Marketed as a fun way to be a triathlete, the annual MetaSprint Series is a three part race series that welcomes first timers as well as experienced athletes to the sport of triathlon.

Click here to view the MetaSprint Triathlon photos.

The final part of the 2018 edition of the MetaSprint Series – the Triathlon event, took place this morning at the Angsana Green, East Coast Park with a Sprint Distance (750m swim 18km bike 5km run) and a Discovery Distance (250m swim 12km bike 2.5km run) for the adults, as well as the Youth and the Kids categories in order to get the young ones involved in the sport from an early age.

I took part in the Sprint category.

I cycled to the race site, reaching with about an hour to spare before my wave was scheduled to flag off. So I headed to the transition pen to lay my stuff out there before taking a look around at the race village to see what was available.

There were a few tents put out by the various event sponsors, including products for sale by PURE, and CompressSport and free massage services by Recovery Systems. It had all looked pretty good and I told myself that I would check out the booths after I was done with my race.

I then headed over to the start line to take a look at the earlier waves flagging off and took some photos as well.

The time passed by quite fast and soon enough, it was time for my wave to flag off.

For the swim, I usually do breast stroke, but this time I tried using front crawl for the full 750m distance and this didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked.

But that said, I thought that the water was quite calm today and the current was pretty cooperative for Singapore standards at least. So the swim had turned out to be much smoother than I had anticipated.

Agreed Heidi Gromsedt, 44, a housewife, “The swim was very nice. The water was smooth and brilliant. There was no waves and no current.”

And the organisers had the safety of athletes well taken care of in the water too, as there had been several canoes stationed along the swim route to keep an eye on the swimmers and also possibly to point swimmers in the right direction.

The bike leg was quite good too. The three loop course was pretty fast and flat, with some gentle slopes but nothing too challenging. It was also not too crowded. So I was able to easily overtake quite a few people as a result.

Said Emma Middleton, 15, a student at GEMS World Academy, “The bike was very good and it was easy to go fast because there were not so many people and the athletes really looked out for each other.”

The course was also well marshalled with sufficient volunteers along the way and signages telling runners not only to turn left or right, but also when to slow down and to indicate that sharp turns were approaching.

As well, the signboard indicating where to turn to finish the bike leg and which direction to go to continue with another loop was also very clear.

The bike leg was quite enjoyable too, especially with the presence of some wind that was helping to keep me cool. So the three laps had passed by all too quickly.

For the run leg, I thought that this was better than expected. It was late morning by the time I began my run, but surprisingly I had thought that the midday heat was not too bad – probably because this was being countered by the cool sea breeze at East Coast Park. So my run time was slightly faster than I had thought. It also helped too that running has always been my strongest leg.

The run was two laps of 2.5km from Angsana Green towards the lagoon area and back. It was a rather flat course that was well marshalled with volunteers indicating to runners where to go, and huge signages indicating to runners from the various categories whether to turn left or continue to go straight. The signboard which directed runners where to go for our second loop or where to finish the race, was also clear and quite dummy-proof. So as such, the run was pretty enjoyable.

Added Emma, “I liked the run the most because the route around the lagoon was a really nice course. It was also not as hot as I expected.”

To counter the tropical humidity, there were two hydration stations along the way, serving both water as well as PURE isotonic drink for the athletes. I thought that this was more than enough for my needs. Volunteers were also holding out cups for runners to take as we passed by, so this meant we didn’t need to stop running in order to hydrate ourselves. So this was quite good. I was thankful to find that both of the beverages at these stations had been ice cold too.

However Natalie Ritchie, 41, a Manager in Clinical Research, still thought that it had been tough to run in the heat and humidity. She said, “The run was really tough because it was quite hot by the time I got to that leg.”

She added, “There was plenty of hydration which was good, but it was still disconcerting to run in hot weather. I normally do my runs much later in the day.”

Upon completing the triathlon, there were some volunteers on hand at the end point to present the finisher medals to us and put them around our neck rather than simply handing them to us. This was quite good because this simple action made me feel as though I was a national athlete winning a medal for my country.

That said, I feel that my finishing time may have been relatively slow, but the main thing though, was that I still had fun and that I enjoyed taking part in the triathlon.

I then headed over to the PURE tent to rehydrate myself after finishing, before I collected my stuff from the transition area and took a few photos around the race site so that I could post these onto my social media. The official photo booth unfortunately had a long queue, so I decided to snap photos around other areas of the race village instead. And as well, I caught up with a couple of familiar faces too.

I left the race village when it began to drizzle, as I did not want to get caught in the rain. After all, it could be quite dangerous to cycle back home in wet weather and I did not really want to take too much of a risk.

Overall though, I would say that the MetaSprint Triathlon is definitely a well organised race and that the event organisers definitely have all of our athlete needs well taken care of.

As well, I found that the organisers and event staff were also very friendly and approachable too, and it is quite easy to speak to them because they were very responsive.

Added Baroni Emanuele, 51, a Director at an MNC, “The race logistics and management were great. MetaSprint is always good and I love their events. The choice of event emcee, organisation and layout of the race village were also excellent. I feel that they are the benchmark for triathlons in Singapore and I can think of no improvements.”

Agreed Natalie, “The organisation was really good and smooth and the staff was really helpful. Everything was run very well and no improvements spring to my mind.”

Thank you MetaSport for the opportunity to participate in the MetaSprint Triathlon and review the event.