Last weekend (26th September) six members of the club headed to the Gold Coast for the Half Ironman race there. We were in search of some much needed sun. Unfortunately it poured the entire weekend and we received over 100mm rain over the two days. This did not dampen our spirits metaphorically but I suppose it did physically.

Check at the picture of the conditions below.

Five members took the start line, unfortunately Dan Roberts wasn’t able to race due to injury but he and Naish Chapman braved the weather huddled under an umbrella to cheer us on. The swim is held in the protected channel waters of Calypso Bay and having several wave starts helped make it a relatively calm swim. The bike course is undulating to flat and was very slippery on the several corners and caution was required. None the less it is a very fair course because of the two laps, twisty sections and few hills thrown in. The run is a dead flat 7km loop completed three times and can be brutal in the heat but luckily for us this wasn’t to be a problem.

Tarryn Whitmore was the most successful athlete on the day managing to win her age group by over 10 minutes and posting a 2.35 bike split (including transitions) only one minute slower than Stephen Hadley. A good return from being nine months pregnant six months ago. Girls if you want to get faster have a baby:)

Dwayne Hogan also smashed this race posting consistently solid splits over all three legs. He showed he can have a consistent run of a solid bike posting a personal best of 5:04. Well done Dwayne.

Stephen Hadley didn’t have the best result as far as times are concerned, but we must pay testament to a true triathlete who loves the sport and loves to race (no matter how fit he is). Hadley hadn’t run or swum in three weeks since his effort at the world championships in Budapest and had spent the interim time travelling and riding through Switzerland. Not the best lead-in but this didn’t faze him and he still completed the race in a respectable 4:33.

Craig Lewis also made the trip and can be happy about completing the race in miserable conditions. Craig didn’t have his best day by his own admission but still posted consistent splits across all three legs and will take away a lot from this race in his preparations for IM WA.

I finished in a time of 4:07 in 10^th position. I was reasonably happy with my performance and see some improvement from last year but was not completely satisfied with my race. You can read my personal race report at http://dtrsportsmanagement.com.au/blog/.