It was off, then it was on, then some wished it was off! Yes, we’re talking about the swim leg in Race 2 of the Gatorade & Active Feet Series at Elwood. The unpredictability of Melbourne’s weather was at it’s best over the weekend, but luckily (or unluckily for some) the race went ahead as planned and athletes were able to complete the second race of the series as a triathlon. Luckily for those in the Active Feet, the huge wind gusts rolled in after most were out of the water – but they did cope it on the bike. For the Gatorade Race, the bay at Elwood resembled a surf beach. This can work in the favour for open water swimming, but not for your traditional pool swimmers or those who haven’t experienced such horrendous conditions. (Note to self – swim in all conditions on training days as you never know what you are going to get on race day!)
So well done to all athletes who raced in the testing conditions and never gave up.
Crunching the numbers
- 52 athletes raced the Gatorade race, with:
- 4 podium finishers
- 4 4th place getters to just miss podium honors, and
- 24 top 10 place getters overall (same as race 1!)
- 5 athletes raced Active Feet, with 3 top 3 finishers, a 4th and an 8th. So depending on how you look at the numbers – our Active Feet athletes trumped our Gatorade athletes! 🙂
- Overall Times: Great to have Coach Ryan Bourke back in action and smashing out a 58:30 for the fastest TA male, and Coach Sarah the fastest TA female in 1:07:24
- Swim: No suprises to see Ryan come out strong – 4th out of the water in Open males and Brittany Carver clocking the fastest female swim time and 3rd fastest in her age group. Solid swims also from Kathryn Siddle, Chris Dixon, Will Pullin, Brad Campbell, Alison Faulkner and new comer Tim Salt.
- T1&T2: There was no mucking around in transition for Ryan Bourke, Chris Dixon, Lisa Dminquez, Xavier Flynn, and Jeff Souter posting super slick times.
- Bike: The only one clocking under the 30min mark on a windy day was Ryan and at the same time being the fastest open male on two wheels. Xavier, Nathan Fay, Brad Campbell and Bart Kohler also had solid rides. Lisa Dominquez shows the girls how it’s done, and Emma Oliver and Jo Stavrou have great rides to be 3rd fastest in their respective age groups.
- Run: Xavier proving his skiny white legs can run with a 17:47 5km, and Ryan and Will Pullin also coming in under the 20min barrier. Coach Sarah showing that Long Course training hasn’t slowed her down, and Belinda Griffiths and Caroline Houston have great runs to finish top 3 fastest in their age groups. Well done girls.
The Place Getters
- Ryan Bourke – 2nd Open Male
- Sarah Grove – 2nd F30-34
- Jasmine Krapf – 2nd First Timer!
- Caroline Houston- 2nd F55-59
- Brianna Laugher – 3rd Athena (and first podium finish!)
- Daniel Kelly – 1st (Active Feet) and first podium finish – time to upgrade Daniel! 🙂
- Issy Biddle – 3rd (Active Feet) and first podium finish, well done
- Team Bdette – 3rd Great to see Bdette out there with her Try-theTri Julia Hebb
- Just missing out in 4th were:
Lisa Dominquez, Belinda Griffiths, Brad Campbell, Dale Robinson and Jessie Waugh - Not far off the pace for top 10 finishes:
Jill Sultan, Kathryn Siddle, Emma Oliver, Tracey Linquey, Jo Stavrou, Natalie Methven, Michelle Grocock, Shane McCormack, Greg Nugent, Brittany Carver, Ross Higgins, Emily Hosken, Xavier Flynn, Will Pullin, Geoff Houston and Ryan Byrnes.
Noteable mentions
- Has to be Greg ‘Zoolander’ Nugent. On his come back sprint race just a week after completing Busso, he forgot there were no minders to help him in transition and in his confusion, forgot to put his helmet on! Someone MUST have a photo surely??!!!
- Glenn Barber on his cameo appearance on race day – and subsequently the Christmas Party!
- Carly and Bart for bringing down the cutest labrador pup we have ever seen!
- Sonia Gregoul for giving it her all even when her body tries to tell her otherwise!
- Meg Takiguchi – on her last race in Melbourne before she moves to Perth for work. Meg we will miss you!!!
- Tania Darvell on completing her first Triathlon – who would have know that she started with us only a few months ago!
- Also to Kerry Fedele on her first triathlon, what a great feeling! 🙂
- Andy Wood-rich for daring to wear ‘that’ Santa outfit to win himself a Christmas Pudding.
CLICK HERE to check out our full team results. And remember – if you are not in our results then you do not have Tri Alliance as your squad name in your SuperSprint Profile – make sure you login and add this to your profile. Full results from the race can be found HERE.
CLICK HERE to view our facebook photo album from the race AND the Christmas Party!!
Next Race: Race 3 Sunday 13 December, Elwood Beach
