At the end of each race, we will declare that our performance could have been better if we had trained more (instead of the measley 3 joint practices), or even trained harder (instead of skipping practice for a cup of teh si and kaya toast)... The "We're gettin' old" excuse just doesn't cut it as that's the "oldest" excuse in the book...for if 57 year old Steve Bowman, 2009 Adventure Category winner can do it, so can we? Well.....we can only dare to dream....
And so year after year, we set out to resolve to train more, train harder for next year's race....and come a month before SAC, we start to panic and discuss ways to taper off on our training regiment before we even start!
But we console ourselves that SAC is not about winning or coming in a respectable position (even though it would be nice if we did)....it's about comraderie, friendship, teamwork, sportsmanship, cultural exchange, giving back to the local Sabahan community (from the organiser's perspective), immersing one with nature and taking on a challenge, day after day after day...and coming out stronger for it.
I just received a promotional email flyer from Airasia with the tagline : Stories always make for better souvenirs. I believe it's the memories of the time spent during such races that makes us stronger, humbler and wealthier in experience.
I have yet to write detailed accounts of the SAC races that I partook in the last 5 or so years, but here's a little snapshot of our past SAC races in the years 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (still work in progress as I look for all the photo and article links, and contemplate whether I should write an account of each suffering year).
Event : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2005
Date : 25 - 27 March 2005
Venue : Sabah, Malaysia
(Start) Mersilau Nature Resort
(Day 1 night) Kampong Tambatuan (Kota Belud district)
(Day 2 night) Kampong Sayap
(Finish) Kampung Taginampur
Teamname : Team S&M 2
Teammates : Lopez + Becks + Merciless
Fella Singapore Teams : Team S&M1 = Mingloid + Chiku + Winnie.
Team Golite = Wilson (Adventure Racer) + Qi Xiang
Support Crew : Nik + Pling + Kang Wei + Kim
Organiser : Sabah Adventure Challenge
Write-up : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2005
Photos :
Kang Wei
http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=3186955&mid=members10_chong974319&pwd=
Kim
http://members10.clubphoto.com/kim983199/owner-176c-1.phtml
Nik
http://community.webshots.com/album/307291283SqGNrg
http://community.webshots.com/album/307293707lGvIDg
Zizach
http://community.webshots.com/user/sabahchallenge
http://community.webshots.com/user/ziczach
Category, Position : Adventure, 10th out of 17
In a nutshell :
Learnt about this race from Adventure Racer Wilson, who needed another partner, when he already had super strongman QiXiang! Thankfully I was in the middle of a filming and couldn't commit. Later, managed to con the rest of the gang to taking up a multi-day race.
This was my first multi-day race, and instead of our usual all-girl team "The Angels", Rina was not available to race, so Lopez took her slot (Lopez happens to be a guy, or so he claims)! There was absolutely no advantage fielding an all-girl team as there were no mens, mixed or womens category; only "Extreme" or "Adventure"!
Our navigational skills (or lack thereof) were tried, tested and with negative results to show for! We got severely lost on day 1, which set us back by quite a few positions, but we did alright on day 2 and 3. Camped out at the village head's house on night 1, and experienced some spooky howling at the witching hour of the night!
And with buffalo-riding as a race discipline, what's not to like?
Event : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2007
Date : 6 - 8 April 2007
Venue : Sabah, Malaysia
(Start) Monsopiad Cultural Village
(Day 1 and 2 nights) Kaiduan Valley
(End) Padang C (Football Field C) opp Penampang Police Station
Teamname : WTF
Teammates : Mingloid and Lopez
Organisers : Sabah Adventure ChallengeWrite-up :
Sabah Adventure Challenge 2007
Sabah Adventure Challenge 2007 - Photographic Evidence
Sabah Adventure Challenge 2007 - The Results
Photos :
Christian Stauffeur
http://picasaweb.google.com/christeamstauffer/SAC07#
Ling
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ay6vt6r.2aavrrzv&x=0&y=-ik7k1y
Liying
http://picasaweb.google.com/liying.lee/SabahAdventureChallenge#
Articles and Blogs :
New Sabah Times Article : http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/6822
Charlene's Blog : http://lenediane.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/my-busy-week/
Trekearth link : http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Malaysia/East/Sabah/
Yiling's Photos : http://picasaweb.google.com/liying.lee/SabahAdventureChallenge
Category, Position : Adventure, 9th out of 24
In a nutshell :
With the superior navigational prowess of my teammates, we managed a 9th out of 24 teams (excluding those that DNF) in the adventure category! It was hot, Ken almost died from heat exhaustion (eh, this is not Honky weather la dei), and we will ALWAYS remember that 11km abandoned railway track where rumour has it that Wilson stuck his head in a pool of mud to hydrate himself!
