Firstly let me start by saying what a brilliantly run race by a fantastic club. For a relatively small club Kalgoorlie Triathlon club have a much bigger club feel due to their passionate members and great organisation, as a result the race was extremely enjoyable.
I managed to steal a lift down on Friday morning with Guy Crawford, Kate Bevilaqua and Ruth Chang, a great group to travel down with as it turns out. Without much fuss we got down Friday evening and headed straight for a great feed at one of the local pubs.
Saturday morning and we were up early to meet Lisa and Andy and the rest of the Kalgoorlie tri club for a Saturday morning spin. It took us through the local area and we finished with an enjoyable brekky and some much needed coffee.
Early afternoon we headed to the local aquatic centre for a little transition seminar with some of the club members (note: funnily enough I was not on called for any advice (further note: I was actually asked one question during said talk and I totally choked, ruining any further chance I might ever have again of taking part..). After that we had a great carbo loading dinner put on by the club. This was followed but a "quad off" lucky vs crawford vs ruth - the results aren't important....I didn't even care anyway..
Sunday morning and we all rode down to transition together. It was such a relaxed atmosphere and a really enjoyable one. As we were in Kalgoorlie (well inland) the swim was set in the local Olympic distance pool - 30 laps.
It was self seeded so Kate, Andy, Lisa and Myself found ourselves in a lane with two others. 8am on the dot and we were off. Kate Andy and I had the plan off rolling through 200meters each before peeling off. I was first, then Andy then Kate, who left us for dead...haha she was swimming well faster than us so from 500 onwards it was soloooo!
I came out about 75 meters behind Kate and about 20 meters in front of Andy. After a quick T1 I was off and trying to chase down Kate. The bike course was 9 laps and involved quite a few turns, this was leg sapping but was enjoyable. At about lap 5 I caught up with Kate, she stuck with me. Then lap 6 Andy caught up and us three rode together rode for the remainder of the race. Actually we were joined by Draftington Mc Draften-hivington (actual name) on lap 8 but after I politely reminded him the legal gap was 7 meters not 7cm (actual words) he dropped off my wheel...to Kates, however he didn't last long on hers either.
Towards the end of the bike I rode back to the front to get a clear run into T2. Off the bike and Andy and I ran out off T2 together. I put on a bit of a surge from the get go and was pretty happy when Andy didn't some with me. It was a pretty uneventful 4 lap run course and I felt I was running fairly strong, the support when running past the transition was great. I honestly think the most enjoyable part was running past the aid stations with filled to the brim cups of water!! Take note other WA race organisers!!
With 2k to go I was fairly comfortably in 3rd so I eased up and crossed the like with a 2.03. Post race we enjoyed a great lunch with the club and got to share a few stories. With so many people racing on differing abilities it was really enjoyable to have a chat after a great race.
From here we packed up the car and headed for the long drive back, only made bearable by Kates brilliant performance of her 80's music filled iPod.
Thank you to Total Triathlon and Fremantle Tri Club for their support to get a small group of us down for the race, and especially the boys from TT to get my machine ready to race as well. From here 2 weeks to Busso 70.3, things are looking good and I can't wait for the last race of the season!
Until then :)
