DESTINATION RACE
There’s a lot more to the region than simply a great race. Phuket has become a training haven for some of the world’s best triathletes.
Laguna Phuket Triathlon, Thailand
THERE WILL COME a time when we won’t have to stay housebound because of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. After what could be months of social distancing, I am guessing that I won’t be the only one craving a chance to get away from my house. With that in mind, I would like to serve up a bucket-list destination for you – one that is sure to thrill any triathlete who loves to travel and is looking for a unique training (and racing, if you’re looking for that) opportunity.
We’ve written about the Laguna Phuket Triathlon before – Asia’s longest-running triathlon race has been going for over a quarter century in one of the world’s most exotic triathlon locations: Phuket, Thailand. The mountainous island with its expansive rainforests is an easy flight from pretty much any Asian air hub, like Hong Kong or Singapore. The island offers many high-end resorts and Thailand’s most popular beaches.
One of those resorts is Laguna Phuket, which has hosted the prestigious Laguna Phuket Triathlon since 1994. Dubbed the “race of legends” because of all the big name triathletes who have competed at the race over the years, it remains a popular season-ending race for pros and age-groupers alike.
What many people don’t realize, though, is that there’s a lot more to the region than simply a great race. Phuket has become a training haven for some of the world’s best triathletes over the last few years, thanks to the warm weather, the hilly terrain and some excellent training facilities. Pros aren’t the only ones who have started to make trips to Phuket a regular part of their training regimens – age-groupers from
Australia, New Zealand and throughout Asia have been doing regular training camps there, too.
One of the best-known of that crew is Imogen Simmonds, who really burst onto the elite race scene last year with her runner-up finish at the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt, her third-place finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice and a 12th place finish at the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
Born in Hong Kong and a resident of Switzerland, Simmonds was introduced to the sport when she came to Laguna Phuket for her family’s Christmas holiday in 2014. Simmonds met former Ironman star Jurgen Zack, whose coaching business was based at the resort. After she finished her master’s degree in environmental technology and business in London, England, the following October she moved to Phuket to work with Zack’s Z-Coaching training squad.
Simmonds remains a regular in Phuket, but she’s hardly the only elite athlete who has made the trip to Thailand for training. Last winter two-time Kona champ Patrick Lange used the Thanyapura Resort as a training base while he prepared for Ironman 70.3 Viet Nam, and two-time 70.3 world champion Michael Raelert is a regular at the resort, too. Thanyapura has a real Olympic connection, too: 2012 silver medalist Lisa Norden does a regular training camp there and, before the Olympics were postponed to 2021, a number of national teams were looking to base there to prepare for Tokyo’s heat and humidity.
When it comes to figuring out your training options on the island, here are a few places to start.
Laguna Phuket Resort
The host resort for the triathlon is a perfect place to start for anyone looking to make a trip to the island for either the race or for training. There are seven different hotels with numerous restaurants and other amenities at the resort, and the beach is simply stunning.
There are lots of sports options, including many water activities, but triathletes will love the ability to run either around the resort or on the beach, the open-water swims in the warm waters of the Adaman and bike rides along the quiet, windy (and sometimes very hilly) roads used for the triathlon.
Thanyapura Resort
If training is the main goal of your trip to Thailand, this is the place to start. The resort boasts an excellent hotel, outstanding fitness facilities, including 50 m and a 25 m training pools, a 500 m track and a fully equipped weight room. (Lots of other sports are offered, too, of course.) It’s easy to access some excellent cycling from the resort on quiet roads, too.
That’s just the start, though – what separates Thanyapura from other fitness resorts are the extensive health and wellness amenities, including lots of vegetarian and vegan dining options, a full-service health centre and an impressive spa.
All the amenities that will make Thanyapura a popular spot for Olympians as they prepare for Tokyo will certainly prove attractive to age-group triathletes, too.
Z-Coaching Phuket
Ironman champion Jurgen Zack has lived in Phuket for almost a decade now. After spending time both at Thanyapura and Laguna Phuket, he’s set up his own coaching business, which offers regular training sessions throughout the week. Although a number of locals are regulars with the group, almost 600 athletes a year join Zack’s training group at different times of the year for training camps.
We caught up with one of those athletes, France’s Olivier Baillet, a four-time Kona qualifier, who regularly makes the trip from Hong Kong to spend some time training with Zack. Zack’s group even welcomed Baillet’s two children to one of the swim workouts Zack holds at the Cherngtalay Sport Center Pool, a huge open water-swim complex on the island.
Zack’s group also does regular open-water swims from the Outrigger Hotel at the Laguna Phuket resort, bike rides that start from the Siam Bike Tours Shop and runs at Banyan Tree Beach.
As long as we are back to racing in November, Phuket could very well serve as a great spot to enjoy both an exotic training camp and bucket-list race.—KM