Perhentian Island Challenge

Perhentian Island always find a way to attract more people to come to the island. One of the way is by organising this event called Perhentian Island Challenge. The below is some info about the race.

“Kayaking, swimming, running, climbing and crawling – the participants of the fourth Perhentian Island Challenge (PIC) had to put themselves through all this to make it to the finish line.

This year was extra special because not only did the challenge see the usual determined-to-win professional athletes who undergo intensive training but also the “regular” folk, like you and me, who want to challenge themselves and see how far they can go.

This year’s race saw the highest number of participants ever with 289 individuals, an increase of more than 300% from the inaugural run back in 2004 when there were only 85 people. The competitors came from Ghana, New Zealand, Sweden, Ghana, Holland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.

The significant increase was due to the introduction of the Novice category, which was far less strenuous and involved 7km of running, a mini obstacle course and swimming. “I was excited about the Novice category as I could join the race with my son and nephew,” said Ding Chee Kok, 41, who raced with son Ding Joon Wei, 9, the youngest participant, and nephew Ding Sien Jeer, 11.

The Elite category was more challenging. Participants started the race by kayaking 4km from Perhentian Kecil to Perhentian Besar. Reigning champions, Eugene Chan Wai Yong, 25, from Kuala Lumpur and Heidilee Mohammad, 24, from Sabah, had obviously trained hard as they quickly built a lead in the water.

Once on Perhentian Besar, participants had to run along a jungle trail to the sea where they had to monkey swing on ropes and commando-crawl on their bellies. They entered the water next in full gear to swim with a life jacket, before climbing into their kayaks once again to paddle over to Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil.

Bubu Resort was the centre of various fun activities as contestants had to climb a vertical rope, retrieve a 30kg sandbag 100m from the shore, and drink various concoctions such as vinegar, bitter gourd juice, chilli and tomato juice, salt water, wasabi water, garlic juice, and lime juice.

Next came the interesting part as everyone put on dive flippers and ran 100m along the beach. It was hilarious to see these very serious competitors struggling and tripping over on their huge flippers, sending sand flying in all directions.

The run along the jungle trails were the hardest as participants had to go through thick jungles and climb steep slopes. The race ended with a three-legged, 100m run to the finish line.

“In past years, participants had to wait for each other to cross the finish line. We decided to have the three-legged run this year so participants could finish the race together as a team,” said Chan Chee Seng, PIC race director.

Founder of PIC and Bubu Long Beach Resort owner Ken Cheah said that besides sports, the objective of PIC was to promote eco-tourism amongst the participants.

“We wanted people to join this event and see for themselves the beauty of Perhentian Island. With the Terengganu state government subsidising the costs, everyone could take part with the affordable fee of only RM120 per participant, which includes transportation, accommodation, goodie bags and meals.

“The race fees for next year will be equally affordable. Our intention is to go international and make this a world-class event.” Whatever the reason for participating, be it to challenge yourself or just to enjoy the beautiful islands of Pulau Perhentian, you are bound to enjoy PIC. The race is expected to attract many more participants both locally and internationally in the years to come.
Credit to: JOLEEN LUNJEW
Source of Article: www.cuti.com.my

If you are interested to see the race and are having some problem to find the best place to stay, I recommend you to stay at Perhentian Tunabay Resort. For more info about Perhentian Island, feel free to visit www.tunabay.com.my.