The T100 Triathlon World Series is billed as a reimagining of the sport of triathlon, with a 2km open water swim, 80km bike ride and an 18km run. The total distance of the triathlon is 100km. It is a combination of speed, human endurance and race strategy.

T100 features eight events around the world in locations such as Miami, Singapore, London, Dubai and Las Vegas as well as a Grand Finale in a yet-to-be-announced location. 

I took part in the Singapore event which was held last weekend at Marina Bay. The category I participated in was the 100km Age Group Triathlon Mixed Team Relay. Two of my mates did the swim and the bike legs and I did the 18km run. I opted for the relay this year because I thought that it would be more fun, with the team spirit and being able to cheer on each other.

It was a drizzling and cloudy morning when the triathlon categories began at 7am. Besides the 100km triathlon, there were also duathlon categories comprising of run/bike/run. Our relay wave was flagged off at around 8am. 

The swim takes place inside the Marina reservoir. This is an unprecedented location for a triathlon swim and T100 is the only triathlon that gives amateur participants the chance to swim inside the reservoir, with the beautiful Marina Bay as the backdrop.

Our swimmer, Ian, did an awesome job, completing the swim in 42 minutes 29 seconds.

T1 took 3 minutes 11 seconds to change over from our swimmer to cyclist. The cycling course was challenging, with Triathlon participants being required to complete five loops of the 16km course. The infamous Benjamin Sheares “Heartbreak” Bridge featured along the route too.

Our cyclist, Jingwei, did well, finishing the 80km ride in 2 hours 32 mins 25 seconds, at least half an hour faster than his projected finishing time.

I was tracking his ride throughout. Close to the timing that he was finishing, I was waiting in the transition pen for him to come back and pass the timing chip to me so that I could start running.

At around 11:30am, I started to run. It was warmer than earlier in the morning and quite humid, but I think we got lucky with the weather because it was still relatively cloudy and the sun was not as scorching as I had feared.

The run course was scenic and flat, with runners completing four loops of 4.5km from the Marina Promontory to Marina Barrage out and back for a total of 18km. We passed by the Gardens by the Bay along the way. 

The route was entirely cordoned off and spectators were not allowed to go onto the route. They had to stay at the sides, so as not to impede the runners. I appreciated this because though there were no closure of roads for the run leg, the organisers had the athletes’ interests at stake.

I was maintaining average of 6 mins pace for the run. I had started faster but I had to slow down after a couple of km’s because I could feel the humidity sapping me.

Along the way, there were familiar faces cheering me on and I really appreciate how friends had come out to support and encourage us. It was very motivating and kept me going.

There were four aid stations along each lap of the run route, the first was at the start of each lap serving water, the second was around 1km in serving gels, water, isotonic, ice and cold sponges, the third and fourth were at the lap u-turn point at Marina barrage and underneath the helix bridge respectively. The items on offer at both of these were the same as the second. So the aid stations were definitely very well stocked for a long distance race and the stocks seemed plentiful even though it was now past noon and the event had started since 5am with the Duathlon categories. Kudos to the organisers for a good job done. 

Four laps later, I finished my run and headed towards the finish chute.

My time for the run was 1 hour 45 minutes 21 seconds. 

A medal was placed around my neck when I ran through the finish chute, and I also collected two more medals for my team members. For relay categories, I did feel it would have been nice if the whole team could have crossed the finish line together rather than it just being me on my own. This was a team effort that we completed the triathlon, after all.

Our combined finish time was 5 hours 5 minutes 30 seconds. Our goal had been completion, with no timing targets, so I am happy that we met our goal, finishing the event in a comfortable time and not too close to the cutoff.

There was an athlete recovery area after the race, where participants could get lunch, as well as snacks. There was cold vegetarian pasta for lunch, potato chips and ice lollies, water and isotonic beverage.

I would have preferred a choice of different food options, or something similar to last year where all finishers were entitled to redeem food vouchers from the food trucks at the race site. This year, there were food trucks again but we had to pay for the items and the truck food was not part of the participant entry fees.

Overall I would say I definitely had a fun time taking part in the T100. I think that choosing the relay category definitely made it more enjoyable, because it becomes a team event rather than purely a solo effort. As well, having friends who came down to spectate and cheer us on, really made the experience more worthwhile. So I need to say thanks to everyone who came down to cheer and support. 

I also have to say that I am already looking forward to the T100 next year. 

RACE VIDEO