IRONMAN Australia: Tri-Alliance Athlete Start List

Name: Brett Archbold

Your IM history/journey?
This will be number 17!
1 x Port Mac / 1 x Korea / 4 x Busso / 4 x Melbourne / 2 x Cairns / 1 x Brazil / 3 x Kona Hawaii

How has your training gone for this event?
Slow and steady build from early January. I missed 2 weeks in late Feb/early March with Piriformis syndrome but since then have averaged 19hrs a week and haven’t missed a beat.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?
It’s been great training with mates over summer, can’t wait to see how the first timers go!

What are you most looking forward to?

Sleeping in and having a social life again!

What are you worried about?

Cramps!

Favourite training session?

200k Saturday long ride to Point Nepean

Best training nutrition?

Coke and sausage roll at the 5hr mark of a long ride! 😉

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Trust the training you have done

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Coffee and Up and Go, maybe a crumpet with honey

How will you celebrate?

Beer, so much beer with my girlfriend Steph and friends

Name: Michael Falla

Your IM history/journey?

I joined Dec 2018, first tri was Jan 2019, first Olympic March 19, first half April 19.

How has your training gone for this event?

Pretty good all things considered. Have been lucky enough to train and learn from everyone in Melbourne, but also train in the tropics at some incredible locations during my training.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

Love it, such a great culture. Everyone is friendly, positive and supportive.

What are you most looking forward to?

Leaving it all out there on game day,

What are you worried about?

Getting a flat and about the 28km mark on the run

Favourite training session?

Run through the Noosa National Park, down onto Sunrise beach with Daniel Bodilly. The final 200km ride was fun too.

Best training nutrition?

My infinite formula.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Trust your coach and don’t think about the distances.

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Toast and muesli

How will you celebrate?

A blowout with the fellas at a wedding on the GC.

Name: Trea Gherardin

Your IM history/journey? 
First Ironman after having done six 70.3 events.

How has your training gone for this event?
Good until I met tram tracks about 5 weeks ago. My TA training buddies were great at getting me back on the bike.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?
I’m excited and nervous. It’ll be great to just get out there and be part of it all.

What are you most looking forward to?
I’d be lying if I didn’t say the red carpet!

What are you worried about?
Jellyfish, punctures and the wind. All things I can’t control so I guess I shouldn’t worry about them at all!

Favourite training session?
Elwood run and swim sessions (when there are no jellyfish).

Best training nutrition?
Jam doughnuts on our Mt Macedon ride.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?
Do it with others, surround yourself with like-minded people and you’ll actually enjoy the hard work. We have had an amazing group training together. I honestly wouldn’t have survived some of our sessions without them.

What’s for breakfast race morning?
Honey sandwiches and bananas.

How will you celebrate?
With the TA crew and family in Port Mac and with a 15 hour drive back to Melbourne.

Name: Daniel Godino

Your IM history/journey?
Started triathlon 15 months ago. Completed 3 x sprints and 2 x half’s.
The Port Mac IM build has taken me on a journey full of great memories with the most incredible people.

How has your training gone for this event?
Excellent until the last 2 weeks which has been full of niggles and injures. Lucky it’s during taper.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?
It will be a great spectator course which will give me massive motivation throughout the race. (TA support crew, we love you )

What are you most looking forward to?
The internal battle I’ll face during the race.

What are you worried about?
The first 200m of the swim and not being able to run in the race due to a current injury.

Favourite training session?
Long ride (it’s a journey within itself)

Best training nutrition?
Sweet potato and SIS Go Energy drink.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?
Surround yourself with the right people, they will help you through the challenging times.

What’s for breakfast race morning?
Overnight oats and a coffee.

How will you celebrate?
Spending time with my family and friends; eating, drinking and having a few laughs. It’s going to be a blast!

Name: Trent Harlow

Your IM history/journey?

This will be my 3rd Ironman – it’s been 5 years since my last (yes it took me that long to get over it!).

How has your training gone for this event?

