A team of fifteen Malays carrying over 75 pounds of equipment each, travelled overland through heavy tropical jungle for a distance of fifty-five kilometres in less than five hours. This physical feat would certainly qualify them for Olympic competition, and is very likely a world record.

The men left their three vehicles in the village of Sauk, distributing the load equally among them. Each man carried seven M16 rifles weighing eight pounds each (with fully loaded magazines), and a large wooden box of cartridges. The total weight for each man was thus in excess of seventy-five pounds.

There were twenty-one of the heavy and bulky wooden cartridge boxes, thus six of the men carried two boxes, along with the seven rifles. Their total load exceeded a hundred pounds. Naturally they all shared this extra burden, walking side-by-side when the undergrowth and terrain permitted it, and rotating the extra weight from man to man as they became fatigued.

In spite of this heavy and bulky load, the team was able to traverse the unfamiliar and uneven terrain, crossing streams and climbing hills covered by thick tropical jungle. They managed to travel fifty-five kilometres (thirty-five miles) in five hours, for an average walking rate of eleven km per hour (seven miles/hr). They arrived at the top of Bukit Jenalik sufficiently restored to begin firing their weapons into the air in celebration of their splendid accomplishment.

The sound of this firing gave notice to all the villagers living within the surrounding area that something important had happened, and thus the event was recorded for posterity to applaud. It does not detract from their feat that many thought an army training exercise was in progress. The error was a natural one, since a large number of soldiers had been continuously in the vicinity for two days.

This team of hardened men is the pride of Malaysia. Their effort may be compared to the greatest physical feats ever known. Compare for instance, the previous Olympic and world records for long distance race walking.

In the shorter but comparable 50K marathon walk, the world record is held by Thierry Toutain of France, who in 1996 walked the 50 km distance in 3:40:57.9. This was on a level track, and he carried no weight, other than his shoes and jogging clothes.

The record for open road walking is held by Andrey Pelov of Switzerland, who in 1989 walked the 50km in 3:37:41.

The Olympic record is held by the Russian Vyacheslav Ivanenko, who set it in 1988. He walked the 50km in 3:38:29.

These records were set under favorable conditions, with complete support from their trainers. They were not carrying any load. Imagine what the Malays might have done on level ground with no load!