A warm morning and an extremely warm pool welcomed nine local triathletes when competing in the Firebrace St Telstra Shop Horsham Triathlon last Sunday. The event, consisting of a 500m swim, 20km ride and a 5km run (long course) or a 200m swim, 7km ride, and a 2.5km run (short course), has traditionally had a strong Maryborough contingent and the 2008 event was no exception. The fast, tight course has produced some great results for local athletes over the years and in near perfect conditions, some of Maryborough’s youngest talent shone through.
The short course event saw Georgia Reid exiting the 26 degree water in a strong position and after a consistent ride and run Georgia took out line honors in the under 16 female category in a time of 37:50mins. Another local young gun, Zac Egan, claimed second position in a strong under 16 male field in a time of 30:53mins, just 47secs off the win. Zac continues to improve with each event and will certainly be one athlete to watch in the future.
In the long course, a large field saw a congested swim start that involved up to 10 athletes in double width lanes. A lengthy run to the first transition had the athletes working hard before they took to the three looped bike course. A slight head wind on the up-hill section of the riverside course tested athlete’s legs before transition two and a flat and fast two looped run leg.
The long course event was hotly contested in all age groups, 3 of which had Maryborough and District Triathlon Club members competing. In the 20-29 male category Paul Moore posted his best time of the season after a strong bike/run transition and claimed second place in a time of 67:01mins.
Local half ironmen, Adam Lowery and Mike Egan worked in well on the swim and both set themselves up on the bike for strong times. Adam finished within the top ten in the highly competitive 30-39 male category in a time of 72:56mins while Mike had his strongest ride of the year to complete the course in a time of 72:04mins, just 2mins off a podium spot.
Another local half ironman, Alister Douglass, finished seventh in the 40-49 male category after a consistent three legs in a time of 73:20mins. First time sprint distance triathlete, Michael Reid, was a solid performer in all three disciplines, in a time of 77:53mins.
In the mixed team’s event, Maryborough based South African triathlete Sally Brown paired up with Ron Finn of Halls Gap to claim the win in a time of 70:59mins.
