MUDS Series 1 UPMN 2013 - Top 5 Results

No rain was the weather forecast for 11th May - and so it was on the morning of the first race of the Malakoff University Duathlon Series @ the Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) campus.

Just under 300 participants turned up to race the 3km run - 13.8km bike - 3km run event, in 5 individual categories (Men's Uni, Women's Uni, Men's Open, Women's Open and Media) and 2 Relay team categories (Men's Relay and Mixed Relay).

The race started at 9.00am sharp with the favorites in the race sprinting on the first run. The lead pack on the way back into the transition area saw 2012 overall University champion Lim Shimri, as well as 2012 Men's open champion Rikigoro Shinozuka and top duathlete Shahrom Abdullah along with a few other hopefuls. The same pack was seen in the 3 lap bike course as well, as the top athletes kept each other in sight, not wanting to lose their standing in the race. The final decider as always was in the last run when Shahrom Abdullah (Men's Open) upped the pace to come into the finish line in 46 minutes, 41 seconds. Lim Shimri (Men's University) was just under a minute after Shahrom finishing 47 minutes, 35 seconds.

In the Women's race, Irene Chong from Universiti Malaya kept a strong lead throughout the race and finished 6 minutes ahead of her contender with the time of 59 minutes, 29 seconds. Sisters Liyana and Hannah binti Kamaruzaman came in just a second after each other with the times 1 hour, 7 minutes, 34 seconds and 1 hour, 7 minutes and 35 seconds respectively, making their daddy very proud. They are both the youngest participants in the Women's Open category thus far.

In the Media category, long time champion Leong Chin Wei from China Press bagged the 1st place title once again finishing 1 hour, 3 minutes, 51 seconds, while teams UPNM 1 (Muhammad Farris Syaza Zamri, Muhammad Khawarizmi Abd Shukor & Mohamad Suhaime Shukor) and UPNM 4 (Nurul Athirah Mahadi, Afif Ariffin & Mohd Ikram Hakim Mohd Fisol ) took home the 1st place prize for the Men's Relay and Mixed Relay category respectively.

The 1st place winners in the University, Open and Team categories received a RM300 product voucher from Mizuno, while the rest of the top winners also received Mizuno products as prizes.

A big thank you to main sponsor Malakoff Corporation Berhad, Host University - UPNM, Official Magazine & Photographer - Cycling Malaysia as well as co-sponsors - Mizuno, Athlete's Circle and Explorer for supporting the race and making it a success.