Genting Trailblazers 2008!!

Last weekend I was up in Genting for the Trailblazer. Man, I haven’t been to genting for about 2-3 yrs now and this is the first time I would be going up for the race, and not the theme park rides or the casinos. Went up with fellow runner extrodinaire, BK, on Saturday at 7.30am. The ride was smooth and fast, reaching KL at about 12 and finally in Genting at 1pm at the new Genting Bus Terminal, and made our way to First World Resort for lunch at KFC.

Genting was full of ppl which belies the fact that the world is undergoing a recession. I had a Zinger and a popcorn chicken, which was quite ok.. well, at least spicier than the Singapore ones. BK has this fetish for Msian KFC, somehow or rather.. which I do solemly agree…tastes better that SG KFC :)

Hmm, some time to kill after lunch… hehe… and my eyes caught hold of SkyVenture, which is a skydiving simulation . It’s basically a huge vertical air tunnel that blows upwards, so skydiving enthusiasts can practice in a more controlled environment first before going out in the real sky. Costs bout RM 78 for 2 person with a DVD recording, cheaper than the reverse bungee in Singapore.

Out instructor was Nizam, and he was on cool brudder. After a short briefing, w were brought into the changing room where we donned a jumpsuit, earplugs, goggles and helmet. Next, onto the sim itself. Nizam gave some demo at first, after which I went in with him….. and boy…. It was really really fun!!! The wind were really really strong that you can practically just float when you try to lean forwasd and lie on air. Haha.. using some techniques Nizam taught earlier, I tried to balance myself on air.. and it was NOT easy!! Each time I tried to go higher, I ended up either just stagnant or falling… haha… need more practice. BK’s run was not smooth either, as he kept flipping to one side.. darn… but both of us were psyched up for the second run.. hehe.. this was where the crazy stuff happened.

Before we went in, I asked Nizam if he could teach me to flip.. and he DID!!! Yay!!! After a short demo, he took me in… at first, I almost flipped backwards, but after regaining composure, I managed to ready myself better and flipped forward… twice .. with Nizam holding on to me J. I was ecstatic. The grand finale was superb as well where he grabbed on to me and did the twister up and down twice… man, that was fun… I so want to do it again.

Click here for the Vid : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8601875315027966785

After skyventure, we went for a short walk around, to cool down. At about 4.. we were off to the skyway cablecar to head down to Awana to chk in. Awana was bustling with activities with the runners all there to chk in and register as well. There were the usual PowerBar ppl, and the Brooks ones as well. The whole process was smooth, with the chking in at the registration area… smart organizers. The goodie bag had 2 powerbars, 1 can of milo, 1 can of 100 plus, the green trailblazer t shirts, and a notebook. There were some vouchers (threw them away later) and the 2 tickets for the free dinner buffet. Bought some powerbars and gels, and snooped arn the Brooks stall, and finally to the room.

The deluxe suite was quite ok. After a short rest and a bit of tv, we headed down to the buffet spread to fill our tummies and then scuttled up to genting again. Our second visit up were greeted by the thick genting mist and some rain. It was coooooold….. didn’t do much this time, just went for a short walkaround the Genting hotel and First World. Not long after, it was time to go down, and rest for the next day. I had a loooong hot bath … ahh…. Nice….

The race started at 8.50am for our category, but we were down at the football pitch at about 7.30am for the pre race briefing and registration. The rain yesterday made the whole place extra muddy.. which was good, as the trailblazer was suppose to be a muddy race, with a short obstacle course at the end of it. Managed to get a free Milo bidon filled with water from one of the organizers.. heheh… MNS gave a short talk about conserving the environment, Fitness First gave a short aerobic show… and finally the race begins. We were in the third wave… after the competitive and female & male adventure runners.

Tick tock tick tock…. The countdown begins… and finally at 8.50am… we were off!!!

The first 100m was a run through the muddy football field. Then a short road run for about 1-2 km… and finally we hit the trails. Man, it was fun… imagine a normal trail hiking in the msian jungle, but this time, it’s a race. The upslopes were torturous, but slow as the multitude of the other slower participants held up the single file race to a hike. The downslopes were the interesting parts, where we tried to either slide or run down as fast as we can… there were some bits that reminded me of Kledang in Perak, the botak hill. If I’m not wrong, there were ?1 river crossing, and prob 2-3 streams.. which was really good to clean my shoes in after they were covered in mud. Oh yarr.. NO LEECHES!!!

About 2 hours later, we were at the obstacle course.. the last 150m of the race, and undoubtedly one of the best part of it. Hehe… there were a few dips into muddy water, walking on a balancing pole, climbing up slanted walls, and jumping into more muddy water… whoa…haha… and I also face my first super high slanted wall which I needed a running start to scale :) wish I can do this again. Had some great mud facial there and I almost lost my shoes a coupla times too.

We reached the end of the race at about 2:10. Had YiHui and Jane cheering me towards the end (thanks guys) and I felt great at the end. Only sad part was that it ended too soon. We took a cool clean bath at the shower area provided and cleared out the mud and dirt and what’s nots. Had some breakfast (milo makes a good replacement for milk to eat with cereal)after that before returning to the hotel for the proper bath. Haha, we did try to pose for a pic.. hope it comes out from the organizers soon.

We checked-out out at 1pm and made our last trip up Genting. Sad to leave this place so soon, especially since its been terribly fun. Had KFC again for lunch and walked towards First World to kill time before the 3.30 pm return bus to SG. Sigh.. hehe…I had a temporary tattoo airbrushed onto my back shoulders during the wait.. now everyone can call me Ah Long!!! Hehe that costs me RM 70.. then I managed to convinced BK to join me in a 10minute fish spa… hahahha… was so darn ticklish that I couldn’t stop laughing.. hahhahaha.. :) the crowds were gathering around us wondering what was happening as I was just laughing out loud for the first 5 mins… hehehe,… those cute fishies with greedy eyes looking at my feet… hahhaa .. watch them here : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2941292502156472909&hl=en

Oh well… finally, took the bus home and arrived back in SG at around 10+ pm… :). The whole trip had been a blast, from start to end, and I had an amazingly good time… I’m sold on this race, and hope that I can make it again next year… but next time, I’ll go on the rides too

Have a look at some of the photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com/jonie81/121208GentingTrailblazers#

Till the next race then, trudge on…