This event is a Tri, Bi or Dua thalon event by the Running Guild
There are different category and distances and mix and match between the 3 types of exercises, Swim , Bike and Run. Was very tempted to do the super tri. But I realise that cycling portion is going to kill my time as a 100Km for me is likely to take 4 hours, which after I am not sure if I can still run a Half Marathon. That being said. It would have been a good training for half Iron Man though. Brings me back to thinking, how did all these people do full ironman in less than 17 hours.
with the boss and Fidel before swim leg
All was calm
Once a while I feel we should challenge ourselves especially with the covid, many races were cancelled and virtual taking over the normal racing scene. Really just need to get used to the new start line. The category which I signed up for was the longer distanced biathlon. Standard race is 1.5swim and 10km run, for this one it was 2km swim and 20km run but if you want to get the special tee for the finishing , you will need to end the race up at Bukit Timah Hill Summit.
The Plan
Looking at the 3:30 cut off time, I was wondering should I swim in the pool or in the sea. Then my brother suggested that I should swim in the sea since I had been going to the Open water for sometime. Though it might be challenging in terms of time for me, I decided that I should just do it. As for the run, if I were to swim in Sentosa, it was just logical to run from there up to Bukit Timah Summit as I wanted to be the summit finisher to get the black colour tee.
Taking the green corridor would be a good choice but I was worried of the short of distance and I do not want the need to climb too much in Bukit Timah. So leaving the 1km, I would have short of about 4km. The last part of green corridor to the rail mall was not conducive for me because I wear the vibram. The portion has only gravel road which is quite harmful to my feet. I decided to just circle up and down around the first part of the green corridor.
The Event
Actually there was not specific event date, but I personally just picked one sat as I always go for open water during sat at sentosa. Weather was really nice as it was not that choppy and my swim was pretty fast to the turning point at the metal tower. After coming out of the water, I have a challenging transition as I need to drive the car from Tanjong beach carpark to the freebie carpark near Siloso Beach. This transition took me 17min and off I ran to Bukit Timah, using the green corridor, the only problem is that the first part were all up hills. Just as I set out to Harbour Front, heavy rain started pouring. By the time I reach the green corridor at the Queensway area, it was already a thumder storm. The only perks is that the green corridor will not be that crowded like the usual time if it were a good weather day.
The rock all wrapped up because of Covid 19
Rainy day
Green Corridor with heavy rain
As I ran past bridge by bridge, the folks seeking shelter from the rain looked at me as if I were some crazy woman running in the heavy rain. Finally I reached the foot hill of bukit timah and realised that I had about 3-4 km to clear before the final 1km up hill. So I just looped around the area as I cannot proceed towards the Rail mall side due to the vibram shoes.
The rain had started to wean off. But still drizziling, as I made my way up the hill, I felt a sense of tranquility and peace as there was no one around. Guess the rain was not so bad afterall. The crisps fresh after rain air and the mist after rain forest gave me a feeling that I was in Taiwan Ali Mountain.
The Finale
At the top of Bukit Timah Hill
Reaching the peak was a real relief, never thought that the hill could be so torturous. There were a few people up there taking pictures and I managed to get one of them to take my finishing shot. The summit stone was wrapped up to discourage people to crowd around to take photographs. After a quick shot, I went downhill, the plan was to take public transport back to Sentosa to pick up my car. As I made my way down I was stoked to see the race director, Ben Swee and his friend doing some loops at the hill. Must be quite lucky I thought.
Ben Swee the race director
Sun came out when I finished my stint, but drenched from the rain and not moving made me felt cold in the public transport with air conditioning. I finished the biathlon with a timing of 3hrs 10 min. I was just happy to be a Bukit Timah hill finisher and received the limited edition black colour tee from the race director. I am not a fan for the medals so replaced the medals with more tees. Quite glad that I decided to take part in activity and really got my racing mode back a little with it too.
Final Results
My own super rings reward
Finisher Black Bukit Timah Hill Pic