International ultimate adventure racing co-organised by the state government and SNR Adventure Consultant, the 9th Royal Belum Iron Bound Challenge Series would be held from Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11 at Royal Belum Banding.
The race is classified into sprint races (25-35 km), short courses (65-130 km), classic (180-350 km) and expedition (350 km +). Every team will self-navigate via kayak, trail, mountain bike, orienteering, hike and high rope.
It is about challenging competitors as they traverse demanding yet incredible rough landscape in all weather conditions, expanding their physical and mental capabilities during the life-changing journey which depends fully on GPS navigation.
There are altogether forty teams from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mexico, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia with each team comprises of three male participants and one female participant. Some are world champions while some have world rankings.
For the international category, the top three teams would be awarded a cash prize of RM20,000, RM15,000 and RM10,000 respectively. As for the local category, the top three teams would take home RM10,000, RM7,000 and RM5,000 respectively.
“In fact, this would be one of the iconic programmes for National Sports Day to be celebrated on Saturday, October 10,” Dato’ Shahrul Zaman Yahya, Committee Chairman for Human Resources, Youth and Sports, highlighted during the press conference.
Meanwhile, Marcel Hagener from Team Torpedo (New Zealand) had this to say: “The haze is a bit of a bump but we look forward to this old jungle.” Together with Simone Maier, Hamish Fleming and Hadi Masron, the team arrived early in order to get used to the weather.
Mei Kuan
