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Anderson claims Lombok Triathlon crown
 As in the past two years, the Lombok International Triathlon 2009 promised to be a very exciting competition with tight racing. Pre-race favourites in the Lombok Triathlon arena this year were British National Athlete Graham Wadsworth, just returning from the Xterra World Championships, Australian AJ Anderson, a regular podium finisher in Asia, and Lombok favourite and Indonesian National Athlete Rajar Kadri, who came 3rd in the 2008 edition of this event.
Early morning on Sunday 8 November, the crowd gathered at Senggigi Beach, as the sun rose from behind the Lombok mountains to light up a perfect blue sky and wonderful swimming conditions. Traditional Lombok drums (Gendaanbeleq) added to the excitement, as the athletes stormed down the beach to start the 1500m swim. Anderson made his intentions clear and almost immediately broke away from the rest of the field. He finished the swim in 25:42, putting more than three minutes into his lead to closest competitor Wadsworth. Kadri, finishing the swim in 5th, had already 5 minutes to make up on Anderson.
In the women’s competition it was Briton Orla Gilmore who led out of the swim with Malaysian Chin Shi Yin in her wake. The women pushed each other on on the 300m beach run into transition, but it was Chin who was out on the bike first. Australian Anne Rozenauers took 1 minute longer on the swim, but immediately cut back 30 seconds on the leaders in her pursuit through transition.
The 40km bike on the coastal road with 22(!) short, but very steep hills and stunning views of the Bali Sea is a defining feature of the Lombok International Triathlon. At the steepest sections the cyclists are pushed to their limits, and races are lost and won here. Briton Wadsworth definitely lost his. Mechanical problems made an end to his aspirations early in the race. Kadri surged to a second place in the competition, but was not really making ground on Anderson. The best bike split of the day (1:12:09) was for Indonesian Dwi Ratsongko from Surabaya, which put him in 4th after the bike.
Meanwhile Gilmore had caught up with Chin early in the bike phase and took the lead again in the women’s race. On the steepest hills of the course, however, she had to watch how Chin overtook her once more and even see Rozenauers pass her on the return leg. With the fastest bike split Chin Shi Yin built a 1 minute and 30 seconds lead on Rozenauers and 3 minutes on Gilmore.
Hong Kong based Australian Anderson made it clear it was his race this year and widened his lead over the fading Lombok hopeful, Kadri, to eventually more than 13 minutes. He took his time over the final few meters to the finish line at the Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort, and savored the moment after running a near perfect race in 2:24:15. “This is the Alpe d’Huez of Asian Triathlon!” he said, acknowledging the challenging bike course of the Lombok International Triathlon. “It was tough, but everything went very smooth from start to finish. I am very impressed with the race organization. It was fantastic and I will definitely come back next year to defend my title.” The men’s podium was completed by Kadri (2:37:48) in second and Ratsongko (2:45:41) taking 3rd in the final kilometer of the race.
Back to the women’s race, where the race for the win was still completely open. Gilmore, a former elite diver and the current national diving coach of Singapore, reclaimed her 2nd place in the first lap of the hilly 10km run course and had her sights set on Chin. With the legs already fatigued from scaling the energy sapping hills of the bike course, the athletes had more hills to conquer on the run course. A woman to woman battle ensued, but it was Malaysian Chin who claimed top honours in a time of 3:01:22. Having lost a podium place at the recent Vietnam International Triathlon in the closing run phase, she was really pleased with her solid run. “It’s nice finishing the season strong and going into next year in really good form. I’m hoping to come back next year. Two in a row would be fantastic.” Chin Shi Yin was joined on the podium by her Tribob club mates Orla Gilmore (3:07:53) and Anne Rozenauers (3:12:16).
As temperatures soared over 32°C, many athletes were still out on the course fighting their own battle with the elements, relishing the ice cold sponges, water and Pocari Sweat isotonic drinks. On sheer determination, a little help from the sports nutrition provided by Science in Sport and the energy boosting cheers from the crowd, most athletes were able to finish strong with often a compelling story to tell.
Race director Matthe Vijverberg was also very pleased with the incident-free event. “I treasure this event for its beautiful setting and the enthusiasm of the local population. This year again we received tremendous support from the local authorities, venue partner Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort, the Rodalink bike mechanics and International SOS.”
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