As athletes we often enter events for the opportunity to visit new locations, to enjoy the feeling of moving our bodies through different environments, and to wonder at the beauty of an undiscovered land.
This weekend’s MetaSprint Series Duathlon DIGITAL offered athletes all of these intangible rewards. The stunning landscape of the Punggol area, with its waterways and relaxed vibe, plus the forested Coney Island full of wildlife and flora provided a true enrichment of the senses.
It was under this umbrella of beauty that 80 athletes challenged themselves to a new style of multisport. Using the innovative MetaSprint app they were guided around a 25km two-loop bike course at Seletar, plus a 8km run on Coney Island. Directional and informative messaging kept them on the correct track and on pace, and entertaining comments ensured their motivation stayed high. A transition area was available at Punggol Point where volunteers were present to mind bags and bikes.
Day one saw Joel Liebi set the fastest overall time of 1:06:31 which included the quickest bike split of the day – 34:36. He was followed by Kyle Arnold – who had the accolade of the day’s fastest run split of 31:21 to finish three minutes in arrears. Sien Long Lim was hot on his heels just one minute back. The women’s event saw Alice Budisatrijo post the leading time with 1:56:43, with Anna Habana in second in 2:02:56 and Donna McWilliams in third in 2:08:11.
The Run Digital event over the 8km Coney Island course welcomed back the Aquathlon Run Digital’s leading lady Rebecca Dickson. Once again she set the benchmark – a sizzling 42:07. The men’s event saw Nedyalko Terziev post the fastest time of the day with 39:17.
Day two saw Denis Bauer post the fastest run split of the weekend with 30:40 and claim second spot behind Saturday’s front-runner Joel Liebi’s. Ali King was the other athlete to shake up the leaderboard on Sunday, moving into fifth place in a close race with Lim Sien Long who held onto 4th place. The women’s leaderboard remained unchanged from overnight.
The weekend wasn’t just about the experienced athletes however, with 28% of the registered participants using the event to start their multisport journey. This included a group of nine women, representing GEMS – a club whose purpose is to encourage women to do physical activity. They joined the event bursting with excitement to share the experience with their friends, while testing their own resolve against the course.
Athletes seemed to enjoy the new style of racing and the location, with thespoo99 commenting on Instagram “”Great to be back at an event again for the first time in about a year! MetaSprint Duathlon Digital (25km bike = 8km run) around Seletar Airfield and Punggol Waterway. Great course, perfect weather and really well organised by @metasprintseries its good to have the chance to do this again!!” and Vladislav Tsyryuk – one of only six athletes to register for all six MetaSprint Series 2021 events commented at the venue that it was an “awesome course”.
Full race results can be found here https://www.metasprintseries.com/race-results/
Safety was once again our number one priority. Athletes were asked to make a booking in advance to secure their start time (to avoid overcrowding), safe scan entry with the Trace Together app, and wear a face mask before and after the challenge.
If you have been inspired by our awesome athletes this weekend, there is still time to sign up for the Duathlon ORIGIN on Sunday 21 March – but hurry, places are going fast.
Alternatively, we have the Triathlon DIGITAL on 26-28 March. https://www.metasprintseries.com/race-info-digital/
