With Olympic Distance State Championships on the line, less than five weeks until the Auckland ITU Triathlon World Championships, the first official DAT Racing club race of the year, a couple of Olympians in the mix (namely Emma Jackson and Courtney Atkinson), Luke Farrell lining up on his brand new Specialized Venge, Courtney Dutton's last race as a 20yr old and Brittany Dutton's first big draft legal event, the Moreton Bay Triathlon had all the makings of an epic day of racing and it certainly didn't disappoint!
But before I even begin to go through my run down of what is going to have to be a blog of epic proportions to even go close to matching that of the event itself there are a few noteworthy events that also took place over the weekend. A few of you may have noticed Dan's absence come race day and while we all know how much he would have loved to be there his attendance was required down in Port Macquarie for the 2012 State of Origin Touch Football Competition to watch Katie 'Lewis' Atkins compete. Unfortunately they went down 2-1 in the series but I have managed to find the highlights of their win in game 2 which is certainly worth a look.
The other event worth mentioning was the ITU Tongyeong World Cup where Ryan Fisher mixed it with the best for a very impressive 7th place overall and first Aussie across the line in his final lead up race before the World ITU U23 World Championships in Auckland.
But the main event was always going to be the Moreton Bay Triathlon and with so many races containing so many DAT athletes I have carefully assessed the results pages and done my best to sum up everyones races as best as I could.
The first event to get the day started was the sprint distance draft legal event and as would be expected DAT was well represented but had a task ahead of them with the girls having Olympian Emma Jackson to contend with and the boys coming up against Australian elite representitive Sam Betten. Luke Farrell and Jake Freeman were in the mix early driving the pace of the chase pack on the bike in an attempt to chase down the early leader, Sam Betten who managed to extend his lead on the bike and hold on to this lead for a from the gun leading from start to finish victory with Luke finishing in 10th position and Jake in 13th position. In the womens race it was Holly Grice and Emma Jackson opening up a solid lead throughout the swim/bike with Sarah Deuble and Brittany Dutton sitting comfortably in the chase pack. However once they hit the pavement Emma showed her Olympic class and ran away with the victory with Sarah moving through the field to finish 4th, Britt close behind her in 6th and Holly in 7th.
The next event on the cards was the Olympic distance event and also my choosen distance for the day. It was a bit of a different experience starting in individual age group fields. And while this meant there was very little physical contact required to find clean water it did make it very difficult to track your progress. Starting in the third wave, six minutes behind the first Olympic distance wave and three minutes behind training partner Tom Ryan, my goal was to not only catch him but also be first across the line but with news flowing through the grapevine that a triathlete by the name of Courtney Atkinson was lining up in the 30-34yr old age group just three minutes behind me, I would have to be on my game.
Assessing the official timing splits I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that not only was the swim heavily tide assisted it may have been a tad under 1500m with my official split being 15:50. There was also the slight issue of a heavy jellyfish presence for the first half of the swim with several athletes having to endure the stinging feeling for the majority of the race.
The four lap bike course gave every athlete a great opportunity to spy their competitors and how they were tracking and every lap I was getting my splits on the gap up to Tom who was in his words 'hooking' and I had to push really hard to have any chance of closing that down. Progressing through the 40km cycle leg the course gradually became more and more congested which was a great incentive to continue pushing past each group of athletes I came up to. It also gave me a rare opportunity to cheer for some of my fellow DAT athletes and I was blown away by their words of encouragement for me while they were racing as well. Unfortunately it wasn't all positive and Rob Murdoch was forced to record a DNF after puncturing late into the cycle leg. Geoff Lemmon was in the first wave to start and was also one of the first DAThletes I passed on the bike and the last I passed on my final lap of the run as well, going on to finish in 5th place in his age-group in his preparations for the Auckland World Championships.
Ian 'Marto' Martin was a late entry into the race and still finished 6th in his age-group with fellow competitors Dave Kelly and Simon Leeper not far behind in 8th and 9th position respectively and Richard Tareha finishing 28th in a DAT filled age group. I do have to give Marto a special mention of thanks to for letting me borrow his disc wheel for the race on the premise that I rode fast and I think clocking 56:00 on the road and officially a 59:46 going by race timings, just over one minute clear of the next fastest cycle time and close to three minutes on Courtney Atkinson ticks that box and with so many top of the line bikes spotted out there that would rival any of the latest slowtwitch galleries it's good to see the trusty Sram Rival Malvern Star can still do the trick ;)
Just before the completion of my cycle leg I made a quick pass on DAT newcomer, Jenna Fulton who not only had a convincing victory in her age group but also finished 5th female overall. Starting in the same wave as Jenna was Maddi Allen who established a sizeable 2:30 out of the water in a time that I'll happily admit beat myself and probably the majority of the men out there. Unfortunately the rest of her day didn't go to plan and while she was extending this lead on the cycle leg was stopped dead in her tracks when a spectator decided to cross the road without looking and walked right into Maddi's path. Fortunately the damage was somewhat minor and Maddi is now nursing road rash along with six stitches in her knee while the spectator walked away uninjured and actually raced later in the day. Obviously it is an incident that should never have occured and I hope the correct measures are not only being taken to undo any wrong doings from this incident but to also avoid this happening again in the future. And on behalf of everyone at DAT we all wish her a speedy recovery from her injuries!
