LANGKAWI, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Ayob Yahaya is 62 but he still has a competitive streak in him judging by his determination to take on his three children, who are in their 30s, in the Ironman 70.3 Langkawi tomorrow.
Ayob, who is from Shah Alam and works as a fuel engineer, said that he and his three children - Arif Azraei, 30; Amira Alysa, 33, and Arif Ashraf, 35 - are determined to clock the best times en route to completing the three disciplines, namely swim 1.9 kilometres (km), cycle 90km and run 21.1km.
"I began joining the Ironman race by competing in the Ironman 70.3 in 2022 and, at that time, Amira Alysa could come to support me. Then, in 2023, I joined Ironman Malaysia and, at that time, my three kids joined Ironman 70.3 as a group.
"This year, I challenged them to compete in Ironman 70.3 individually and I even bought the bicycles for them. So, we will see how things go tomorrow. They will probably be way faster than me when it comes to swimming and running, but I'll probably be faster when it comes to cycling,” he told Bernama here today.
Ayob, who completed the Ironman Malaysia challenge last year in 16-and-a-half hours, said he started by competing in triathlons in 2021 after getting over his fear of swimming in the open sea.
"I started at quite an old age because of my fear of swimming in the open sea but, after a few tries, I managed to overcome my fear,” he said.
Meanwhile, his eldest son, Arif Ashraf, who also works as a fuel engineer, said he and his siblings joined Ironman 70.3 individually this year after their father threw down the gauntlet to them.
"Our dad is old but he still completed the Ironman Malaysia race last year. So, if he can do it, why can't we? So, we accepted his challenge… we are confident we can clock our best times.
"We are active in sports but in different disciplines. I love running, Amira's into weightlifting and Arif's into various types of sports. Since the Ironman race requires new skills, we trained and joined other championships first to prepare for tomorrow's race,” he said.
A total of 1,800 athletes from over 50 countries will compete in the 2024 Ironman 70.3 Langkawi and Ironman Malaysia here today., with Ironman Malaysia participants having to swim 3.8km, cycle 180km and run 42.2km.
-- BERNAMA
