The National Geographic Channel and the outdoor sports magazine Action Asia co-sponsored the National Geographic Action Asia Challenge 2002, held on April 6 at Nantou County's Sun Moon Lake. Taoyuan County's Fuhsing Rural Township was a site in last year's competition; this year Taiwan had the honor of hosting the third and final round of competition.

At 7:30 on the morning of the competition, the 67 teams, comprising more than 200 people from around the world, surged into action. The competitors set out from Nantou Chiutsu Aboriginal Culture Village, then ran through virgin forests. After reaching the trail beside Tachu Lake, they switched to bicycles and followed the road to Yintashao dock (in Tehua aboriginal village), where, after boarding rubber kayaks, they paddled around Kuanghua Island, Shapalan, and other spots in Sun Moon Lake. They then made their way through Tannan and other aboriginal villages in Hsinyi Rural Township, that show the effects of pervasive mud- and rockslides. After passing Tanta Creek valley, and passing over a rockslide strewn area, the course reached its final destination at Tienshih Farm in Wulining.

An interesting aspect of the competition was that the competitors were not informed of the course conditions of the race until 30 minutes before the start. Naturally, all of the competitors were experts in multiple sports, including boating, rowing, rock climbing, rappelling, swimming, and bicycle riding. Since this was a one-day event, every second counted, so long distance running ability was even more important.

The course ran to about 40 kilometers, with a time limit for each stage; competitors were given no points if they failed to complete a given stage in time. Moreover, the organizers added some "mystery events," such as traditional aboriginal target shooting with bow and arrow; competitors who missed the target were "fined" by doing pushups and the like. In this way, competitors also had their wit and courage tested as well.

The events in Action Asia were diverse; fellow team members had to help each other out, each playing to his or her own strengths. Each team had three members, and there were four divisions: men, women, combined men and women, and total age over 120. Most of the winners were veteran competitors from overseas.

The Ford team from Hong Kong and Macao, which was actually composed of members from Portugal, the UK, and Switzerland, took first place with a time of 4:41:33, defeating the Gatorade team (last year's champs) by a mere one minute and nine seconds. The best time for a Taiwan team was five hours and 46 minutes by the Kuanyang team, good enough for 12th place overall, and second place for the teams with combined age in excess of 120, behind only the Iron Men team from Thailand.

During the more-than-ten-hour event, the organizers employed a helicopter and boats and the super high-tech equipment of the National Geographic Channel to film the whole thing; it will be aired from July 8. At that time, exciting images of the competitors-including those of the Ford team at the Chuangli River, the "most difficult and most beautiful" leg-will be sent out to the entire world.

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Rowing across a deep, placid lake requires skill and strength. Taiwan's top team, Kuanyang, slightly fell behind in this segment.

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(above) Hanging in mid-air while rappelling down a cliff face. . . what a rush!

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(top of opposite page) In the mountain bike race, getting over a trail scarred by fallen rock proved to be a test of patience and reaction time.