Race Report: 2011 Ironman 70.3 Singapore

2011 IM 70.3 Singapore finisher's medal

Wow, just wow. This race was a stark contrast from my last race two weeks ago. It was so well-organized! Plus, Singapore is fantastic. I would love to spend more time there. Alas, this trip is over. Let's hear more about the race and the trip.

These were a welcome sight near the race start/finish

Good: Port-a-johns and other on-course restrooms; good shade on most of the course (important due to the climate - very hot and humid), flat bike and run courses; very little wind; rain came right when I needed it (on the run); fantastic accommodations for families at the race venue (see more on this below); race materials very informative (competitor's guide, etc.); airlines shipped my bike for free both ways! (I was expecting to pay at least $75 each time, per the airlines' published guidelines. Thanks Dragonair/Cathay Pacific!)

Old enough now to get some work out of him :)

Other: The race needs to coordinate a better system for getting to and from the race site (shuttle buses would be optimal). Getting to the race in the morning wasn't a problem, as that we were able to reserve a taxi the night before via the hotel concierge. After the race, however, we searched in vain for a taxi cab for at least an hour after the event was over, and we got a cab relatively fast (others were waiting much longer than we did).

At the pre-race briefing, Singapore International Convention and Expo Center

This triathlon was my fifth at the half-Ironman distance. I have also completed five marathons and a number of half-marathons, as well as numerous Olympic- and sprint-distance triathlons, 5K, 10K, and 15K runs, and a few century and metric-century bike rides (organized events, not just training rides). All that is missing is a full Ironman. (Coming in May!)

The transition area, T-20 hours or so

As far as my goals for the race, I think I mentioned here not too long ago that I was treating this race as a sort of "preview" for racing internationally at IM China in May. I wanted to see what lessons I could take from this and apply to the next race, the big race. There are a couple. First, I forgot my bike bottles. It wasn't a problem as that I was able to easily purchase some replacements at a mall across the street from our hotel. However, I am not sure that the city that hosts IM China will have the same sort of facilities readily available, so I need to remember to take them next time. The second issue was much larger, and will possibly be much more difficult to deal with in China. It is regarding bike mechanic availability to build my bike up after traveling with it. It was somewhat of a hassle to locate and get my bike to a bike shop in Singapore to have it put together after being transported in a travel case (and it wasn't cheap either). It was even more tricky to get them to put the bike back in the box after the race, due to problems with their hours of operation and our timeline for departing Singapore. In short, if it was that difficult to take care of this issue in easy-to-navigate Singapore, it will probably be ten times harder in China. I have to have a better plan going in to take care of these issues ahead of time.

The home stretch!

Surprisingly, my finish time was within 5 minutes of my time at IM 70.3 Taiwan last fall. My training getting ready for this race had been pretty cruddy, so I figured that coupled with a challenging climate (heat and humidity) would leave me significantly slower. Not the case.

Let's now talk about the various parts of the race.

Heading out into the South China Sea

Swim: The waters of the South China Sea were like distilled in comparison to the murky depths of the Love River two weeks ago. No sewer smell here, folks, and the water was a very comfortable temperature. There was a bit of a current that made a couple segments of the two-lap course a little iffy, though. I don't know that I am ever going to enjoy swimming with so many people at one time - it's just not very much fun. I did really like how the race start was broken up into multiple waves, about five in all. I started a half an hour after the first wave. That makes it so you only have to swim with a few hundred people starting off. In contrast, the IM 70.3 Taiwan was a mass start - all 1200 or so athletes going out all at once. IM China in May will be a mass start...not looking forward to that. I'm also not looking forward to how cold the reservoir water near Beijing will be in May - I definitely need to get a wetsuit, pronto!

Swim - check!

Near the cycling start point (note the good shade trees - most of the course was like this)

Bike: It was a three lap course along quite a scenic route out past the airport and up along the east coast of Singapore. If a person was in good cycling shape (I wasn't, hence the very conservative speeds I was clocking), this would have been a very fast course. Interesting note: as I was starting my second of three laps on the bike, the elite men were starting on the run and the run route paralleled the bike route for a short distance. I was cycling along at a moderate pace and was barely passing these "machines" absolutely flying on the run course! It was pretty amazing to see - these folks are able to go all-out for the whole course. I'd "blow up" a mile into the run if I tried to push that hard!

Coming through the spectator area near the run start/finish

Run: It was a flat course along the ocean - two laps. Saw a Singapore Airlines A380 airplane coming in for a landing as I ran on my first lap. (That's the new, giant passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus that looks like it is top heavy because it has two levels throughout the cabin.) The rain started when I was about halfway through my second lap, and it was just what that doctor ordered. The sun had begun to come out from behind the clouds towards the end of my bike segment and I was really starting to feel the heat on the parts of the run course that weren't shaded. Once the rain started, it really cooled me off and it made no difference to me that I was getting rained on - after all, I had been pouring water on myself to cool off at every aid station, anyhow. The only drawback was that my shoes also got wet, which created conditions that could have created some nasty blisters if I had to keep on running much farther (such as in a full marathon in a full Ironman race).

Catching some air!

Regarding the family accommodations I mentioned above, this is the first race I have seen where there were booths and other diversions set up for the families of competitors. I'm talking about a "bouncy house"-type thing (see the photo - John bounced around in it so much be split open his shorts in two places!), cotton candy and popcorn stands, arts and crafts, face painting (again, see the photo nearby) and various other carnival-type games. And get this - it was all FREE! Attention all other races and events: learn from these folks in Singapore! They did this up right.

We found a ZOMBIE in Singapore!

Can you tell that he likes dinosaurs?

Singapore itself made a great impression on us. I had been there once before (1998), but didn't remember it being as nice then as it was this time around. Everything is so green, there is foliage everywhere, and all of it seems to be manicured and pretty. The air pollution there is not bad, at least it wasn't during our visit (perhaps like other cities in the region, it is better and worse at specific times of the year) and the city is very clean. There are no scooters zipping around the roads and sidewalks making nuisances of themselves (note to Taiwan), nor are there packs of stray dogs wandering about and defecating all over the place (another note to Taiwan). Most surprisingly, they openly advocate that people drink the tap water! Singapore is a city-state of something like 4.5 million people, and is located in Southeast Asia, and you want me to drink the tap water? So we did, and it was good. No crazy diseases (at least not yet). Can't drink the tap water here in Kaohsiung. I'd be open to going back to Singapore anytime, maybe even working there, if I play my cards right.

Typical scene at East Coast Park

Looks quite idyllic, doesn't it?

Singapore is also an interesting place because of the cultural diversity. There are three main ethnic groups there (Chinese, Indian, and Malay) and because of the British influence, virtually everyone speaks English in addition to one of the other ethnic languages (Mandarin Chinese, Tamil, or Malay). All signs appear in all four languages (and they even add Japanese at the airport). And you know what? They have bookstores stocked with books IN ENGLISH! After the repeated disappointment of browsing bookstores in Taiwan with only a handful of books in English, it was great to walk into a Borders with easy-to-read books in English everywhere you looked. Can't wait to actually walk into a Barnes and Noble once back in the U.S. (my preferred chain bookseller).

Bottom line - great event, great trip! Go see Singapore, people. And do the race.

GJS