Story by REDintern Alan Chiang and Les Tan/Red Sports.
The seniors began the race first. (Photo 1 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
Tanjong Beach, Sentosa, Saturday, March 7, 2009 - More than 2,200 youths took part in the non-competitive MOE/Milo Youth Tryathlon last weekend but congestion and delays left some frustrated.
“They packed the youngest group like sardines and kept them there for 25 minutes. The little ones were stifled by the heat in the cramped space,” said Karina Choo, a mother of an 8-year-old participant.
“Then they announced that the start would be delayed by half an hour because the bike track was chockers and a number of accidents had occurred. That’s when my dad exploded at the officials. So they dispersed the kids and asked them to come back later.”
“It was such chaos that as some of the kids dispersed the other group behind them thought that the race had started and they took off into the water. They became the unofficial first wave of the green-capped (youngest) group. The rest of the kids then regrouped and they held them in that tight squeeze for a further 20-plus minutes before whistling them off to start the race.”
The bike transition area was also a problem for the triathletes because there were no bike racks.
“The bikes were parked in a most disorganised manner with no designated spot for each participant,” said Mdm Choo. “The kids had trouble finding their bikes and when they came back from their ride, they had to park their bikes away from their gear as other kids had parked in their spots.”
The sheer number of participants with families in tow jammed up the place and spectators spilling out onto the bike paths became unintended road hazards. Some parents even volunteered to help out the road marshals as congestion built up.
The event was for ages eight to 18 years and there was no timing to encourage participation.
The eight to 11-year-olds covered a 100m swim, 4km bike and a 1km run. The seniors (16-18 years old) did a 300m swim, 12km bike and a 3km run.
“To be fair, the intention to get more kids involved in triathlons was a good one. They just botched up the event organisation,” said Mdm Choo.
Waiting and waiting to start. The huge numbers participating as well as family members coming to watch saw crowds stretched out along the beach. (Photo 2 © Warren Choo)
Part one of the triathlon – The swim. (Photo 3 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
The run-up after the swim. (Photo 4 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
The run-up was so heavily congested that participants had to walk after their swim. (Photo 5 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
Congestion at the bike transition area. Without bike racks, there were the occasional domino-type accidents. (Photo 6 © Karina Choo)
Smooth traffic for the front pack. (Photo 7 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A male participant charging ahead. (Photo 8 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A parent became a volunteer during the bike event. He was shouting to participants to keep left! (Photo 9 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A biker checking his blind spot. (Photo 10 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A biker well-focused on the traffic flow. (Photo 11 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
Fun and laughter for these two girls. (Photo 12 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A runner carries a water bottle to hydrate herself in the heat. (Photo 13 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A triathlete keeps going despite feeling tired. (Photo 14 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
Strong runners leading the pack. (Photo 15 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A participant clearly enjoying the race. (Photo 16 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A triathlete endures to the end. (Photo 17 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
Finally – the finish line. (Photo 18 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
“Hey! Are you on the wrong side of the race?” (Photo 19 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
A group of runners eventually walked through the finish line. (Photo 20 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
“Yeah! I have finished the race!” (Photo 21 © Alan Chiang/Red Sports)
The limited edition trophy for each participant – a Milo tin. (Photo 22 © Warren Choo)
1st, they clash the event with Singapore Biathlon. Causing either some adult to give-up either Singapore Biathlon to bring their kids to the event or they are officially required to help out in the event.
The place is simply too small to host such an event. Even Tribob Aquathlon was just ok for a smaller group of participant.
Long way to go for MOE and Milo, time to focus and LEARN from other group like OSIM & Singapore Biathlon (they are Aces in organizing such race with thousands of participant.)
As for Tribob, they still have much room for improvement.
From my personal experience from OSIM, OSIM Corporate Tri, Tribob tri series, Singapore Biathlon.
Ouch. Now I’m really curious as to which events agency did the organiser hire to organise/run the event!
PS. photo 22 is hilarious!
agree with tryathlon parent.
i was there taking photos and a bike accident occurred in front of me! luckily, there were many parents on site to help out.
One kid said she saw an accident where another kid fell and couldn’t get out of the way and another biker rode over the poor fella.
IT WAS A DISASTER.
Anyone there would agree with me that the entire event was a JOKE.
After the NUS Triathlon fiasco where the partipants had to “stop at traffic lights” I thought TAS would have cleaned up their act in sanctioning people.
I appear to be wrong.
With Tribob, Osim and All the Biathlons, I would have expected MILO and MOE to commit to something more proffessional.
Definitely a disappointment for all parents and participants alike.
I hope MOE and MILO do a better job next year.
Absolutely terrible event!
Was your kid in the green cap wave as well? The place can’t take that many participants plus families in tow. I think the max is 700-800 participants plus families.