Event : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2008
Date : 21 - 23 March 2008
Venue : Sabah, Malaysia
(Start/Finish) Kundasang Homestay Village
Teamname : WTF (II)
Teammates : Kenny Lopez + Merciless
Fellow Singapore Teams :
Racing together with us, Team (I) = Foo + Becks
Later adopting navigational expert, KC from Dom and Pei Shunn's team.
Organisers : Sabah Adventure ChallengeWrite-up : ................
Photos :
HK team video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owIl_jAurHU
KC
http://picasaweb.google.com/neuvocielomaniac/SabahAdventureRace08#
Category, Position : Adventure,22nd out of 30 (with 5 teams retired)
In a nutshell :
As if we hadn't learnt from our past mistake of not reading maps, this race was the ultimate FUBAR when it came to navigation! We lost a total of over 20 km and 4 hours getting majorly lost twice. My partner, Ken, wanted to quit the race every evening, but I managed to persuade him NOT to surrender. Eventually, his near-fainting heat stroke episode on day 3 forced him to take a rain check. Becks followed shortly after with a bad knee strain. So, it was Foo, KC and myself who pushed on to the finish line as a 3-man-3-team finisher!
Event : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2009
Date : 10 - 12 April 2009
Venue : Sabah, Malaysia
(Start/Finish) : Kampong Lobong Lobong
Teamname : Team FliK (FooLingKen)
Teammates : Kenny Lopez + Da Foo
Organisers : Sabah Adventure ChallengeWrite-up : ................
Photos and Videos :
Ling's Blog
http://lingthemerciless.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
Articles and Blogs :
Hisyam's blog
http://opdochisyam.blogspot.com/2009/04/sabah-adventure-challenge-2009.html
Lih Shiun's blog
http://vavroom.livejournal.com/20366.html
Category, Position : Adventure, 7th out of 15 (think quite a few teams DNF)
In a nutshell :
The most scenic race with diverse terrain, ranging from fast-flowing rivers (river-rafting) to hot and dry mud-packed uphills (pushing bike), to leech-infested rain-soaked rainforest (jungle trekking), to slushy pineapple plantation slip-slidin' (team biathlon) and finally, a killer tarmac uphill ending with a navigation trek along the foothills of Mt Kinabalu Park.
Foo died on day 1, and so Ken and I offered our bike and bag portage services....something that we will never let da Foo live down! However, da Foo was resurrected on day 3, coming out stronger than before, whilst my energy levels dropped as my back aches set in! This was Team FliK's first race together, and we discovered we work well as a team!
And tuna never tasted so heavenly!
Event : Sabah Adventure Challenge 2010
Date : 2 - 4 April 2009
Venue : Sabah, Malaysia
(Start/Finish) : TVRC (Tambuan Village Resort) in Tambunan
Teamname : Team FliK (FooLingKen)
Teammates : Kenny Lopez + Da Foo
Organisers : Sabah Adventure ChallengeWrite-up : ................
Photos : Click here
Category, Position : Adventure, 14th out of 35 (5 teams DNF)
In a nutshell :
Lost map on day 1, got lost at a few sections and lost time resolving lover's quarrel over map-reading (probably lost about an hour), Ken's tiretube sprung a leak during the tubing section and Foo's face plant on the last day. Despite our misfortunes and the fact that our mountain biking skills were hardly an advantage given the influx of the young and skillful Sabah Cycling team participants, we had a hell of a fun race!
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