(Picture UsmEvents)GEELONG MULTISPORT FESTIVAL - 12FEB12 - Report by Gary Swanton
A great showing of MPTC members at the Geelong Multisport Festival over the weekend of 11-12Feb12. Members raced in both the Olympic Distance and the newly introduced Urban Long Course race. Both races followed the same course with the Olympic competitors doing a single lap of the bike and run course and Long Course competitors doing a 2nd lap (lucky them).
The weather was threatening from late Saturday and over the night, the rain well and truly settled in. The long course racers were off just after 7:15am with a nice easy 2km swim in the balmy waters of Corio Bay – nearly 500 male Age Groupers hit the water at the same time which saw the bay turn into a washing machine. After a few hits to the head and nearly losing my goggles a few times, I got settled into the first 800mtr stretch, it seemed to go on for ever too. Turned the corner and straight into the sun for another 500mtrs, then a short quick 300mtr and 200mtr dogleg saw the end of the 2km swim. I was reasonably happy with my swim time of 38 mins, goes to show that my training is slowly starting to pay off.
Out of T1 and off on the 80km ride – the rain was falling heavily at this stage and extreme caution was required on the roads – out through Eastern Park then off to Point Henry for a quick detour then back out up Port Arlington Road and then a return trip back for lap 2. During the 2nd lap the Olympic competitors had just started their race and the road all of a sudden became very busy, I didn't know if I was being lapped or if they were the Olympic races on their 1st lap. The run consisted of either 1 or 2 laps depending on your race with the course being quite an undulating course which ran around Eastern Beach Botanical Gardens starting with a nice steep hill out of T2. After the 1st lap or 2nd lap depending on your race, it was off on a short 3 km loop along the Geelong Foreshore before finishing under the USMEVENTS finishing shute.
One of the best parts of the day was continually seeing MPTC members out on the course and everybody shouting words of encouragement as you passed each other. After our races most of the group met up at the Expo and hung around for spot prizes, but unfortunately we missed out on those this year.
In closing, a great event by USMEvents once again, well done to all club members who raced and next year we will have the Club Tent onsite !
Members Results:
Olympic (1.5/40/10)
Clinton Watson – 2:07 (4th)
Stewie Mayers – 2:23 (23rd)
Dave Jennings – 2:29 (25th)
Greg Jones – 2:38 (11th)
Coreena Simmonds– 2:40 (12th)
John Goode – 2:46 (5th)
Steve Kingwell – DNF (Mechanical)
Long Course (2/80/20)
Allan Davies – 4:29 (6th)
Michael Hudgson - 4:38 (40th)
Sami Grant – 4:57 (7th)
Michael Smith – 5:03 (72nd)
Gary Swanton – 5:40 (23rd)
Nicki Davies – 6:26 (5th)
IRONMAN WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2011 - Report by John BarkerThe weather forecast from 10 days out told of 4kmh winds but a warm day at around 29c. On the day however we were up closer to 26kmh winds and into the mid 30’s so all told the kind of conditions you would expect in Hawaii and not that unusual for Busso.
For those who don’t know Busselton has some of the nicest beaches in Australia and the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere which coincidentally is about 2kms long so the swim goes up one side and back the other. Nearby surf beachs and Australia’s finest cabernet blend wineries ensure there is something to see for most people.
Although relatively expensive and hard to get to it is a magnet for Perth holiday makers and nearby Dunsborough is the head office for schoolies week. It goes off!
The city of Busselton was buzzing with anticipation and peppered with concerns about smoke from the bushfires – which at times was suffocating (however not on the race day) and shark sightings………….the expo whilst light on in terms of stalls (rumoured high prices charged by race organisers deterring many retailers) had the usual WTC professionalism.
Race day dawned and there was a big swell but conditions were reasonable. We all got out of the water in good shape. The first lap of the ride was also a good pace but the wind and the heat both picked up considerably in the second lap and from then on it was a tough ride.
Fortunately by about 1.30pm the wind died down and a small thunderstorm cooled conditions slightly. However 30 minutes later the sun came out and it was a tough grind.
Member's Results
Robyn Metcher 12:47:31
Donna Simmons 12:39:49
Stephen Foster 12:23:16
Sam Grant 12:13:47
John Barker 11:27:37
Pam Stegeman 13:43:12
Hans Stegeman 16:22:05
As always good to finish and as always no plans to do any more IM’s (til the memory of pain fades!) Anyone who got away on Monday on Virgin – good luck to you ! those of us stuck with Qantas were there for 11 hours and got home in the wee hours!
