KOTA KINABALU: Young Sabah runner Noor Hafizah Zubaidi, better known as Fifiana, achieved a major personal milestone by making her debut in the prestigious Chiang Mai UTMB ultra trail race in Thailand from December 5 to 7.
The event is part of the global UTMB World Series, regarded as a dream race for trail runners worldwide.
Tackling the 160km category on her first attempt, Fifiana faced extreme physical and mental demands, including 9,711 metres of elevation gain and a strict 48-hour cut-off time.
"This is every trail runner’s dream, and I wanted to achieve my first 160km finish here," she said.
Despite it being her first UTMB race, she has already completed nine road marathons this year across Malaysia and in Osaka, Japan, as well as two trail events in Sabah: the Kadamaian Adventure Race (60km) and TMBT (50km).
Beyond competition, the Tamparuli-born athlete also leads RUNSYND, a Kota Kinabalu running community offering both free and paid training sessions to build a stronger running culture in Sabah.