Busselton Ironman Report
Busselton finally dished out the day that everyone knew it was capable of. The day developed into a windy, extremely hot race. Our crew had a very toppsy turvy sort of day. Our Busselton Ironman defender Tim Berkel had a great start in the swim out 4th but was vomitting heavily by the time he hit the change tent, he rode strongly on the front all ride for a 4:34 but as soon as he hit the run the stomach problems started again and he was forced to walk out the run - still he finished and well see Tim winning his next outting I'll bet money on it. Nicole Ward, Adam Holborow and Karen McElligott, Stewart Crowley all suffered the same fate as Tim and were very sick on the bike.
Alison Fitch decided wisely not to start in Busselton. She had hip surgery earlier in the year and this was to be her first race back and she has been training the house down. Her marathon flight from the US though made her hip tender and after long discussions we came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the risk and she will race instead in New Zealand in Jan over the Half Ironman. Ali has been working hard on her bike strength and she also has a new weapon in much improved run mechanics and cadence so we are looking forward to big things from Ali over the coming months.
The revelation of the day as I expected was one Christie Sym who got a little lost in the swim and came in about 10 mins adrift of Gina Crawford. Christie soon put that to rights with a 4:55 bike split and the fastest of the day for the girls by over 4mins -the deficit on the run got down to under 4mins but Gina was too smart to let it get any closer and Christie finished 2nd overall in her first Ironman with the 2nd fastest run of the day @ 9:20. At just 25 years of age in her first Ironman all I can say is god help the women in her next Ironman, I've never met anyone with such mental strength and latent talent -she is going to explode in the next 12 months and she has no fear of anyone.
Bec Eveleigh made massive improvement. Bec and I talked about her racing pro before this race and she bit the bullet and went for it. Just as well because she raced to a 55min pb and 6th place with a 9:50 -she rode a 5:08 and ran a 3:30 on a brutal day and she raced very smartly indeed. Both Christie and Bec work full time as Nicole Ward does so that makes their efforts that more impressive. Go the girls.
Stuart Fitch despite having had a hard time on the run won his 55/59 cat easily by 15mins and has qualified for Hawaii. Stuey wanted to thank Anton Kapel who helped motivate him on the run when they came together, Anton has done many preps with Aeromax over the years and is a great bloke, his help to keep Stuey going contributed to his win so thanks Anton from Stuey.
Bern Ward had a big day with a pb and a 3rd in the 40-44 cat. Bern's improvment over the last few years has been very steady - he always follows a program to the letter and it has all paid off this season as he has been on fire in every race so far and on the podium every time he has raced. At Busso he finally realised his dream of racing in Hawaii by winning a spot. Good on you mate were proud of you.
I haven't caught up with everyone yet but Laurent Doyen had a strong day at 9:57. Jason Mann went an 11:24, Hamish Deery a 12:05, Jason Barker a 12:27 and Mark Booth a 13:11. I think everyone who finished this thing would agree that it really was a payback day in terms on conditions and If you finished this thing you were winning. A very big DNF rate of 12% points to a very hard day at the office. Well done all.
| Name | Cat | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christie Sym | Pro | 2nd | 9:20 |
| Bern Ward | 40/44 | 3rd | 9:24 |
| Tim Berkel | Pro | 9:33 | |
| Bec Eveligh | Pro | 6th | 9:50 |
| Laurent Doyen | 9:57 | ||
| Stuart Fitch | 55/59 | 1st | 10:29 |
| Jason Mann | 11:24 | ||
| Hamish Deery | 12:05 | ||
| Jason Barker | 12:27 | ||
| Mark Booth | 13:11 |
Last changed: Aug 10 2010 at 10:57 AM
