Perak Eco Adventure Race: Day 4 & 5 Race Report

Perak Amanjaya International Eco Adventure 2009
Stage 3 - Gua Tempurung
Saturday, 5 November 2009

- Cycle 28km. 2km of technical route and then go down hill (on-road)
- One raft for each team with a river guide. Raft 8.3km to Camp Murni.
- Remove life jacket and run 10.5km on dirt road passing villages to the caving section. 
- Cave 2km with head lamp or torch light in small river to finishing line in front of the cave.

After Stage 3 we had a rest day the next day and traveled to the elegant Impiana Casuarina Hotel in Ipoh.  The next day we had a short drive to the race start in Gua Tempurung, location of the wonderous cave which is the main attraction here.

The bike was on the road for the first 12k. Then we hit technical fire roads and Ryan and I got to the raft in third position.  Somewhat due to my rafting inexperience, we got hung up a couple of times on some rocks.



The 10.5k run started off good and we moved up the field.  About 2k from the cave I totally bonked.  It was hot and we had one final hill to pass.  We were passed by a couple teams but once in the river rock scrambling to the cave I got a second wind.  I learned how to scramble much better after day 2.  In the cave Ryan led and I followed.  It was dark for the first 1.5 k and we just had to follow the water flow.  the cave was really wide and really low at some points, crawling at times with lots of line options. The second half of the cave section lit up with a warm glow.  Such an amazing view.

Ryan and I moved pretty quick through it and moved up a position but still finished in 5th.  All the top five finished within a few minutes of each other. From here we traveled to Pasir Salak where we received a very special welcome from the village with traditional music, food and games.  The locals then challenged the athletes to a game of tug o war and  surprised we won. See the video below.





Perak Amanjaya International Eco Adventure 2009
Stage 4 - Pasir Salak to Pangkor Island
Sunday, 6 November

- Cycle 61km all the way to Teluk Batek where the kayak put-in. (5k in paddy fields)
- Kayak 3.9km open sea to Pangkor island.- Abseil 60m down a hillside at Teluk Segadas. 
- Run 6.2k to the killing hill section. 
- Run/hike 4.5km up the killing hill to the main road and transition area.
- Team biathlon takes place with a local bike (free size) for 4.5km to race finish line.

After our race ending mistake on day 2, Ryan and I were looking for a stage win. Today was a good day for us to do it.  In the final results we ended up moving from 10th to 7th place in the overall.  Read Ryans report of our resultson sleep monsters race coverage section, www.sleepmonsters.com
Cant wait to see the TV show. This month ESPN is airing three, 1hr shows of the entire event.

Perak Eco Adventure Race: Day 2 & 3 Race Report

Perak Amanjaya International Eco Adventure 2009
Stage 2- Taiping to Kuala Sepetang
Wednesday Nov. 3
-8k skate around Taiping lake garden.
-1.3k river rock scrambling to 4.3k jungle uphill to waterfall abseil
-Abseil down 25 meters to bike transition
-Bike 24k on and off road to kayak
-Kayak 7.5 k through fishermen village to Kalua Sepetang
-Run 1 k on boardwalk over mangrove to finish

After stage 1 we checked out from the Belum resort and the athlete bus was escorted by several police vehicles and motos providing a rolling road closure all the way to our hotel in Taiping.  We were greeted by locals dressed in traditional Malay outfits all lined up offering flowers.  The Flemington hotel was elegant and the race organizers pretty much arranged VIP treatment for the entire trip. We were welcomed and had dinner with Taiping District officials and enjoyed music and Malay dance.

After the first leg of the race, Ryan and I were in third position going into the trek.   The Swedes were the fastest but we had a good skate and the real race was about to begin.  I struggled on the river rock scramble, slipping, falling and bashing my knees and shins on the slick rocks.  Following the river section was a grueling 4.3k uphill trek which had to be about 30% average grade of technical and dense rain forest.  By the time we hit the top we took over the lead.  This is where things got bad and we pretty much gave the entire race away.  We were told once at the top it would be a short hike down to the waterfall abseil.  This ended up being about an hour of steep downhill on the road, then more scrambling through the river sliding down natural water slides and then steep technical downhill jungle running (and literally swinging on vines).  No one accounted for such an extended trek so we were all on the verge of dehydration.

