happened on the first day.
He ended up taking painkillers for the entire duration.
In addition to necessary medication and equipment, Lau also packs high caloried food to last him throughout.
This includes nuts, instant noodles, coffee and malt drinks.
Cheese and smoked salmon make it to the menu if he runs in the cold while vacuum packed bak kwa (grilled meat) is a must.
Preparation and family
Lau normally preps for each race by running from the Bukit Aman police headquarters to Taman Tun Dr Ismail twice a week.
He also carries his eight kilogramme backpack with him.
Recently, he has managed to work with a personal trainer for strength and resistance training.
“They were expensive before. I also don’t get a chance to acclimatise myself and normally arrive ngam ngam (just in time) for the race,” he said.
“It is too expensive. One race can be between RM20,000 and RM25,000.”
His parents, he said, initially worried about him with his mother heading to the temple to pray while dad decided to take up running with him.
Both his father and youngest brother recently completed the Powerman Malaysia.
“They are supportive and nowadays, tell me that I had better finish the race,” he said.
“They also keep track of the race via some websites.”
Due to his flights arriving at odd hours, his family never turned up to greet him. Until his most recent run.
“They turned up with a huge banner and all. I was so surprised,” he said.
Besides being a part-time barista while designing his own brand of stationery, the graphic design graduate has also found time to write a book in Mandarin, Ultra Marathon Runner, that serves to help others who want to join similar races.
“When I started running, there were hardly any reference points for me to look to, Asia-wise. My book even has a check list. So, I hope it can help others,” he said.
