Mild Seven Outdoor Quest

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A Race That’s Got It All

Lisa de Speville / 26.10.2004

Mild Seven Outdoor Quest has it all. An exotic location, 7 disciplines, 5 demanding stages covering 300km, interesting and challenging courses, luxury overnight accommodation at the Nexus Resort Karambunai, lavish eat-till-you-pop buffets, extensive media coverage, exceptional organisation and of course, a hefty prize purse. It is little wonder that the AR stable's finest will be lined up at the start on Thursday, 28 October.

Situated on the Northern cap of the island of Borneo on the South China Sea, Sabah is barely 5° North of the equator. A tropical delight with unrivalled natural surroundings, pristine white sand beaches and a million-year old rainforest, Sabah is a breathtaking adventure paradise.

The event is set in a staged format and with the exception of the short 1-2hr first stage, stages 2-5 will take leading teams 6-8hrs to complete. Fast-paced, MSOQ is essentially a series of daily short-course events. The course is marked so navigation is not required. But, teams do need to pay careful attention as the locals often move the course markers around.

A win at MSOQ will depend on speed, minimising errors, and in getting through the tasks quickly and efficiently. In the race for first place, if a team loses 15-min they may be out of contention.

MSOQ has also set their event apart from other great AR events by allowing all-male teams to compete officially. Although the 4th male must be at least 45-years of age, when you consider that many of the World's top male AR competitors are in their 40's, knocking on the door of 45, this restriction is hardly a 'handicap'.

Interestingly, of the most well-known teams, Nokia is the only one competing in an all-male format. Seagate, Montrail, Nike ACG/Balance Bar, AROC and Buff will maintain their mixed-gender composition, a format they defend. "Our team is totally against the all male rule", says Seagate's Nathan Fa'ave. "If I wanted to do an all-male sport I'd go back to playing rugby." Last year Seagate won. Nokia took second.See All Event Posts