A DAY AT THE OFFICE

Race day dawned cloudy and a little cool , or if you are from Queensland, it was bloody cold.

The locals said it was going to be a warm 26 degrees, and it was; after the race was over. The course was certainly a very beautiful one but at the same time quite challenging. The 2km swim was in cool clear ocean water which was a little choppy. The 80km ride was held on relatively traffic free roads through hills between Torquay and Angelsea.

Best described as undulating, the bike course was a perfect hit out for those training for Forster.

This was then followed by a 17km run that was mainly on trails between Torquay and Bells Beach, very scenic, very tough. This definitely has all the right ingredients for it to be a great location to run long course triathlons.

The race started from a nice wide, sandy beach about 7.30am. The slight chop made it a little difficult to sight the buoys, but suited the stronger swimmers in the field.

In the men’s race, the first to exit the water and climb their way up to the transition area were Mitch Dean and Luke Bell. They were followed in, a little over a minute later, by a pack that included Craig Redman, Sean Foster and myself.

The first woman to exit the water was Kim McVilly, closely followed by Belinda Granger.

The most challenging part of the bike course was the first 10km, and it was here Luke Bell attacked. He continued to ride impressively throughout the bike course, opening up a very handy lead. At around the 40km mark his lead was 5 min to Shortis with Sean Foster, having a strong ride, a further 30 sec behind. A further 2min back, followed a large pack that included David Meade, Mitch Dean, Rob Meharry and Craig Redman. Bell continued his impressive ride and lead Shortis into T2 by some 6min. The next in was Sean Forster then the main pack containing some strong runners.

Belinda Granger definitely proved to be in good form on the bike and proceeded to take control over the challenging course with McVilly holding down 2nd place.

Bell then went on to dominate the race by also recording the fastest run of the day. I had a strong run to hold on to 2nd, with David Meade running into third, closely followed by Mitch Dean.

Some other good performances were recorded by Paul Patrick, a former elite runner now taking on triathlon and also Adam Conquest, the first age grouper finishing 9th overall.

Other notables were Chris Legh and Greg Stewart, who both took part in the teams race.

In the women’s race Belinda Granger showed that her run has improved, recording a great time to dominate the women’s event. Kim McVilly with her usual strong run, came in 2nd.

All in all, this was a very well run event, in an excellent location. The organisers did a great job particularly as this was their first time for long event.

The major sponsors, Tritravel, provided some overseas trips as prizes, which, along with the BBQ and other giveaways provided the competitors with a rare thing these days; value for money.

So next year if you are looking for a well run, challenging race in your lead up to Ironman or just a great event, then seriously consider The Surfcoast Long Course Triathlon.