I had a blast of a weekend during the Perhentian Island Challenge. But before I go further, I have to say that the publicity and the website for the PIC is really awful. Very badly updated website, hardly any details of the route beforehand and last minute dissemination of information.
Putting that aside, the entire race package is still very worth it. RM200 for everything from race fee, all transport (coach to the jetty and boat transfer), accommodation (tents at the race village) and all the food. We took the overnighter coach on last Thursday at the Malaysian Tourism Centre on Jalan Ampang. Lots of people were already there at registration.
We were then slapped on with a wristband with strict instructions that we could not take them off for the next 3 days. Needed to show these bands anytime we participated in anything. My only thought was, I was going to have to shower every day with it on?
The coach departed at around 11.30pm, after waiting for the flag off and all, so it was going to be a long 7-hour journey down to the Kuala Besut jetty. The bus was comfortable enough but just couldn't sleep that well on the coach, kept waking up, but it was good to arrive at the jetty the next morning. Our coach driver was driving like a maniac and we were the first coach to arrive, about 1 hour before some of the other coaches.
We collected our race packs and race numbers, and it was then time to slowly wait the turn to board the speed boats to transfer us to Perhentian Island.
We had made a smart move of choosing to not stay in the tents and we had booked a nearby chalet. Didn't look forward to the communal living and the fending off of mosquitoes. But the camp site did look decent, lots of single and double tents.
The queue for lunch. One of many queues at each and every meal time
We stayed at Cocohut Chalet. It was about a 15-minute walk away from the campsite, and there were several other racers who were also staying there. Quite a walk, with all our bags, and we had to climb up several stairs in order to get past the large rocks by the beach.
Cocohut was a nice chalet, air conditioning, hot water, quite good food served there as well. It was good to be away from the campsite, since it sometimes seemed quite chaotic, especially during the meal times. It was surprising since this was already the 6th or 7th time the PIC was being held, but there never seemed to be enough food and the food was always being served very late. There just seemed to be a lot of queues all the time.
So Friday was spent lazing by the beach and getting the race briefing on the night before. Only then was the race route revealed to us. There were two categories of racing, one being the Elite and the other being Novice. The Elite consisted of a 11-km route as well as a 600-metre swim in the ocean, estimated race time of 4.5 to 5.5 hours. The Novice was a 6-km route, with a few simple challenges thrown in, with an estimated race time of 1.5 to 2.5 hours. I had signed up for Novice, since I didn't quite know what to expect for the race course. 6km seemed like a do-able distance.
So all the gear was laid out ready for Saturday's race.
We were all staying on Perhentian Besar but the race itself would be held on Perhentian Kecil. Saturday morning saw us all being transported to the other island in order for us to be flagged off at 10am for the Elite racers and 10.30am for the Novice.
Being transported over to Perhentian Kecil Island.
I had initially thought that the race would take place mainly along the beach since the race was on an island. But the great majority of the race would be a run through the jungle itself, to criss cross through the island. Sounded like it was going to be like the Genting Trailblazer race.
The Elite racers were flagged off first, and then the Novice racers (about 260 of us) then started off punctually at 10.30am. The first section of the run was on muddy ground as we left the main kampung area. The path slowly led us deeper and deeper into the jungle. As we entered the jungle area, markers were tied to the trees to mark out a trail for us to follow. This became quite similar to the Trailblazer experience but here the trails were not that clearly marked out so you had to follow the markers quite carefully.
The uphill climb through the jungle then became downhill a bit as the trail led us to the beach area. Our first mini-challenge was to then carry a 8 kg sandbag for about 100 metres. Not very difficult, and it was a good time for the first water station as well. It was then back into the jungle and by this time, the long crowd of runners started to thin out a bit.
I had to carefully navigate through the tree roots and branches and luckily the soil wasn't too muddy. I soon hit my first problem of going off the trail. I missed a marker where there was a crossroads of sort and then headed into a wrong direction which led me to start climbing down some rocks. Couldn't be right since it was really difficult and I didn't see markers. Some other runners had also followed me and then I soon turned back to retrace my steps and luckily found the markers again. Continued the run.
