JOHOR BARU: Australian triathletes dominated the podium in the men’s professional category of the UEM Sunrise Challenge Iskandar Puteri at Puteri Harbour on Sunday.
Matt Burton clocked three hours 42 minutes 46 seconds to finish as champion, taking home USD5,000 (RM20,700).
In second place was Kieran Roche who finished in a combined time of 3:53:29, while Luke McKenzie took third in 3:56:06.
“I had a 12-minute lead when I started the running stage,” said Burton.
“ However, it was cut down to nine minutes and I knew I had to push.“
Having raced before in Southeast Asia , especially Malaysia , I am quite used to the conditions.
“I must however pay tribute to the organisers as despite there being several crossover involving interchanges , the security aspect was great and it was reassuring to the participants,
“I am happy with my performance as it was not easy from the beginning, especially in the swim but once I got the hang of things, it was all systems go.”
For McKenzie, it was a good weekend as he and his wife Beth both finished on the podium.
“The pace was quite intense and I am glad to finish among the winners,” said McKenzie, who in 2013 took second place at the Ironman World Championship.
For runner-up, Roche, it was the Cycling disciple that took the toll.
“It was a brutal race for me especially when we got into the bikes,” he said.
“The conditions were tough as this was the first time I raced in Malaysia but somehow I managed to push myself to finish second,“
Beth of United States emerged as champion in the women’s professional category.
She clocked 04:15:03.
“ It was a pretty smooth race for me but at the halfway stage during cycling, my gears gave way and that affected my momentum,” said Beth, whose kids joined her to cross the finish line.
“I actually enjoy participating here and the course was challenging and good. The weather was kind today and overall I faced no issues as it was a well-organised race.”
Anna Heberhardt of Hungary, who resides in Singapore, finished second on 4:18:32.
This was the second consecutive year that Anna finished second.
The Challenge Iskandar Puteri is the fastest growing race in the global Challenge series of full and half triathlon races.
Challenge Iskandar Puteri aims to be the number one triathlon event in Malaysia as well as in Asia.
Results
Main Race
Pro — 1 Matt Burton (Aus) 3:42:46, 2. Kieran Roche (Aus) 3:53:29, 3 Luke McKenzie (Aus) 3:56:06;
Individual — 1 Colin Oshea (Sin) 4:01:32, 2 Raymund Torio (Phi) 4:11:10, 3 Luc Charpentier (Sin) 4:13:11;
Mixed Relay — 1 Andi Iswandi Johari-Masri Khairuma 4:54:02, 2 Rostam Raselip-Zakaria Sabran-Nur Adli Safwan 4:54:40, 3 Allan Norton-Justin Hotton-Stefan Wood 4:55:08.
Children
Junior (Under-8) — 1 Ling Khim Zern 16:21sec, 2 Ng Han Yang 17:08, 3 Gabrielle Alexandra Widjaya (Aus) 20:49;
Intermediate (Under-13) — 1 Amri Ikhsaan Yazdani 22:05, 1 Nelson Schwalb (22:05), 3 Mimi Adriana Lee 22:57;
Senior (Under-18) — 1 Razin Munip 38:54, 2 Adam Dyker 39:23, 3 Aiman Lee 40:32.