Four days after the Hong Kong International Triathlon, my bike and I headed off for sunny Singapore to compete in the second but last leg of the Asian Series for 2001. I have always really enjoyed the Singapore race although this is probably down to the fact Singapore has always seemed to be a breakthrough race for me. I first did the race three years ago when my fourth place secured my position on the Hong Kong National team for the first time. Last year I won the elite women's race but was second overall after HK junior Chrissy Bailey. I was in training for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii at the time and took part in the race to make up my Asian Series races so I would get a ranking. I hadn't expected a great result but managed to shave fifteen minutes off my previous year's time and get my best result in an Asian Series race to date.

One of the reasons I enjoy the Singapore race is it is always so well organized with a great party atmosphere. Sentosa Island is the perfect location, full of lush tropical greenery, which is home to numerous families of monkey's who make a welcome distraction on the bike course. The weather is always guaranteed to be hot and humid but this seems to suit me especially after two years of Ironman training through the Hong Kong summer.

I arrived at Singapore airport on Thursday evening followed shortly afterwards by Fred Herpin, one of my training buddies. We were collected by the Singapore triathlon officials and spent the short bus trip pouring over the entry list analyzing our competition. The race director had managed to secure a new hotel deal for this year and we were all impressed. The Amara Hotel is five star and located near the town center and Sentosa Island, which was perfect. Often luxury city hotels find it difficult to cope with a group of triathlete's descending upon them with bikes and armfuls of odd training equipment however the staff at the Amara were brilliant.

After depositing our bags in our luxury suites, we headed off to assemble our bikes ready for a course inspection early the next morning. I always hate this bit especially as it was now past my bedtime (9:30pm!) but it never takes longer than half an hour. I couldn't believe how long it took Fred, I always thought it was the girls who were meant to be slow at this sort of thing. This was not a good sign for Fred, he was lagging behind already and the race hadn't started yet!

After a quick trip to the breakfast buffet, we set off for Sentosa armed with maps of the new course layout. After unknowingly jumping the tollbooth onto the island we found transition without too much trouble and went over both the bike and run course. The bike loop was the same as last year (hilly) but with an extra 5km out and back which was flat although we found a headwind down the back straight. You have an undulating cycle about 2.5km to and from transition before starting the 4 loops. The run consisted of 2 loops with a flat 2km along the waterfront followed by a 3km hilly section but at least there was shade from the sun on this section. I really liked the changes to the course and was looking forward to testing the terrain the next day.

As we left transition, we bumped into Ingrid (my coach) who had planned to meet us earlier but had had bike problems. Apparently the lady at the tollbooth had stopped her because we had not paid so we were escorted back to the entrance to clear our debts! Fred had to head off for work when we returned to the hotel and Ingrid and I went off to one of the local food markets to sample the local cuisine. We had some amazing soup where you pick all your own vegetables; they make the soup and bring it back to you with rice and chili sauce, yummy.

I spent the rest of the afternoon stocking up at the local supermarket, preparing my racing gear and dealing with all my work emails. As I had already seen the course, I didn't attend the bus tour at 5pm and decided to head to the pool for a light swim. I wasn't the only one to have this idea and was soon joined by Dimitry Gaag who was also racing the next day. Cool, its not often you get to do a swim session with the World Champion! With everything pretty much organized, I ordered a salad from room service while I waited for Cookie (my boyfriend) to arrive from the airport. After filling him in on the days activities and course changes we collapsed into the huge bed for some much needed sleep.

Singapore is the only race I have ever done which starts in the afternoon but it makes a nice change. We had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast although I never like to eat much before a race. I always look on in amazement at how much some of my teammates eat and still don't carry an ounce of fat! The guys particularly will decimate the buffet while I will limit myself to small bowl of fruit and All Bran and still struggle to keep my weight under control °V some things in life definitely aren't fair! Before long it was time to organize our bikes and ride down to Sentosa, we opted to head off a bit earlier than the organized police escort as I hadn't had my bike checked and the headset didn't seem right.

When we arrived at the race site the sun was beating down and there wasn't a cloud in the sky so it was boiling. There were already quiet a few spectators around enjoying the beach and music pumping out from the finish area, it was going to be good feeling coming through that arch. Cookie and I headed out for a proper bike warm up without the weight of our transition bags on our bike. The legs were feeling pretty good and I was beginning to get really excited waiting for the start.

Before long we were all lined up on the start line waiting for the countdown, as there were only about eight women racing elite we were to start with the elite men. I had joked with Fred that I was going to draft behind him on the swim, but seriously this had been my goal as I felt my swimming had improved enough and I was keen to test myself out. As the gun went, there was a manic rush down the beach and everyone was fighting for some elbow space. I knew Jill (my HK teammate) was to my right and I thought I spotted Fred up ahead. At this point I could see a couple of guys looking like they were about to block me off from the faster men's pack that was forming. Well this was it, I put everything in to get round them and see if I could stick with the men's pack - I was on, now the question was could I stay there?