The jungle trail soon opened up to a sandy hill, where after having run downhill to collect a wristband and to get more water, we then had to double back and start running up the hill. It was a long long long climb up that hill which was eventually going to lead us to the windmills right at the top of the island. A bunch of us called this the windmill road, and the sun was beating down on us at this time and every single runner was just focusing on placing one foot in front of the other and repeating the process. It was very tough going at this point in time. Off and on, you would see some runners sitting by the side of the road, exhausted, and trying to catch some shade from the few trees on the side.
After a long walk up, I eventually hit the windmills where you could see all round the island. Not much time to take in the view and the run continued, where I entered the jungle again very soon, but now heading downhill. Most of this section was spent walking, just so that I could catch my breath. The jungle trail slowly started to head towards the Long Beach area where I could hear people by the beach. The route ran parallel to the Long Beach, and then I exited right at the furthest end of the beach.
This time, it was close to the finishing line already. We then had to run into the sea, to navigate a 200-metre course where we had to climb over two pontoons and then run back to the shore. After a 100-metre sprint, you would then cross the finishing line.
At the end of it all, it was a fun racing experience. Quite different from an ordinary marathon-like race, but it would have been more fun to incorporate more beach or island elements rather than it just being a jungle run. Last year there was a kayaking element where you had to kayak from Perhentian Besar to Perhentian Kecil. That would have been fun!
That is how far away the windmills are from the beach! Had to run through all that jungle.
Anyway, we had time at the finishing line to take pics and chug down a lot of 100 Plus and Redbull:
New friends made at the challenge
Pic courtesy of Gerrie's camera. I didn't quite get airborne.
I finished the race in2 hours and 20 minutes1 hour 55 minutes and came in 57th out of 128 Novice men runners. Sounds quite slow actually now that I think about it. Gotta get faster for future races. It was a 6km race but it's only a bit faster than a 21km run. Wasn't that easy running through the jungle, although you wouldn't guess that when you see the African runners hopping and casually skipping through the jungle course.
So I hope to be back again next year, where I hope that there are more interesting challenges incorporated into the race. That'll make it that much more fun to race through.
Putting that aside, the entire race package is still very worth it. RM200 for everything from race fee, all transport (coach to the jetty and boat transfer), accommodation (tents at the race village) and all the food. We took the overnighter coach on last Thursday at the Malaysian Tourism Centre on Jalan Ampang. Lots of people were already there at registration.
We were then slapped on with a wristband with strict instructions that we could not take them off for the next 3 days. Needed to show these bands anytime we participated in anything. My only thought was, I was going to have to shower every day with it on?
The coach departed at around 11.30pm, after waiting for the flag off and all, so it was going to be a long 7-hour journey down to the Kuala Besut jetty. The bus was comfortable enough but just couldn't sleep that well on the coach, kept waking up, but it was good to arrive at the jetty the next morning. Our coach driver was driving like a maniac and we were the first coach to arrive, about 1 hour before some of the other coaches.
We collected our race packs and race numbers, and it was then time to slowly wait the turn to board the speed boats to transfer us to Perhentian Island.
We had made a smart move of choosing to not stay in the tents and we had booked a nearby chalet. Didn't look forward to the communal living and the fending off of mosquitoes. But the camp site did look decent, lots of single and double tents.
The queue for lunch. One of many queues at each and every meal time
We stayed at Cocohut Chalet. It was about a 15-minute walk away from the campsite, and there were several other racers who were also staying there. Quite a walk, with all our bags, and we had to climb up several stairs in order to get past the large rocks by the beach.
Cocohut was a nice chalet, air conditioning, hot water, quite good food served there as well. It was good to be away from the campsite, since it sometimes seemed quite chaotic, especially during the meal times. It was surprising since this was already the 6th or 7th time the PIC was being held, but there never seemed to be enough food and the food was always being served very late. There just seemed to be a lot of queues all the time.
