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Group Picture at Yeppoon 2009

THE PERFECT 10!

At the age of just 26 Mackay’s Adrian Ellul has shown he is a model of consistency by recently competing in his tenth consecutive Rydges Capricorn Half Ironman Triathlon at Yeppoon last Sunday. Adrian is one of only two competitors to achieve the feat and he has been synonymous around the triathlon scene, not just in Australia but also competing in Hawaii, in his famously bright pink triathlon suit.

Ellul was one of over 20 competitors from Mackay participating in the gruelling 1.9km ocean swim, 90.1km bike ride and then 21.1km run event. Stand out performances from the Mackay Triathlon Club included Ron Gordon just beating the remarkable Tom Valena (the winner for ages 55-59) by only 23seconds after nearly 5 hours of racing. Good performances were also recorded by Brendan Camilleri, Brendon Brauer and Darren Galea amongst the men with Mackay’s Stephanie Ziser producing a blistering half marathon run to come home as the first Mackay female beating home the consistent Lisa Harding by a mere 25 seconds after over 5 ½ hours of hard racing. Notable performances also came from Alice Single finishing her first half ironman and Kim Hill showing that he still has what it takes to finish even though over 50. Good performances also came from Russell “ka-ching $10” O’Hara, Cameron Single and Clayton Thorley who all recorded solid times, although O’Hara appeared to be out there long enough that his time could have been measured with a calendar.

The race director said that these were very good results for Mackay as there were over 700 individual competitors and the Mackay Tri Club managed an age group first place for Tom Valena and a first place in the mixed teams division (Team Corry Cycles - Jayne Moyle, Narelle Bamford (in a personal best run time) and David O’Connell) out of the 28 teams competing. Half Ironman Race Director Nick Munting considered Adrian’s achievement of never missing a single Capricorn Half Ironman over ten years so remarkable that Adrian received a special presentation at the awards dinner.

The race enters into its 11^th running next year so on 15 August 2010 Adrian Ellul will be looking to take the pink suit around the course one more time.

NQX DUATHLON FINAL– LAMBERTS BEACH SUNDAY 23rd AUGUST

Approximately 30 competitors enjoyed the grueling new course set for the third and final NQX duathlon race today. The first 4km run saw competitors enjoying the ocean views along the esplanade towards the Seabreeze Tavern before heading up to Lambert’s lookout. This circuit was done twice, with competitors then heading out onto the 13km cycle leg for the 4 loop circuit of Lamberts Beach and Slade Point. After the cycle it was more punishment for the legs with a third run up the lookout to complete the 2km run, with the race finishing at the playground area. The men’s race saw Darren Galea lead the first 4km run coming into transition ahead of Derek Woods, Craig Pinkstone and David Vines (who has returned after a 5 year break from racing). Craig Pinkstone had a scorching cycle leg, overtaking Galea and coming off the bike first into Transition 2, with Cameron Single edging up into third place. Galea had another strong run leg up the lookout regaining the lead once more and finishing just 29 seconds ahead of Pinkstone in a time of 47.50. Vines finished very strongly in third place with Woods in fourth with an impressive time of 50.52, backing up after his 50^th birthday celebrations the night before. Overall placings for the series were Darren Galea 1^st, Craig Pinkstone 2^nd and Noel Barnett 3^rd. In the women’s race Narelle Bamford lead off strongly from Alison Friswell, Tammy Lando and Katie May. Friswell overtook Bamford just before the second climb of the lookout, however Bamford displayed her mountain climbing form and regained the lead from Friswell half way up the lookout, managing to keep the lead for the remainder of the race. Bamford finished the race in 56.04, rounding off her third win for the series ahead of Friswell, Lando and May. Overall results for the series saw Bamford take out 1^st place, followed by Alice Single in 2^nd and Cilla Martland 3^rd. NQX representative Geoff Ansell presented all place getters with a medal and prize money. We welcomed a few new comers and a returned life member Warren (Mengy) Meng to the event today, “Conditions could not have been better at Lamberts Beach today” said Bamford. It was an absolute beautiful morning to be competing amongst friends. Rumor has it there was fierce competition between seasoned racers Noel Barnett and Clayton Thorley, after Barnett had secured two wins over Thorley in the first two races of the series. Thorley however, got his revenge today beating Barnett across the line. Thorley wasn’t the only one to be chuffed about beating Barnett either. It is also well known that birthday boy Derek Woods, was quite happy to take out 1^st in their age category ahead of Barnett. It is suggested that maybe Noely needs to go back to wearing his famous ‘double pluggers’ he wore at a Mirani event. Congratulations to the three generation team completing the event - Matty Stevens, Lachlan Stevens and Col Etwell (Sharon's dad)
The Next race on the out of town calendar is the Airlie Beach sprint distance triathlon on Sunday 30^th August. Good luck to a number of club members who are traveling up there to compete. Locally the next triathlon will be on Sunday 13^th September at the Mackay Surf Club. For further details contact race director Narelle Bamford on 0400 456 621.

