Action Asia gets its act together

It's finally on the road and athletes are gearing up for this weekend's Action Asia Challenge to be held on Taiwan's northeast coast between Fulung and Lungtung. The starting date of Nov. 16 was put back by almost a month and a new category of two-person teams has been introduced for the race that will start at dawn on Dec. 7.

The Action Asia Challenge is in its third year in Taiwan. The event is gradually finding its stride and while everyone agrees that the topography of the island is perfect for multi-discipline adventure racing, organizers face many challenges, not least being the relative unfamiliarity of Taiwan's outdoor sports community with the concept of adventure racing.

This year, the event will take competitors from the seaside resort of Fulung to the rock climbing center of Lungtung and back again in a race that winning competitors are expected to complete within four hours. In the world of endurance racing, this is a "baby race," according to Marc Turckenburgh, a veteran competitor who will be participating in the Challenge as a prelude to leading a four-person team representing Taiwan in the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest in Saba, Malaysia, Dec. 11 to Dec. 15.

Michael Maddess, the race designer of the Challenge, emphasized that this race is designed to be accessible by anyone who is physically fit and enjoys adventure. He said that while even adventure race novices should be able to complete the course, placing in the race would tax the endurance and skills of even highly experienced teams.

Local teams cover the whole spectrum, from novice to experienced competitors. Joining for the first time are Team I-Li (毅力), who simply want to try "something

different."

Team leader Song Chih-ping

(宋志屏), a former navy frogman, said that the event got him and a couple of friends together to check out a sports idea that they had seen on TV but had never actually participated in. "It's all new to us, but we aim just to finish the race," Song said.

These are the people that Action Asia is particularly targeting, seeing them as the basis from which they can "grow a new market," according to David Abbott, events managing director of Action Asia.

While adventure-style racing is not completely unknown in Taiwan, it still tends to be restricted to particular fields. Team "Why Here?" is no novice to endurance sport, with one team member having competed in Taiwan's very own Mountaineering Ironman event and another working as a trainer at Taipei' s Y-17 youth activity center. The team, a group of friends formerly from the Tamkang University Mountain Climbing Association, aim to "enjoy ourselves, but seriously."

"We know that terrain [along the northeast Coast] so well, it isn't too difficult to work out the course they will set," said team leader Ah Hsing (阿信), who welcomes the addition of the Action Asia Challenge to Taiwan's outdoor-events calendar. He suggested that the reason that Taiwan is not more active in such sports is "because of the social structure here. It is hard to find the time."

He added that this is gradually changing, as there is more demand for outdoor oriented lifestyles and the professionals, such as guides and coaches, who can help promote it.

According to Lai Tsen-rong (賴增榮), team leader of Echo-2, Taiwan teams are handicapped by the rigid company structures that make it difficult for them to participate regularly in such events. But he said he also saw a changing attitude that is reflected by greater participation in such events as the Action Asia Challenge. The opening for two-person teams for Taiwan was, partly based on demand from local and expatriate groups in Hong Kong, who felt it difficult to get three-person groups together on the relatively short notice that the current organization of the Action Asia Foundation provided.