Wilderness Langkawi Challange 2007

I promised a race report. So here it goes.

0430 hrs

Woke up to the sound of my hand phone alarm. Damn. It has been a while since I have to wake up this early. But, gotta eat breakkie right? Went down with Anne (we got separate rooms, ok..haha) to the dining lounge. Just as I’ve guessed. Food was the same as last year. More nasi lemak, bihun and food that only suits a petani membajak sawah. Not that I’m degrading the food, its just appropriate for orang dulu-dulu yang bertani as they need a lot of energy before doing so. We racers do need a lot of energy as well. But not in the oily form of bihun and stuffs, right? So what’s left was porridge and toast. Toast for me then. And some fruits. I have been having trouble going to the toilet since arriving in Langkawi—unlike last year—which is another story altogether. Last year, I was having diaorrhea a day before the race. Best, kan? This year pulak, susah nak berak. Huh. After breakkie, felt the tingling sensation that lured me to the toilet. Ahhh…finally…

0700 hrs

Boarded the ferry to Pulau Tuba where the race will start. The number of participants in both categories has doubled from 50+ to 100 something. That’s good. All the way to Tuba, I had this jitters in my bones. Damn. Not like I’m expected to win or anything, but the jitters man! Arrived at Tuba about 20 minutes before 8am, when the race stars. Time to transform! Changed into racing gear (wore my LA Tri cycling jersey and tights with no spender..haha!), lathered some sun block (takut gelap sunburn?) and made sure Anne had her gear all right, then proceed to warm-up. 5 minutes to go. We were lining up at the back of the starting pack. Goals? Beat Ean and Natalie from Hitz.Fm and to finish quicker than last year. I dunno why I wanted to beat them, maybe they were berlagak semacam all the way during flight, the stay at the hotel and everywhere you go lah. We went there as a bunch of media reps, but they acted like they’re the star of the events. Blearghh. Then suddenly, my wandering thoughts were halted by the sound of a horn. The race has started! Anne and I ran, trying to follow the pack (or Ean and Natalie) as closely as possible. But we couldn’t. Anne had to stop a few times to walk because of lack of training. Its okay dear, lesson=next time, train. Rome wasn’t built in a day. About 30 minutes later, we reached the beach where we have to drag the kayak to the sea and kayak our way to Reef Explorer, a sea vessel.

Lucky, this time around the tide was not low. Last year, we had to really drag our kayak about some 500 metres before we could really paddle it. This time, 5 meter aje. For me, kayak event is like the swim event in triathlon. With very little or no training at all, I paddled like a pro. Cheh. Anne should be dubbed as a veteran in kayaking. Afterall, she was a trainer with WC (the organizers) couple of years back. Me? I’m expecting my shoulders to be like Hulk after the race ended, and in great pain. I could see them ‘couples’ were ahead of us. Not within catching up distance. Oh, did I tell you that this year, I didnt wear my regular running shoes, but instead I bought a Power RM69.90 punya. Takut tapak kasut tertanggal lagi like last year!

Got to the ship, and we did almost everything like last year. Did some roping activities then jump overboard at the height of about 10 feet.

Lepas terjun from the ship, swam back to our kayak at the back of the ship and we had to kayak again to the pulau. Guess what? We capsized while trying to board the kayak! Kedebush!! Well apparently, both of us got heavier this year, perhaps? Hahahah! Then we continued paddling some 7 km towards the pulau. Them ‘couples’ were nowhere to be seen. Dah sampai pulau kut. En route, the sky started to open up. Hujan lebat, and its scarier than last year! Visibility was very low, like 30 metres or so. Nasib baik tak ada kilat. Finally, after about 40 minutes kayaking, we reached the beach. Now this was the part where I hate most. We had to solve puzzles. Ahh bosannya. A race is a race to me. Get from point A to point B as fast as possible. But puzzles? Anyway, we did 2 out of 3 puzzles that we were supposed to because the marshals had a bit of daydreaming. Haha lucky us! Off we went trekking in the jungle. This year, the trekking part was much harder than last year. It was farther and thougher on the legs. Lots of uphill. Halfway during the trek, perut lapar! Nasib baik ada powergel. Itu la, gatal sangat nak minimize bag load, we ended tak bawak any snacks. Last year, we even brought a backpack with us, complete with snacks, bottled water and what not. This year, only hydration bag (1.5lt) with our first aid kit stuffed in it and powergels.

We were definitely slowing down during the trek coz more and more people went pass us. Again, them ‘couples’ were nowhere to be seen. Ntah-ntah dah habis.

At one point during the trek, we had to make a detour into the Gua Wang Buluh, which was not included last year. How’s the route there? Cemented treks with steep steps that you have to almost crawl on it at certain parts. Plus, its an out and back detour. Menyumpah seranah aku. Anne was very tired. “Buat muka relax, straight face,” I told her. “Kasi psycho sikit other racers passing by,” so I thought. Haha poyo je.

After the detour, went back to the trail until we reached the tarmac. We are nearly there! So we ran for about another 3km to the finishing line. Running wasn’t her forte, so she was reduced to walking a few times before reaching the end. But I salute you Anne, you swallowed the pain and ran the remaining 1 km to the welcoming announcer. “Itu dia, pasangan bahagia, Anne bersama tunangnya menghabiskan Wilderness Langkawi Challenge dengan masa 4 jam 9 minit!” Ceh..siap announce tunang pulak! Upon reaching, I saw them ‘couples’ were sitting nearby, indicating that they reached the line ahead of us. Oh well..next time perhaps.

But, during the award presentation nite, I was surprised that they announced us as the winners of media category. Hahah…apparently them ‘couples’ were not racing under our category. We finished about 45 minutes after the third placing mix couple. Hmm… well, what the heck. Tak sangka dapat menang. Spesel kategori pun, menang duit beb! Hahaha…

All in all, I enjoyed every minute of the race this year. We made new friends (Thong, a lawyer from KL who’s also into running), Julius who is an adventure freak from Indonesia (he just got back from Mt. Kinabalu on Thursday before the race). And not to mention, met with Sifu Razani. Dia siap sesat dengar briefing Slow n Steady padahal he was racing for Fast n Furiuos (mix) with Lea (betul ke spelling?) “Rilek abe, set-set demo tak briefing lagi,” I said. BTW, they got second place in their category. He raced siap tak pakai baju lagik. Hahah…Giler la dia, he just arrived in Langkawi from Kelate (driving) on Saturday, then balik almost immediately after the race. Perghhh…Salute abe.

Okay, next year siapa nak join kami ke Langkawi?

Ps: Powerbar Triple Threat, SEDAAPPP!