It was a long journey to get there and once there it felt so incredibly good. After months of training (loved it), eating healthy (not that hard), limiting my beer intake (very hard), trying not to catch anything in the final week (strange how all of a sudden I noticed everyone around me sneezing and coughing) and trying to get enough sleep (of course I woke up at 3am every morning in the last week, and as luck would have it we had a party crowd in the room above us in the hotel shouting their hearts out on the balcony until 2am on Friday night) I finally got to the start line on Sunday, 19th August on the beautiful Indonesian island of Bintan. Thank you so much for your support to get me there, through your messages of encouragement and the donations for EMpower. I am really humbled by so much kind support. It means a lot to me, and I am so very grateful that together we have raised close to USD 2000 so far. We are changing lives of at-risk youths in emerging market countries like Indonesia.

On race day everything went well. I got up at 3:30am, had breakfast at 4am (lots of porridge, the perfect energy source!), and got to the race venue just after 5am with plenty of time to set up the transition area, final checks on the bike, put on the strongest sun protection available, and do a quick warm up swim before the professionals kicked off at 6am.

At triathlons like this everyone starts in heats, professionals first, followed by age groups every 5 minutes. I was on at 6:32am, and the gun went off right on time. And so the long journey started. The swim in the clear and calm waters was fantastic, and I managed to avoid the jelly fish. The bike ride was challenging with lots of ups and downs and cross-winds, but the beautiful scenery and lots of support from the locals as we went through small villages with smiling kids waving (they were so happy to get our water bottles) made this part of the race very enjoyable. Less enjoyable was the half marathon at the end, in the full mid-day heat, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be easy. The last bit was pure torture. My heroes were the volunteers at the water stops, especially the guys pouring ice cold water over my head, and the dancers along the way that somehow got me smiling again despite the agony. And of course my wife Akiko, and daughters Hana and Nina, who were cheering me on. Mentally, it made a huge difference, particularly towards the end when my brain fought with my body to keep going. Thank you! After 6 hours 35 mins I finally crossed that finish line that I had been thinking about for so long (in case you are wondering why the picture shows 7h7min, that’s from the start of the pro heat).

On the bike course, we went past kids with the biggest smiles you will ever see, sitting in front of their very basic homes. I couldn’t help thinking that they were exactly the kind of youth that we are supporting with your generous donations for EMpower. I have chosen to support EMpower because I feel that providing youth with a foundation to make their dreams a reality is incredibly meaningful, and will allow them to build their own future, release the talents they all have, become self-sustained and eventually will pass on their skills to future generations. Thank you so much! I am proud that together we are making a difference.