The weekend just gone was the first race of the junior elite national series down at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast. This is a unique racing experience because it is a total of 7 races held over 3 days combining individual swimming, cycling and running races as well as multiple short distance triathlons with all of the athletes collecting points in each event and an overall champion being crowned by Sunday lunchtime.
DAT Racing was well represented with Tom Ryan, Angus Gibson, Luke Farrell, Jake Freeman, Holly Grice and Emily Bevan all taking to the startline on Friday afternoon. The black and magenta was well represented off the field as well with what many quoted as being the most vocal and recognisable support crew over the entire weekend. There was no way I was going to miss this weekend after how hard not only these guys have worked individually but also how hard we work together as a group every single time we turn up to training even if I wasn't competing.
The group achieved amazing results and it was truly inspiring to watch them all race and personally I can't wait for the new year and the big events on the calendar for 2012 but in the meantime here is my summary of the weekend:
The weekend wasn't without mishaps and unfortunately for Angus, he was forced to withdraw after a nasty fall in a testosterone filled 1km sprint on the Friday evening that left him with a shoulder injury and unable to swim. However no one will question his devotion to the team and for the remainder of the weekend he did whatever he could to make sure the other athletes had whatever they needed to perform at their best and we all hope he has a speedy recovery before the next junior elite event in Canberra in late January.
In the same event Jake also fell heavily but comtinued to compete for the remainder of the weekend with a heavily strapped and what I'm sure was an incredibly painful wrist. X-rays at the completion of the weekend confirmed the worst and he is now resting a broken wrist but that doesn't even begin to describe the determination that he raced with all weekend. Performing well enough to qualify for the B grade final on Sunday, Jake outraced several competitors much older than him and all with a broken wrist that left tasks like getting himself out of the pool, getting into his running shoes and even getting out of the saddle on the bike not only difficult but I'm sure incredibly painful but he fought on to produce a very guttsy result and again hope he has a speedy recovery.
The remaining 2 DAT boys, Luke Farrell and Tom Ryan produced fantastic results and in a hotly contested men's field gathered enough points to be well inside the top 16 and qualify for the A grade final on the Sunday morning. Both produced moments of brilliance all weekend with both boys recording personal best times in all of the swimming events and Luke narrowly missing out on a win in one of his heats. Their final was action packed with both boys working extremely hard on the bike to bring back the leading 2 before Tom narrowly missed a crash coming around the turn on the final lap and Luke had to chase hard just to avoid the split in the group. Both boys finished strong and never once gave up and with the results improving throughout the weekend we can expect bigger and better things in 2012 when the worlds selection races begin to heat up.
On the girls side, both Holly and Emily showed they not only are already forces to be wreckened with but will go into 2012 even stronger with both girls letting their results speak for themselves. Both girls easily qualified for the Sunday A grade final with Holly going into the race ranked 4th after winning the cycling criterium and finishing on the podium in her heats in almost every race across the weekend and well and truly capable of progressing up further and Emily ranked 6th and progressing further up the leaderboard with every race all weekend. The final wasn't without drama and stress with Holly having to resort to a different bike after a mechanical issue pre-race and with the changes in set up completed made it to transition check in with only moments to spare. It was a nail-biting final to witness with the early leader being reeled in mid-way through the bike leaving Holly and 3 other girls in the lead pack with Emily and another 3 not far behind in chase. Going into the final lap of the bike Holly made her move off the front and led the girls onto the run but was run down for the win but stayed strong to record a second place finish with Emily moving her way through the field to be in a sprint finish for 4th and 5th place, finishing 5th in the final. Easily the race of the weekend for me and it was spine-tingling stuff to see these girls in action! For the first time this season Holly finished off the podium in 4th place by a meer 1.5 points and Emily finished 6th place, with that final sprint finish being the deciding factor between 5th and 6th. Both girls can walk away extremely satisfied but I know that these results will only drive these girls even more to make that next step up and be even more dominant in 2012.
And last but not least the weekend wouldn't have been what it was without the likes of Craig, Katie and all of the parents responsible for organising the logistics of travelling, accommodation, ice baths and food, just to name a few. Special mention also needs to go out to Wyatt and Britt who are too young to compete in the event and Bonnie who had to withdraw early with injury but travelled for the experience and did whatever the athletes needed over the weekend and will go into this event next year with some valuable experience under their belt. And finally Dan Atkins, the man who deserves the most praise and it probably isn't possible to describe how much he does for all of us and how much we all appreciate it but to say that we are all like family is an understatement!
What a weekend it was with impressive results from everyone that competed and with everyone that attended as part of the support crew thoroughly enjoyed. All I can say is that if the results thus far this season are anything to go by then 2012 is going to be a very enjoyable and successful year for everyone at DAT Racing and one that I can't wait to be involved in.
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