2008 Aviva Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Singapore



As part of its continuing commitment to Singapore's sporting scene, insurer Aviva has agreed to be the title sponsor of Singapore’s Ironman 70.3 competition to be held on September 2nd 2007.
This world-class competition represents two "firsts" for Singapore – 1) it is the first time Singapore has ever hosted an Ironman 70.3 event and 2) it is the first Ironman 70.3 to ever take place in Asia.

Participants will cover a course that will be centered on the Marina Bay area. They will each swim 1.9km, cycle 90.1km and run 21.1km, adding up to 70.3 miles, hence the name Ironman 70.3.
It had some major course changes, most notably shifting the entire race to the island's East Coast Park. The new venue is a long skinny park bordered four ways: between the airport and downtown, and with the sea on one side and an expressway on the other. A natural choice for a fast flat race, the East Coast is also used for local Olympic and sprint distance races.
With a pro field strongly biased towards the Southern hemisphere both the men's and women's race were charged with speculation as to who of the star-studded field would prevail. At the end of the day it was down to the strength and speed on the run.

The course design maximized opportunities for spectators hosting a double loop swim with brief shore exit, a three loop bike and three loop run. The swim course ran mostly parallel to shore giving the beach crowd a good view of the action. The much touted new bike route, which, for the first time in Singapore triathlon history, permitted cyclists on the expressway took competitors the length of the island and back three times to squeeze in the required 90km distance. Narrow in parts, there were a couple of pile-ups as less experienced racers wobbled through aid stations, and one of the race directors was seen acting as a human bollard at the mounting area to warn riders of a particularly challenging section.

After a month of heavy rain and a mini-tornado narrowly missing the east end of the race course during set up, the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore had the weather gods on its side. It was a good sign for us, less restrictions and difficulty in the whole setting up process.
So last sunday morning or rather the night before, I reported early at East Coast Park, started setting up water points along the cycling tracks and sealing up segments of the road, placing barricades and cones along the lanes.
Apparently, the job load wasn't as easy as it seems, having shortage of manpower, everyone worked doubly hard, so as not to fall behind time and everything will run smoothly on schedule.

Everyone got deployed to their respective stations after all the efforts spend setting up booths and water points in that whole morning. The race commences at 9a.m. as we waited for their arrival.
It wasn’t long where we saw the leading pack flashed past us in their bikes, getting the drinks they needed for the rest of the race from us. They didn't exactly stop for their drinks but instead cycled past with arms outstretched to collect them. A perpendicular line was formed up, allowing riders to collect their drinks from any of us if they fail for the first time. Some were a success, some were not.
In that period of time, I've experienced something rather scary, an encounter that got me into a trauma. Because there were a lot of bottles lying around the race track that will cause danger to those riders, specifically those in the middle of the park. Assuming that the paths were cleared of any traffic, I rushed to pick them up and stood traumatized in the middle of the road till some bugger from an oncoming bike honked me out of the way. I felt so relieved after escaping one of the worse scares in my entire life, felt so fortunate that I suffered only a minor bruise.
After a long and tiring morning, the race was finally over as winners of the race were announced. Time for us to clean the place up before lunch served. That was basically the day's event.

With Ironman 70.3 Singapore being the latest addition to the Singapore Sports Council's diverse, vibrant calendar of local and international sporting events, I'm so glad that I could be part of their crew managing this event.

photos will be uploaded soon once I received them from the management.