Malaysians will be familiar with Viper Challenge – the famous extreme obstacle course run that has participants pushing the limit in commando-style activities: crawling through mud, scaling 10-ft high walls, lugging tyres, and swinging across pools of dirty water. Now, we have something less extreme but no less challenging: Dragon Run, a 6K obstacle course on inflatables, inspired by martial arts.

Brought to Malaysia for the first time by HK-based event organisers Next Promotions, Dragon Run will be held at Skyranch, Genting from May 14 to 15. Touted as the ‘first of its kind’, it features 10 obstacles  and 15 inflatables, each designed to mimic a particular branch of martial arts: there’s Jeet Kune Do, Sumo, Muay Thai, Taekwondo and Kungfu.

Was lucky to be invited to try the inflatables out for work! Here’s a taste of what we experienced:

After the Dragon Gate, an archway decorated by Chinese drums, we plunged straight into the Great Dragon – a long, colourful inflatable shaped like the mythical beast. Climbing up into the ‘mouth’, we jumped down into a pit, crawled across a narrow walkway, climbed up the ‘tail’, slid down and then got on our bellies to crawl across a low space.

I was never super fit, so I had to take my time going through them. Also, you try lugging a heavy DSLR while trying to clear challenges + take nice photos lol.

If you’ve ever been on an inflatable, you’ll know that your weight sinks right into the soft, bouncy material. It was really hard keeping my balance. What’s more, it was a sunny day and the thing had been lying out in the sun so it was hot to the touch. Move quickly if you don’t wanna get burnt!

We also went into a small maze where participants had to kick a pole at every door, as well as ‘palm trees’ where an instructor would teach you how to punch and kick, Muay-Thai style.

I just need to paste a photo of my most hated person on the tree and imagine kneeing him/her in the groin. Ah, satisfaction. 

The ‘Sumo’ part of the obstacle course had these egg-shaped sumo-head inflatables, which participants have to push through.

The Yin Yang gate. If you’re not a fitness expert, that’s okay coz you can still bounce as normal on the inflatable, but for those who really wanna push themselves or show off their moves, you can even do backflips inside the obstacle!

The most exciting obstacle imo was the Big Boss. Towering at least two-storeys high, racers will have to climb up to the top, then pick a slide. Depending on which one, you will get either wet, very wet, or soaking wet coz there’s one with a small pool at the bottom! When you’re climbing up you don’t really feel it coz you’re looking upwards, but once you get to the top and look down, the slide looks impossibly tall. Almost as exhilarating as a roller coaster 🙂

Aside from obstacles, there will also be a Dragon Village where everyone in the fam can play games, do fun activities like face painting, and enjoy the food stalls. To ensure safety, the organisers will let people go in waves so that the inflatables don’t get too crowded.

Prices : RM129 (adult) and RM95 (child/youth).

VIP pass: RM219.

You’ll also get a runners pack with bib and t-shirt in it. Register at: http://bit.ly/dragonruntix.

All that jumping makes one hungry. Had lunch at Awana Golf Club and Resort. 🙂

Beautiful view! Weather was so hot though, even up in the mountains.