It was a bit of a last minute decision to race in the Caloundra Enduro Tri this morning but one that I am very pleased to have done. The result itself might not necessarily reflect that but there were plenty of positivies to take away from the morning and with a firm eye on the bigger picture and the more important races coming up very shortly that is definitely what I am focusing on.
The race was a very unconventional format, being held over a 400m swim, 7km cycle, 1.8km run, 200m swim, 7km cycle and a final 1.8km run. There arn't many events around similar to this but it reminds me very much of the older F1 style of racing that used to attract so many people to the sport and something that I remember watching back when it was regularly broadcast on tv. I'd love to see and compete in more events like this because as hard as they are they are also great fun. This style of racing has the tendancy to be action packed right from the start and today was no exception.
It was a relatively small field with only 5 girls and 10 guys competing but what it lacked in depth it definitely made up for in quality with every athlete having represented Australia in at least an ITU Continental Cup level and numerous World Cup, World Series and World Championship starts and wins within the field. The girls were given a 4:50 headstart and an extra $500 was on the line for the first male or female to cross the finishing line. With only 10 of us on the start line you would think the chaos would be at a minimum but with everyone still aiming to be the first to the first turning can there were arms flying throughout the swim. The pace was quick and after one of my best weeks in the water for some time I was pleased to have positioned myself in with the main players as we exited the water. Being just on the back of this group I was pushed to the absolute maximum for the first 2 laps of a 5 lap bike course before I was able to get myself settled in the middle of the group containing Courtney Atkinson, Ben Shaw, Cam Good, Ryan Fisher, Josh Amberger, Drew Box and Jack Hickey. The first run was where it really split up with the combination of the pace on the bike and the pace at which Courtney took out the run seperating the field. Personally I didnt have the best of transitions and was left behind before I even left transition to start the 5 lap run. The remainder of the race played out with little to write home about but essentially Courtney, Ryan and Drew maintained their lead to finish in that order but were unable to chase down Emma Jackson who not only won the womens race but claimed the battle of the sexes to be first across the line.
Of course this wasn't the only race of the day and as much as I enjoyed the rather abnormal feeling of not waking up at the crack of dawn to drive down to most local races with our race scheduled for a 10:00am start I still made sure I was there in plenty of time to show my support for the other DAT athletes racing. And as usual there were plenty of notable results but it is hard to go past the open womens race with Sarah Deuble claimed first place with a blistering run and Emily Bevan backing up from her outstanding 2nd place in the ITU Junior Elite National Championships down in Canberra the week prior to again be in that second position on the podium. The girls are certainly giving us guys something to think about when it comes to race results at the moment but on the guys side of things Jake Freeman certainly showed he is capable of doing just that after leading the open mens field through the swim and bike portion of the race before having to withdraw with an injury. And thanks must go out to these guys and everyone from DAT who stayed around for the enduro event and especially to those who made the trip to Caloundra even though they weren't competing just to show their support.
With many of the clubs junior athletes using the race as a final hit-out before they head to their school state championships in the coming weeks things look like they are well and truly on track and with myself heading down to Geelng next weekend accompanied with Brayden Tucker to compete in the Elite National Sprint Distance Championships and several of the age groupers making the same journey in search of those valuable World Championship points there are sure to be many more posts to come in the near future!
0 comments:
Post a Comment