Bintan Lagoon’s triathlon course

A record number of athletes competed in the 3rd AvivaBintan Triathlon held May 26 and 27, 2007 at the picturesque Bintan Lagoon Resort in Bintan Island, Indonesia, a 55-minute ferry ride from Singapore. First held in 2005 with 500 participants and simply known as the Bintan Lagoon Triathlon, Aviva Bintan Triathlon 2007 attracted 1,000 athletes from all over the world seeking personal best race times and a spectacular holiday on the beach.

The $30,000 triathlon, the largest in Asia, has swiftly grown in popularity since its launch at the Bintan Lagoon Resort, which has a well-earned reputation for its pristine beaches and well maintained roads. The main race which is the Olympic Distance race consisted of a 1.5 km swim, 40 km one-loop bike course and 10 km run.

The final 10 km run course is one of the toughest in the world, with a lung-busting, undulating course around the attractive resort’s golf course. The steep sections of the triathlon course are so tough that many participants are forced to walk on the steep sections of the 10 km run.

Leading the race for the top prize of $6,000 this year were 12 international professional tri athletes with Australians dominating the first four positions in the men’s professional race. Defending champion Courtney Atkinson of Australia retained his title with a personal best of 1:53:51 (one hour, 53 minutes and 51 seconds). Atkinson recently won the Ishigaki triathlon in Japan, making him the top tri athlete in the world.

Other placers included Richie Cunningham who captured second spot. Levi Maxwell and Brad Beven, four-time World Cup champion who was previously ranked number one for four consecutive years, finished third and fourth respectively. Philippine national team member Arland Macasieb took sixth spot with a time of 2:12:18. As has become his practice, Macasieb did a cartwheel as he reached the finish line.

In the women’s pro event, Scottish elite athlete and Bintan defending champion Alice Hector kept her title with a time of 2:13:15 followed by Jocelyn Pollock of Denmark with a time of 2:23:28. Hector’s time was 10 seconds faster than last year.

Inspirational speaker, painter, paraplegic athlete and Paralympian Gregory Burns of the US completed the race in 4:01:56. Burns, whose personal account of the race I featured in last week’s column, completed Ironman Korea on a hand bike and wheel chair.

Women’s division winner Hector, a master’s student in Scotland, decided to compete at the last minute on the Wednesday before the race. In defending her title, Hector arrived Friday (May 25) from Scotland a bit jet-lagged to race the next day, Saturday.

Hector says that during the race, although she was swimming well, she felt cramp in her feet which she figured was due to dehydration. She says that the heavy rains helped her as she was concerned about the heat having left Scotland when the temperature was 10 degrees Celsius or about 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

With respect to the sponsors and the prize money, Hector said, “Aviva are fantastic sponsors and the money I earned from the race makes such a big difference for me. I can now train professionally over the summer without having to worry about finances, which in turn will hopefully lead to better performance and the chance to continue my professional triathlon career.”

Fourth placer Beven gave his own account of the race: “Bintan is one of the most challenging races in the world in a spectacular setting. Even the storm was enjoyable. Hot and hilly coming from Australia in winter but that is a good change.” Beven won the Grand Prix series in Australia for seven years straight winning 20 races. He is known as the male with the most number of World Cup victories.

Macasieb says epic is the only word to describe the bike segment of the race. As it had been raining continuously throughout the week, an afternoon shower was expected. About 10 kilometers into the bike segment, the few drops of rain progressed into a downpour, almost like a typhoon. The rain was so bad that Macasieb could not see the road through his sunglasses which quickly fogged up – but then the alternative was to have the hard pellets or rain beat into one’s eyes. Macasieb says riding through four puddles of rain that looked like small rivers formed from the runoff and negotiating a cobblestone section of the road made the course very dangerous.