SHE IS THE rose among the thorns.

But adventure racer Chang Ee Pin, 39, is as tough as the men in her team - Adventure In Motion (AIM).

Her team-mates are no ordinary guys.

Team captain Alvin Lim is a former elite commando, team-mate Yeo Kim Hong is one of Singapore's top marathon runners, and Hairul Nazwa is a specialist with the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team Unit of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and SCDF Sportsman of the Year.

Chang has to be as fast and tough as the guys in her team, for adventure races require great teamwork as the team needs to complete the race together. If one member is injured or pulls out of the race, the whole team will be disqualified.

But this humble adventure racer will tell you that she is just an ordinary woman who is constantly seeking challenges in sport.

She said: 'What motivated me to continue training and racing is the obsession to improve myself since I am with the best and fastest adventure racing team in Singapore.

'As the only female member in the team, I would usually be the slowest. But I want to close the gap between me and my team-mates.'

Last December, Chang's team was the first Asian entry to compete and complete the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, which saw five of the seven top teams from the World Championships competing.

The team ran, kayaked, climbed, cycled and trekked in the desert.

Chang recalled: 'The desert sand was powder fine and so soft that our feet sank five inches with every step we took. We suffered excruciating pain in our hips and ankles. At one point we were on our knees and hands, trying to scramble up the dunes. If we did not go up fast enough, we found ourselves sliding back down.'

But to Chang, the tougher race was the five-day Southern Traverse adventure race in New Zealand - which was the first time she raced together with AIM in 2002.

Chang's team was among the 32 international teams, and the first from Singapore, to finish what is touted as one of the toughest adventure races in the world.

It had started with 45 teams.

Chang recalled: 'The slogan for the race was 'move while you can, sleep if you dare' which appealed to my sense of adventure and hunger for challenge.

'We had to fight fatigue and sleep deprivation during the race. At one stage, we were still biking in the wee hours of the morning, snaking along the mountain road. We were so sleepy. It was only when we were going to cycle down a cliff that we decided to stop and sleep first.'

Almost non-stop, Chang and her team-mates trekked, cycled and kayaked through 530km of punishing terrain.

She said: 'In adventure racing, each team needs to have a good strategy - the best route to take, the kind of equipment to use, the type food to eat and maintaining the right pace - to win.

'The winner may not be the fastest team. To a certain extent, adventure racing is like 'life' to me. In life, the smartest person may not be as successful as the one who has high EQ and excels in any situations.

Fulfilling

'In life, we can't live in isolation. We need to learn to work with others to harness each other's strengths while compensating for each other's weaknesses. That way, we can advance and make our lives more fulfilling.'

To date, Chang has completed 22 triathlons, two Ironman races, 15 adventure races, eight canoeing races, 30 tennis competitions, 20 running races, three vertical marathons, two biking races and four swimming competitions.

Inspired by Mark Allen, a six-time Ironman Triathlon world champion, Chang often tells herself 'If others can do it, I can too'.

The former vice-president of finance with DBS Bank was trained in tennis as a teenager. She went on to represent the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the Asean University Games in Indonesia in 1990.

When she was in college, Chang started long-distance running. After completing her degree at NUS, Chang joined the Singapore Adventurers' Club as she was seeking something 'more challenging'.

As a member of the club, Chang did long biking trips to Malaysia.

In 2000, she competed in her first Ironman race.

Describing herself as a 'jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none' type of sportsperson, Chang feels that the variety and surprise elements in adventure racing suited her perfectly.

'I liked that I would be biking, canoeing and running all within a day,' Chang said.

'I was not fast, but could last!'

Chang is on another adventure right now - she left late last month on a three-month-long backpacking and camping trip to South America.

This article was first published in The New Paper.