Singapore Race Report

When we planned to add this race to our schedule, we wanted to be able to reach as far around the world as we could with our TTW message. Well, as we write this, we are on a plane leaving Singapore back to the USA for a quick stop over on our way to Brazil and could NOT imagine how far our message will go now after this race.
Prior to our leaving, Nick Morales, owner of TriMapper.com and one of our sponsors reached out to someone he knew who was involved with the race in Singapore, advising them to contact us about our being at this 70.3 race. After not hearing back, as is the norm, we dropped him a note before we left Ottawa asking if he had heard about us from our friend Nick. He replied almost immediately and advised that he absolutely heard about it and had been busy flying in from Australia and was sure there had been "some stuff" set up in Singapore. We were not too clear about what he was referring to, so we just thanked him via email and hoped for the best. Just before we left Ottawa, we got an email from the organizers of this weekend coming up thanking us for making it one of our stops and asked if we could "fit in" an interview, as the folks who would be televising this race a couple of months later were looking for inspirational stories for their broadcast. Oh....did we mention.....it was with ESPN!!!!
So, all giddy with that news we headed out for our 27 hrs of travel time.
After a brief stop in Chicago (our main hub for the 3 race leg) we were off to Hong Kong for a few hours, then on to Singapore. We were able to keep our stretching up as well as catch a few hours sleep. We landed in Singapore Thursday and found our way to the Mercure Roxy Hotel, kindly booked by our travel agent Michelle at www.tritheworld.com, who was bang on with this hotel. We would come to find out that the race organizers, pros and athletes were pretty much all staying here....and it was NOT the host hotel....well done Michelle!
It was just after midnight local time, noon at home and we were needing some fuel. We asked the concierge for something that was open at that time. He pointed us to a small local dive where we would find some grub. We had a very nice bowl of noodles and beef and a cold Carlsberg beer each. All of that was $8Sing... about $5.50! We opted to pass on the "live frog" and "Pig Stomach lining" Soups...maybe tomorrow!
Friday morning, we awoke to what we would find to be typical Singapore weather... pouring rain one minute...sunshine the next, but relentless humidity and heat no matter what! We crossed Marina Bay Road and stumbled across an outdoor market where we thought we could grab a bite before we headed to registration. What a score! This place was stall after stall of kiosks where locals operated what could best be described as fast food but cooked in traditional methods. So, fast food price and speed, without the fast food feel. We found many places that we knew would not get our business, as their menu was either reminiscent of the one the night before, or there was no English wording on it at all. We had to adjust quickly to how they displayed their ingredients as well. Seeing oven cooked and boiled duck or chicken hanging at widow is odd enough...but when the heads, and feet are all still intact, well, that took a few minutes to adjust to. After a well enjoyed and well needed bowl, we headed to registration which was located downtown. We grabbed a local bus that dropped us very close to the venue, which was in a mall that had a ton of shops, including STARBUCKS!!! Schwag bags in hand, we opted to take a cab to the race site, where we were scheduled to meet ESPN at the pros press conference. Once we were there (a tad early), we sat at the beach front patio where the press conference was taking place. One of the race organizers approached us asking if we were the ones doing 16 of these races. Well, we assumed for the first few minutes that this was ESPN. We were surprised that it was yet another person who knew of our story (we joke to each other often that we are not sure why we have not gotten used to the attention yet..). It was none other than Whit Raymond, THE VOICE of Ironman Asia! He jotted a few notes on his papers and told us he would try to give us a few shout-outs on race day. We chatted for a bit until the press conference was about to begin. We had not noticed that mulling around us was Belinda Granger, Terenzo Bazone, Simon Thomson and Bryan Rhodes! As we were about to enjoy sitting in a press conference, we got the tap from the assistant to the interviewer for ESPN. They were ready for us down at the beach. Up until this point, we were not sure if there was going to be an actual interview at this time or if it was an "interview for the chance at an interview". When we saw the camera set up at the beach, we both took a deep breath and said "this is it!" Now, truth be told, Heather shys away from the attention we get. Brian is not all that comfy with it either....but hell, this was ESPN. Its as close as he will ever get to "big time" viewership so he was very stoked about it.
After about 10 minutes of chatting and filming "b-roll" as they call it in the biz (lol), Heather headed for a much needed pedicure appointment right at race site...how convenient! Brian opted to hang around the press conference as it was still going on. After they wrapped it up, it was a schmooze fest of the top athletes in this race. He congratulated Belinda and Bryan on their Canadian IM wins a few weeks back. They were envious of our travels yet did not jump on board when he suggested that they join us for the next few. Both truly nice folks.
We did a bit of walking around between the press conference and the Pasta Feast. Brian was snapping some pics with his pocket "point 'n shoot" camera when a guy, with a HUGE camera walked in Brian's field of vision. He apologized for his move and we shared a laugh, as Brian told him, "the man with the bigger lens, should be able to do what he wants"!!! Well, we get to chatting and learn that our new buddy turns out to be the official photo guy for Aviva 70.3 Singapore!!! He tells me he saw us at the press conference knew about TTW and said he would be looking for us on race day! What GREAT PR!
We attended the Pasta Fest at the race site and hooked up with a couple of friends we know from a on-line triathlon group as well as another brother-sister duo who were competing the next day. All checked in and filled up, it was back to the Roxy for a well earned rest until the morning.
Saturday AM brought sun and wind to Singapore. We spent the morning with a warm up ride along the coast and dropping our bikes into our slots in transition. We took advantage of the nice weather to take a dip in the salt water to see how we felt. We finished up the day with a run back to the hotel and a relaxing dip in the pool. A late night pasta meal prepared us for the race the next day.
