I've been an avid fan of Running Man for almost 2 years now, and every day has been me wishing I was running around to different locations and completing missions to win the final race just like in the show. It's one of those things on my bucket list, or the top things to do before I get too old, or before I finally grow up, whichever comes first.

And thanks to Maxis and Nuffnang, I was finally given that chance to fulfill my dream of at least partially reenacting an episode of Running Man last Sunday. The Maxis 4G Bloggers Blaze was so similar to Running Man on several aspects (there were no nametags though, which was pretty sad), in that we had to complete missions at different parts of KL and PJ with the fastest times. This was also in conjunction with Maxis' 4G network, which focuses on speed and stability. But more on that in a while.

Waking up in the morning has become incredibly difficult for me, and the day of the Bloggers Blaze was no different. I reached the Curve where the race was supposed to start in a daze, and needed much quantities of both food and coffee before I clearly understood what was happening. There were 10 teams, all named after the fastest creatures on Earth. Why they didn't have a Team Usain Bolt still boggles my mind. Each team consisted of 4 bloggers who would have to put aside their friendships and try to win the race in the fastest time.

I was assigned into Team Stallion because of my buffness, I suppose, along with Rebecca Saw, Rawlins and Charmaine. None of those are nicknames, by the way, because they embody the person so well. With a team so well rounded, it became clear that Team Stallion would knock the opposition out of the park. That, or I could have been suffering from overdose of morning coffee.

We were given a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 pre-equipped with Maxis' 4G data network and a passport. The smartphone was our only hope of completing the missions, while the passport was more like proof that we had completed the challenges set.

Being an Apple user almost all my life, it was pretty hard to transition into using an Android device. This isn't a comparison of which is better, it's more like me feeling bad that Android phones are way more difficult to use.

The amazingly energetic emcee, Ben from FlyFM and Fernie, the awesome Maxis representative who flagged us off.

All the teams in a group shot before flagging off. 

At flag off, the first "mission" was to scan the QR codes in a sea of balloons to find our next destination.

This was done in 20 second bursts between team members, and it was probably one of the most difficult tasks we had to do all day. We ended up only finding the correct balloon third from last, meaning that 7 teams were already ahead of us. We hopped onto the cars provided for us and quickly drove off.

We were already behind on time but our team leader, Becky, cut that time with her speed (Team Stallion remember?) and reached the first mission location, Sunway Lagoon, in record time.

First mission: Need for Speed

The first part of the first mission was relatively simple: to download and play a racing game on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 we were given. Of course, with the Maxis 4G provided, the download breezed right past. The game itself was too easy, and if my Running Man know-how was correct, there would be a second, more difficult mission ahead of us. I wasn't wrong. The second part of the mission was to actually race with go-karts at Sunway Lagoon's Extreme Park, completing the circuit in the fastest possible time.

The road was quite bumpy and the go-karts quite slow despite slamming on the accelerator. I don't really know what our final time was, but we were the last group to complete this mission, getting our clue for the next destination, Wangsa Maju.

Second mission: Capture the Flag

If you don't know, Wangsa Maju is all the way across town from Sunway Lagoon, a cool 30km drive away. It wasn't much of a problem through, because we had Becky again as our driver, and wow, that woman can drive. The next mission location was at MadMonkeyz Indoor Bouldering Gym in Wangsa Maju, and the very name of the mission location would have tipped you off as to what was to come. The mission instructions were simple enough to understand: two members were to climb through a set route on the rock climbing wall and get the flag. Then another two members would climb that same route to put the flag back in its place. Insanely, Rawlins climbed like a literal monkey, breezing through the wall in less than 20 seconds. Becky was given the harder wall (for men) but she quickly adapted and finished the course just as quickly. Me and Charmaine were the second team to climb; I am a natural monkey as well, as you all may already know but Charmaine was struggling to find her footing. So after a quick swap, Rawlins once again showed off his monkey skills and scaled the wall in another breezy time. Mission success. The final mission location was back at The Curve, with Rawlins taking control of the car this time.

Third mission: Melon Mash

Back in The Curve, there was a pretty long wait for enough teams to join in the Melon Mash mission, which is precisely what it sounds like. Three team members had to eat a quarter of a watermelon without using their hands, which meant that the entire face had to be used to inhale watermelon.

Like shown.

The only person who was allowed to use their hands was an elected leader. Becky, ever the strategizer, suggested using our entire heads to smash the watermelons into pulp before easily sucking it in. With Charmaine as the leader, and Becky's plan in place, Team Stallion demolished those watermelons. We didn't eat, we vacuumed. I think a video of Becky headsmashing a watermelon several times will make its way to the Internet soon, and I have no doubt that it will be the next viral trend.

Pictured: The aftermath.

Here's an epic video from Tian Chad which shows how Team Stallion utterly destroyed those watermelons:


After the final mission, it was an agonizing wait for the winners to be announced, and a lot of watermelon to be digested. But eventually, the winners were announced. The second prize, and the winners of an iPad Mini and a Maxis 4G LTE Wifi modem was Team Leopard. However, to our surprise, Team Stallion took the first prize; a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and a Maxis 4G LTE Wifi modem for the fastest time in finishing all the missions.

It was an unbelievable feeling to win, and I can finally tell you how the Running Man members feel when they win the final race.

I definitely couldn't have done it without the rest of my team mates, because they're just so awesome like that. Team Stallion was definitely a team with a winning mentality, and backed up by Maxis' 4G for stable and fast speeds, we breezed through all the missions. Maxis too, has done a fantastic job in planning this awesome event. If all events were like this, I seriously wouldn't mind going all out like I did for the Bloggers Blaze. In fact, I hope all events would have similar themes (ie: Running Man style) so that participants can have an equal chance of using brains AND brawn.

And maybe also add in a nametag ripping hide and seek game. That would be THE event of the year. That being said, I really enjoyed myself so much during this Maxis Bloggers Blaze. I seriously hope there will be more events like this in the future. I would be so ons for it.

If you want to know more about the Maxis 4G network and coverage area, check out this link right here: http://new.maxis.com.my/content/maxis/en/personal/internet/network-and-coverage.html. Be fast like Team Stallion!

And yes, I finally have a new phone.

Cheerios!