Ironman Malaysia 2005

Up until a fortnight ago, I, as well as the entire long course triathlon community, had no idea that Ironman Malaysia was set to go ahead. In fact, those responsible for organising the event were uncertain themselves. It was common knowledge that Ironman Malaysia’s WTC Ironman licence had been revoked and the race no longer existed. Suffice to say, I was a little surprised when Graeme Hannan contacted me on the 18th of February to see if I was interested in racing. He further explained that the normal amount of prizemoney would be paid and they were struggling to rustle up professional athletes.

This presented somewhat of a dilemma. On the one hand, it looked as if a victory was a distinct possibility as I had been lucky enough to prevail over all the reported participants in previous encounters. On the other, I was unsure how I would recover from the Surfcoast Race at Torquay (2-80-20) which I was committed to racing the week before, I wasn’t really Ironman race fit as I still had 6 weeks of training left before my original goal race, Ironman Australia, and I could not be 100% sure of my opposition until I arrived in Langkawi. After consultation with Kate and Mark Stiegler, I decided to take the chance and race.

At this point, I will try, to the best of my knowledge, to shed some light on the circumstances that lead to the remarkable resurrection of the event.

The race director informed us at the presentation ceremony that the green light to stage the race was given on the 12th of February. Not a bad effort to mobilise the troops and get the show up and running for the 27th you would have to say.

The official line, especially from those representing the various government agencies supporting the race, was that the Tsunami was the major cause of the lack of participant numbers. However, during the race briefing, the event director mentioned an accident in the 2004 event involving an athlete and official on the cycle course as the precursor to this years dramas.

The athlete involved complained to the WTC and, as a result, Malaysia’s WTC Ironman licence, originally good until 2006, was cancelled. Unhappy with the decision, those representing Ironman Malaysia challenged WTC’s decision in court and were successful in their bid to have the licence reinstated.

The WTC then insisted that the original licence agreement be adhered to and that included running this years event, regardless of the limited time left in order to do so. It should come as no surprise then that there were only 46 official entries and 38 starters on race morning, of which 9 were professionals, 7 males and 2 females.

The very first thing you noticed when you stepped out of the airconditioned environment of the airport into the tropical air was the humidity. It enveloped and suffocated you. I thought the environment on the Gold Coast was uncomfortable at times but there really was no comparison. Within 10 minutes the sweat had started to pool and trickle down the small of my back and that was just sitting in the shade waiting for my hotel transfer.

I learnt that both Petr Vabrousek and Jan Stangmuller, my main opposition, had flown in from balmy Czechoslovakia, however they had been in Langkawi since the previous Sunday as opposed to my 36 hours, so it was debatable who was better off from an acclimatisation point of view. It would be fair to say that none of us were fully prepared to race at our best.

One of the casualties of the circumstances was the original course. Taking into consideration the small number of participants, it was decided to change all segments of the race to multi-loop formats. The swim was changed from a single to a double out and back affair, the cycle was altered from two 90 kilometre loops to three 60 kilometre out and backs, and the run morphed from three to four out and backs. This proved to be better for all involved, athletes were able to see their fellow competitors on a more regular basis, spectators were able to see the athletes more often and the logistics of running the event were simplified.

On walking out of the hotel foyer on race morning, I was reminded of my Half Ironman Mexico experience in 2003. As in Mexico, I had developed a sweaty glow by the time I had walked the 1 kilometre down to the race start. The 30 degree Celsius water , which I was soon to enter, offered the prospect of no relief at all.

I have always said that Half Ironman Mexico was the hardest race I had ever done, so my pre-race demeanour was influenced by both competitive anticipation and dread, but mostly the latter.

The thing about Ironman is that it is never easy, the distances involved are daunting enough, but then factor in the heat and humidity - I knew I would be earning any money I happened to win in this race.

On the sounding of the starters horn, two athletes broke away immediately and I was left wallowing in their wake. Initially, I thought the two breakaways were Jan and Petr, so I was somewhat concerned, especially as their lead seemed to extend at each of the three turnaround points. It was only when I caught and passed the first athlete on the cycle course that I realised the frontrunners were, in fact, Joseph Zemaitis (USA) and Bevan Leach, a fellow Aussie. Jan was swimming not too far in front and Petr not too far behind.

As the swim progressed, Joseph and Bevan increased their lead and the relative positions of Jan, Petr and myself stayed virtually constant. On exiting the water my deficit to both Bevan and Joseph was three minutes, to Jan, around 45 seconds and I enjoyed a 50 second buffer to Petr.

Now, the following facts:

1. 180 kilometres is a long way to time trial
2. I had not time trialled 180 kilometres since late July 2004
3. One week earlier, I capitulated after 55 kilometres of an 80 kilometre time trial
4. It was extremely hot and humid

would lead the sensible athlete to show some discipline and restraint early in the cycle leg. Unfortunately, on occasions, common sense deserts me and I thus rode the first 80 kilometres at 80 kilometre time trial pace. It did mean I caught Jan at the 10 kilometre mark, Joseph not long after and then hit the lead after catching Bevan at around 33 kilometres. It also meant that at the 60 kilometre point I had 4 minutes on Bevan, 5 on Jan and 6 on Petr and at 90 kilometres, 6 on Bevan, 7 on Jan and 8 on Petr. However, it also meant that I was forced into survival mode for the last 100 kilometres. Not a very pleasant experience really. As a result, I lost all but 1 minute of my lead over Petr in the last 90 kilometres of the cycle. Luckily, Jan and Bevan were struggling just as badly as I was in the last 90 kilometres, and Jan started the run 7 minutes in arrears and Bevan 13.

The run was brutal, what got me to the finish was the knowledge that I was in the lead and there was ice and ice cold water at each of the five aid stations out on the 10 kilometre out and back course. The 4 out and backs amounted to 32 aid station visits and I stopped for every one.

The drill was take some salt, wash it down with water, squeeze an icy sponge over my head, grab a cup of coke and a bottle of ice cold water, walk off sipping the coke and finally start running, tipping the water over myself as I made my way to the next aid station oasis.

I would intermittently apply sunscreen as well.

For two of the four laps of the run, I maintained about a 1.5 kilometre lead over Petr, my closest challenger. I could tell that everyone else was in survival mode and represented no real threat to my lead. I have never seen so much suffering on an Ironman run course.

Even though I was stopping at all the aid stations, I was running relatively well between them. Half way through the third lap, I noticed that my lead on Petr had extended to around 2 kilometres and by the start of the last lap I had somewhere in the vicinity of a 4 kilometre lead.

Despite this, I was still unable to relax, as I still had 8 kilometres to run, and, considering the conditions, anything could have happened. I only allowed myself to relax a bit in the last 1 kilometre or so.

I was extremely happy to cross the finish line but it was more a feeling of relief than ecstasy. The torture was finally over.

I felt that the organisers did a fantastic job in getting the race up and running in such a short period of time. The race progressed without any dramas and I was made to feel very welcome by the locals. I was often asked if I was coming back to do the race in 2006 and, naturally, it was in the affirmative. However, I am not sure I want to put myself through that again.

If you are looking for a Hawaii spot though, this may be a race for you, just make sure you acclimatise somewhat prior to the race. It will make for a slightly more pleasant experience.