Viper King of the Mountain 2020

I kicked off my 2020 OCR season with Viper's first event of the year in Genting Highlands. So glad that they've brought back this event because it's easily one of my favourite. I mean, cold chilly air, shopping at Genting Premium Outlet and hotpot in the skies? How not to be excited?

Viper Arena 2019 Bukit Jalil Stadium

I am back at last with yet another Viper Arena video. Viper Arena has quickly become one of my staple OCR events since it started because it's a quick course of 5-7km, dry and often less than 30 minutes drive away. The recent race in Bukit Jalil stadium was no different with a mix of old, improved and new obstacles.

You can see for yourself.



Were you at the event? If you were, leave a comment and follow me for more OCR "fun". Next up...SPARTAN KUCHING!

My Return to OCR: Viper Beach 2019 Port Dickson

I can't believe this is my first OCR of 2019. Have I really been that out of touch with my fitness side? I think the answer is clearly yes. Sad die me :(

I even had a reader who joined in one of my bootcampy sessions and told me she realised I didn't write so much about OCR about anymore. That was a wakeup call to me and could possibly be why I signed up for Viper Beach and Viper Arena.

Viper Challenge Cyberjaya 2018

Five odd years ago, I started on my OCR trip with the help of a group of crazy like-minded friends from bootcamp. This year, I became that aforementioned help for two of my ex-colleagues with the additional perk of a video. Behold the evidence of how well they did in the 5km category of Viper Challenge Cyberjaya.



I am still contemplating if I should join next year's Sepang and/or Penang Viper Challenge...hmm.....

For more info on Viper Challenge, log on to https://www.viperchallenge.com/

GE Viper Arena 2018, Bukit Jalil Stadium

New race venue, new obstacles - all that was to be expected at the Great Eastern Viper Arena 2018 held on 18 - 19 August 2018. Having found a new home at the iconic Bukit Jalil National Stadium, the massive event boasting 12,000 participants, cemented the title of KL Sports City for the venue. Kicking off at 5pm for the elites and continuing on in waves, the participants were flagged off all the way until 3am on Sunday morning.

Race Review: Viper Challenge Cyberjaya 2017

I was on the fence about writing this review/recap about the last Viper Challenge in Cyberjaya on 2 Dec. I did a video on it, following my experience all 21km of it throughout Cyberjaya and realised that the only thing that inspired me to churn out the video so quickly were my friends and teammates. Which you can watch here...



Because to be frank, the course had nothing to inspire. Majority of the obstacles were built over water which added to the safety aspect and gave it an element of fun. And also helped keep participants cool throughout the blazing hot day.

Viper Arena 2017 race recap

Another round of Viper Arena and what a fun round it was. 6km, 15 obstacles all within the vicinity of Shah Alam Stadium which just not too long ago, was a Sea Games venue. And once again Team Huh now upgraded to Team Fuh made an appearance, all decked out in red now. 

Here's a video compilation of our fun night out. 

Video captured and edited with iPhone SE using VivaVideo and Splice app. To read my other write ups on Viper Arena: 

Viper Arena Penang

Viper Arena 2016 

Viper Arena 2015

Viper Genting KOTM 2017 race recap

Viper Genting once again has proven itself to the OCR event for the highlands with a cooling weather, an instant uphill stretch to get the heart pumping and a repertoire of old and new obstacles to keep things interesting for any OCR junkie out there.

The first obstacle was dragging myself out of my warm comfortable bed at 430am on Saturday, the day of the event. It had started to drizzle outside and I immediately dreaded running Viper Genting in the rain. Cold plus rain equals a miserable me.

Quick Update: OCRs and Mount Fuji

Okay, so things have been a bit quiet on the blog. Work has been 'bitch be cray cray' crazy. I have picked up my creative writing once to deal with the stress hence the lack of updates here. Sorry about that.

OCR Highlights: Great Eastern Viper Challenge Sepang

Viper Challenge has come a long way since its first event in Nov 2013 as Asia's Biggest Obstacle Challenge. The recent Viper Challenge Sepang (the final leg of the Finisher Series and the fourth long distanced challenge to be held at Sepang International Circuit) saw an attendance of 17,568 participants tackle the terrain and obstacles throughout the day, in the morning and at night!

It helped tremendously that the event was blessed with a cooling weather and an overcast of clouds that kept the sun rays at bay. Less heat meant less dehydration and that meant less injuries amongst the participants. Blessed weather aside, the organisers themselves were no slackers as they pulled out all the stops at this event with many big-named sponsors and new and improved obstacles.

In a nutshell, here are the highlights from the Great Eastern Viper Challenge Sepang.

