Inspiring wins at inaugural Educity Duathlon

Educity’s inaugural Duathlon held at Iskandar Puteri recently, attracted 450 participants from running groups and individual enthusiasts who took part in the Sprint and Endurance competitions for Men and Women in the Open, Senior and Veteran categories.

Participants of the Endurance Race at the flag-off

While Educity provided the participants with their event T-shirt, some participants preferred to don their own running club’s costumes, clearly emblazoned with their colourful logos and club names.

At the crack of dawn, participants gathered at Educity stadium grounds and Iskandar Puteri mayor, Haji Adib Azhari Daud, flagged off the Endurance Race at 7am.

In the grueling Endurance race, participants completed a 10-kilometer run followed by a 60 km bicycle ride and ended with another 10 km run.

Fifteen minutes after the first flag-off, EduCity Managing Director, Joanne Oei, flagged off the Sprint Race where participants completed a five-kilometer run followed by a 30 km bicycle ride and ended with another five-km run.

Participants in the bicycle ride sector of the Duathlon

I watched from the Start/Finish line and spotted familiar running/cycling club names like Graziella and Treximo as the participants returned triumphantly and were rewarded with their Finisher medals.

The top five winners in the two races received trophies and prize money while the inspiring finishes by Sprint Champions, Mohd Zuhar Ismail (01:30:06) and Tan Pei Lin (01:50:21), also earned them the top honour as Sprint Overall Champions.

Pei Lin, Third Place winner in the Women Veteran category, was recognised for her commitment to consistent training and competitive spirit.

A mother of a 16-year old son, Pei Lin, 50, is no stranger to such grueling competitions as she is the two-time defending champion at the Powerman Asia Duathlon, Putrajaya race.

“This is like a pre-event warm-up race for me,” said Pei Lin after receiving her Sprint Overall Champion trophy.

Sprint Overall Champions, Tan Pei Lin [Right]
and Mohd Zuhar Ismail [Left]

An Admissions Executive with Taylor’s International School and Selangor state runner, Pei Lin trains six days per week with her son every morning before going to her work and he, to his classes.

A father of three children aged 10 and below, Mohd Zuhar Ismail, 33, trains regularly with his team dubbed, Sukan Lasak ATM, short-form for Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (Malaysian Armed Forces).

Mohd Azuan Asmuni and Alisson Yee won the Men and Women Endurance Overall Championship titles with record times of 02:57:23 and 03:23:51, respectively.

Winner of the Men’s Open (age 18 – 29) category, Mohd Halif Husin, said he consistently competed for the top-spot with Mohd Azuan Asmuni, his colleague at Kem Sungai Udang in Melaka.

He also revealed that twelve of their team mates participated in the Duathlon and regularly travelled as a group and challenged each other in their endurance power.

“The Duathlon tested the athletes’ determination to reach the finishing line and Educity is proud to gather such active sportsmen and sportswomen today,” said Oei.

“Taking part in a Duathlon is not a small feat and we hope this visionary display of willpower and hope will inspire our young children to detach themselves from their gadgets,” she added.

                                   

Mohd Zuhar Ismail [4th from Left] with members of his
team Sukan Lasak ATM, at the Educity Duathlon

The inaugural Educity Duathlon brought the athletes on their run and ride race through several scenic routes in Iskandar Puteri.

Once again, the city that has been hosting extreme sports and marathons in the past few years, had attracted athletes not only from throughout Malaysia to battle it out for the top titles but also from Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, England and the Philippines.

Iskandar Puteri has much to offer young athletes in terms of space and this includes dedicated cycling lanes for budding cyclists in Medini.

Oei presented the cash prizes and medals to deserving winners and announced that more sporting activities are planned for 2018 including the much anticipated Educity Sundown Marathon, Kickboxing, Swimming and Rugby fests.