March 12, 2008
The Victorian branch of Sports Medicine Australia are holding a hard ground workshop in Bendigo at the end of March. It’s all about how to avoid injury from training on drought affected land. They’ll cover, among other things:
Contact Jo Butler if you’re interested in attending.
March 10, 2008
The Geelong half Ironman was conducted on the 10th February. The event attracted 1023 individual competitors; among them was Maryborough & District Triathlon Club’s, Jo Butler. Jo did very well to finish in the top 10 of her age group. She completed the course in a time of 5:48:28.
March 10, 2008
The fifth annual Bridgewater triathlon drew a field of 96 competitors and 16 teams, which included 10 individuals, and 2 teams from Maryborough. Conditions were excellent on the Loddon River. The out and back swim did not prove too difficult, but a strong head wind in the first half of the bike leg had everyone working hard.
Out on the run leg, caution had to be exercised over the rough riverbank track. Elkie Belcher performed well to win the female under 18 category, and be the third female across the line. Chris Dellavedova and Paul Moore also had a good race both neck and neck the entire course, to both finish in the overall top 10.
Tasha Murphy continued her good form to finish third in the female under 18 short course category.
March 10, 2008
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.
March 10, 2008
19 members from the Maryborough & District Triathlon Club journeyed to Echuca on Sunday 20th January for the Morley Auto Echuca Triathlon. The event has now been running for 10 years, with some club members competing in it since the first year. Although there had been plenty of rain about on the Friday and Saturday night prior to the event, with lots of water lying around, organizers did a great job to make ready for a successful event.
Members of the Maryborough club were successful in 7 of the different categories, with others just missing out. Members to compete well in their age classes were, Tasha Murphy who won the female SU14 division in a time of 42:32. Zac Egan won the male SU14 category in a time of 34:52, Georgia Reid finished 2nd in the female SU16 in a time of 41:35, Geoff Macilwain finished 2nd in the 40-44 age category in a time of 1:04:48, Jo Butler performed well in the female 40-44 category just missing a place to come 4th in a time of 1:14:54, with Carol Sing finishing in 6th place in 1:16:30.
The club had 3 teams competing, and the all male team comprising of Jim Macilwain (swim), Jim Field (ride) and Mick Reid (run), came in first in a time of 1:12:53. There were 2 teams entered in the mixed teams, Sally Brown and Ron Finn in the 3 eyes team which finished 2nd in a time of 1:12:53. The Saunders team of Frank Cramei (swim), Gary Saunders (ride) and Jenny Barass (run) finished 3rd in 1:19:51.
Others to compete well but were unplaced were Peter Beaumont, Paul Moore (who was unlucky that his shoe snapped out on the pedal before he could get his foot in), Mark Barby, Andrew Murphy and Mike Egan.
March 6, 2008
Perfect racing conditions greeted athletes from across Victoria and Tasmania for the 2008 Central Goldfields Reverse Triathlon last Sunday. A total of 120 athletes, the largest field in the past three years, competed in either the short course event (1.3km run, 11.5km ride, 200m swim) or the long course event (4km run, 23km ride, 400m swim) in what proved to be a record breaking day.
Bendigo based Ironman David Meade once again took out line honors in a time of 56min 15sec, narrowly beating his old course record by 4secs. David set a blistering pace from the start with a run leg time of 12:13mins before averaging over 37kph on the undulating bike course, a speed that could not be matched by his closest competitor, Grant Gilbert.
Grant was never far off striking distance in the first two legs of the race, and posted a quicker swim split than Meade, however finished in a time of 57min 46sec to claim second. Third position went to Addington athlete Dayne Pearce, who also broke the one hour mark, to finish in a time of 59min 9sec.
The open women’s field was dominated by two local triathletes, Elkie Belcher and Jo Butler, who claimed 1st and 3rd respectively. Elkie led from start to finish and smashed the course record by a huge 71sec, replacing the record of four time winner Katrina Braszell, by completing the course in a time of 1hr 6min 23sec. Elkie continues to improve as an athlete and should go from strength to strength now she has stepped into the open women’s category after a strong grounding in age group triathlon. Castlemaine triathlete Courtney Shinn had a strong run leg to distance herself from local Jo Butler, before claiming 2nd overall in the open women’s field in a time of 1hr 11min 15sec. Jo, only a week after competing in the Geelong Half Ironman, finished third in 1hr 13min 52sec.
Event organisers were very happy with the overall success of the triathlon and the support it received from both the local community and traveling athletes. The support of local community groups such as the Maryborough Lions and Rotary Clubs, the SES, Royal Park Football Netball Club and the Maryborough and District Triathlon Club must be acknowledged, as without them the event would simply not run to the high standard it currently does.
The addition of a number of new sponsors also reinforces the growth of this sport in the Central Goldfields Region, and with a number of further improvements already planned for 2009 it appears the Central Goldfields Reverse Triathlon is set to host its tenth triathlon in flourishing conditions.
Race Director, Paul Moore, commented that the event continues to gain support from high caliber athletes from across Victoria, a testament to the quality of the course and the community that hosts the event. “It is a great opportunity for Maryborough and surrounds to provide a sporting event of this stature, particularly one where both the elite and new-comer to the sport can compete on the same course. The support of local business and those that assist in setup and marshalling etc is truly valued by event organisers, and with 120 participants this year, it appears the event is on a positive path into the future.“
Age group and category winners
Long Course
Long Course Teams
Short Course
Short Course Teams
March 6, 2008
Congratulations to Lauchlan Stewart on winning this year’s Jack Worrall Medal.
Lauchlan is the current Australian and Oceania U19 Road Racing Champion. He’s riding over 500km a week at the moment and is focused on the Australian U23 titles in 2010.
The World U23 Cycling Championships are being held in in Melbourne that same year, so they’re firmly in Lauchlan’s sights as well.
March 6, 2008
This is the new online home of the Maryborough Triathlon Club.
Through this website we plan to bring you news of club events (both upcoming and results of past events) as well as training tips, club member news and other articles of interest to the triathlon community.
 | Martin Mark on Calendar of Events |
 | Phil on Calendar of Events |
 | Aidan Rich on Welcome |