I’m looking forward to no more training. I love staying fit, but with an IM hovering over you, it’s definitely more than you’d normally ‘enjoy’.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

I love Port Mac – my parents live there, and I spend Christmas each year enjoying the local area. I think it got the better of me this year as I signed up for the Ironman whilst up there enjoying Christmas festivities.

What are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to lots of things – including finishing :). But I am genuinely looking forward to going through the whole process of race day and I’m sure there will be moments I smile instead of grimace.

What are you worried about?

Worried? It’s not that far really is it?

Favourite training session?

I enjoy going for a jog – that’s certainly my default training session.

Best training nutrition?

I enjoy a beer every evening. That’s my default training nutrition.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

The only advice I can give is something I’ll try and apply myself. Go through race day in your mind before the event – visual the process of each leg, transition and markers (time, distance, or nutrition goals) you want to check off during the race. Staying focused on the ‘process’ will help when and if the going gets hard.

How will you celebrate?

I’ll celebrate with my family and all of the TA guys who made the leap to challenge themselves.

Name: Carly Hart

Your IM history/journey?

I have completed 3 70.3’s at Geelong over the past three years, previous to that I have completed a number of different marathons across the world. This will be my first full distance Ironman.

How has your training gone for this event?

My training has been very consistent throughout this entire build since before Hell Week. I have missed a few sessions here and there due to illness and when I fell off my bike. This is the most consistent I have ever been with my training and making sessions which is something I’m really proud of given it takes me 40 minutes upwards drive each way to training. The backup of PM sessions, into AM sessions has been challenging but is something that I am really proud of, especially as a person who loves their sleep.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

I’m really excited about IM Australia. I love exploring new places by racing. I have heard the crowd support at Port Mac is amazing and has a real community feel. Given the 70.3 is sold out and the 140.6 is also close to capacity, it should be absolutely pumping.

The swim should be first timer friendly as it is in the Hastings River; which will make it a little more protected. There is also a weir that you have to cross over twice, which helps break it up a bit. I’m a person who breaks things up into smaller chunks to make it more manageable in my head.

The bike I’ve heard is a very honest course with a few good pinches. The roads are apparently a bit rough so will be making sure that I am alert to watch out for bumps and cracks to make for a more comfortable ride. Apparently, we have it good on Beach road.

The run is a 4-lap course… you pass the finish line 8 times!!! In that sense it is a bit cruel, but on the other hand it means you get lots of crowd support and the opportunity to get to see your loved ones regularly for a boost.

What are you most looking forward to?

I am most looking forward to the red carpet and finish line. This build has challenged me on so many different ways and pushed me out of my comfort zone, so getting to the finish line will be amazing.

As a first timer, I am also looking forward to enjoying the atmosphere at the event. I’m hoping to be able to take it all in and enjoy it.

What are you worried about?

I’m a little worried about the bike course surface being a bit rough and that making for an uncomfortable ride on the second lap. I’ll just make sure everything is super tight on my bike.

Favourite training session?

My favourite training sessions are Greg’s wind trainer sessions, especially if there’s a Wind Trainer Ponder. I also enjoy a Saturday ride with great company.

Best training nutrition?

I like to alternate my nutrition during training. Every half hour or so I aim to have something. A gel then 30 minutes later I’ll have a chew or couple bites of a cliff bar. I like to alternate gel with something solid as it settles my stomach.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

As this is my first Ironman, I’m unsure if I’m qualified to answer this. But here’s my two cents: be consistent, trust your training, trust the program and enjoy the day. I really aim to enjoy this Ironman, you never get your first back. Also surround yourself with people who lift you up (Steph’s favourite saying). The Ironman journey can get a bit lonely at times, and there are plenty of times you will question what you’re doing, wonder why, ask hard questions of yourself, you’ll cry a lot; but being surrounded by people who lift you up, reassure you, support you and love you is something that is so important doing something as crazy as IM as it isn’t normal (Thank you Gary for telling me this). I have been so lucky to have some great people in my corner (you know who you are) that have got me to the start line, I will forever be thankful for that.

What’s for breakfast race morning?

1 banana at the hotel, another banana 45 minutes before the swim and a gel before getting in the water.

How will you celebrate?

