Ironman 70.3 Singapore: Wille Loo and Choo Ling Er set new PBs to finish as fastest locals

East Coast Park, Sunday, March 20, 2011 — Wille Loo, 28, finished as the fastest Singaporean at last weekend’s Irnonman 70.3 Singapore. He clocked 4 hours, 24 minutes and 8 seconds for a personal best time that also ensures his qualification for this September’s World Ironman 70.3 Championship in Las Vegas, USA.

“I did not expect to win. It was a great race and I’m glad to see more people embrace and support the sport of the triathlon! I definitely hope to win again next year!” said Wille, who was also the fastest Singaporean last year.

Choo Ling Er, 24, was the fastest Singaporean woman with in 5:08:26 and will now set her sights on a full Ironman.

This is the fifth edition of the Ironman 70.3 in Singapore and over 1,700 triathletes from 64 countries took part over a new route. About 600 triathletes taking part were Singaporeans. There were 36 professionals from 13 countries taking part with USD 15,000 prize money at stake.

Race Director from Hi-Tri Pte Ltd Jeffrey Foo said: “More and more Singaporeans are joining AIM as we’ve seen a 31% increase in local participation as compared to last year. Together with more foreign participation, it is indeed great to see that the event has become the largest Ironman 70.3 not only in Australasia but also the biggest in the southern hemisphere, as well as a race Singaporeans love.”

The fastest triathlete on the day was New Zealander Kris Gemmell. He won the elite men category in 3:50:56, beating 2010 and 2011 runner-up James Cunnama by 49 seconds.

Gemmell finished his 1.9km swim in 27:44 led the pack from start to finish throughout the 90.1km bike and 21.1km run segments.

“I have been training very hard and I came here to win. It was a great experience for my first Ironman 70.3 race, and I enjoyed having support from the crowd that was cheering me on,” said Gemmell about his first race in Singapore.

American Mary Beth Ellis won her Singapore debut in 4:21:06 after finishing the swim leg in second place and the bike leg in fourth. She beat fellow American Amy Marsh by a mere 34 seconds. Ellis was runner up in the 2008 and 2009 World Ironman 70.3 Championship.

“I’ve been preparing for this race in Thailand for the past few weeks but was still apprehensive about the heat and humidity here. I think the preparation helped me when I was out there today, and it’s a great feeling to win in my first race here. It was also great to have lots of people cheering me on while watching the race. It was a good day for me,” said Ellis.

Married Japanese professionals Hiro and Maki Nishiuchi raced with black wrist bands and finished in 4:13:09 and 4:31:11 respectively. Both were racing under a cloud of worry as they had yet to hear from Hiro’s 23-year-old cousin and an 80-year-old relative. The couple raised $30,000 over the weekend through their race for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

“It was a tough race for us as we did not intend to take part in the race. We kept going when we looked at our black wrist bands and thought of our families and other people living in the Fukushima prefecture,” said Hiro.

Download full results of Ironman 70.3 Singapore here

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