Challenge Melbourne was a race I’ve been looking forward to for a long time! It is the one of the only Half distance races that offers an open category for non pro athletes. So a chance to race against all the best AGers is enough motivation to race well in itself!
The race was on St Kilda shoreline and myself and my coach Nathan Miller had perfect accommodation right across the road from transition.. perfect!
Race start for me was 6.54am they decided to add 25-29 and 30-39 age groups into our wave start, and with the first turn bouy only 50m into the Swim it meant there would be chaos at the start of the Swim!
I probably had one of the worst swim starts in history and got absolutely smashed around the first turn bouy and was pushed right out the back (this wasn’t great) I had to pull out to the right and really work hard to make it back to the front of the race. By this point I had missed the front pack and could see the up ahead I was really disappointed because I know I could of comfortably made the front pack if my start was better! But I ended up leading the 2nd pack out of the water with some really strong athletes. Swim time (27.58)
Out onto the bike I really struggled for the first 10km and Damien Angus (eventual winner) and Jordy Wright both dropped me I was annoyed at myself because I knew I was better then that. Eventually Charles legget caught me on the bike who is a very strong rider and I started to feel better and worked hard with him to try limit our losses to the front guys. It was a really nice bike course consisting of 3 x 30km loops which gave us plenty of opportunity to see where everyone was. We weren’t losing to much time each lap so I knew I was still in with a chance of the podium if I ran well! Bike time (2:16:01)
I raced through transition as fast as possible and on the run I knew I had to run my best and not give up on the podium. The first 5km was really fast and I got to see where everyone was after the first turn around. I could tell I was making up time on everyone but was just hoping I didn’t go to fast to early. I really felt great through the whole half marathon and managed to hit 2nd place around the 16km mark. Damien Angus was just a bit to far in front so I just tried to hold my pace and not blow to pieces over the last 5km. Run time (1:16:47)
Overall this was the best Half distance triathlon I have done I finished in a PB time of 4:04:01 and ran my fastest half marathon off the bike. To finish on the podium at this race with such a quality field is really really satisfying and I’m proud of the performance.
Next race will be 70.3 Kraichgau in Germany I’m super pumped to get back to Luxembourg with my European family!
Thanks everyone for the constant support and belief you give me! Special thanks to my sponsors Peak fitness Huskisson, Raine and Horne Huskisson, Julie and Gray Parkes, Innovative air and electrical, Just Go driving school, ASPORT, Wild ginger Huskisson and Elite Energy events.
Thanks to my coach Nathan Miller for everything he does and as always biggest thanks to my Mum and Dad for everything.
Cheers guys!