Race Report: Duathlon Cliffhanger

The second episode of the MetaSprint Series had us all on the tip of our seats, watching whether the leading woman, Fiona Lim, would hold off the chasing men. The equaliser format delivered for the Duathlon with the first woman and man separated  at the finish by a mere 13 seconds. From the 9-minutes head start the women got over the men, there was less than 2 minutes left by the time the final run started. Kyle Arnold, Benoit Besnier and Finn Bannister were in hot pursuit. A few hundred meters before the finish it was heart break for Fiona Lim, when Finn Bannister made the catch. Elated and high on adrenaline Bannister crossed the finish first with a loud scream, taking the Duathlon Champion of Champions title. The women will have another change at the MetaSprint Triathlon on 16 March.

SEA Games Selection Race

The MetaSprint Series is hosting the SEA Games selection races this year, with Singapore’s finest competing for the coveted qualifier spots. Ahmad Arif Bin Ibrahim raced aggressively, putting the competition under pressure with a breakaway on the bike. Caught by a pack of 4, of Ben Khoo, Keane Ko, Nicolas Rachmadi and Bryce Chong, just before the end of the bike leg, he got a small gap again after the transition and never looked back. 

In the women’s race, it was Louisa Middleditch and Herlene Yu who took control of the race on the bike. Middleditch then sealed the win on the run.  

Age Groups Galore 

You’re never too young or old for triathlon, which is exemplified by the trophies that are awarded for each of the 5-year bracket age groups. 

In this format, Vicky Hill finished just off the overall podium, but was a very dominant winner of the 50-54 years old category. Also a special mention for 82 years old Kogi Oberoi. Mr. Duathlon finished 3rd in the 70+ category, but was the moral winner considering he had to compete against some nippy youngsters.

Short and sharp   

That’s what Adrian Ooi must have thought when he signed up for the Discovery distance. Half of the distance of the Sprint, the Discovery is perfect for newbies who want to give the Duathlon a shot. Ooi, the fastest man, would have held his own in the Sprint as well, with an impressively fast bike phase and sub-4min run pace. Nica Eapen was just as impressive in the women’s race, beating all but 7 men in the process. 

The Youth have the future

All of the Youth races saw dominating wins with convincing leads. 

• Wong You Jung (boys 14-15) won his race by 2 minutes. We can’t wait to see him join the Sprint in 2026 and take on the big boys. 
• William Kim (boys 12-13) had more than a 3.5 minutes lead over his nearest competitor and would have been 4th if he had raced the older Youth category.
• Nur Isabella Schiering’s (girls 14-15) win by 1 minute looks small by comparison, but the fact that only 8 boys were faster shows she means business
• Sophie Ang (girls 12-13) got the better of her competitors by 1.5 minutes, laying the basis for her win with the fastest first run of all Youth girls. 

Kids can bike

Considering the bike racks were too tall for most of the bikes, it was fortunate that lots of them had stands. 

The baskets came in handy as well to hold the bike helmets in transition. And that looks were just as important as race cred was evident from the bright pink paint jobs and rainbow coloured tinsels.

On the pointy end of the race, there were some very impressive results. Brothers Muhd. Arif and Muhd.

Ariq Muhammad Najib made short work of the 750m run, 6km bike and 750m run, taking the top-2 slots in the boys 10-11 category, Chlovette Yaw won the girls 10-11 and came 4th overall, Jacob Barter extended his winning streak from the Aquathlon in the boys 8-9 category and Willa Wyld started her young multi-sport career with a win in the girls 8-9 race.

Super scoot, super cute

Priceless is the picture of a start pen full of super keen kids on kick scooters, as young as 4 years old, and so was the race. 

MC Jeremy Ratnam provided the race commentary as these fearless racers entered the first corner at full speed, completed a big loop of the race circuit at the F1 Village, and made a mad dash for the finish chute. Just as exciting was the sprint from the spectating parents in an effort to make it timely to the finish chute to watch their pride and joy cross the finish line with big smiles on their faces.