It was an all Australian finish on the podium in the men’s professional category of the UEM Sunrise Challenge Iskandar Puteri at Puteri Harbour this morning.
Matt Burton of Australia clocked
3 hours 42 minutes 46 seconds to finish as champion, taking home prize money of USD5,000
In second place was another Aussie, Kieran Roche who finished with a time of
3 hours 53 minutes 29 seconds
Luke McKenzie, was finished third clocking a time of
3 hours 56 minutes 06 seconds
“ I had an healthy lead when I started the running as it was a 12 minute advantage,” said Matt.
“ However it was cut down to nine minutes and I knew I had to push.
“ Having raced before in South East Asia , especially Malaysia , I am quite used to the conditions.
“ I must however pay tribute to the organisers as despite there being several crossover involving interchanges , the security aspect was great and it was reassuring to the participants,
“ I am happy with my performance as it was not easy from the beginning, especially in the swim but once I got the hang of things, it was all systems go.
Amongst Matt”s notable achievements in the past were 2018 Ironman Bintan 70.3 Pro Men Category – where he finished in 3rd Place.
2015 Open Men Karri Valley Triathlon – 1st place,
2014 Challenge Philippines – 1st place Overall and
2013 AUS Duathlon National Championships Elite Men – 4th Place.
For Luke, it was a good weekend as he and his wife Beth both finished in the podium.
“ The pace was quite intense and I am glad to finish amongst the winners,” said Luke who in 2013 he took second place at the Ironman World Championship.
For first runner up Kieran Roche, it was the Cycling disciple that took the toll.
“ It was a brutal race for me especially when we got into the bikes,” he said.
“ The conditions were tough as this was the first time I raced in Malaysia and somehow I managed to push myself to finish second,
“ It was truly a challenge as was what the race is called.”
Beth Mckenzie of United States emerged as champion in the women’s professional category.
She clocked a total of 04:15:03 to complete the three disciplines.
“ It was a pretty smooth race for me but at the halfway stage in Cycling that my gears gave way and that somewhat affected my momentum,” said Beth Who kids joined her to cross the finish line.
“ I actually enjoy participating here and the course was challenging and good. The weather was somewhat kind today and overall I faced no issues as it was a well organised race.”
In the runner up position was Anna Heberhardt of Hungary but now lives in Singapore whose time was 04:18:32.
This was the second consecutive year that Anna finished second.
The Challenge Iskandar Puteri is the fastest growing race in the global Challenge series of full and half triathlon races.
Challenge Iskandar Puteri aims to be the number one triathlon event in Malaysia as well as in Asia.
