PERHENTIAN ISLAND CHALLENGE 2009

 

On 8 October, 2009, the Perhentian Island Challenge 2009 Race was launched by YB Wan Abdul Hakim bin Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar, Deputy Chairman of the State Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee, and YBhg. Dato' Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, Director General of Tourism Malaysia, at the Malaysia Tourism Centre in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Perhentian Island Challenge (PIC) is an annual adventure race open to the public and staged on the beautiful islands of Perhentian by PIC Adventures Sdn Bhd.

Perhentian Island Challenge 2009 is scheduled from 9th to11th October 2009. This year's event will comprise of various challenges in two categories - Elite and Novice, which will include Running, Swimming, Obstacle Course, Orienteering and various fun and games. This year's event will be different in terms of race format as from last and previous years and the Elite category will be more demanding physically and is expected to attract many serious athletes.

All finishers will be given a certificate of completion with winners and 9 runners up in each category will receive cash and consolation prizes worth in total of RM50,000! As an added gesture to encourage environmental concerns, the race organizers will organize beach clean up sessions with all participants and volunteers of PIC 2009 and the local island community.
PIC was first held in the year 2004 with only 103 registered participants. The participants have since increased greatly to over 400 in 2008. Being more than just an adventure race, PIC introduces participants and visitors to the paradise we know as Perhentian Islands with its pristine beaches and crystal waters, its vast marine life, marine activities and of course local culture and cuisine of the villagers. For the locals, PIC is an annual kampong celebration bringing together the local community with the tourism industry.

Perhentian Island Challenge has grown to such an extent for a small island that this year, the number of participants has been limited to 500. This decision is also conducive to the island's continuing conservation efforts.

For PIC 2009, sponsors include Rip Curl, the Ultimate Surfing Company, as the official sponsor for participants' race T shirts. Beverage giants such as Red Bull, Spritzer Mineral Water, 100 Plus and Sofresh have also once again shown their support in energising, hydrating and quenching our athletes. Not to mention continuous support from PowerBar for their high powered nutrition, Brooks for their super performance footwear, and the UFL team for Suunto and their precision sporting instruments, Coleman for quality outdoor equipment, and Deuter for durable backpacks. It is believed that PIC 2009 will be as successful as ever before.

Perhentian Island Challenge will keep on achieving its most important objectives of promoting the Perhentian Islands as a tourist destination and increase awareness of and promote conservation efforts on the island. Together with the support of the State Tourism authorities and Tourism Malaysia, Perhentian Island is becoming ever more popular for both local and foreign tourists. In addition, the local Government authorities have contributed tremendously ensuring the facilitation of various tourism infrastructures. All these efforts have effectively promoted Perhentian Island as is evident with the ever increasing number of new and repeat tourists.

For more information and previous years' archives please log on to www.perhentianislandchallenge.com