Story and by NIK NAIZI HUSIN
JERANTUT: For the second time in a row, police commandos from Hulu Kinta Perak proved their mettle to emerge champion in the recent Taman Negara Eco-Challenge.
Naming themselves Team Vat 69B, the commandos led by Sjn Shamsudin Hasan had three new faces, namely Constable Saifudin Hasbi, L/Kpl Ahmad Shahrin Omar and L/Kpl Razali Tumpang.
Despite lacking in experience, the guidance and leadership of Sjn Shamsudin led the team to complete the punishing race in a time of 16 hours 59 minutes.
The event, which included climbing the highest mountain in Peninsular - Gunung Tahan - was spread over three days.
Team VAT 69B broke the event’s record of 19 hours 35 minutes and 50 seconds set last year by their colleagues.
To Sjn Shamsudin, his seniority in the commando unit and wide experience in extreme sports was an asset to guide and teach his three juniors for the event.
Sjn Shamsudin had taken part in the Marlboro Adventure Team Challenge in Utah in 1996 and 1997 and was the champion in the Gunung Tahan challenge in 1996 besides taking part in many extreme sports events while the three younger men were just two years in the commando unit.
“No doubt, they were lacking in experience but their high spirits showed throughout the race and made us more confident to complete the course.
“As young men, Saifudin 23, Ahmad Shahrin 22, and Razali 26, need motivation,” said Sjn Shamsudin.
Constable Saifudin said he was glad to have a team leader like Sjn Shamsudin as he needed guidance and direction.
“Sjn Shamsudin’s leadership was very valuable to us. His patience and understanding helped us complete the course.
“I gained much knowledge from him in extreme sports,” he said.
Vat 69B team finished their first day's challenge by scaling and jogging atop the mountains from the starting point in Kuala Juram, Merapoh, Lipis, in five hours 47 minutes covering a distance of 44.4km.
On day two, the team completed the journey of 40km from Kem Padang to Kuala Terenggan in nine hours 37 minutes.
On the final day, from Kuala Terenggan to the finishing point in Kuala Tahan, they took two hours and 35 minutes to complete the course to become the champion.
Team Vat 69B beat first runner-up team Anaconda comprising Jasmi Sarael, Sangup Richard, Jusery Gani and Badrul Hisyam A Bao who recorded a time of 18 hours 47 minutes.
Team Vat 69 A, comprising Shamsudin Hasan, Md Nazri Kassim, Nor Azeman Samiran and Helmi Mokhtar emerged as second runner-up with a time of 19 hours 14 minutes.
A total of 23 teams from all over the state took part in the challenge held in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year as one of the 50 major events in the country.
However, only 19 teams completed the three-day, two-night journey of three stages covering a total distance of 129km.
Prizes included RM10,000 cash, challenge trophy and medals for the champions, RM7,000, challenge trophy and medals for the first runner-up and RM5,000, challenge trophy and medals for the second runner-up.
State Arts, Culture, Tourism and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Maznah Mazlan presented the prizes to the winners.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
