Race Media

Affindi and Chong push thru darkness, mud and wet rainforest to grab Malaysia Action Asia 50 titles

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 13 Oct. 2019 – Rated by some of Malaysia's top elite runners as the most difficult punishing mountain running course in West Malaysia the much-anticipated Malaysia Action Asia 50 kicked off Sunday at the Cherengin Hills Convention & Spa Resort in Janda Baik, Pahang state.

in the peaceful and tranquil little village of Janda Baik with a 50km technical trail course close to 3400m elevation gain. Runners were flagged off with 3 starts with 50km participants starting at 5am in darkness, 24km at 7am and 10km & 5km at 7:15am.

"The course was very interesting between cp1 and cp2 as I ran most of it in the dark with the light coming with only a few km remaining on the 15km+ section, but returning the same way it looked so beautiful as it looked so beautiful and different going back to cp3 the same way with the bonus of seeing other runners on the section. The constant hill after hill with going down some wet, muddy, slippery sections in the dark made it quite technical and exciting at the same time in the first 20km. It was nice after 20km to hit some smooth dirt roads to open my stride and run a smoother race with confidence as with such great course marking and one of the best marked courses I've ever seen in Malaysia it was easy to push hard and build a gap over the French gentleman behind me. Looking forward to going to Hong Kong again for the Asian Skyrunning Championship in December as love Lantau as another beautiful designed course by Action Asia Events" said the overall 50km male champion Mohamad Affindi Bin Nudin from Malaysia finishing in 6 hours 48 minutes 20 seconds.

Malaysian resident Mei Chong grabbed the overall 50km womens champion saying she pushed hard but found the first section in the dark quite tough. It wasn't easy going out in the dark climbing hills thru vegation and climbing over some bamboo sections as something I'm not use, but as the marking was so clear it gave us great confidence in knowing where we were going as such a good experience at the Malaysia Action Asia 50. I suffered at the end as it was getting hot and kept saying where is the finish as was quite happy to finish and will definately recommend this well organized and clearly marked course to all my friends" said the overall Womens champ Mei Chong finishing in 7 hours 54 minutes 51 seconds.

Philippe Bachmann grabbed 2nd overall in the Men's 50km finishing in 7 hours 50 minutes 06 seconds. "The last 10km was mentally painful as was getting hot and glad I started taking my time around 5th place passing a few later, watching my heartrate not going over 162 and eating drinking lots which paid off. If I went over 162 I slowed down and forced myself to walk then started to run again. First time running in dark so quite nice when sun came up and course became very interesting as long as you didn't put your foot in a hole. What a course as absolutely loved it as was recommended by my friends who did this course last year and know can see why as will recommend to others" said 2nd overall Bachmann.

Foon Yee Chow was full of praise for the course getting 2nd overall in the Women's 50km field, but coming back in the final stages really struggled. "My energy really dropped after 40km which forced me to really slow my pace down to make sure I had enough in me to make it to the finish. It was tough but I will be back next year" said Chow finishing in 9 hours 41 minutes 49 seconds.

Many participants all had similiar sentiments saying the course was 'non stop hills' but the course marking was very clear, but definately the toughest race they have done in Malaysia, but all want to bring their friends next Action Asia Events edition to stand the pain together. One thing that stands out amongst so many Malaysians it seems is they love and are willing to pay for a lot of pain and recommend the experience. The other common feedback was going deep into the rainforest with monkeys leaping, birds whistling on the trees and the sound of crickets, refreshing from all the noise in big cities. Organizers spent 3 full days working 10+ hour days marking the course to make sure runners didn't get lost in the deep jungle.

To minimize environmental damage to the nature in Malaysia, the Malaysia Action Asia 50 will be operating a strict no cup policy. Runners are advised to bring their own water bottles or hydration packs and refill them at the water checkpoints throughout the course.

The Malaysia Action Asia 50 couldn't have happended without the kind support of Cherengin Hills Convention & Spa Resort,  Tourism Malaysia, Forestry of Malaysia, Pahang state police dept, Janda Baik community police dept, Royale International, Action X store, Horizon Sports, ITR.run, Run Society, Just Run Lah, Janda Baik community and all the fantastic Janda Baik local staff and marshals together with Kuala Lumpur staff that gave a special hand.

More Race Details at:
www.actionasiaevents.com
www.facebook.com/ActionAsiaEvent/
www.instagram.com/actionasiaevents/
www.twitter.com/ActionAsiaEvent
www.youtube.com/user/ActionAsiaEvents
www.weibo.com/actionasiaevent

About Action Asia Events
Action Asia Events the operational arm of Asia's largest televised 50km trail series, the premier adventure racing series Action Asia Challenge inspires and pushes the boundaries of adventure travel, ultra marathon and team building. These responsibilities range from selection of the course venue, dates and race format to raising the funds essential to run the race as well as liaising with the registered charities to determine fund raising activities. Action Asia Events organizes ultra marathon, trail and adventure running events in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Nepal and across Asia for adrenaline junkies and weekend warriors.

Full results at: https://www.actionasiaevents.com/results.html 

Live results with splits at Racematix at https://www.racematix.com/site/#results:grp/Malaysia-Action-Asia-50-2019

Race Info:

Event:	Malaysia Action Asia 50
Date:	13 October, 2019 (Sunday)
Time:	5:00 a.m - 50km 7:00 a.m - 24km 7:15 a.m- 5km & 10km
Location:	Cherengin Hills Convention & Spa resort, Janda Baik, Malaysia
Distance:	5km, 10 km, 24 km, 50km
Course:	https://bit.ly/35uiFLx