Mild Seven Outdoor Quest

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Pre-race briefing

Lisa de Speville / 27.10.2004

This afternoon the team pre-race briefing was held. The following snippets are perhaps of interest.

The time here in Sabah, Borneo is GMT +8hrs

20 teams will be lined up at the Stage 1 start at 09h30 tomorrow (Thursday).

Stage 1 is a series of 3 x 20-minute sprint races totalling only 12.1km. The sprints will take place on and around the beach outside the event’s host hotel, the Nexus Resort Kinabalu. Incorporated disciplines are mountain biking, sea kayaking (close to shore), running, scrambling over a cargo net and climbing a vertical wall, which appears to be over 6’. The second sprint will be started 20-minutes after the first team has crossed the line. Those taking longer will continue immediately.

The race routes are all marked and no navigation is required. Course markers include light blue arrows painted on to the ground, light blue stripes painted on to trees, blue ribbons and various signboards. Competitors have been warned not to follow white markings. Last year, locals – inspired by the event – took to moving marked boulders and even went so far as to head out with white paint to mark their own arrows. The light blue paint colour was selected by race organisation because it is shade that locals are not able to obtain readily.

Paddling: Sea kayaking is included during stage 2 (17km) and stage 5 (15km). They will be using plastic, double sit-on-top kayaks. On stage 3, if the river’s water level is sufficiently high, the teams will raft high-grade rapids. If not, they will paddle the same section on their sit-on-tops. They will have the opportunity to paddle traditional craft during one of the Adventure Skill activities.

Inline Skating: a traditional MSOQ discipline, inline skating features in stages 2, 3 and 5, an accumulated distance of 27km. Most of the surface to be travelled is smooth and of excellent quality.

The ascent of Mt Kinabalu (4101m) in stage 4 is a definite race highlight. Competitors will spend the night at 1500m, walking up to the start at around 3000m. They will race up to the top for technical rope work on the exposed rocky summit before sprinting down to their bikes - a 2000m descent. It is highly likely that some competitors will suffer varying degrees of altitude sickness.

In Stage 5 the teams will rappel off Kota Kinabalu’s highest building, Menara Tun Mustapha. As it is a glass structure, the racers will be thoroughly searched for any loose items, including sunglasses, which may fall from their pockets/clothing during the activity. Fortunately the descent is free-hanging so they won’t be able to put their trail shoes through an office window.

On my media sheet I have ‘buffalo ride’ marked as an Adventure Skill activity on Stage 3. Interesting…

The many aid stations, located at each transition, are stocked with water, carbohydrate and electrolyte drinks, carbohydrate gels and Powerbars. Water, cold drinks and savoury foods will be waiting every day at the finish line.

Stages 2, 3 and 5 each have a compulsory 15-minute cool-down stop. More may be added if necessary. Competitors who took part in last year’s event say that it is hotter this year. The team of any competitor who requires intravenous fluids will incur time penalties, which increase with each administration.

Each team has been assigned race boxes by MSOQ for their gear. These are transported by race organisation to the transition areas. Teams will have to pack carefully for each day.

Sunday is a rest day.
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