I will celebrate by having a glass of wine!!! I haven’t had one since 1st December, which at times has been a struggle being a teacher (others teachers can appreciate lol). But I am also looking forward to spending some quality time with my friends and family when I’m not sore or tired. I have been pretty good in still attending things with friends and family, however I have either been uncomfortable due to hard or long days or super tired from the crazy volume of training or thinking about next sessions; so I’m looking forward to being able to be more present. I am also looking forward to celebrating at the end of season party!

Name: Andrew Johnson

Your IM history/journey?
Totally new to triathlon and stupidly made a bet with my dad last August that I’d finish an Ironman within a year.

How has your training gone for this event?
Training has gone pretty well. But considering I haven’t swam since I was 15 and this bike is the first one I’ve owned since my Raleigh Max in primary school the only way was up.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?
I’m really looking forward to it. My only other Ironman experience was in Wales but that was watching from the pub, so this is going to be very different.

What are you most looking forward to?
The whole atmosphere of the event, I’ve been told good things about this venue so can’t wait to get there. Also, cycling somewhere else other than beach road. Every race I’ve done so far (apart from Portarlington which I made a mess of) has been up and down there!

What are you worried about?
A lot of things. Transition one has not been kind to me in my short career so I’m worried I’ll make a mess of that again. And the bike dismount after all that time, not sure how that’s going to go.

Favourite training session?
Tuesday bike, although with work commitments I haven’t made as many sessions as I’d like!

Best training nutrition?
SiS chocolate fudge energy bars.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?
I’m not in a position to be giving out advice just yet, maybe in a few seasons. But I’d suggest not making silly bets.

What’s for breakfast race morning?
Porridge, banana and a strong coffee.

How will you celebrate?
I’ll have to see what sort of condition I’m in post-race.

Name: Jack Moir

Your IM history/journey? 

This will be my first one! After doing a few sprint/olympics over the past few years I thought I’d give long course a shot with Challenge Melbourne last year and then figured a full length was the next step.

How has your training gone for this event? 

Generally good, managed to be pretty consistent during the build with only a couple of niggles popping up in the last few weeks.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia? Excited, weather is looking good and I’ve heard the spectator support is great and I’ll need every bit of it on the run.

What are you most looking forward to? 

Crossing the finish line!

What are you worried about? 

Mechanical issue on the bike wouldn’t be much fun as it’s been faultless all through training so I’m hoping the trend continues.

Favourite training session? 

Hot laps

Best training nutrition? 

Clif energy blocks

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

I’ll wait till I get through this one before I hand out any advice

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Porridge with some fruit

How will you celebrate?

Eat, drink and sleep in!

Name: Jeremy Robinson

Your IM history/journey?

1 half Ironman, 1 full Ironman.

How has your training gone for this event?

Pretty horrible, strained my Achilles 2 weeks ago and only just managed to run again this last week. Swimming and riding will be fine, and run will hurt a lot.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

Just another long day. Get through the swim and ride pain free and then see what happens on the run, if not, don’t over cook it and pull out of the run to avoid further damage to my achilles.

What are you most looking forward to?

Sleep and more sleep

What are you worried about?

Not worried about much to be honest. Don’t have any expectations for this race now so will be happy if I’m able to cross the finish line.

Favourite training session?

Saturday long rides with the crew

Best training nutrition?

Practice whatever you find comfortable, not necessary to follow what others prescribe, rather find what works for you and that’s what makes it so fun.

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Same as above, find what works for you and start to figure out your race plan during the race so you’re comfortable with it when race day comes.

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Toast and coffee

How will you celebrate?

Probably with a G&T

Name: Stephen Tilders

Your IM history/journey?

This is my second Ironman after Busselton in Dec.

How has your training gone for this event?

Training has been going well with a great crew to keep ya all motivated!!

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

I’m looking forward to IM Australia, it’s a very type of different course compared to Busselton so will be interesting to see how I go.

What are you most looking forward to?

I’m most looking forward to finishing!! The bike leg is always my fav so looking forward to seeing how that goes.

What are you worried about?

