More than 600 athletes gathered for the first annual Greatman International Triathlon. Of the 600 athletes, five of them were from overseas. Three triathletes were invited from overseas - two from Japan and one from Germany. I was thankful for being invited to the event. The organizer even went out of his way to thank us for coming and participating in the event. They welcomed us enthusiastically because we had made their triathlon competition an international one, since we had traveled there from overseas. Since it was their first triathlon event, the staff seemed anxious and worried. Despite the apprehensive atmosphere, the staff managed to maintain a warm, friendly persona. I felt as though the triathlon staff truly wanted each participant to be happy despite the staff’s lack of experience in this kind of event.

Although there has been a shortage of Korean female athletes in times past, their numbers have been increasing within the past few years. In correspondence to this increase, the number of Korean triathlon teams has risen as well. During the race, I observed quite a few athletes in matching team uniforms.

The race began at 7:00 in the morning. The swim course consisted of two laps of deformed quadrangle. Because they required the professional group to begin ten meters behind the age group, there were no major battles. Right away, I was able to begin swimming comfortably at my own pace. However, as the race went on, I noticed that I had begun to lag when the athlete who was swimming 10 meters ahead of me during the first round was swimming 50 meters ahead of me during the second round.

On the previous day, I found it hard to swim during the trial swim because of the ripples that I had encountered. However, the conditions on the day of the race were ideal and I found it much easier to swim. At the orientation, I was warned that there would be a lot of jellyfish along the route. Although I observed a magnificent jelly fish that was 40 to 50 cm in diameter at the start of the race, none of the athletes were actually stung.

I ran about 150 meters up to the transit. As soon as I got to the transit, Silvia, who was in the lead, was just beginning the bike race. The bike course was six laps around a 28km course, with the turn at six to seven km away from the transit. The racetrack consisted 90% of flat terrain and 10% hilly terrain. Before this race, I had never participated in a race that had this much flat terrain.

The bike course was a round course where there were usually no cars going. The circular bike course looped around a round with fairly few cars. The scenery alongside the road consisted of rice paddies, fields, tidal land, and wasteland. However our view was mostly of a vast, plain field. As we biked, we were faced with a continual cross wind, and occasionally, we had to face the wind head on. For some reason, there was very little tailwind. As soon as I started the first round, I passed the female athlete ahead of me to secure the leading spot. At the turning point, I was able to calculate my lead between the athletes that were behind me. During the second round, the gap narrowed a little bit, but I was able to keep the distance of about two km through first and fourth laps, and widened this lead even further in the last two remaining rounds. Then I finished the bike race. Even though the scenery was monotonous during the six rounds, I could pump up and continue to go past the athletes who were behind in rounds. I was also able to take lap time the race at each round. I think that I biked with more concentration than usual.

The running course had the three turns. Although the road was paved, the course continually went up and down and wound through the shoreline and the woods. Because I had a discomfort in my knee, I began the race at a jogging pace. Although I was leading by two kilometers, I felt as though I could not lower my guard because the athlete behind me had plenty of stamina at the start of the run. For the first leg of the race, I maintained a steady pace and jogged without speeding up. To my relief, the gap between the athletes behind me began widening rapidly as the race continued. My relaxed attitude proved to be quite advantageous, and I even managed to pass a few of the male athletes in front of me. To me, that was a clear sign that I was running in top condition. Throughout the race, I was truly grateful for the volunteer students that rooted me on. I crossed the finish line feeling extremely fantastic.

I was honored to be invited to participate in this race. In spite of my desire to perform up to standard, I was able to remain relaxed and maintain my composure. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this race and I am pleased that I won again in the long distance following the race in Cheorwon in July. Although this win is due in part to the lack of strong athletes, I still felt the desire to perform up standards that I had set for myself.

I feel as though my win was partly due in part to the kindness of the race officials, aid stations, as well as the enthusiastic volunteers that guided us through the race. We did not know any Korean and the pace at all, and I am grateful to the race officials who worked hard to guide us throughout our stay and sent us home with no worries. I am also grateful for the strength and encouragement from my Japanese friends. They helped me bring out the potential strength within myself. I truly thank all of my supporters from the bottom of my heart.

【Record】
Date & Time: September 7, 2008(Sun) START 7:00AM
Location: TAEAN, Korea
Weather: Fair
Distance: SWIM 3.8km／BIKE 180km／RUN 42km
Time: 9 hours 41minutes 15seconds
　（S 01:03:--／B 05:22:--／R 03:10:07）
Ranking: 1st (Overall ranking 6th ）