It is finally over - the single race that I have been preparing for since December 2007.
Organisation
The general consensus of many participants of the race was that it was poorly organised. Basically, the route marshals were at all the wrong places, and I think they have been poorly briefed. At critical junctures, such as during the running route, there were no marshals to guide you in the right direction, causing some of us to run extra distance/run shorter distance. The running route was not very well marked out, and even if they could not find enough road marshals, they should at least have used tape or sign boards to mark out the direction, especially once we are off the road into the concrete jungle of buildings lining the Central Business Area.
The transition area was super muddy - probably due to yesterday’s rain. Thank god for my category, we got a rather dry patch. But the space for each participant’s transition stuff was really small. Also, it was in a field, and some of my friends found frogs inside their bags after the race as they did not close it properly. But the worst thing was the Bike Out and Bike In. There were like 3 big puddles of water on the way to bike out, and it was so damn muddy, so you can imagine what happened to my bike. All the water/mud/grass splashed all over the frame. Bike In was no better. Also, the distance from the transition area to the Bike Out and Bike In were too long - the organisers should know that it is not good to run with cleats on a muddy field. They should have changed the Bike Out and Bike In areas.
The cycling route was very technical, short and confusing. Even now, I am not sure if I completed the whole loop. The route marshals along the cycling route were the worst - they did not even mark out the U Turn point clearly, causing me to miss the U Turn point and only turning again near the transition area. Some of my friends said we did an incomplete loop, without going all the way to Marina South Field, but basically all of us were just following the barricades and the cones marking the way. We also only got only 1 lane to cycle on, so it is hard to overtake, and you have to shout warnings to the cyclist in front of you. Also, there were quite a number of sharp turns, especially the first turn after leaving the transition area. Wet wheels caused by the field and sand on the road caused my bike to skid completely when I braked to take the turn. Thank god there were no major incidents that I know of.
The run 2 route was still quite OK, pretty straightforward - U turn at the end of the road of Run 1. The marshals were there telling us to U turn, so not much confusion here. However, all in all, it was a rather poorly organised race.
My Performance
Race results are not out yet - but I already know I am not in the top 10. (probably because of the fact that I U turned at the wrong place for cycling). My timing is probably around 59 minutes though.
Run 1
The starting pace of run 1 was quite OK, and I was amongst the top few, though the gaps between each of us was already very wide after the 1.4KM mark. The view was quite OK, but again, there were no route marshals clearly directing the route - so I went the wrong area once, but managed to correct my mistake quickly without losing too much time thanks to a friend behind me. The pace got quite slow after about 3KM, and overall run 1 for me was quite slow.
T1
This is probably where I lost the most time. I was quite tired after running the 5KM (probably due a lack of endurance training), and decided to take my own sweet time at transition. Probably took like 1 whole minute to change my shoes, put on my helmet, take my power gel and water (which should have been done on the cycling leg). Then maybe another 30 seconds to clear the transition area. This made me lose lots of time over the rest.
Cycling
Cycling was pretty lonely, but I managed to maintain a rather good speed - around 33KM/H. But I didn’t hear the Championchip mat beep when I went over it a second time - so that worries me.
T2
T2 was very good compared to T1. Basically the bike acts as a very nice break, and I remembered to spin with high cadence towards the end of the biking leg. Rack the bike, change of shoes, throw down the helmet and I am off. Probably managed to clear it in under half a minute.
Run 2
The starting pace of run 2 was quite slow, as I was scared of ‘bricking’. But after a while, I realised the high cadence trick worked, and I was able to proceed at a strong pace. Managed to overtake one of my friends during the leg, and I finished strong.
Overall
I probably might be able to push a little harder during the biking leg and I really need to improve my transition 1. However, the feeling was great - having completed my first multi sport event! I just pray that next year, my parents would let me join again - and hopefully a better organised race.
Now I am just going to wait for the photos and results.
Off Topic:It’s WWDC tomorrow! Can’t wait!
Tags: City duathlon, race, report, review
