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| 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.
