Noosa is unquestionably my favorite race of the
year and one that any die hard triathlon aficionado must do. It’s a race that I
desperately want to win before the end of my triathlon career as it is arguably
the biggest triathlon race in Australia.
The caliber of elite athletes racing Noosa this
year was undoubtedly the best seen in its 30-year history. Ironman World
Champions Chris 'Macca' McCormack, Craig Alexander and Pete Jacobs along with
ITU athletes Courtney Atkinson & Kris Gemmell just to name a few.
Race Day
I positioned myself towards the right side of the
start line next to 2 of the quickest swimmers in the race. This enabled me to
get through the first 300 meters of the swim without dealing with the carnage
usually associated with the dogfight to the first swim turn. Trying to save as
much energy as possible I sat quite comfortably in the front swim pack emerging
with all the major players in a time of 17.20 for the 1.5km swim.
As soon as I was on bike it started pouring with
rain making for some of the most treacherous conditions I have ever experienced
while racing. Because of the camber on most of the roundabouts that the Noosa
bike course goes through, it was a real mission just to stay upright. Every
corner I was feeling my rear wheel slipping just holding enough traction to keep
me on the road. Coming back into Noosa I managed to avoid Courtney Atkinson and
a few corners later James Seear who both went down hard. The ride was slightly
disappointing as it was without question the easiest 40km I have done in a
race. It would have been nice to have a harder ride to take some of the edge off
the stronger runners in the group but due to the aforementioned conditions it
really wasn't possible.
Onto the run I sat with the lead group for the
first few kms before my lack of run training started to show and I slipped back
into 7th place where I stayed for the entire 10kms.
All in all I was happy with my race. I raced
smart and did what I had to do to put myself in the best possible position for
a great race. Sure it wasn't the result I was after but I think that it
was reflective as to where I am at this point in time with the relatively low
volume of run training behind me.
Top 10 Elite Men & Top 5 Elite Female Podium
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