Viper Challenge Genting - Great Eastern King of the Mountain race review

After hearing raving reviews about last year's Genting event, I finally conquered the Viper Genting: King of the Mountain!

The event was, in one word, A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

The fun started pre-race when we arrived at Awana Horse Ranch in the wee hours of the morning, parked the car the multi-storey parking lot of the sky cable and collected our wristbands. To my joy, several foodtrucks had already opened at the race village and I could not resist a cup of hot latte and a glazed donut before my 7:40am wave. While waiting around, we were joined by members of the other OBC platoons, since majority of us were in the same wave.

Come flag off time, we started off right on schedule! Imagine my surprise as Viper Challenge rarely ever starts on time! Hats off to the organisers!

We turned a corner right after the start line and it was an immediate uphill. This was Genting Highlands! Of course, it wasn't going to be easy. But nevertheless, jacked up on caffeine and sugar, I jogged up the whole 2km uphill route. On the way up, we saw the returning lead pack of the elite wave on their way back and called out to several of our OBC buds who were charging downhill.

The obstacles came hard and fast and why not when there was only so much space and distance one can work with in 10km. Some were easy, some were wet, some required teamwork and some needed just plain luck and guts. Throw in the uphill and a route that cuts through Awana and you have a course that effectively staggered the participants nicely to avoid crowding at the obstacles.

I must recommend the Tyre Trouble obstacle because I don't think I've seen an obstacle like that before. While I initially had my doubts about succeeding, a boost from a teammate set me off and before I knew it, I was on the other side. And then the marshal told me this awesome news.

"You are the third woman to pass."

Woohoo! Granted we were only one of the early waves and the elite already had a go at it but still...Woohoo! No sirup bandung bath for me! The same cannot be said for my youngest sister who made an epic splash (literally) at her first obstacle race.

We encountered the much anticipated Rotating Cube in the last two km. An obstacle that was impossible to conquer alone, it required eight of us to get in and simultaneously roll over the giant cube while one teammate clung onto to get over it on the other side. We kept doing this until everyone was over. We enjoyed it so much that we didn't mind staying back to help other participants where needed. 

To finish off Viper Genting, we encountered the signature wall climb variety which amassed a crowd and a queue towards the later part of the afternoon. Despite the waiting time, participants were surprisingly patient and helpful this time. There was no pushing and shoving from what I saw. 

The course pretty much burnt off my donut and coffee from earlier. I was ravenous by the time we got back to the festival area after the race and it was off for more coffee for me from Senses Truck.

As I mentioned earlier, the festival area was awesome because there was just so many food options available from the trucks. There was even chicken roasted on the spot and gelato ice cream!

I was a happy girl and even a minor gutter accident that happened on the way to lunch did little to spoil my mood. The only thing that managed to do so was a Snorlax running away from me despite using a razz berry and two ultra balls. 

Now for an overall view of the event:

Pros

1) Registration was fast. The Viper boss was present to personally attend to us but he lingered there a bit too long though. 

2) Festival area was well set up with ample food, drinks and seating. 

3) Obstacles were fun! Especially Tyre Trouble and Rotating Cube. 

Cons

1)  The route before and after the Rotating Cube basically merged the approaching and outgoing traffic of participants from the obstacle. I saw many people nearly colliding into each other because they weren't paying attention or was running too fast downhill. There were even people turning back at this point because they didn't want to have to walk up the slope again.

All I can say is....if Viper Challenge were to organise Viper Genting 24 hours, sign up me ASAP!

ps: photo credits to my mother who not only did Viper Genting but also did it with her phone, hence the photos and also did 21km the next day. 

Viper Arena 2016 - OCR of Queues

Who would have thought queues would be the main obstacle at Viper Arena 2016? Why would we especially since Viper Arena did such a great job last year? After last year's Arena, I decided it was my favourite obstacle race of all, due to the night factor and the shorter distance. Oh, and no mud.

After we had parked, my friends and I were greeted by the sight of a snaking long queue at the registration counter. It was only 6pm and already participants were arriving well ahead of time. Little did we know that it was a preview trailer to the rest of the race.

Because we were early, we had time to spare and after check-in and getting our wrist bands indicating our time slots, we loitered around the race village where there was an abundance of food, beverages and things to do.

Spartan Race Super KL 2016 - Training with USM

Spartan Race Super is less than a week away and training for it has only gotten more intense with the team. The original Spartan Malaysia team Do's and Doms took to Crossfit Pahlwan (not to do crossfit, god forbid and Raj will have a fit) and got our butts whipped into shape by Coach Lily. Lily had just returned from Australia where she did the Spartan Stadium and got a taste of the intense 300.

