AVIVA 70.3 Ironman Singapore

Well done to Michael who won his age category at last weekend's 70.3 in Singapore. Here is his race report......

(A)VIVA SINGAPORE!

Say what you want about the official IRONMAN races .... but they are well organized and they put on a good show.
Case in point – the 2008 Aviva 70.3 held on Dec. 7 at East Coast Park. Attendance stood at approx. 1400 (1030 finishers; 60 DNF; plus teams), and a total of US $ 50,000 was up for grabs for the pros. The venue was East Coast Park, a favourite for many other multisport events, bike rides, and runs, and it’s easy to see why: located right at the ocean (which was calm on race morning), plenty of room for the transition area, parking and post-race activities, it offered a safe and controlled environment, and is spectator-friendly to boot. Since the city agreed to have one direction of the busy ECP (East Coast Parkway) closed to traffic, the bike course was also well contained, although some stretches allowed regular traffic on the same roads, in coned-off lanes. A bit boring maybe going up and down the highway for 3 identical loops, but it gets the job done. The Bike Boutique folks were out there in full force, including a KL contingent, to administer a quick bike safety check before the start, and then helping out on the course. Despite the fairly smooth road surface (sans potholes!) I saw quite a few flats during the ride, possibly due to cyclists riding on seldom used portions of the road, near the curb and close to ramp walls. And don’t believe it when you hear about a “flat, fast course”. There are enough bridges on that course that will make for a less than blazing bike split, not to mention the ever increasing breeze. Narrow lanes and lots of passing going on, so you better stay focused.
But back to the swim: it was a 2-loop rectangular course, with a short beach run in between, so the 4 large buoys plus a string of smaller white ones made for easy sighting. Congestion was minimal due to the field being split up into several waves, but of course tri-swimming remains somewhat of a full-contact sport even under the best of circumstances. I seem to recall an announcement that the water temperature was 26C, which sounds about right.
It was the run course that made up for the monotony of the bike leg: held in the nicely landscaped East Coast Park, it offered a flat and fast paved road, with a few grassy sections thrown in to keep things interesting. A lot of shade and aid stations every 1.5km or so helped offset the heat and humidity somewhat, although the conditions were never oppressive to start with. All stations offered water and 100-Plus and cold sponges; power gels were available at one area also, which all runners passed 3 times.
Bonus: Whit “The Voice of Ironman” was there at the finish line, with his usual energy, upbeat attitude and enthusiasm. I swear if he had been in Hawaii the year Julie Moss crawled to the finish line she would have managed to run the last few meters. Watching him at the awards ceremony later that evening convinced me that there was at least one person on drugs there.....
The awards buffet was held near the finish line @ 7:30 that evening: a surprisingly good spread, even though over-prized for non-competitors at S$50.00, and a good show complete with fireworks at the end. Too bad only a fraction of the 1400 athletes showed up, since many returned home immediately after the race.
For the record, the Aussies cleaned up, winning both the men’s and women’s pro categories, in 3:55:40 (Simon Thompson) and 4:25:43 (Rebekah Keat) respectively. I wasn’t exactly breathing down their necks..... but 5:20:33 was good enough for an age-group win and a slot for the “70.3 World Championship” in Clearwater, FL later this year, which I had no intention to collect. Patsy was happy to get over the swim cut-off hurdle and went on to finish and win her age division in the process.
Bottom line – would I recommend this race? If you can get over the fact that this race series is just as overpriced as its ‘big brother’, sure I would: it is a major-league event, well organized and within driving distance. And you don’t have to wait another year to do it either: due to “tri event congestion” in the fall the race will move to a spring schedule in ’09, so mark your calendars for March 22 for the next edition.