NQX overall winners 2009

Cilla, Alice, Narelle, (Geoff), Darren, Craig and Noel

Airlie Beach 2009

Brendan, Heath, Narelle, Gavin, Derek and Craig

Several of Mackay Triathlon Club members travelled to Airlie Beach on the weekend to compete in the sprint distance triathlon (750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run). Conditions were absolutely perfect and some fantastic personal best times were recorded. There was a hot competition for first place amongst the male racers from Mackay we had three crossing the line in 1hr 4min. David Vines continues his come back only 16 seconds ahead of Craig Pinkstone and Brendan Camilleri followed in 3rd by only 23 seconds.
Amongst the women Narelle Bamford crossed the line first in 1hr 15min ahead of Nicolette Horak in 1hr 17min and Helen Stark in 1hr 19min. Congratulations to all members on a great race and especially Heath Legerche who completed his first triathlon in a time of 1hr 23min.

Special mention goes to Brendan Camilleri, Russell O'Hara and Ron Steele who will be participating in the annual “Bottlemart Smiling for Smiddy Challenge” from the 5th to the 12th of September. This year 50 riders, are seeking to raise $500,000.00 for world-class cancer research at the Mater Hospital and “Beyond Blue” a foundation set up for helping with Men’s Depression.

This year, they have taken the challenge to ride the 1600kms in 8 days from Brisbane to Homehill in memory of Adam Smiddy and Craig Little. The money which is raised will be split between the Mater Hospital - Melanoma and Prostate Cancer Research and Beyond Blue for Men’s Mental Health. Their personal target is $100,000. For further details or to donate now go to http://www.everydayhero.com.au/brendan_camilleri your support is much appreciated.

Next race locally is on Sunday 13th September at Mackay Surf Club Outer Harbour
400m swim / 17km cycle / 4km run. Circuit will be completed once for the short course race and
800m swim / 34km cycle / 8km run. First circuit completed twice for the long course race

Race is sponsored by Corry Cycles and there will be prizes for 1st male and female in each race and 1st team in each race. Following presentations will be random draw prizes
Entry is $15 non members and $10 for members. Team entry is $10 per team member.
Contact race director Narelle on 0400 456 621 for further details

CORRY CYCLES TRIATHLON

Mark McFadzen, Cam Single, Sponsor Ryan Corry and Daren Galea

Sunday 13^th September – Corry Cycles Triathlon

Over 30 competitors lined up to start the short and long course format. It was a windy morning, water was a bit lumpy….however water safety was on hand with thanks to Mackay Surf Club.
Half the field completed the Short Course including 4 Teams consisting of 1 loop 400m swim course set by water safety crew at the Mackay Surf Club 1 loop 17km cycle from the surf club along Slade Point road to Seabreeze Tavern and back 1 loop 4km run from the surf club to the end of the breakwater back to the finish line at the surf clubTeam swimmer Kristian Foxon exited the water first in a time of 6m 07s followed by Antony Evans from Bowen, Jenny Grundy and Rod Egan. David O’Connell cycled well for his team and held the lead coming into transition first ahead of Rob Hill and Rod Egan. Derek Woods had a scorching run time of 16m 35s passing everyone and crossing the line in first place. Male winners for short course were 1^st Derek Woods 56m 42s 2^nd Liam Silvester 57m 28s (completed1^st triathlon) 3^rd Rod Egan 57m 40s (from Bowen) Female winners were 1^st Jo McLaughlin 2^nd Nicolette Horak and 3^rd Jenny Grundy 1^st Team across the line was T6 - Kristian Foxon (swimmer) and David O’Connell, who dusted off his running shoes and completed the cycle and run legs in a time of 58m 30s followed closely by only 6 seconds was T14 Graham Lenz, Andre Horak and Scott Todd then in third was the other O’Connell team with Di and Eloise coming in at 1hr 2m. Thirteen year old Eloise was very happy to have beaten her dad’s run time, running the 4km in 20m 40s a full half minute faster…
The other half of the field backed up for the second loop of the swim for the Long Course 800m swim, 34km cycle, 8km run
2 loops of 400m swim 2 loops of 17km cycle and 2 loops of 4km run
Matthew Stevens completed the 800m first ahead of Darren Galea and David Morters. Cam Single, who set the bike course, was true to form having the fastest bike time for 34km of 58m 36s coming into transition first ahead of Galea and Stevens. Single and Galea ran the 8km together head to head and crossed the finish line 1hr 49s together for a draw (actually holding hands I might add) Mark McFadzen sprinted the 8km run in 34m 15s and grabbed the podium position of 3^rd place in 1hr 51s
In women’s race Tammy Lando held the lead until the final loop of the run course when road runner Jeanette Farrugia overtook her with an amazing run time for 8km of 37m 05s claiming first place in an overall time of 2h 5m only one minute ahead of Lando and in third was Karen Kidd from Middlemount in 2hr 20m
Special thank you to our volunteers Warren Meng, Cilla Martland, Gavin Bamford and Geoff Ansell without whom the races would not run and of course our sponsors, Corry Cycles, City Fitness, Lorna Jane and Solutions. Race director Narelle Bamford welcomed a lot of new faces to the club and wanted to thank everyone for their participation.

