I had mark the day in my calendar. I had told Joshua - my Dutch friend that arrived on the island the night before - to join me there for some hours of fun and physical exercises. We met at 10 am for breakfast (it is as well the opening hour of the water park) and get energized for the day.
I was so excited.
Soooo, the challenge is composed of multiple modules you have to go through, some are mandatory (if you fall you have to pass it again) and some others can be "skipped" if you fall (you then have to swim to the next element which makes you loss quite some time$9.
Here goes the course:
- You start from a plate form where you take a swing. You release yourself in the water and get to the first module - The Balance Beam
- The Balance Beam is composed of a very narrow beam with 3 red cylinders in the way. As the name suggests it, balance is key there.
- You then turn onto the Swinging Shapes, 5 hanging shapes very unstable. You need very good hand/foot coordination and very strong upper body. These 2 pieces are mandatory, if you fall, you have to start both again.
- Completing this, you are a dive away from the Rolling Barrels. You get up a small plate form and face 3 cylinders. Several techniques can be used to cross this obstacle: "crawling" from one barrel to another, or running/jumping from one to one. I decided to run which was much faster and dive straight into the Floating Shapes.
- The Floating Shapes is one of the 2 modules I could not master. It is composed of 4 floating cubes that are very light and incredibly unstable. You need to be so fast and light on these... It is almost impossible. I did try but I have always been falling on the second or third one.
- You are then having a 20/30m swim to the Pyramid, an inflated structure you have to climb until the top. Not very technical but very demanding physically.
- From the Pyramid, you take a dive to get onto the Monkey Bars. This one is pretty straight forward... You hang from one bar to the next one but difficulty is increased having your legs hanging in the water.
- Last element is the Satan's Balls, 3 massives round floating red shapes you have to run through. This is by far the most difficult part and the one where you can loose most time. I have not manage a single time to cross it. I have been spending almost 2 hours going on and off the departure zone trying to master it... without success. The closest I got was jumping from the 3rd ball onto the finishing area... but arriving on the plate form my back first, just bouncing against the white inflated module down the water... So close.
- The time stops when you are standing on this last piece.
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| First part of the course from the starting plate form. |
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| Second and final part of the course. |
We spent with Joshua a good hour evaluated all elements and practicing crossing techniques before taking upon The Challenge - the timed run of the entire track. The all time record was 2 minutes and 16 secondes by a French guy. My initial objective was to make it into the top 20 and complete the course in around 3 minutes.
On my first try, I noticed how tired I already was from all the time spent climbing, swimming and trying out the modules. I would rest a little, have lunch and try again. My first time was 3 minutes 20 sec... just 3 seconds away of making the top 20. I know I could do much better and already identified areas of improvements.
After lunch, I decided straight away to warm up, swimming and stretching a little bit and try directly.
As expected, I started trying to dive off the swing and going through the first elements slowly but surely as these are mandatory. I failed to pass the Floating Rocks and swam rapidly to the pyramid, climbed as quick as I can and jumped straight into the water, flew passed the monkey bars and climbed facing the red balls. I focused a few seconds... and failed pathetically :D. I was just left with swimming around and climbing to the last plate form. And standing triumphantly.
My time for this attempt was 2:48. I had my spot in the Top 10 and the best time of the day (besides that staff member... that completed the course in 1 minute and 3 secondes.... He was flying through the entire thing like if it was a walk in the park).
Again, I knew I could do better but was not really sure how much energy I had left. The key for me was these balls... completed it and it is top 3 guaranteed. I spent the next 2 hours as mentioned before up there, jumping from one ball to another. Or at least trying because I would always end up in the water.
On my third and final attempt, I improved my time by just 1 second. I was left empty and already sore feeling each muscle in my body.
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| All time ranking! |
It was time to call it a day, go to visit our Dutch friend at the Flying Dutchman and witness a beautiful sunset. We stopped on the way in order to snap a picture or 2 of that amazing scenery.
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| Sunset and Ang Thong National park in the far back. |
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