I'm writing this review a few years after I did the race. It is a great location for a first time 70.3. The year I raced was a very hot year. This past year in 2016 the swim was canceled because of a dense fog that also delayed the start. Goes to show the importance of being mentally prepared and ready to adjust your plan if required.

Check in and expo: This was well organized with the check-in and packet pickup being located inside with the expo. There was a bit of a line however it moved quickly. The expo was of a decent size with lots of items on display and samples to try. The bike check in was located at T1 (Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park) which is a park along the lake. I recommend you carry your bike in and hang it on the rack checking for spurs before you let your tire touch the ground. I've never seen so many flat tires at one time and many were from people who talked about hearing that the sand spurs will pop tires and didn't believe that the weight of a bike with no rider would be enough.

This is a two transition race so all your gear needs to be packed in the correct bag and you need to be ready to bag and tie your gear up as part of your transition. If you don't you risk loosing your belonging. With a race this long the time is well spent and only a few seconds if your organized.

The morning of the race you will drop your run back off at T2. This will be tied to the rack where your bike will be placed later in the day. You then take a bus to T1 and the start of the race. Make sure you have all your swim gear, bike nutrition etc… and morning of bag before getting on the bus.

After you get your bike set and make sure you don't have any flat tires you will then be directed to check your morning of bag. If your in the later swim waves you don't need to get in your wetsuit just yet. For myself I started an hour after the pros. in one of the last swim waves. The lake is cold so a wetsuit is a must. At least it is for me.

After the swim there are wetsuit strippers. Once your suit is off roll it up as you run up the hill to put in in your bike gear bag and tie up with your cap and goggles. Again I recommend carrying your bike out to the road and having more than one spare tube for this race.

The bike course is hilly with only a few steep areas. Most of these have immediate long downhills to take advantage of.

The run course it a lot tougher than it looks on paper. When I did the race it was a cool morning that later became hot in the upper 90's. the run course goes from Luedecke Arena where the finish line and T2 is located and runs downhill along Decker Lake Rd. about halfway to Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park you climb a steady hill to the park where T1 and the race start was located. There isn't much shade so the sun will take it's toll. Make sure you have some sun screen in your bag and hit up the aid stations for cooling early.

The finish is located inside the Arena which is nice after running in the hot sun. At the finish you will get your medal, food, drinks, medical if needed etc…

For gear pickup all the gear left at T1 will have been picked up and moved to T2 and volunteers will be organizing it by race number so you can pick everything up at one location after the last runner starts on the course. This is why it's so important to get everything in your bag and tie it off with everything labeled just in case.

This race is held in the Master Planned Community Cross Creek Ranch. The organization that holds it is ITriEvents. I had entered the sprint distance race at the time because I was still new to Triathlons. Overall it's on OK event and a good race for locals to participate in.

The swim is in the front lake at Cross Creek and the sprint distance starts halfway down the lake from shore and swims to the Transition area. The Olympic distance race goes out and back from the same point along the main road across the street from transition.

The bike route is usually very similar each year. In 2014 I crashed on a turn and was taken care of at the finish by the medics who were on site as soon as they saw I was a little beat up. With the bike course I never saw any indication that the Olympic distance racers had a different route and this could have been because the sprint race started after the Olympic racers were out of the water and they stopped directing bikes that way. Fast forward to 2016 where I was spectating for several team mates who were doing the race we had our lead guy get directed down the sprint course causing him to be DQ'd after finishing the race. During my race I did see were the two routs come together. The road was setup to split the lane with cones to merge the two sets of riders. The downside was the police working the intersection must not have been comfortable with it because they stopped the sprint racers until a group of the Olympic racers passed rather than let them make the turn and merge in.

If you enter this race be aware of the rout and where it is suppose to split. Use google maps to identify the route because the maps provided are often shown with too little detail to really tell where your riding. If the map is provided and the route wasn't changed for some reason. I've raced several events with ItriEvents and this is a regular occurrence.

The run takes place on the nature paths throughout the community. For the most part there is only one way to go and no thinking is required. When you have two races of different distances it's not always clear which is the correct path and people often go the wrong way. I've seen the race director on the course directing runners at the split off areas but this isn't always the case. Some times you only turn on the first lap and on the second lap you may cross the road to the other side. It's not always as clear as it should be.

Awards:
The event organizer takes some time to get the awards ready and they are often presented long after the published time. This isn't so much an issue since it is a morning event but it is a regular occurrence. This particular year awards were not available for all the finishers. I don't recall if it was only certain groups or everyone. I had to get mine a week or so later during the packet pickup for another race. For clarity this was the top 3 finisher awards in the age groups. The finisher medals were handed out as you finished.

This was my first Marathon and I swore I would never race again. 5 Marathons later here I am. Singapore Is great. I was living in Malaysia at the time so I came to the Island the day before and picked up all my gear at the Expo. Having already lived in Singapore for most of a year we stayed in a hotel along the run route and I took a cab with several other participants the morning of to the start.

This race starts at 4 or 5am. much earlier than most. This I expect is because of the heat in Singapore. Once the sun comes up hydration is a challenge.

The crowd support is great even as a foreigner and the sites you run by are amazing. Singapore is a beautiful country and you run past or through many of the spectacular landmarks they have from Orchard road, up and down East Coast Park, through the Gardens by the Bay, Marine Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer and Esplanade theaters just to name a few.

If ever given the opportunity I would enter this race again.

When I ran this race in 2012 it was a 30K race. Today it is offered as a 21k and 32k course.

The race is held on the running paths in East Cost Park. The course is an out and back setup running almost the length of the country to Changi Airport. In the middle there is a loop back on the farthest 2/3 of the park that make up the race distance. Overall it was a good race with plenty of support along the course and at the water stations. The had water, gels and sponges to cool you down while you ran. This is Singapore which is a very warm tropical environment all year long so make sure you're prepared for the heat if you don't live in the area. The year I completed the race the race shirt was a yellow and black singlet.

Being in the park and just being in Singapore make this a good race. The race course gives you some great scenery to enjoy while you run. If I'm ever back in Singapore this time of year I will be signing up for this race again.