I am now a Virgin convert!
John Barker
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70.3 Canberra 2011 - Report by Gary Swanton
3 Members, Alan and Nicki Davies and myself entered 70.3 Canberra, for Gary it was the first time racing in Canberra and was done as a substitute for not racing at 70.3 Shepparton due to the unexpected birth of my first grandchild and his 1st birthday on the same weekend as Shep in 2011.
I drove up to Canberra on the Friday afternoon, with a friend who was racing and we stayed at Rydges Lakeside Hotel which is located about 2kms from the race site. We left Melbourne mid Friday morning and arrived at the hotel about 6pm Friday night. Checked into the hotel, unpacked bikes and stowed gear, refreshed with a shower after the trip up in a non-airconditioned car and then hit the town for a pasta meal.
Saturday sooned arrived and an ex-Navy mate had offered to take us out on a recce ride of the 70.3 bike course, this i was pleased to do as I had heard and read so much about the big hill at Coppins Crossing. The hill wasn't so much big but geez, it was steep and not being that confident on descents it was good to get to ride it in non race conditions. We finished the ride at the race site as competitor registration got underway from noon. This was probably the only poorly organised aspect of the race, there were hundreds of people registering, but the registration tent didn't appear to have any system, no age groups, no signage of where to go, and even the pro's had to line up like us to get their race gear.
After finally getting registered and proving my timing chip was working it was back to the hotel around noon and it was out too lunch and yes pasta again. Another friend flew up in the morning and we all went back to the race site for bike check-in and a compulsory pre-race briefing, we had to check-in there too to prove that we had actually turned up to the briefing. The briefing went for nearly an hour and the 1500 or so competitors didn't really appreciate sitting out in the hot sun only to hear what everybody already knew. Bikes checked in, safety briefing done it was time for dinner and yes even more pasta !
Race morning saw a 430am rise, tried to eat some pancake pikelets (?) with honey for breakfast but the tummy just didn't want to play and after waking up all night it was a nervous ride to the transition to check in and get set up.
Saturday saw Canberra quite warm with mid 20's temperatures and a cool change and showers forecasted for Sunday.
Transition set up and I was off in the first wave after the Pros - 630am start. The swim was a rectangular course on Lake Burley Griffin - i copped the obligator battering in the first few hundred yards but after a few minutes settled into the swim. Coming out of the water competitors were faced with the first rain storm for the day - it was bucketing down. Arrived at T1 in around 40mins which was about what i expected and of course everything there was soaked, bike socks, shoes, helmet and of course the bike, 4mins later (slow i know) i was off on the ride. Now as mentioned previously, i checked out the very steep hill / descent at Coppers Crossing on Saturday, and the torrential downpour only made me more nervous.
1st lap of the bike and it poured the whole lap, couldn't wear my riding glasses as the rain was falling so hard, visibility was poor. Arrived at Coppers Crossing and it was time to take it very very easy going down the steep descent of Coppers Crossing - at least i know my brakes work. Lap 2 and the rain started to ease and by the 3rd and final lap the rain had all but stopped and had now turned into a very warm, humid morning.
Into T2 after 3:16 ride it was time to don the very wet running socks and shoes and head out for the 21.1km run. The run course is 2 x 10.5km laps of the lake, mainly on concrete with some gravel sections. There was also a small to medium undulation at the far end of the run course which certainly caught me and my legs unaware. 1st lap was done in around 1 hour and it was getting even hotter. The path that surrounds the lake is a wide white concrete path and with the hot sun now out it was bouncing off the path and making the run quite hot and uncomfortable for me. Onto the 2nd lap and i really started to hurt and with the words of my coach, clinton watson burning in my head about taking in the flat coke on the 2nd lap i followed his instructions to the letter. I actually started the run with some cramps but battled through, by the time i got to the 2nd turn-around point, the cramps were starting to pick up again.
At arriving at the 14km mark, the heavens opened up yet again, and whilst the cool rain was welcomed, it did play a little havoc for the runners. Finally crossed the finish line in my first 70.3 race in a PB time by over 30 minutes from my race at Shepparton in 2010 over the same distance so very happy with the race. Post race, back to the hotel room for a shower and change of clothes then back in the car for the drive back to Melbourne. Finally saw the end of a very long, (but satisfying day) around midnight.
Results for club members are listed below:
Alan Davies - 4:49
Gary Swanton - 6:09
Nicki Davies - 6:52
Gary Swanton