You are an Ironman!

It is with great pleasure that I welcome four Eltham Tri club members to the illusive Ironman club. Well done to Daniel Roberts, Matthew Cross, Hayden Marshall and Ingrid Trotter “You are an Ironman”. Eltham Triathlon was represented with pride and in numbers in WA last weekend, we had six competitors and four times that amount in vocal supporters. Each of whom looked great in the red team shirts. The race was not without drama there were flat tires, drafting penalties and the dreaded ITB issues. Tarryn Gooding was the first club member across the line in a cracking time of 10:13 and a new Eltham Tri club record for this course! Ingrid followed twenty minutes behind then it was Dan Roberts, Matty Cross, Hayden Marshall and Dwayne Hogan. ‘Go Girls’

The day started at 6:15am for the age group competitors with a mass start in the waters of Geographe bay. Competitors were required to swim 1.9km around the Busselton Jetty and 1.9km back. Matty was first out closely followed by Dwayne and Tarryn. It was then out on to the bike course where the ironmen encounted ideal conditions no wind and mild temperatures. The pancake flat roads took them on a 60km tour through the Tout forrest, Capel wine region and finally back to the Busselton town ship. This lap was then completed another two times.

The bike leg was not without drama. On the way back into town Dwayne received a drafting penalty and Matty one for blocking. It was to be five minutes in the penalty box. This allowed Tarryn to get a gap on these two and Robbo was powering up the road on his way to a fantastic 5:11:31 bike split! Ingrid was holding a steady pace behind and made her way past Dwayne and Matt before long. Matt was to experience another penalty before getting off the bike in 5:36:55. Dwayne showed an Iron heart and it took guts and determination to continue on after experiencing another drafting penalty and two flat tires. Both Matt and Dwayne will be required to attach a stick 7m long to their handle bars next time they race. Tarryn got off the bike not far behind Robbo with an awesome bike split of 5:18:33 and Ingrid was seven minutes back with a 5:19:16 bike split. Hayden got off the bike with a time of 5:51:50 and was looking fantastic in his Eltham Tri club racing gear.

Some say the half way point of the Ironman is 30km into the marathon and few were to find this out. Tarryn had caught Robbo whose knee was starting to flair up by the 10km mark. She was floating like a gazelle and running head to head with training partner Karla Lawson in a race for fourth position in the highly competitive 30-34 age group. Matty was plugging away and learning what it takes to be an ironman. He fought and won ending up with a 4:44 run split. Ingrid battled away behind Robbo and Tarryn, she slowly reeled in Robbo (who showed great courage to continue despite being in significant pain). Dwayne soldiered on after a less than ideal day and still managed to beat his ironman PB despite his troubles. Hayden finished minutes in front of Dwayne and can now be proud to call himself an Ironman.

Special mention must go to Tarryn and Ingrid who beat all the boys home. Well done girls. Tarryn was also unlucky to miss out on Hawaii qualification by one position. Both of these girls would have qualified in any other race in the world. But as we know the Hawaiian Ironman is rigged towards Americans.

Sunday was a terrific day. All of our new ironmen and iron spectators learnt what it takes to be an Ironman. There is mystique about Ironman which cannot be described. It has to be experienced. There wasn’t a dry eye at the finish line and each of our athletes overcame their own personal battles to get to the start line in first place. Finishing this event is a culmination of months and months of sacrifice and hard work not only by the athletes but also there family and friends. Well done to all.  Ironman is not about beating others it’s about conquering yourself.

"The finish line is not the end. The finish line is the beginning. Standing at the starting line gives you permission to hope. Taking the time to train, putting in the milage, making the changes in your life and taking the risks has given you consent to hope for the best in yourself. The miracle is not that you finished, but that you had the courage to start."

Results                                 SWIM               BIKE                     RUN                   TOTAL