You can read about our experience of the 300 here.

Anyway, inspired by the madness of the 300, Lily added it to her session and nearly killed us all. See for yourself.

Best view on Youtube: https://youtu.be/yLeHacximZM

How ready are you for Spartan and Viper Arena? I'll be at both events at the 930am and 8pm wave respectively so come over and say hi.

Also join us on the United Spartans of Malaysia Facebook group for more OCR news and training sessions. We're heaps of fun and we don't bite...much.

Good luck!

Viper Challenge Sentosa 2016, Singapore

When I got the announcement that Viper Challenge was heading to Sentosa Singapore, I was like 'hell yeah! Sign me up!' mainly because I've never been to Sentosa island. So my team and I signed up and come 23 Jan we all headed South.

I stayed at Costa Sands resort, a budget hotel about a ten minutes walk to the race village and start line on Palawan Beach. On race day, we were all (amazingly) on time and rearing to go in the first wave. After a 15 minutes delay, we were off.

Running along the beach was a different experience for many of us who have never done an obstacle race on the beach. For one thing, it was really scenic. Sentosa island really had the perfect setting for a race like this. The cloudy overcast with a cool breeze from the pristine (freaking clean) sea was perfect for a run on the beach.

2015 Kautim. What Next?

Words cannot describe what 2015 was to me. Exhausting - physically, mentally, financially. Liberating - physically, mentally, financially not quite. Once again, I got to travel, I got to race and I got fitter. Much fitter but no less fatter.... T_T 

In spite of its many ups and downs, I find myself mostly looking back fondly on the ups. Despite having two trips cancelled, it was good year in terms of personal achievements. Even though I didn't conquer Mount Kinabalu, I did scaled Japan's highest mountain. I may not have gone to Korea, but I did get to enjoy two separate short weekends in Australia with my friends and a long week there with my sister in two cities for three race events. Madness I tell ya!

If I were to list down my 2015 achievements and memorable moments, this is it:

Viper 2Four Challenge 2015

Taking part in a 24+ hours obstacle race was perhaps one of the craziest things I've done for 2015 and that included hiking up Mount Fuji in a typhoon. Joining Viper 2Four with my team C2T2 (Cherrie, Choon, Terence and myself), was also the most fun and rewarding experience I had.

My team checked into the race site at Sepang International Circuit on 5 December at 6am and met up with the other teams from Original Bootcamp. We picked our allocated 10 x 10 feet space near the finish line and the medic tent and quickly made ourselves at home alongside fellow bootcampers Team Spam-Tastic 4 and the group of super individual participants, Dugong Elites. 

Viper 2 Four: Challenge Yourself

So you have conquered the Viper Challenge, Arena Challenge in the Dark, King of the Mountain and almost every obstacle challenge there is in Asia. Now it's time to challenge yourself by going longer and harder.

Introducing Viper 2 Four.

Brought to you by the organisers of Viper Challenge, Viper 2 Four is Asia's only obstacle endurance event where participants can compete individually or in a team of four. All one needs to do is complete as many rounds of the course as possible within a 24 hour time period. As daunting as it sounds, it doesn't need to be when you have a team and/or support crew to rely on for support. The top three in each category of male, female and team will stand a chance to walk away with cash prizes.

Choosing Your First Obstacle Course Race (OCR)

The year I discovered obstacle course racing was the year my life changed. As cliche as that sounds, it is the truth. It started with my bootcamp friends convincing me to take part in Tough Mudder, a 21km distance run with an exciting and terrifying combination of obstacles - Artic Anema, Electroshock Therapy and walls...oh god, the walls.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

But taking the leap (sometimes quite literally) from pure running to obstacle course racing was no less daunting for many. If the 10ft walls and 15ft plank walk hasn't frightened off some, the distance might. However if one has been working out consistently and has the right can-do attitude aka YOLO, completing an obstacle course race can bring about a euphoria unlike anything running can bring about. I think it has something to do with the obstacle element of it. Being able to overcome a physical or mental challenge in the form of an obstacle had rewards of its own.

Viper Challenge 2015: Wet and Wild

Somewhere behind me, behind those 5 foot walls set up in middle of a plantation in Sepang, I could hear my friend coaxing a pair of girls to use him as a step for them to get over aforementioned walls. Ahead of me, my sister was scrambling over the walls with sheer determination and I thought, "if she can do it, so can I." 

So I did it. Awkward and uncoordinated. Not at all like how my Bootcamp instructor taught us (he would burst a vein if he saw how I did it) but I did it nevertheless. And even though those walls were only 5 foot, it was an achievement for me.