Some of the winners from first part of the GMC TriSeries Doha.
The GMC TriSeries Doha, organised by TriClub Doha in association with Aspire Zone and supported by Mannai Auto Group via title sponsors GMC, hosted the first of its 4-part series of triathlons being held in Doha in the 2013-14 season.
The first event, a “Super Sprint” held at Aspire had 75 participants, including men and women, with separate categories for a range of age groups including teens. The event featured 250m swim, 10km cycle, and 3km run stages.
With each progressive event at the GMC TriSeries, the distances increase, building up to a full Olympic distance race in April 2014, the final challenge in the GMC TriSeries for the current season.
The largest group competing on the day was the 40+ years’ age group. With 32 entries in the category, Doha resident Cameron Campbell finished the course in 32m 36s. The second biggest group of entries was the 30-39 category, which had the first woman finisher Pia Sundstedt, who finished in second place overall among adults in 34m 04s.
Mohamed Helmy, group general manager, Mannai Automotive, said: “One of the major objectives of GMC’s participation in the TriSeries as a title sponsor is to encourage people to take up this sport and the various facets of tri-sport training to make it a popular way of staying fit. We are proud to say that this is a commitment that is supported by members of Mannai Corporation’s staff who are also participating in the GMC TriSeries this season.”
Nickel Nijman, chairman of TriClub Doha, said: “We are happy to have reached our target registration number for the Super Sprint and hope to welcome more participants on November 29 for the second event in the series.
“In order to make it easier for beginners and less experienced participants, we will be allowing team entries. To register a team, participants can register one name and inform us that you are doing a team relay after registration is complete.”
The TriSeries is designed to appeal to beginners, who may be participating in their first triathlon, as well as more experienced athletes who want to build-up to the full Olympic-distance event in April 2014.
The club will be running informal training sessions to allow anyone that may be new to the sport of triathlon to learn from other members.
TriClub Doha is also hoping to welcome more young Qataris who want to take tri-sport training a step further and perhaps even represent the country on the international stage.
Triathlons, which feature swimming, cycling and running stages, are gaining popularity among fitness enthusiasts in Doha and, in addition to the GMC TriSeries, the TriClub hosts many such events for its members throughout the year.
The TriClub is a non-profit community group and registrations for the GMC TriSeries are via Stuweb.co.uk and a nominal registration fee of $50 is applicable to cover the costs of organization and the technology being used to ensure fair and accurate race results.
To ensure accurate times and results, every competitor receives a timing chip to use whilst racing. Using this cutting edge technology means that splits, category positions and results will be updated live as competitors pass the finish line at all the GMC TriSeries events this year.