We seemed to reach the buoy halfway through the first lap really quickly but then it seemed to take forever to get back to the beach. I was hanging on but this was definitely the hardest I have ever swum. As we approached the beach the guys I was with just seemed to disappear and before I knew it they were all round the marker on the beach and back in the water. Help, I didn't want to loose them now or it would be a long second half so I sprinted as hard as I could up the beach and threw myself back in the water so hard that my HR belt popped out the bottom of my race suit! Luckily, they seemed to ease up for a minute while everyone was obviously struggling to get their breathing under control again and I was on the back of the group again.

As we approached T1, I was almost smiling under the water; I knew I had had my best ever swim and thought I was the leading woman. It was great to head into T1 with a big group, as normally in the women's race there is only one or two of you. It certainly helped me put in a speedy transition as I didn't want to be left behind but then I remembered I wouldn't be able to try and draft on the bike with them. As I set off up the hill out of transition with my feet balanced on the top of my shoes, one of them dropped off! Drat, I had to get off my bike and go backwards to retrieve the shoe before heading up the road again - that would have been even more frustrating if I had been one of the guys trying to stay with the pack. I soon settled into a good rhythm and passed a couple of guys who looked like they were still blowing hard from their efforts in the swim.

I tried to push hard on the first loop of the bike as I wasn't sure whether there was anyone ahead of me or how far my competition were behind me. After the first turning point, I had about 2 minutes on my closest competitor but I wanted to extend this as much as possible. After 2 loops the gap wasn't growing very much so I put a big effort in for number 3, sure that a growing gap would then really deflate my competition so they wouldn't fight back so hard. The hills were taking more of a toll on my legs by this time but I was able to motivate myself to keep going hard as I could see a pack of guys behind me and was determined to beat them into transition as I was still working on my own. Mission accomplished, as I headed out onto the run the pack arrived although I was sure I would see a few of them on the run.

I made a big effort to drink at least two cups at every aid station on the run as there were only four and it was scorching hot. As I approached 1km Lewis (HK teammate) passed me but then steadied about 40m ahead and this gave me a good target to try and hold onto. As we approached the 2.5km point you turn away from the sea and head up a really steep 100m climb but I could see we were gaining on another guy just ahead which helped to keep me going. By the time we were heading downhill back towards transition, I had caught up with Lewis and we had also caught the guy ahead so there was a nice little group to work with. It was great running through the transition area as the music was really pumping and the crowd atmosphere was fantastic - only one loop to go and I was still feeling good. The next loop passed without any major issues although Lewis managed to pull ahead of me again at one of the aid stations but we dropped the other guy. With about 1km to go, I let myself believe I really was going to win this one. As this stretch was downhill, I was able to let myself relax a bit and I think I must have been one of the only runners out there was a big grin across my face. As I came up the finish shoot, Fred was there having dropped out part way through the bike having suffered from a bad cold all week. Time for a quick celebratory high five for him. Coming across the line as the first women was one of the best moments of my racing career to date and marked the achievement of one of my long-standing goals.

I headed straight for the drink's tent behind the finish, which offered some shade and most importantly liquid refreshment. I bumped into Dimitry who had convincingly won the men's race by putting in an amazing 33 minute run in that heat! I managed to congratulate him and have a quick chat, a moment that Ruth Hunt (our National Coach) managed to catch on camera. This will be a good one to go with my Nicole Hackett (Women' World Champion) photo where I raced against her in the Philippines earlier this year.

I decided to head off to the massage tent straight away before it got too crowded and I wanted to try and limit the damage to my legs as much as possible. I had a group bike ride planned the following morning with Ingrid's old training partners and they don't hand around! The Hong Kong team did well, with Daniel coming in second to Dimitry and James Chow coming second in the junior race. Jill was second in the women's race and Robert Eadie convincingly won his age group so we certainly walked away with our fair share of the prize money! Unfortunately Zena's day wasn't as blessed as mine, she had three punctures on the bike section and not surprisingly decided to call it a day. Let's hope this signals a good day waiting for you in Phuket in a few weeks!

Elite Men:

1) Dimitry Gaag (KAZ) 1:56:02

2) Daniel Lee (HKG) 1:59:54

3) Gino Ernest (SIN) 2:09:38

9) Lewis Lam (HKG) 2:19:31

Elite Women:

Claire Murray (HKG) 2:19:59

Jill Fung (HKG) 2:27:30

Ani de Leon (PHI) 2:43:41

Junior Men:

Johan Johari (IND) 2:07:44

James Chow (HKG) 2:08:55

Eugene Chan (MAS) 2:12:36

Junior Women:

Jeannette Ong (SIN) 2:42:57

Kate Lopez (PHI) 2:53:25

Ong Yulin (SIN) 3:11:39

Age-Group:

Robert Eadie 2:28:17

Richard Cooke 3:03:33