After experiencing Semenyih trails on a mountain bike, this part of the Selangor countryside is slowly becoming one of my favourites. When I was offered a chance to join a obstacle mud race there, I just couldn’t say no.

However, I didn’t know much nor what to expect from Warrior Trail as is quite new in comparison to big names like Tough Mudder and Spartan Race. We now have regional events like Viper Challenge, Reebok Challenge and Urbanathon which are not too shabby as well.

Venue and parking – 9/10

Semenyih Eco Venture is about 30 minutes away from the city. Parking was good as the opposite Semenyih Nirvana cemetery opened up their parking lots as well.

Check-in and bag drop – 2/10

There was a long registration queue to pickup the bib number. Some elite runners had to wait more than an hour and missed their wave. The bag drop area was not very orderly and bags were kept in an open area.

Obstacles – 5/10

This is probably the toughest part to score. The obstacles are challenging enough but at the same time flawed. The obstacles were placed too close to each other and that caused a very long queue.

Easier obstacles or longer running route should have been placed at the beginning to spread out the crowd. Obstacles also need to be bigger to cater for the volume of runners arriving at the same point of time. Most of the special obstacles can only accommodate 1 or 2 people at one go causing a bottleneck.

The worst aspect overlooked was the safety of one of the high scaffold obstacle. It was constructed with only metal rods and plywood. The main metal rod became crooked from all the grabbing impact. The wooden platform cracked due to too much weight. The safety mattress below should be bigger and metal rod surrounding the drop were not cushioned. A girl crashed into the poles but luckily she could still walk and I hope she didn’t get any serious injuries on her back.

The same goes with obstacles that used 9 foot trailer containers as a launch pad. The marshalls should have limited the number of people that could go up at one time. The middle of the roof started creaking and most of us ended up queuing up around the edge.

A couple of the gymnastic rings for the monkey bar snapped as well and were not replaced immediately. The  final Tsunami obstacle should have been made bigger so there is more room if they fall or slide down.

Trail – 8/10

Trail was a mixed of secondary forest and rubber plantation, as well as some fishing ponds. The river crossing portion was super awesome and the slippery hill climbs were quite a challenge as well. Trail signage could be better marked. As some people actually got lost in the middle of the trail.

Water station, marshalls and medic support – 4/10

Water station #2 ran out of water and that was the most important one as it was on top of a very tough hill. Not many marshalls or medic were seen in the trail. Some people offered to fetch injured runners out using their motorbikes.

Post-race facilities 2/10

The resort has 2 big swimming pools and yet no proper shower in the open area and changing rooms? The organisers could have at least get a fire truck to hose down the participants to clean them up a bit. Most had to resort to the dorm bathrooms. I felt sorry for those who actually paid for accommodation there as the participants used up all their water and dirtied the bathroom with mud and sand.

Entitlement/goodie bag – 7/10

Nice medal, good quality finisher shirt, some discount vouchers and a decent Nasi Lemak (especially when we were starving).

Value for money – 6/10

It’s a bit expensive for what we got but I give it a 6 considering I had joined worst events (especially the infamous syabas water sponsored one back in 2013). Evidently, there is plenty of room for improvement in their next event.

To view more photos on the Warrior Trail on Tough Asia’s Facebook, click here.

More about the author Cereal Buff is currently doing his PhD in mid-life crisis management. He’s often into santai-santai rides or runs and  sometimes turns into a weekend adrenaline junkie wannabe.