Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge 2016 Subaru《坚手到底耐力手拉松》比赛

Back for the 15th year, the Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge commenced on Saturday (Nov 5) at Civic Plaza, Ngee Ann City.

400 contestants from across Asia are competing for a brand new Subaru XV 1.6 I-S worth S$69,600 without Certificate of Entitlement (COE). This year, the nine participating countries are Singapore, Malaysia, China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Each contestant has to place his right palm on a palm decal on assigned Subaru cars and keep it there. The winner will be the longest-standing contestant with his palm on the decal. This is a tough endurance competition, but every year hundreds of brave men and women would be participating.

I went down to give moral support to our Singapore team on Monday afternoon. At the 51th hour, only 53 contestants remained, 37 are Singaporeans. It was drizzling and the contestants were getting drenched.

I was in time to capture shots of the 10 lucky contestants who won an additional break after their supporters took part in an online game. They were able to take a bite, have a drink, use the washroom, get a massage or stretch out during the 5-minute break.

Contestants get a 5-minute break once every six hours - 7 am, 1 pm, 7 pm, 1 am - each day. There is a family break at 7 pm and one family member (above 12 years old) is allowed to come into contact with the contestant.

A few contestants were having swollen ankles and numbed palms. The short breaks allowed them to do some stretching before resuming their positions. 

Despite the rain, there were many supporters and family members at the venue. They cheered and shouted words of encouragement to the contestants.

The winner of the 2015 edition was 33-year-old Vietnamese national Nguyen Phuoc Huynh who became the first regional winner of this annual competition. He kept his palm on a Subaru car for 77 hours and 58 minutes.

Who will win the grand prize of a brand new Subaru XV this year? Good luck to all the contestants!


11 月 5 日, 第十五屆Subaru《坚手到底耐力手拉松》总决赛于新加坡义安城开始。400名参赛者一决胜负, 头奖是一辆Subaru XV 1.6 IS。参赛者来自新加坡、马来西亚、中国、泰国、台湾、菲律宾、越南及柬埔寨等。

这比赛很考验人类体能极限。参赛者必须忍受长久站立、睡眠不足、天气不好等多重考验;  且手掌不可以离开特定位置。

比赛中, 每6小时参赛者可获得短暂的5分钟休息时间。参赛者要把握时间上厕所、吃饭、喝水外，还可以进行按摩。

如果想要获得额外休息奖励，只要参赛者的支援者参与线上游戏并取得好成绩，该参赛者将可获得额外5分钟休息时间。

此外，活动会场也特别设置「坚手到底耐力手拉松」体验区，让现场围观群众或是参赛选手亲友参加挑战，挑战过关即可获得精美奖品。

7号下午, 我冒着雨去给新加坡参赛选手打气。经过近 51 小时的耐力比赛，场上只余下 53 位健儿。2015年比赛冠军总时间是77小时58分钟。

今年的冠军是谁呢?