Koreans top Ironman Saipan

South Korean Kwang Hoon Lee celebrates his first place finish in last Saturday’s Ironman 70.3 Saipan. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Ironman 70.3 Saipan is in the books and will be regarded as one of the toughest after more than 150 brave triathletes experienced the punishing course in last Saturday’s grueling race.

The inaugural competition was so challenging that even elite athletes and eventual top finishers, South Koreans Kwang Hoon Lee and Suk Hyeon Choi, took a while to recover after completing the 1.9-kilometer swim, 90K bike, and 21.2K run race. Some quit not even halfway through the face, while many missed the cutoff time.

“It was very hard because of the searing heat. I’ve never been to this kind of race,” said Lee, who had to get help from volunteers at the medical tent due to exhaustion and stayed there for more than 30 minutes before regaining his strength and heading back to his hotel.

The 22-year-old Lee, who has been competing in ITU World Triathlon Series and is a member of an elite triathlon team in one of South Korea’s provinces, finished the tiring race in 4:46:19 and was one of the only three participants that completed the event under five hours. He was second out of the water behind teammate and No. 2 overall finisher Gyu Hyung Lee as the former clocked in at 28:28 against the latter’s 28:22.

In the bike leg, Kwang Hoon had the third best time at 2:34:07, while his 1:41:20 was the fourth fastest in the entire field. The bike leg had triathletes heading to the Bird Island Lookout first before going to the south parking lot of Pacific Islands Club via Beach Road, back again to PIC (turnaround near Kensington Hotel north entrance) and then to the start/finish line at Pau Pau Beach. The run leg brought runners to as far as the intersection at the Marpi dumpsite and they headed back for the turnaround point before La Fiesta for another lap and then back to Pau Pau Beach for the finish.

Kwang Hoon’s teammate Gyu Hyung was the fastest in the run leg with his 1:33:57, overtaking Russia’s Igir Lysov for second place. Lysov grabbed the No. 2 spot from Gyu Hyung after posting the best time in the bike split with his 2:33:09 Gyu Hyung clocked in at 2:44:13 in the bike leg for a total time of 4:49:12, just over a minute ahead of Lysov (4:50:23). Lysov fell behind in the swim leg after registering 31:45.

Women’s top finisher Cho, who is with the same team of Kwang Hoon, was also trailing in the race, but took first place after erstwhile leader Yun Jun Jang quit about halfway through the run leg. Jang, who was about five minutes ahead of Choi, slipped in one of the downhill curves in the Marpi area, as she tried to avoid a car. Earlier after completing the bike leg, Jang also suffered from cramps and got a quick massage from one of the team’s coaches.

Choi also had her misfortunes in the race, as she fell while walking down her bike to Pau Pau beach. She lost a few minutes as after picking herself up, she carefully walked downhill with her bike shoes on. The South Korean then chased Jang and made it safely to the finish line at the 5:19:38 mark to rule the women’s division.

“This was a tough race for me because of the weather. It was very hot. I also did not have enough time to practice because I came here just two days before the race,” said Choi, who also spent a lot of time at the medical tent due to exhaustion and cramps.

While Choi failed to have practice rides, several triathletes arrived here early, but that did not save them from battling the unforgiving heat and the up and downhill run and bike courses of the inaugural event. The race day condition was so taxing that not even halfway through the bike course, three had already quit. By the end of the race, 31 did not make the cut (eight hours).

“The swim leg was OK with a bit of current, but manageable. However, in the bike leg, it was very hot and you also have the head wind both ways. By the time I get to the run part, I was really exhausted, but I really wanted to finish this tough course, so I kept going,” said Lysov, who was greeted by her daughters, wife, and mother at the finish line.