So Friday was spent lazing by the beach and getting the race briefing on the night before. Only then was the race route revealed to us. There were two categories of racing, one being the Elite and the other being Novice. The Elite consisted of a 11-km route as well as a 600-metre swim in the ocean, estimated race time of 4.5 to 5.5 hours. The Novice was a 6-km route, with a few simple challenges thrown in, with an estimated race time of 1.5 to 2.5 hours. I had signed up for Novice, since I didn't quite know what to expect for the race course. 6km seemed like a do-able distance.
So all the gear was laid out ready for Saturday's race.
We were all staying on Perhentian Besar but the race itself would be held on Perhentian Kecil. Saturday morning saw us all being transported to the other island in order for us to be flagged off at 10am for the Elite racers and 10.30am for the Novice.
Being transported over to Perhentian Kecil Island.
I had initially thought that the race would take place mainly along the beach since the race was on an island. But the great majority of the race would be a run through the jungle itself, to criss cross through the island. Sounded like it was going to be like the Genting Trailblazer race.
The Elite racers were flagged off first, and then the Novice racers (about 260 of us) then started off punctually at 10.30am. The first section of the run was on muddy ground as we left the main kampung area. The path slowly led us deeper and deeper into the jungle. As we entered the jungle area, markers were tied to the trees to mark out a trail for us to follow. This became quite similar to the Trailblazer experience but here the trails were not that clearly marked out so you had to follow the markers quite carefully.
The uphill climb through the jungle then became downhill a bit as the trail led us to the beach area. Our first mini-challenge was to then carry a 8 kg sandbag for about 100 metres. Not very difficult, and it was a good time for the first water station as well. It was then back into the jungle and by this time, the long crowd of runners started to thin out a bit.
I had to carefully navigate through the tree roots and branches and luckily the soil wasn't too muddy. I soon hit my first problem of going off the trail. I missed a marker where there was a crossroads of sort and then headed into a wrong direction which led me to start climbing down some rocks. Couldn't be right since it was really difficult and I didn't see markers. Some other runners had also followed me and then I soon turned back to retrace my steps and luckily found the markers again. Continued the run.
The jungle trail soon opened up to a sandy hill, where after having run downhill to collect a wristband and to get more water, we then had to double back and start running up the hill. It was a long long long climb up that hill which was eventually going to lead us to the windmills right at the top of the island. A bunch of us called this the windmill road, and the sun was beating down on us at this time and every single runner was just focusing on placing one foot in front of the other and repeating the process. It was very tough going at this point in time. Off and on, you would see some runners sitting by the side of the road, exhausted, and trying to catch some shade from the few trees on the side.
After a long walk up, I eventually hit the windmills where you could see all round the island. Not much time to take in the view and the run continued, where I entered the jungle again very soon, but now heading downhill. Most of this section was spent walking, just so that I could catch my breath. The jungle trail slowly started to head towards the Long Beach area where I could hear people by the beach. The route ran parallel to the Long Beach, and then I exited right at the furthest end of the beach.
This time, it was close to the finishing line already. We then had to run into the sea, to navigate a 200-metre course where we had to climb over two pontoons and then run back to the shore. After a 100-metre sprint, you would then cross the finishing line.
At the end of it all, it was a fun racing experience. Quite different from an ordinary marathon-like race, but it would have been more fun to incorporate more beach or island elements rather than it just being a jungle run. Last year there was a kayaking element where you had to kayak from Perhentian Besar to Perhentian Kecil. That would have been fun!
That is how far away the windmills are from the beach! Had to run through all that jungle.
Anyway, we had time at the finishing line to take pics and chug down a lot of 100 Plus and Redbull:
New friends made at the challenge
Pic courtesy of Gerrie's camera. I didn't quite get airborne.
I finished the race in
So I hope to be back again next year, where I hope that there are more interesting challenges incorporated into the race. That'll make it that much more fun to race through.
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