Troy Farrar

I’m Troy Farrar and I am the course designer and race director for the Great Borneo Outdoor Challenge.

When Chas first approached me to join the GBOC project I was intrigued. As I researched the Sarawak region of Borneo my intrigue quickly turned to excitement. Sarawak is a tropical paradise on earth and a place where we can design a truly epic adventure race for many reasons. The diversity of terrain will allow for a multitude of disciplines which are both physically challenging and visually breath-taking. We plan to highlight several of the crown jewels of the Sarawak region during the GBOC giving the racer a true taste of Borneo. I feel the pallet we have been provided is amazing and this event will leave the competitors awestruck by the beauty they encounter on their journey. The hardest part of my job is trying to figure out how to get the competitors back on the airplane to go home when the event is over.

My work history is fairly diverse so I like to think of myself as a modern day renaissance man, however most of my close friends would probably just claim that I have attention deficit disorder. I was a collegiate soccer coach, a petroleum land man and have owned several businesses. I owned and operated one of the first and largest adventure race production companies in the United States for over 10 years. We designed and produced over 150 events during that span including several of the USARA Adventure Race National Championships. Then my first daughter, Izzy came along and I decided that I would rather spend time with her and my wife Debbie in the outdoors than being gone designing race courses. So I sold the production company to some friends and settled into my role as Poppa. I am currently the President of the United States Adventure Racing Association and have been in that position since 1998. I still manage the production of the USARA Collegiate & Sprint Nationals as well as the USARA Adventure Race National Championship. It has been exciting to watch the growth of adventure racing in the US and it has been a true pleasure to serve the sport during the formative years. My tribe grew by another member last year when my son Luke arrived and I now have the makings of a full adventure racing team. We are just waiting for Luke to get the walking thing down a little better and then the AR scene had better get ready for Team Farrar.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with adventure racing I would like to give you a brief education. Adventure racing is a multi-discipline, team sport in which the entire team travels together throughout the entire event. The beauty of adventure racing is that every event is different. The core disciplines are trail running, mountain biking, paddling and navigation, but the possible disciplines are endless. Many events have other disciplines such as rappelling, caving and white water swimming. Adventure races are often unsupported and the team must carry all of their equipment for the entire event. For an old dirt bag like myself I cannot think of a better sport. I get to bike, paddle and run around in the woods with a few of my friends; what could be better than that?

The GBOC promises to provide competitors with an authentic taste of Borneo. The event will be exciting, scenic and challenging. I hope to see you for the inaugural event in 2011!

Chas Fisher

Hi everyone:

My name is Chas Fisher and I am one of the co-conspirators of the GBOC project. I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce myself and to give some of my background as well as the reasoning behind my enthusiastic support of the GBOC event in Malaysia.

For those who don’t know me, I am in my late forties, and have been deeply involved in the outdoor sports industry for more than thirty years. It all started for me during my formative youth in Boulder Colorado, which is famous for it’s local rock climbing. I became enthralled with everything involving outdoor pursuits, especially rock climbing and wilderness backpacking. After a few wayward (I would have said misguided!) years at University, I found myself leading the somewhat itinerate life of a climber/outdoor educator. I worked about half the year, and spent the rest of my time traveling to various climbing areas around the world, pushing my limits on the cliffs. I lived on an austere diet of dried oats, lentils, and plenty of discomfort, but it was one of the happiest times of my life as I made lifelong friends around the world, all of whom shared my love for climbing and the outdoors.

As the life of a climbing bum cannot last forever, I moved on to found my first company, which made climbing wall holds and built climbing walls. This experience was a bit like obtaining an MBA. I made plenty of mistakes, as well as doing many things right, and I grew the business to be one of the dominant players in small (at the time) sub segment of the outdoor sports industry. I moved on to other ventures, including founding an outdoor-specialized ad/design agency, overseeing the marketing for La Sportiva, one of climbing’s most prized brands, and I currently have the very challenging and fulfilling role of running the North American unit of a global waterproofing (outdoor goods) brand called Nikwax.

About ten years ago, I became friends with Eric Ling and went to visit him a few years ago in his adopted home of Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia. Aside from the appeal the place has to the general populace --and there is plenty! -- I was particularly impressed with the natural beauty found in Sarawak’s wild places. As a veteran outdoor professional, the allure of Sarawak’s jungles and mountains and rivers makes the place seem like heaven for anyone who values the experience of being in the wild.

Then when Eric asked me if I thought Sarawak would make a good venue for an adventure race, it made perfect sense! Sarawak is ideal! The natural terrain ranges from lush, overgrown jungles to clean, sheer cliffs, to rivers running from the mysterious hinterland. Think Conrad’s Heart of Darkness combined with the wilderness experience – outdoor challenge, with all the exotic allure of Borneo but without the sinister specter of Colonel Kurtz!

We have been planning and pitching the idea now for about two years, and are on the verge of making it a reality. I recruited an old outdoor industry contact Troy Farrar, who specializes in the planning and execution of adventure races in the U.S. to help in the nitty gritty of making the course and running a first-rate event. We plan on the event debuting in the late Spring of 2011, with subsequent annual events in different locations in the vicinity of Sarawak and environs.

Please stay tuned for further postings from me regarding this exciting event!

Chas Fisher

Great Borneo Outdoor Challenge GBOC

Welcome to “Great Borneo Outdoor Challenge” or GBOC in short , an outdoor adventure racing event that at this point in time is planned :-

· To be held in Sarawak in 2011.

· 500 miles through jungles, rivers, caves, mountains and native villages.

· Open to all eligible participants internationally.

· Attractive prize money awarded to overall winner of the event.

· Event will be endorsed by recognized international institutions of adventure racing.

The event is jointly presented by MY Platinum Events Sdn Bhd, a privately incorporated Malaysian company and Sarawak Tourism authorities that include both the Sarawak Tourism Ministry and Tourism Board.

This blog will provide you with all the essential info and keep you current pertaining to the event with entries from MY Platinum, Chas Fisher and Troy Farrar.

MY Platinum will be working intimately with both Sarawak Tourism Ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board to give you a good picture of what you can look forward to in what is generally spoken of as the world’s best kept secret – Borneo.

Thank you.