Also in the female division were Lotte Franks who finished 14th in 2:25:56 and Kate Gibney who powered home to finish 3rd in a time of 2:17:48 in their respective divisions.
As I entered transition not only did I happen to cross paths with Wyatt Westmoreland and manage to give him a bit of a rev up as he stripped out of his wetsuit in the sprint distance race (more to come later on) I also got the opportunity to give Tom a bit of a rev up as I ticked off one of my pre-race goals to catch him as he was sitting down doing up his shoe laces in a move that he now swears by but would more than embarrass any seasoned triathlete. Needless to say there was none of that nonsense from yours truly and the Nike Lunar Racers slipped straight on, elastic laces and all and I was away!
Running out along the Ted Smout Bridge I got my first glimpse of Courtney Atkinson at the far turn around. Lining up with Courtney Atkinson in the 30-34yr age group and ready to give him a fair run for his money was our very own Robbie Mullins and Brendan Abdy and while they may have just missed the mark on that goal still finished in times of 2:03:22 and 2:18:49 respectively. I was running a bit scared for the majority of the run having hit the lead but then getting a glimpse of Courtney and not really knowing the time gap but I got an extra kick of motivation from Holly, Sarah, Britt, Jake and Angus with some wise words to 'just back myself' for the victory and that I did to take out the QLD Championships for my age group in a time of 1:50:15. Unfortunately I was just pipped for overall honours by Courtney who finished a mere 47 seconds ahead of me in a time of 1:49:28. Also finishing closely behind me was Tom Ryan in a time of 1:56:11 to win his age group and finish 10th overall.
Running in conjunction with the Olympic distance event was the sprint distance event. As I mentioned earlier I got a chance to cross paths with Wyatt as he began his cycle after a blistering swim leg that was one of the quickest of the day and bettered the majority of the draft legal field. He went on to finish on top of a DAT podium in his age group with Harry Sweeney finishing second and Lawrence Garufi finishing third. I dare say the competition between these three will continue all season! These three were outdone by two other DAThletes on the day with Dave Sangster choosing not to put himself through the Olympic distance torture to finish third in his age group and 7th overall in the sprint event. Bettering him by a mere 31 seconds was another newcomer to the squad, Jamie Laverty. Not only is he a newcomer to the squad but also to the sport with Moreton Bay being his first triathlon and to walk away with a win in his age group and sixth overall you couldn't really ask for much more!
The sprint distance females were equally if not more impressive with Courtney Dutton leading from start to finish to not only win her age group by over four minutes but to also be the fastest female of the day and Sophie Malowecki also dominating her age group by four minutes and finishing as 5th fastest female of the day.
Rounding out the day for the DAT team was Hayden Barrett in the try it out event and didn't he finish it off in style! Not only did he go on to win his age group it was also his first ever triathlon!
And that wraps up the Moreton Bay Triathlon from a DAT perspective and what a day it was! Triathlon Queensland and the entire team involved in putting on this race did a great job and I must give a quick mention to fellow Revive Ashgrove sponsored athlete, Peter Ledwidge who wasn't out racing but was completely run off his feet putting on the event. And while I'm at it, Christophe Manchon, another of the Revive Ashgerove sponsored athletes racing alongside Courtney Atkinson in his preparation for the upcoming Auckland World Championships.
My final special mention for the day is a general message of thanks to the entire DAT family. With Dan's absence the tent and trailor was left up to Craig and Sharon Madders and Steve Franks and they did a remarkable job and I think everyone was very thankful for that shade and relief from the sun whenever they could and as always the atmosphere under that tent was second to none. Secondly, another thanks needs to go out to all of the friends and family that turned up in support on the day from the likes of Aaron and Drew who were dubbed the official DAT photographers for the day to everyones families who were there at the crack of dawn until the final DAThlete crossed the line in support, in particular those parents who didn't even have anyone competing on the day and I don't think a lap on that course went by without several cheers! And last but not least to all of the athletes who gave it their all out there on the day who will no doubt continue on to bigger and better things throughout the season. And with several athletes now in their final preparations for the Auckland World Championships there's no better time than now to just back yourselves and get the job done...it's going to be a good season ;)
My final special mention for the day is a general message of thanks to the entire DAT family. With Dan's absence the tent and trailor was left up to Craig and Sharon Madders and Steve Franks and they did a remarkable job and I think everyone was very thankful for that shade and relief from the sun whenever they could and as always the atmosphere under that tent was second to none. Secondly, another thanks needs to go out to all of the friends and family that turned up in support on the day from the likes of Aaron and Drew who were dubbed the official DAT photographers for the day to everyones families who were there at the crack of dawn until the final DAThlete crossed the line in support, in particular those parents who didn't even have anyone competing on the day and I don't think a lap on that course went by without several cheers! And last but not least to all of the athletes who gave it their all out there on the day who will no doubt continue on to bigger and better things throughout the season. And with several athletes now in their final preparations for the Auckland World Championships there's no better time than now to just back yourselves and get the job done...it's going to be a good season ;)
