Trevor Fairhurst, one of Canberra's keenest ultra-triathletes, defeated super-athletes from around Australia this weekend to win the nation's most challenging triathlon event, the Sri Chinmoy 3-Day Ultra-Triathlon. Trevor, who came second place in the event last year (and was second in November's Sri Chinmoy Triple-Triathlon), seemed unbeatable from the moment he easily won the 15km swim leg in a time of 4 hrs 6 mins 55 secs. Impressive times in the cycle (13:57:29) and the run (11:11:44) ensured that he took home the coveted trophy.

The Ultra-Triathlon has been a traditional part of the Sri Chinmoy Triathlon Festival since 1997, held simultaneously with seven smaller triathlons. However, it has long been considered that such a race deserved its own weekend. This year, for the first time, it was held as a separate event, five weeks before the festival.

While Trevor was the top individual triathlete, he had formidable competition in each leg from both team players and individuals who came not for a whole triathlon, but for the still-arduous challenge of completing a single leg. Recumbent cycles entered the 400km cycle for the first time (as a separate category), with Glenn Druery clocking the impressive time of 11:57:37.   In the process, he set two Australian best performances for recumbent cycling where drafting is allowed: the longest 12-hour distance and fastest 400 km times (however, as a recumbent cyclist, he cannot hold the official Ultra-Triathlon course record.)

With the popularity of the recumbents, the race is likely to be open next year to other specialist cyclists (all scored in different categories). Of the regular cyclists, the best time was from David Simpfendorfer of the Filthy Armadillo team, with 13:46:17.

Tasmania's Simon Phillips won the 100km run (his first ultra race) in an astounding 8:44:06. Victoria's Melinda Pearson, the only woman to complete any of the ultra-races this year, crossed the finish line in 16:29:00. Melinda has completed a different leg each year- the swim in 2003, the cycle in 2004, and now the run. While she was delighted to bring home the trophy, she hopes to compete alongside more women next year.