Eurocoast Triathlon Club members travelled north for the Wollongong Triathlon Festival over the weekend, where the extreme heat was the biggest concern to racers and a talking point in the lead up. Although the mercury did not reach the 39 degree forecast, everyone suffered in the 37.6 degree heat.
Again Sally Jeffrey was the clubs most successful competitor, winning her age group in the Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run). Sally was second out of the water by over two minutes, and lost further 3 minutes on the bike leg. However, she set a blistering pace in the blistering heat to pass the leader and win by over a minute. Her run time of 48:43 was almost 6 minutes than the next fastest runner, and ended up winning by over a minute, with a total race time of 2:38:14.
Richard Jeffrey was again outstaged by his wife, with Richard finishing 2nd in his age group, in a race time of 2:27:07. Richard also has a slow swim leg, exiting the swim in 6th position, however, he had the second fastest bike leg and the fastest run leg to finish less than a minute behind the category winner.
Dan Lloyd Jones provided the clubs fastest time of the day, finishing in a time of 2:09:10, to finish 8th in his age group. Vic Lendzionowski had a race time of 2:17:52, which put him on the podium for 3rd in his age group. The only other club competitor at this distance was Ivo Ahlquist, who completed the race in 2:25:55, and was placed 35th in his age group, out of 70 competitors. Ivo was one of those more affected by the heat.
In the Sprint distance race (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) Julie De Ernsted finished with a race time of 1:36:46. This placed Julie 6th in her category, and in the top half of all athletes. Kim Young was the clubs athlete who was most affected by the heat, forcing her to drop out of the race in the run leg. Kim had a good swim leg, placing her in the top half of the field, but she started to suffer from the heat on the bike leg. Kim was philosophical about her race, still smiling while she was sitting in the first aid tent, surrounded with ice and eating confectionary. Not a bad way to end a race.
The next focus for club members is the Capital Coast Triathlon Festival, where it has been relocated to after a number of years at Batemans Bay. Races of various distances will be held on Saturday 7 April.
The Eurocoast Triathlon Club was established in 2014, to support athletes of all levels to compete at all distances. The club even has a current world champion amongst its members. Any inquiries in relation to the club should be forwarded to its Secretary, Ray Davidson, via email to aztec@southernphone.com.au.
