From The Top to the Tip of Borneo

Rob / 15.04.2003

Mild Seven Outdoor Quest (MSOQ) have announced their dates for this year, and the race is staying in Sabah, the Malaysian part of Borneo, for a second consecutive year.

Titled ‘From the top to the tip of Borneo’ it will take place between December 11-15th and is bound to attract many of the world’s top teams looking for an early Christmas present thanks to a US$200,000 prize pot. The winners pocket $46,000 and the prize money runs very deep, down to $2,000 for 14th place!

The organisers are keen to stress it’s not just for top teams though, saying, “Our policy is to accept a blend of top teams, Asian teams, media attractive teams, and experienced “weekend warrior” and participatory teams.” Nor is it an extreme, expedition style race as they go on to explain. “MSOQ is a multi-sport adventure race. For the fastest teams, stages will take between 4-10 hours to complete. The race course will be marked, but there will be orienteering elements incorporated and teams should be prepared to participate in a number of “surprise” adventure skills. All teams will sleep in the hotel at night.”

Yes, that’s right – no sleeping bag required, and it’s a 5 star hotel too! This is a race with a difference. Teams do have to take the race package which costs $8,000 (flights excluded), but it includes 8 nights in the luxury Nexus Resort Karambunai with its pristine white sand beach and backdrop of tropical rain forest. Much more is included too and knowing how important food is to adventure racers you get “lavish unlimited buffets with great international food” and “may actually gain weight during the race!” There is “daily post race finish food that includes pizza, ice cream, protein bars, fried chicken and more.”

Now we’ve established that you really want to go and do this race and that this year\'s Christmas holidays are sorted, what is actually involved? There are 4 days of racing plus a fun, prologue – it was dragon boating last year – and the stages are:

1. Mountain Biking
2. Kayaking (sea and river)
3. In-Line Skating (poles not required)
4. Adventure Skills (physical and mental tests of a wide variety)
5. Paddling (traditional wooden and modern rafts on flat and moving water)
6. Team Biathlon
7. Running (trail and roads)

The organisers say;, “MSOQ requires fitness but, for the most part, does not require highly technical adventure or wilderness skills. The theme of the 2003 event is the journey “From the top to the tip of Borneo” and to enable us to use the most spectacular terrain, athletes will be shuttled by bus/boat/steam train (yes, STEAM TRAIN) to and from start/finish areas on some days.”

The venue is an impressive one too with the course using the coral reefs and beaches of the South China Sea, Borneo’s famous tropical rainforest, and the fantastic rock architecture of Mount Kinabalu – South East Asia’s highest peak. The weather will be hot and maybe very wet, the course is set by racing legends John Howard and Ian Adamson, and the defending champions are Team Hi-Tec led by Steve Gurney.

If you want to get your application in now see the MSOQ site for full details.

You can see the coverage of last year’s race by Tim Lloyd of Team Saab Salomon here.