Overnight, we could hear the sheets of rain coming down and wondered what the morning would bring. As we awoke and headed on foot to the race sight, the humidity was still present yet there was no rain. As we arrived at race site it was still pitch black out and could see the huge illuminated tent where body marking was being held. We had heard from friends that in Singapore, they used those number stamps for body marking, much like they do in Kona, so we opted to get the stamps and skip our usual self marking. As we stood in line and were close to being next, we were blinded by flashes! The media were there capturing the start of the day. Included in the group was our media buddy we met yesterday, who pulled us out of line and escorted us to the bodymarkers where he directed them to do ours at the same time. Media types are kinda funny....as soon as one starts snapping photos, they all join in! So, as we were getting our numbers, there had to be 5 photographers all taking shots. When we were done, other competitors stared wondering who these two competitors were. We made our way to our bikes for last minute tweeks and to set up our transition. As we walked in transition, we could hear Whit Raymond mentioning our presence in the race...one of the dozen or so times we would hear him mention us that day. Once we are all set, we headed to the beach to get set to watch the Pros head out.
Heather's wave (all women competitors) headed out on the two loop swim 15 min ahead of Brian. We both agreed that this was the most violent swim we had seen. Brian had to stop 4 times in loop one to make goggle adjustments after contact with other swimmers and Heather fell victim to the Sea Tick... who's bites look like small insect bites that itch a lot.
Out of the swim, Heathers transition went as planned and got her onto the bike for her 3 loops. Brian headed to the bike and had a decent transition. We headed out on a 3 loop bike course that ran almost one end of the island to the other. Brian knew Heather was about 15-20 min ahead if her swim went as planned. He was able to see Heather 8 min from the turn around we seemed to be riding at the same pace. Heather did not see the bike course as flat as people had been saying. The overpasses were long and a pretty good climb. Brian felt great on this first loop and really enjoyed the course but he also was surprised at the climbs in each lap. 3/4 way through lap one, as Brian descended one of the over passes, there she was.....Heather on the side of the road waving at him to stop. He pulled over and asked the most important question...are you ok? She was fine, but had punctured and had been waiting for Brian or a mechanic to arrive, whoever came first. Brian dropped his ride and got working on hers. With the rear wheel off, he grabbed his spare tire, Co2 and levers and got started. He was having a hard time with the stem fitting far enough through the rim. We finally made the executive decision to get her rolling enough to get her to the turn around and find the bike support guys stationed at transition. We filled the tire about 70% of the way as the tire bulged at the valve point. Brian advised Heather to open her rear brake all the way and to ride very cautiously as it could blow easily. Heather led until about 200m from the mechanics location. Brian sprinted ahead to get their attention and see what could be done. As we rolled in to transition, they were yelling at us "tell us what you need?" Brian explained the situation and before we knew it, they yelled WHEEL and were putting it on the old Blue. As all of this was going on, our photographer was there again covering the drama. Not only that, but ESPN was there as well, documenting the issues we had. Meanwhile, Whit Raymond could be heard providing all of the spectators with a colour-commentary of the event!!
Once Heather's new wheel was ready to roll, we got back onto the course, with two more laps to go. Heather rode with Brian for a bit, but as we approached the first overpass climb, he knew Heather would over take, so she was waved up to take the lead and hopefully, continue on to salvage some of the 45 min she lost. Brian had close to 30 min to catch up on as the tire repair took about 26 minutes from start to finish. As the kms rolled on, Brian realized that the tire change had taken more than just time out of me. Not sure if it was the elevated heart rate during that time, or if it was working on that rim in the heat for that long, but 20 min into the 2nd loop, there was no energy left to come close to the pace he had in lap one. There was one bottle station for each lap. Brian truly believes that with these conditions, two stations would have been much more adequate. He was dehydrated and spent and still had a 21.2 km run to do! Heather spun out most of the second lap to see where Brian was and possibly ride together a bit more. Once she saw that his day was pretty close to pooched, she rode on strong and arrived in transition with fresh legs, ready for the run.
As Brian headed out on the run, he knew this wold be a long painful afternoon. At all of these races, he would run and then walk the aid stations. He might as well have walked then ran the aid stations as he does not remember ever walking so much in a race. With Heather having one more lap in the bank and having run a smooth, steady lap, she sacrificed her finish time and walked/ran with me for a while....always the best part of the race. With 1k left to go for her, we said our good-byes and she finished with a strong kilometer and was called in by Whit at the finish. Brian, still shuffling along saw Heather at the 18k mark. He can not remember what he said to her whatsoever as he was in another world entirely. Dehydration and sun can play some serious games with your mind.Sadly, the last km and the finish is a bit of a blur. Brian had NO kick for a decent finish, but clearly remembers Whit calling him in...his continuous attention to our cause has been remarkable! With another one finished, he walked over to Heather for his end of race kiss....almost better than the finish line itself! Before we knew it, we looked up....and who was there... ESPN, with two cameras and an interviewer "capturing the moment". We can not remember what we said in the interview really, but do remember thinking, as Brian was bent over trying to stop the light headed feeling from the sun..."get that camera out of my face!!!!"
We were able to grab a piece of watermelon as post race food (yes, that was all they had left!) and head of the the race site and walk back t the hotel. We went straight to hotel pool to cool off. The pre swim shower was ice cold which lowered the body temp wonderfully! As we swam and cooled off, we were joined by a couple of pros who were staying at the hotel. One of them was the 3rd place finisher today who must have chatted about TTW with us for close to 20 min... a nice finish to a LONG day.
We have one more day in Singapore then it is back to the US to transfer to Brazil for next weekends race. This was a very special race for us. Great locale, great organization and great course. If you ever have to travel to this area in September, hit this race....one not to be missed!