2011/2012 GATORADE Series
Gatorade Triathlon Series 2011/12 - Race 5
(Elwood) Sprint / Active Feet
This was my second race for the Season … (don’t want to burn out !!!) Went for a leisurely drive to Elwood after work Saturday to register and check out transition … Weather report was reasonable .. hasn’t been too kind for the Gatorade events for the last couple of seasons …. Duathlon definitely not predicted this time …
Early start on Sunday … (need to take dog for warm up run before heading back up Beach Road) .. not much traffic at that time of the morning so made record time … had to get in before road closures .. made it with 2 ½ hours to spare !!
Our wave was 7 minutes after Elite again .. meaning we don’t get hammered by the masses of males under 50 … did manage to get caught at the bike turnaround after my first lap by the Elite male group finishing the bike leg … that was a challenge … needed to get out of the way then try and get back across the lane to start second lap ... rest of the bike leg reasonably uneventful .. didn’t put in as good a time as Brighton on the Trinity .. need to put in more work before St Kilda …
Great to see the MPTC tent and flags up on Saturday (thanks John Goode) … with some new and old faces (or should I say past and present members) taking advantage of it… MPTC/Barefoot Fitness well represented on Podium with lots of noise from team members and supporters… had to try and outdo Tri-Allianz .. !!!
John Goode (on steroids) put in a blistering performance to win his Age Group after racing Sandringham Olympic and the Geelong Olympic … taking advice from Stephen Foster to train lightly during the week to recover .. lucky John missed the Club Aquathon on Wednesday after all !!
Also great to see Stephen back racing finishing 3rd and carrying a calf injury .. think he started about 10 minutes behind me and ran past at about 3 km mark of the run …!!!
Pete Dwyer managed to stay upright finishing 2nd , Robyn Metcher 2nd
Report by Julie (Podium) Baker
ACTIVE FEET
SPRINT
Gatorade Triathlon Series 2011/12 - Race 4
(Sandringham) Olympic / Sprint / Active Feet
All credit to anyone who did either the sprint or the OD race. I was just a spectator.
Hot and windy weather prevailed. Although the weather could hardly have been worse the cool change predicted later in the day brought weather that would definitely have been worse!
In any case the venue with the world’s longest swim to run transition proved good pickings for the Mornington Peninsula crowd. Fast cycle times showed that the headwind was converted to good use on the turnaround. Swim times were a bit slow but included the long transition and evergreen 40 – 44 age category athlete Magnus Mitchelsson had the fastest run.
Nathan and Grace had great races with Nathan commenting that the wind was so strong it blew him backwards! Jan Rehula commented that ‘it’s the same for everyone’.
Blowing up in the run seemed to be the order of the day and the race really rewarded the strength athlete.
Thanks to John Goode for bringing the tent up and for securing it so well it did not blow away like some others I saw !
Mick Deveson was there sporting his bandages and we wish him a speedy recovery.
Active Feet
Sprint
Olympic
Gatorade Triathlon Series 2011/12 - Race 3 (Brighton)
The 28 degree balmy morning promised 24 hours earlier had been moderated to 24 degrees so it was a tad cooler than expected but the water was clear, with a southerly current and a slight chop. Wind of about 8 knots so good conditions.
Brighton was a sea of tents but a schedule mixup meant we were tentless but able to appropriate a section of the Trivic tent for the morning.
Lots of MPTC blue in attendance both as competitors and spectators.
Mick Deveson sporting his crook shoulder having some time off in preparation for an operation later this year watched on as Grace won her race from a fast finishing Tasmanian who ran 17.30 for 5 km s!
Dave and Todd were there to watch Nathan who only had an average day following a clothing omission showing that even the elites make a mistake everyone now and again.
Julie Baker dominated her age group and a quick tally of results shows that she would have won or podiumed in most of the age groups below her with her time…
John Goode continued his good form with a second in his age group.
Others who had a reasonable day were John Barker, Michael King, Steve Waugh and Peter Dwyer.
Outright winners were Brendan Sexton over Peter Kerr and Madelaine Oldfield over Erin Densham by 0.2 of a second. These races attract some of the cream of the ITU so get along and watch them!
John Barker
Active Feet
Gatorade
Gatorade Triathlon Series 2011/12 - Race 2 (Elwood)
Race Report to be added shortly.
Members Results
Sprint - *500m Swim replaced by 1.4km run due to weather conditions
Active Feet - *200m Swim replaced by 700m run due to weather conditions
Gatorade Triathlon Series 2011/12 - Race 1 (St Kilda)
Race Report by Steve Waugh
For the third year in a row the Gatorade Tri Series kicked off with a Duathlon after heavy rains and wild wind lashed St Kilda. There were serious concerns on Saturday night that the new club tent may suffer the same fate as its predecessor, blown to bits in the tempest, but it was still standing as Sunday dawned. The water in the Bay was an unhealthy brown soup, so nobody was complaining too loudly about missing out on a dip.
A fair number of MPTC members and friends had taken up the challenge for this event, including some brave first-timers. They will need to wait another three weeks to finally experience a 'proper' triathlon when the series moves to Elwood.
As usual, things ran fairly smoothly with a bit of a hiccup when a bunch of marshals failed to show, creating huge queues for number writing and registration. There was also a little confusion about the wave starts for the 2km run that had replaced the swim; when nobody has a cap on, it can be hard to tell when you need to line up! Movember proved to be a comedy gold mine for the race commentator with some truly tragic facial hair on show.
The first leg was a flat, fast run that headed North along Beaconsfield Parade before looping back to the grassy bike compound under the palm trees. A number of people seemed to be caught up in the drama of the sprint start and were blowing hard by the time they got back to transition.
Grabbing the bikes, we headed towards the City again, into a slight headwind that grew stronger as the morning went on. The bike course at St Kilda is always a pleasure, with nice wide roads, a fantastic view and colourful spectators along the route. The turn at Kerferd Road was well marked and the headwind became a tailwind for the drive back to Point Ormond, although it somehow did a 180 at the Sea Baths for a short distance, just to confuse everyone.
Two laps on the bike and then it was time to get back into the runners and pound the pavement in front of some iconic St Kilda landmarks. We headed South from transition past the boats and over the canal bridge before looping back alongside the cyclists from later waves who were still making their way to the noise of the crowd. Like the first run, this was flat and fast with no real wind to speak of and only a small rise to break things up in the final 500m.
Some unusual 'shots' from Gatorade to sample after the run (can't say I'm a big fan), then it was time to grab a showbag, throw on some clean clothes and watch the presentations or cruise the expo for some new 'go faster' toys.
Congratulations to all who gave it a go - hopefully the weather is kinder to us for Elwood and we get to break out the wetsuit!
Cheers,
Steve Waugh