Airlie Beach Triathlon is a race with an iconic history. It is where some of Australia’s best athletes have come to make a name for themselves including Australian Olympians Miles Stewart, Courtney Atkinson and Nicole Hackett as well as Ironman identities Jason Shortis and Rebekah Keat . This was my 4th time racing at the event and with a 3 from 3 race wins I was motivated to keep the winning streak going in 2012.
The newly revised course meant that the ride was made even tougher than in previous years, having to climb the hills in and out of Airlie Beach twice rather than just once. After having raced Ironman 70.3 in Yeppoon just 1 week earlier I had no idea how the body would react to the sprint distance format over the tough and hilly course.
My plan (as always) was to go as hard as I could from the start and establish a gap on the rest of the field going onto the bike leg. I managed to emerge from the 750 meter swim with about a 25 second gap to Ryan Fisher and Matt Brown. Once on the bike I put the head down and pushed hard in an attempt to extend my lead. By the time I exited transition for the final 5km run I had around a two minute gap to Ryan. I hadn’t done any proper running speed work in training for over a year and was interested to see how the legs would react to the final 5km dash to the line. Surprisingly the legs responded well to the speed and I felt really comfortable and fast for the entire final run leg.
I crossed the line in 1st having led the race from the get go and claimed my 4th title at the Airlie Beach Triathlon. I also broke the record for the most wins in the event's 14 year history.
Race morning
This was the view from our accommodation on the afternoon before the race.
Race morning
2012 male and female winners
| 1 | Sam | Betten | 0:56:25 | ||||||
| 2 | Ryan | Fisher | 0:57:37 | ||||||
| 3 | Matt | Brown | 0:59:48 |
Very cool Sam !
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