Eurocoast Triathlon Club member Ivo Ahlquist had to cope with a major change to the running of the Proximity Triathlon held last Saturday in Canberra. Due to a Blue-Green algae bloom in Lake Burleigh Griffin, the swim leg of the triathlon was cancelled, as the National Capital Authority cancelled “primary contact” in the lake, which includes swimming and bathing.
As a result, race organisers Elite Energy, reconfigured the event into a run-bike-run competition. In Ivo’s case, this meant a 5km run, followed by a 40km bike leg, and finishing with a 10km run, as opposed to the usual Olympic distance format of a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run leg.
Ivo finished the race in 4th position in his age group, and 30th overall, out of 173 finishers. Ivo completed the course in a total time of 2:12:14, with times of 21:02 for the first run leg, 1:05:03 for the bike leg, and 43:40 for the second run leg. Ivo placed third after the first run leg, but a slower first transition and cycle leg dropped him into 4th place, which he held until the finish.
All images supplied courtesy of Mayomi Walisundara
The next race that will attract entrants from the Eurocoast Triathlon is the Husky Long Course Festival. It is understood that at this point Shoalhaven Council approval has not been granted for the event, which leaves competitors from throughout the State with some degree of uncertainty about this event.
