Eurocoast Triathlon Club members Richard and Sally Jeffrey travelled to Victoria last weekend to compete in the Ironman 70.3 race at Geelong, and came home with outstanding results.
Richard, a former World Cross (off road) Triathlon title holder, and his wife Sally, an Australian representative in last years ITU World Championships in both the Olympic and Sprint Distance, competed in the half Ironman distance (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run). This was Richard’s second race at this distance, after racing at Ironman 70.3 at Cairns last year, and was Sally’s first attempt at this length race.
Richard raced in the 65-69 year age group, and won his category by an amazing 15 minutes. Richard’s splits for the disciplines were 35:45 for the swim, 2:37:23 (an impressive average speed of more than 34km/h) and 1:38:36 for the half marathon run. Richard stopped the clock in 4:57:14, where any time under 5 hours is impressive, regardless of the age group. Richard was 6th after the swim leg, but with the fastest times in both the bike and run, Richard took the lead in the run leg and went on to finish well ahead of the rest of the field. Out of 1018 overall finishers, Richard was 203rd.
Sally’s race was just as impressive, considering she had not raced at this distance before. Sally finished 3rd in her age group (60-64), with individual splits of 35:58 for the swim, 2:59:40 for the bike, and 1:49:56 for the run, for a total time of 5:32:19. Like Richard, she ran the fastest final leg, more than 5 minutes ahead of the closest time. Sally beat half of the overall field home, finishing in 513th position overall.
Next event on the local calendar is Husky Long course, a traditional warm up for Ironman Australia at Port Macquarie in May. Shoalhaven Council has confirmed approval for this event, with races, including Ocean swims, fun runs and triathlons up to half Ironman distance, being conducted between Friday and Sunday (22-24 February).
The Eurocoast Triathlon club was set up in 2014 by like-minded people to further triathlon in the South Coast region. They welcome new members and the motivation they bring to the club. The club prides itself on being an inclusive club and is open to members of all ages. Any inquiries in relation to the club should be forwarded to Ray Davidson via email at aztec@southernphone.com.au