What am I worried about?? The weather!! Fingers crossed it’s a great day for triathlon.

Favourite training session?

Fav training session is definitely Hot Laps. Chasing some really strong riders around Albert Park is awesome fun and s great way to improve your cycling strength.

Best training nutrition?

My training nutrition hasn’t been great in the lead up to this race. I’m constantly hungry and so snacking all the time!

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Advice for IM athletes is to trust in the plan and your training- it all comes together on race day.

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Breakfast race morning will be toast.

How will you celebrate?

I’ll celebrate with Jen of course who’s put up with me again through this build. And the amazing Port Mac crew!

Name: Sammy Woodland

Your IM history/journey?

I completed a few sprints before joining TA to tackle my first half Ironman. I have since completed 4 and with Ollie’s advice thought we’d give an Ironman a red hot go.

How has your training gone for this event?

I had my doubts at the start with not letting myself get enough recovery due to wedding season. But the past 8 weeks has been an incredible journey with the crew. It feels like it’s all come together at the right time. There has been plenty of laughs and delirious moments. The camaraderie has made it feel easy compared to my expectations and I couldn’t have done it without these guys.

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

Excited and bloody scared all at the same time.

What are you most looking forward to?
First getting to the run leg. Then crossing the finishing line and hearing you are an Ironman. And then of course celebrating with the Port Mac Crew!

What are you worried about?

Nutrition causing issues or a sneaky flat!

Favourite training session?

Hot laps

Best training nutrition?

Peanut butter? 🙂

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Sign up with a team and work together it certainly makes the journey easier and 10 times more fun!

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Sweet potato with yoghurt, peanut butter, honey and muesli (don’t judge me until you try it).

How will you celebrate?

A G and T, hot chips, and a dance at the end of season party!

Name: Andy Wood-Rich

Your IM history/journey?

I caught the Triathlon bug when a mate at the office noted I had started running to get fit again and done a few fun runs; I told him he was crazy but looked into it. I entered the fun distance series, he entered the first race – I got hooked, he never raced again. From that first set of six races in my board-shorts and rashie, rolling on my mountain bike with slick tyres 10 years ago I have progressed a little and this weekend I’ll be chasing my tenth Ironman finish line

How has your training gone for this event?

Chasing is not an understatement in this case either – last year at this event I battled through the bike course with four flat tyres and only reached the end of it by finding a lost gas canister and then finding the mobile mechanic to replace my destroyed rear tyre. This year I have had no less technical issues in the lead up missing a number of long rides due to broken bikes, then my bike was stolen and later running fundraising sessions and maintenance to get my training bike race ready. Initially I had targeted a good finish here in Port Macquarie – now I’ve shifted my goal to rolling through the swim and ride and then seeking a good run

What are your thoughts about IM Australia?

Ironman Australia is a tough race, it challenges you and forces athletes to dig deep and often, find solutions on the fly when things don’t go to plan. After I first completed the course here I swore I’d never come back, I’m now here for the fourth time as I’ve come to “enjoy” that the difficulty and diversity breaks up the ride and makes it more interesting. Yeah, I guess I’m nuts, but that’s not new to anyone here!

What are you most looking forward to?

The other thing that keeps me coming back is the people and the community – I get to share Port Macquarie 2019 with a number of first timers, a few racing for the first time here and a veteran returning to this race, not to mention all the friends I’ve made from other squads over the years in this sport. I just love it!

What are you worried about?

I’m just worried that I’m going to keep anyone tracking me waiting a long time – sorry honey! Enjoy the VIP food and drink I guess…

One piece of advice for IM athletes?

Tips for race day: new tyres! Install them in race week, do one test ride on them and that’s it. During the race – you’ve done the work, trust it and stick to the plan, but remain flexible if the race goes off-script.

What’s for breakfast race morning?

Breakfast – something safe, a light meal easy to digest and eat early.

How will you celebrate?

For me, this whole weekend is a celebration, punctuated with high-fives, hugs and smiles, encouragement from and for strangers and capped off when I run down the final red and black carpet, cross the finish line and into the waiting arms of my number one supporter.