Gatorade Race 2 StKilda Olympic Distance Race Report

Race 2 of the Gatorade Series kicked off 2014 with a big day of racing. With 4 race distances covered from the Jelly Belly Kids Tri, Active Feet Mini Distance, Gatorade Sprint and Olympic Distances. This meant there was a race for all ages, abilities and race focus. We had 48 athletes race over the 4 distances and it was great to see so many athletes, friends and family at the race venue, was a fun filled day with finished off with our traditional post race BBQ, massages from our valued partners Lakeside Sports Medicine Centre and a swag of 11 podiums and plenty of PB’s to round out the day.

OLYMPIC DISTANCE
1.5km Swim / 40km Bike / 10km run
The Olympic Distance is a great race for those short course athletes who have been racing for a couple of years. It’s a challenging distance, which we describe as a ‘sprint – just doubled’. So for those vying for podiums and PB’s it means red-lining for 2-2.5hours, with not much room for error. We had 19 athletes race over the distance, finishing with 5 podiums for the day. The majority of athletes were from our advanced short course team, a few new to the distance and a handful of our long course athletes also joined the short course team in racing, as they prepare for upcoming races including Challenge/Geelong and Ironman Melbourne.

We had some smashing swim times from our Advanced Short Course team in the low 20’s including Jeremy Critchett, Will Pullin, Daniel Kelly, not far behind were Long Course athletes Brett Archbold, and Jody Biddle and John Noel and Tim Salt also set themselves up early in the race.

On the bike and Will was on a mission, clocking our fastest bike time and breaking the sub 1hour mark, Brett Archbold was next across in 1:01.46 after a solid Falls Creek Camp the week before, as did Tim French. Brad Campbell had a super bike in 1:01.46 his fastest split to date. With the majority of the rest of the team clocking well under the sub 1:10hr mark. So some great riding by all.
Onto the run and the advanced short course athletes unleashed. Jeremy Chishett ran our fastest time for the day in 35:17, in the top 20 fastest 10km times of the day. Tim French, Catherine Allison, Harry Spartels and Will Pullin all convincingly broke to 40min 10km barrier, with John Noel, Sarah Grove, Blake Henry and Jody Biddle all having solid sub 42min runs also.

Overall, the racing was hot from start to finish, and we are super impressed with our team out of course. Well done to Jeremy Chritchett (12th M Open) for the fastest time in 2:03:38, Will Pullin had a cracking race to finish 2:04.40 (3rd M30-34) – in one of the fastest age groups of the day. Tim French, Daniel Kelly, Harry Spartels and Brett Archbold all had super races coming in around the 2:10mark, and long course athletes (turn short course for the day) Jody Biddle, Sarah Grove and Catherine Allison gave the young boys a good run for their money in 2:15min. Well done to Barry Gilbertson, and Scott D’Acourt on their great races – the first time over the distance. And race of the day goes to Brad Campbell and Daniel Kelly. Huge improvements in the last 12 months from these boys.

Hard luck story of the day goes to Trent Harlow – who has saddling up for his first triathlon in years as he prepares for his first Ironman in a couple of months. We were all keen to see what Trent could pull out as he has been giving our Advanced Short Course athletes a run (and ride) for their money. But it was not to be as he came into transition after his swim and found he had a flat. Looks like we’ll have to wait to Challenge to see what he can produce!
Well done to everyone who raced. Great efforts all round.

Olympic Distance Results:

SPRINT DISTANCE
600m Swim / 26km bike / 5km run
The distance of the sprint was slightly longer than normal, which makes it hard for athletes to compare times to their first race, however with some calculations on the bike the majority of the team worked out that they had great races and walked away with PB’s on a day that was near perfect conditions. The flat bay made for a great swim, a slight wind on the bike meant a great tail wind at times and the run was overcast – so great running conditions. We had 23 athletes race over the distance, with 4 podiums.

Advanced short course athletes Peter Tucker and Mark Skilton lead the charge in the water with 10:01 and 10:38 respectively, with Suzi Latta having a great swim in 10:59 to be not far behind the boys! There was a big group of athletes coming in around the 12min mark including new athletes Paul Yates, Lenna Krooglik, Carolyn O’Sullivan, Kate Hennessy along with Andy Gray and Catherine Jansen.

Onto the bike and Mark Skilton continued this race form, with a 40:53 and 8th fastest bike overall for the day. Peter Tucker, Shane Buntman, Jon Edwards, Louisa Orta, Suzie Latta and Paul Yates all had solid rides under 50min, with the rest of the team all well and truly coming in under the 60min mark.

Off limited run base due to injury, Skilts pulled out the run of the day in 18:21, with Peter Tucker, Shane Buntman and Paul Yates all having solid runs also. Lenna and Catherine finished off their races well, as did Alice, Louisa, Carolyn and Mary (who landed herself in top spot!). Great consistant races as always from our girls Jodie Prestt, Danielle Lacey, Julie Hebb and Sonia Gregoul. These girls can teach everyone a thing or two in persistence and determination so well done ladies! 🙂

 Sprint Distance Results:

ACTIVE FEET 
200m swim / 8km bike / 2km run
StKilda is a fantastic venue for the Active Feet racers, with the majority participating in the vent as their first triathlon. So it was great to see some of our newest athletes out their on Sunday. We had 5 compete at this distance, with young Issy Biddle showing the way. Danielle Marsh was next across the line, foillowed by two of our newest Rosemary Fusca and Trisha Ritchens. Our youngest on course Holly – daughter of Sonia Gregoul showed us what it’s like to have fun while racing. 🙂
Well done to each of you on your races and we look forward to seeing you enjoy more races to come and improve along the way. Nothing like a PB for a in. 😉

Ambassadors Report
Read our Ambassador Lance Willie’s race report here. Lance secured a PB for himself after limited swim and run training leading in due to an unfortunate bike crash and an ongoing foot injury. So well done Lance!

Full Race Results
Click here for full (provisional) results from the event

Next Race
Race 3 Elwood, Sunday 16 Feb – Including the Australian Sprint Distance Championships.

Photos
Check out some of our photos from the day here. A big thanks to athlete Scott Memery for capturing these great race photos!

Highlights
View highlights from Sunday’s race below thanks to Aus Sports TV.