The Malaysian debut of the Reebok Spartan Race saw over 10,000 participants take part in the two-day event that was one of the marquee attractions of the inaugural National Sports Day.
The world’s leading obstacle race took place place on 10th and 11th October and even saw Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin get in the fray when he competed with the race organisers on the second day.
Malaysians got their first taste of the Reebok Spartan Race by tackling the Spartan Sprint, which for this race was a 6.5km course with 25 obstacles along the way. The Sprint was an excellent starting point to becoming a Spartan as it was fun for beginners while the course had plenty of challenges for seasoned racers.
Khairy arrived on the morning of the second day and took part in the race along with Marcus Luer, Founder and Group CEO of Total Sports Asia (TSA).
“This was an altogether different and more demanding type of race from what I have done previously. It was a challenging course but ultimately quite exhilarating after I completed it,” said Khairy.
“Congratulations to the oprganisers of Malaysia’s first Reebok Spartan Race and it’s obvious from the number of participants over these two days that the interest in these types of ultra-active events is growing and I look forward to more of these events being held in Malaysia,” he added.
Malaysians can certainly expect more Spartan Races in future as the organisers have been encouraged by the turnout over the two days, even despite the slightly hazy conditions. “I think it’s been a huge success. Malaysia was the most logical choice for South East Asia… it’s developed, forward-thinking and sports-oriented. It made perfect sense to plant our flag here and we’ll definitely be back,” said Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan Race Inc.
According to Marcus that will be as soon as 20th March 2016 as TSA and Spartan Race have already set the date to hold the Spartan Super then, which will be over a distance of 12km+ and 25+ obstacles. “I think we can see that Malaysians are more than ready for the Reebok Spartan Race,” he said.
In fact, registration is now open for the Spartan Super on 20th March 2016 and they will be announcing a different secret location soon!
A total of RM30,000 in cash and sponsor prizes were awarded to the winners in the first Reebok Spartan Race in South East Asia. The winner in the Elite Men’s category was Rushad Nanavatty, 37, an independent consultant from the U.S. in his first Spartan Race.
Rushad took home RM1,000 cash and other sponsor prizes while second and third place went to Cheang Cheng Tan from Malaysia and Ian Deeth from the UK, respectively.
Student Colleen R. Augustin, 17, won the Elite Women’s category, bagging RM1,000 along with other sponsor prizes. A regular run participant, Colleen took part in her first Spartan Race together with her brother and mother.
Second place went to Pasree Lee while third place was won by Lim Soo Ee. All three winners are from Malaysia. Pasree Lee also bagged the winner’s trophy in the Women’s Masters category while Andrew Philips won the Men’s Masters category, for men and women above 40.
The Spartan Junior Race for children between the ages of 4-13 was won by Matthew Trott in the Boy’s category and Siobhain Doyle in the Girl’s category.
For more pictures of the event, check out the gallery below:
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