On the rock scrambling, Ryan was leading with the Swedish team between us. I was much slower on that section and was gapped.  Then I was caught by the the Yoga Team who caught up to Ryan and the Swedish team.  Then the New Zealand team, team Chiru and the Malaysian team caught me.  I let them by and followed their lines.  I was able to keep up with them so I figured I would regroup with Ryan at the Abseil.

The three teams I was following soon realized they went off course and were lost.  The Malaysian team pressed on and had an intuition about where to go.  We eventually were pinned next to a waterfall between a fork in the river on a nearly vertical portion of the mountain.  We  then scaled upward along the edge of the waterfall utilizing plants from the dense forest as ropes and cracks in the waterfall for footing.  I remember praying the plants would not deroot.  At one point I found a good hold on a big boulder and proceeded to hoist myself upward.  The boulder came loose and was about to come down on top of me.  I held it up with all my strength to stall it's inevitable plunge in order to warn Mark from team Chiru who was right below me.  I could hold on no longer and down went the boulder, my shoulder catching the edge as it fell and I looked down and saw Mark swing like Tarzan into the brush narrowly avoiding the boulder.  I stared at the boulder free falling down the waterfall, clacking as it occasionaly smacked the granite face of the waterfall.  I stood frozen for a second thinking and in shock.  We continued upward until the mountain leveled out a bit and continued to traverse.  After some more descending we miraculously reached the top of the abseil.  According to the rope guides, Ryan had not been there yet.  Unfortunately I did not know that the Swedish and Yoga teams already went down.  I thought maybe we beat him and the 2 other teams there somehow and the guide said to go down and he would tell Ryan I went down.   I later found out Ryan was back on the course somewhere waiting for me.  The other 2 teams had already went by.  I went back up to get him and we just cruised the rest of the stage after losing more than an hour.  The final km of running was such an unexpected and somewhat enchanting surprise.  We ran on a beautiful man made boardwalk that hovered above the forest floor finishing 10th and also bumped down to 10th place in the overall. Read Ryans account and other race coverage on sleepmonsters.com.

Afterwards found a few leeches around the ankles but had 10 bites.  A first for me. You don't feel them. They just get their fill and eventually let go back into the jungle.  We returned back to the Flemington and the next day would be a very welcomed rest day.

Perak Eco Adventure Race-Malaysia: Day 1 Race Report

"not even close to what I had expected"

At the end of the race season, its time to take it easy and recover from training and racing. I've only been doing easy, medium distance workouts for the last month when suddenly I got an email from a friend in SF who got an email from his friend in Hong Kong, Ryan Blair (NorthFace/Asia Pacific Adventure), who was looking for a teammate for this Malaysian International Eco Adventure race.  His teammate for this race was injured the weekend before and needed a sub.  The event is a 5 day, 2 person race with a rest day on day 3 consisting of cycling, trail running, trekking, kayaking white water rafting, rappelling, caving and some inline skate.

It was such short notice that within 2 days I was in in Hong Kong. I met Ryan and went for a paddle and run.  The next day we went to a 5 hr MTB race where he was doing feed for his teammate. Victory for Piers (NorthFace/Asia Pacific Adventure) who had finished second the year before.

The following day was mostlty travel to Kuala Laumpur in Malaysia. From the airport we went to the host resort in Royal Belum to settle in and attend a race briefing.  We were told about the ESPN TV production, course and equipment. We were also told that the next day for dinner the Chief Minister of the state would join us and to be present for the entire dinner and ceremonies.  Also the Royal Prince of Malysia would be the one to kick off the the race.

The next morning we strategized and previewed a bit of the course. when we got back, there was a army of police. Apparently state officials and royalty are well protected.  But it also turned out that the police were there to escort the athletes, tv crew and staff through the 5 days of this event.  Dinner that night was amazing with traditional dance performances and a big welcome from the chief minister. Many speeches and tons of media.

Perak Amanjaya International Eco Adventure 2009
Stage 1-Royal Belum, Banding Island
Tuesday Nov. 2
Run 2k to abseil into lake.
Swim 100m to kayak and paddle 7k to a 1k  jungle trek.
Paddle 5 k to bike transition and ride 16k to transition
Run 5k to finish

We lost some time to the leaders (7-10min) on and a few other teams on the kayak. We moved up on the bike and run and finished 3rd 3min from the leaders.
This stage was fast and pretty straight forward. We were super confident going into day 2....but things didnt turn out at all the way we planned.