An Ironman’s grit and sensitivity

TILT has the honour of being the Official Photographer for both Aviva 70.3 Ironman 2007 and 2008. Through the lapse of a year, we witnessed both an Ironman’s grit and sensitivity.

Just to share with those who had missed Aviva 70.3 Ironman 2007, one of the participants stood out amongst the huge crowd. He was not the winner, neither was he last. In fact, he completed the Aviva 70.3 Ironman 2007 in 5h 25m 36s which was not really a feat either. But what caught our attention was that he swam, cycled and ran 70.3 miles with only one objective in his mind. He found his goal, he proposed and achieved his objective. On 2nd Sept 2007, 1.50pm, he achieved perhaps what was an extrodinary show of his sensitivity to the one person who mattered most to him. It is a pity that we did not manage to catch his name.

After 1 year, for Aviva 70.3 Ironman 2008, TILT is not sure if he took part in the event again but we witness another participant’s grit to come out as the winner in this second edition of the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore, held at Playground @ Big Splash, where a beach-front lifestyle hub was transformed into an athlete village for the weekend.

Rebekah Keat, a professional, who took part in the race suffered a bad stitch during the run. She held on and her grit showed through. She ran through the pain barrier and after the second lap of the run portion, she started to pull away. Boy, was she fast in her run! She ran and ran as if her life was totally dependent on it. When the race finally ended, she came in with a time of 4h 25m 43s to take pole position. The humble pro pounced on her coach with joy after she crossed the finishing line and exclaimed “He is the best coach ever!”

Her emotions took over momentarily and shortly after, she regained herself and smiled to us. Her determination and grit certainly moved us and we hope that with this tale of “An Ironman’s grit and sensitivity”, you are moved and perhaps in 2009, we will be featuring you then.

p/s: If you are wondering why it is 70.3, drop us a comment and we will reveal it to you.

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