{news_big_image}
« return to main news page

richard rushes to course record at challenge wanaka

25 Jan 2010

After the disappointment of having to withdraw from this race last year it was great to finally head down and see what all the fuss was about.  For me it was almost like going home as I’ve spent over 10 years down around Wanaka and Queenstown and so it was great to catch up with lots of good friends who are still down that way.

We had a bit of an epic drive down from Nelson, electing to waste only one day we set off with the intention of getting to the BBQ slated for that evening. With a minimum of stops and only several hundred campervans hindering the progress we got there less than an hour late – which often for me is quite close to on time!  We’d been warned to expect some chilly temperatures but it was the promise of a 14 degree lake temperature which had me shivering. Having completed the At Arnuard tri the week prior where the lake was a supposedly similar temperature I was unsure if I would actually be able to swim 3.8km without the need for a hot water bottle tucked down the wetsuit.  Luckily a bit of warm water down the wetsuit before hand took the initial chill off and it was evident the St Arnaurd lake temperature hand been taken in the first 5cm of water as Wanaka was significantly warmer much to my relief.

Race day dawned clear and calm with the promise of at least a reasonable temperature which was great, I’ve developed an aversion to cold temperatures it seems and I would’ve hated to receive any more flack from the tri community for wearing poly prop or some Multisport styled warming outer wear during the race.

The swim start was a rather less turbulent affair than I think I’ve seen in a tri race so far, with only 20 pros and far less gun age group swimmers it was great to be able to swim normally from the start. I was swimming alongside Gina Crawford for the first few hundred metres and feeling really comfortable but either the pace went up or I started doing something wrong (most likely) and I slowly started to drop off the pace. The most infuriating thing I find about swimming is the more effort I put in the slower I seem to go and little by little the front pack disappeared into the early morning sun.  The rest of the swim I tried to keep a reasonable pace and I appeared to be swimming alone until about 500m from the finish I felt a tap on my feet and I was swept up in a small chase group.

Out of the water and it was a very unflattering time, although everyone’s times seemed very slow in comparison to other courses, maybe the cold water had an impact I’m not sure.  Through transition and onto the bike I seemed destined for another long chase on the bike and run which stirred up a bit of fire in the belly and I set out determined to reach the front. I had some company from Petr Vabrousek who was on and off the back but the rest of the field slowly dropped back.

At the turn around just past Glendu Bay I’d managed to move into 3rd place and was taking time out of Keegan Williams in 2nd, but Brian Fuller from Australia who was leading seemed to be taking massive chunks of time out of everyone.  I knuckled down and at about 50km caught Keegan who jumped in behind with Petr and about the same time the splits to the front started to change for the better.
By Cromwell and the half way stage of the ride the time to the front had plummeted and we could see the lead cars flashing lights, a few kilometres later and I was leading an Iron distance race for the first time.  Being so early in the season my preparation had been very short for this race and I was really aware of not going too hard on the bike but with about 25km to go I finally managed to get a small jump on Keegan and Petr and was able to pull away to the finish of the bike.

Through the transition and onto the run I saw Keegan come into transition just as I was running over the over bridge and heading out on the first lap of the run.
With only 90 seconds lead I knew I was going to have to run well and fortunately by the 5km mark the legs were starting to respond. It was certainly a massive lift to hear all the supporters yelling and some of the half athletes even had enough energy left to offer a quick bit of encouragement.  By the short in and out at Rata Street I knew I was pulling away slightly as I saw Keegan approaching as I headed back out.  By the second lap I was starting to think the half participants were pretty smart as the energy levels started to dip a bit, the run is stunning, but also pretty tough and by the end of the outlet track I was having a sneaky peak over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming up fast from behind.  By the time I came back out of the Rata street for the second time I still couldn’t see 2nd place so I knew with 5km to go things were looking good. The last couple of up hills were taken at a more leisurely pace until I heard them saying over the PA at the finish I had to make it back in 17 minutes for the record. I had about 3.5 km to go when I heard that so I gave it a little more gas, and luckily I was soon coasting down the downhill towards the finish.

It was a fantastic reception at the finish line and a great feeling to get my first long distance title. I didn’t have too much time to enjoy it though as quickly I was whisked away for the drug test which is a test in itself after 8 ½ hours of racing and then trying to produce a sample.  Justin Daerr from the USA ran up to 2nd place with Keegan Williams hanging on for 3rd.

In the half distance event Elina had teamed up with my swim coach Ally Boggs and together they’d won the women’s teams section and beaten a good number of the men too. For Elina it was a great training day out as she looks to finally try and nail the Coast to Coast in a few weeks time. 

Next up for me is a bit of golf where I’ll attempt to prove Nathan wrong about my putting (although it really is all about the drives) and support crew duties at Coast for Elina. I’ll also be getting back into training for the Abu Dhabi Triathlon in Abu Dhabi in March and then Xterra NZ.

A huge thanks to all the people who came out and supported us and all the other competitors at the race, was a great atmosphere and make the day even more memorable.  There will be some photos of the race up soon on our website of both Elina and I – http://www.adventuresportnz.com