500 entries expected for Borneo Highlands Padawan Nature Challenge 2013

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TROPHY UP FOR GRABS: Lo (fourth right) holding the MPP Chairman Challenge Trophy with Zakaria (third left) and others after the press conference at BHR yesterday.

KUCHING: The organiser of the Borneo Highlands Nature Challenge 2013 this coming June 30, is expecting around 500 participants for this year’s challenge, which offers lucrative prizes of more than RM9,000 in total for all four categories.

According to Borneo Highlands Resort (BHR) resort manager Zakaria Ismail, last year’s challenge which saw around 220 participants, had helped to promote the annual event, which enters its sixth consecutive year.

“We had participants coming from West Malaysia and Sabah and we believe that more promotions will attract participants, and at the same time promoting BHR as a tourism spot in Sarawak, particularly in Padawan area,” said Zakaria.

He was speaking at a press conference to announce the event at BHR Clubhouse yesterday.

Meanwhile, Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang said the spillover from the event, which saw MPP as one of the co-organisers, will spur growth towards the tourism industry as it will lure outside participants to the state. The event was managed by Absolute Cool Event team.

“BHR has a lot to offer where visitors can enjoy nature on top of the Borneo Highlands and this opportunity should be used to promote Padawan as a tourism spot,” said Lo.

He added that BHR has all the right ingredients where apart from sporting events, visitors can organise corporate family days and functions.

Lo elaborated that the joint cooperation with BHR management in the event aimed to further strengthen the effort while creating an integrated approach with the local authority to promote BHR to the outside world.

The event yesterday also saw the presentation of sponsorship worth RM8,000 from Magnum to BHR.

The Borneo Highlands Padawan Nature Challenge 2013 is a running, cycling and trekking adventure where participants stand a chance to experience Padawan nature at its best.

The MPP Chairman Challenge Trophy category is 10km cycling from Kampung Annah Rais to BHR Plateau before ending with a 15km trekking from the plateau to Penrissen Summit and back.

The Penrissen Summit Trekking Challenge on the other hand is a 15km trekking from the plateau to the Penrissen Summit and back, while the Batu Panggah Trekking Challenge is a 10km trekking from the Plateau to Batu Panggah and back.

The last category is the Borneo Highlands Run where participants do an 8km run from the foothill to the plateau.

For more information of the event, contact Absolute Cool Event at 082-459370, Borneo Highlands Resort at 082-577930 or the Padawan Municipal Council at 082-615566.