Rare Experience in the Koh Samui Triathlon

Enjoy the Triathlon in Samui. It's one of the only ones held in Thailand annually
Photo Courtesy samuiindex.com

As any sports aficionado would know, joining a triathlon is a gruelling experience that can somehow be lightened in a competition held amid a fascinating venue like the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.  You need not be a competitor though to enjoy this annual event, which is usually, scheduled each April as yet another addition to the things to do in Koh Samui. 

Just watching the triathletes, many of which are also tourists, take up the challenge would be as exciting, with the series of sports discipline they had to undergo en route to the finish.  Seeing competitors huff and puff along the way would be enough for some spectators to wonder how these intrepid souls managed the will to get up in a fine morning and pursue a race that would surely faze the uninitiated.

Test of will and endurance

Conceivably, not a few of these triathletes are billeted at posh accommodations like the ShaSa Resort at Samui southern tip where they could have taken a more leisurely stroll along the beach. Yet, they have chosen to test themselves in a gauntlet of sports undertaking which starts with a four-kilometre swim, followed by a cycling leg for 122.6 kilometres. 

And to cap these all, there’s still a 30-kilometre marathon run to tackle, thereby compiling a total distance of 156.65 kilometres for the entire triathlon race. Given the triathlon’s incomparable test in athletic ability, it comes as no wonder that each finisher of this race, regardless of placings in the order of finish, are typically given the honorary title “Iron Man” (or “Iron Lady” for the females).

Fat purse for champions

The top finisher of the Koh Samui triathlon this year, Australia’s Courtney Atkinson, finished the race with a six-hour clocking and earned the 800,000 baht top prize. In the distaff side, Melissa Hauschildt was only 10 minutes behind Atkinson and pocketed half a million baht in prize money. With such a generous purse, it comes as no surprise that this Koh Samui event continuously draws the elite in the world of triathlon. This year, the world’s top ten of these competitors were among the total of 200 participants in the race.

The support of local and authorities has contributed much to the success and popularity of this race. The Samui municipal government along with the support of Department of Tourism–Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Thai Airways, and the Tourism Association of Koh Samui organizes the triathlon itself.