Viper Challenge 2013

Well I promised myself that I'd write a post about this "most gruelling obstacle course challenge in Asia", but I guess I haven't gotten the mojo to write in the last couple of weeks (read: slacking), hence the extremely late post-event review.

Anyways, here it is. (See, if I said I'd do it, means I'll really do it). :p

Let me just give you some background of what Viper Challenge is all about.

The Viper Challenge is harped as "Asia's Biggest Obstacle Course Challenge" where participants need to complete a 20km obstacle course with 20 obstacles to tackle and overcome. The man-made obstacles were built by a team of Australian specialists and they have been carefully designed to not only challenge the participants' mental and physical spirit, but also to test the ability to be selfless and reinforce the importance of teamwork in the most demanding situations. It's not really a competitive race between teams as no time limit was set for the participants, so I'd say it's pretty much like a mini version of Tough Mudder.

On the day of the event, we (as in the KVRC team) reached the grounds of Sepang International Circuit at about 6.15am, as our wave was scheduled to start at 7am. It poured heavily that morning, so the release of the first wave at 6.40am was delayed and we were only released at about 7.30am. There were 10 of us in the team in total, all feeling pretty anxious and nervous, considering that we barely trained for the event at all. Yes, we're all intermediate runners, but we're aware that the level of core strength that this obstacle challenge demands isn't the same as what it requires to run in marathons. Despite our lack of trainig, we showed up anyway, purely to test our fitness capabilities and of course, to enjoy the experience.

Our team.
Top photo L-R: Marina, Olando, Emma, Azra, David, Me, Ezra, Ikram, Hatta, Ena

At about half-past seven, we were called to the starting line. None of us brought our camera/phone along while we were out completing the course, so here are a few pictures I shamelessly stole from Viper Challenge's FB Page of how SOME of the obstacles look like.

Starting line

Barbwire crawl

Ice Bath (My favourite of all!)

Us, ready to take a dip in the ice "pool"

Trail running in between obstacles...

Slope Climb

Balance Beams

Cargo Net

Monkey Bar

Tunnel Crawl

Downhill Water Slide

Tyre Climb

Slanted Wall

Haystack Climb

12-feet Wall (final obstacle)

 And all the way to......

THE VERY MUCH AWAITED FINISHING LINE!

So those are just some of what we endured during the event. What I like about obstacle course challenges are, aside from being able to test your physical strength, you also get to stimulate the mind. There is decision-making involved when you attack an obstacle, figuring out the best way to get through, over, or under it. So it's not just running, but overcoming the obstacles successfully as well.

As the 10 of us completed the final obstacle, we held each other's hand, all raised high up in the air, and sprinted towards the finish line together, screaming happily - celebrating the joy of completing the challenge in good spirit, incredible teamwork and lotsa fun!

I have to admit that completing the course was no easy task, and thankfully, neither I nor anyone in our team suffered any injuries, except for minor cuts and bruises from stumbling on the rough surfaces. It was an utterly challenging and mentally taxing experience for me. Many thanks to the organizers for improving the flow of the event for the Day 2 participants.

In summary.......

I paid RM102 and got myself tortured for about 4 hours under the blistering sun and humidity.

I crossed the finish line with my clothing literally covered in mud.

I had to throw out my favourite pair of Nike as it was completely thrashed.

But oh well, I guess all that does not matter anymore, because....

  I GOT A BRAND NEW T-SHIRT! :p