The day was hiding as the competitors slowly made their way to registration at Yerrabi Pond District Park this morning, with a light fog over parts of Canberra and cloud covering the rest.
Everyone was rugged up waiting for the start, which saw both the long and short course competitors starting together – sprinting off in different directions on the start command.
As the competitors made their way back into transition after their first run leg, the clouds had parted to give way to perfect conditions for all.
Rowan Beggs-French was leading the Long Course at this stage but gave up the lead on the paddle leg – a discipline he is a new at - just keeping in contact with the main group, with Jon Schol in the Male 50+ taking the lead after the paddle in an impressive 31:42.
With Rowan back on dry land he headed out on the bike and took our mountain bike course in his stride. Flying into transition with a comfortable lead, he maintained his pace to win in a rare sub-2-hour time of 1.58.23. Second and third were close with only 10 seconds between them; with Ben Rattray running the fastest final leg of all competitors to come within 10 seconds of 2nd place getter Seb Dunne (2.04.43) giving Ben a time of 2.04.53 to take third.
The women's race was won by Danielle Winslow in 2.27.03. Danielle claimed the lead in the paddle section and did not give it up for the rest of the race. She arrived early to pick up her number with a beautiful baby in the pram. Her husband Gary Rolfe was competing in the long course teams event and was able to run with the cute little tot (safely in the pram) on the final leg so that both parents (and baby) could compete in this event. Heather Gow-Carey was second in 2.32.38 shaving a few minutes off Danielle’s lead in the final run section. Third went to Caroline Christenson in 2.53.06.
The short course event was won comfortably by Bill Hick – Male 50+. This 66-years-young power house was only seconds behind the leader in the first run leg and then took the lead in the paddle and extended it on the bike coming in to finish in 1.24.39 as the overall winner (both individuals and teams) and winner of Male 50+. Not one to let the dust settle he had competed in the 5km Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park Trail Run the weekend before (having just completed a 1500 km cycle along the Murray River) and was already asking about our next race in Sydney. Scott Birdsall took out second in Male 50+, and second overall, in 1.34.48.
Male under 50 went to Brendan Read in 1.43.45, with 2nd going to James Fletcher in 1.50.36.
Vanessa Bleakly took out the woman's short course in 1.38.25 and Pauline English won the women's 50+ category in 1.58.05.
The teams event went to team Kaos! Ella Cuthbert took the lead in the run and each of the team members after that extended it, with Ella coming home with a sprint finish in 1.30.13. Well done to Team Kaos!
Second placed team went to a combo of Jessica Clissold and Sarah Heins in 1.50.26 and third to first time competitors and 3 mothers 'treating' themselves on Mothers Day in 1.52.26: if you didn't know they were mothers before the event you knew by the end with all the children cheering on the team as Caitlin Halliday came into the finish.
With the sun still shining and the competition over, all enjoyed a relaxed time near the lake enjoying their post race pancakes. Chef Rathin even had gluten-free and vegan options on hand so every competitor could savour some delicious pancakes. A big thanks to Steven Hanley - 5th place getter in the long course and vegan who supplied us with his Vegan Pancake recipe!
Sadly, this will be the last time this event will be staged due to the mountain bike course no longer being available for events. We will always be on the lookout for new venues for our multi-sport races, so if you find a good option with a nice transition area and exciting run, paddle and mountain bike possibilities, please let us know!
Full results from both the Long Course and Short Course races are published, along with two photo albums from around the course. Enjoy!