Tammy Lando, Karen Kidd, Jeanette Farrugia and Sponsor Ryan Corry

Multisport

Luke Arlott, Cilla Martland and Rob Arlott

Last Sunday the Mackay Triathlon Club held a Multisport event at Rowellen Park encompassing a road bike leg, a cross country run, and a mountain bike leg. Competitors could elect to do any one or all of the events over the course of the morning. A terrific number of competitors from the Cycling Club and Mountain Bike Club joined triathletes to race over the three very challenging courses.

The road race was an individual time trial over 24 very hilly kilometres. Talented Mackay cyclists Cam Single, Ron Laird and John Butz showed their skills on the bike, coming in first, second and third with Narelle Bamford riding strongly to finish first five minutes clear of Alice Single and Allison Friswell for the women.

The run consisted of a two loop affair through the bush with plenty of uneven terrain and hills to test the competitors. Matty Stevens took an unlucky spill and ended up finishing behind Derek Woods who has been consistently running well over the season. Luke Arlott was close on Stevens heels, coming in only 7 seconds behind him. This race was a lot closer for the women with Friswell only finishing half a minute behind Bamford, with Single relegated to third.

The most challenging race was left until last, with a three loop mountain bike course which included hills and creek crossing seeing most competitors take at least one spill off the bike. Once again seasoned cyclists showed every-one how it is done, with Single completing the course in an amazing 20 minutes- 2 minutes clear of the rest of the field. Peter Lally and David Wilhelmi rounded out the top 3 finishes for the men. Bamford once again won this race by the narrowest of margins, with Friswell and Single coming in not too far behind.

Overall winners for the morning were Cam Single and Narelle Bamford.
The Mackay Triathlon Club would like to acknowledge and thank the Mackay Mountain Bike Club for preparing the course and hosting the event at their new base.

First Timers Triathlon

Corey Duncan & Kyra Brownsey

Over 20 competitors lined up for the First Timers Triathlon on Sunday 25th October at Mackay Memorial Swimming Pool.
The race started with a 2 lap, 100m swim followed by a 5 lap, 6km cycle around Caneland Central Carpark then a 2km run to Mackay Lagoons, back along river street to the finish line at the pool. Race director, Gavin Bamford said, it was great to see so many current Mackay Triathlon Club members on hand supporting and encouraging competitors.
First across the line was Corey Duncan, who has been in Mackay for six months and looks as though he may be hooked to the sport, finishing in 22 min 43 seconds followed by female junior road runner, 12yr old Kyra Brownsey in 24 min 14 seconds. Second place in the male category was 18yr old Tomas Cook, who has now joined the club and will be heading to Sarina for the next event, followed by Steve McDonald in third. In the female category second was Megan Atto followed by road runner Cilla Martland, who has competed in may duathlons but does not usually like to swim.
There were two team entries in first was co sponsor, Cityfitness, Steve Eden, with his 10 yr old son Josh Eden, followed by 9yr old Alexandra Westcott with Triathlon Club buddy Helen Stark.

Special thanks goes to Michelle and her team at Sugar Cafe at Rivage for being co sponsor of the race. Congratulations to all competitors, it was a great effort. Next race is on Sunday 8th November at Sarina Beach Surf Club, for further details please contact director Narelle Bamford on 0400 456 621

SARINA BEACH TRIATHLON 8/11/2009

Darren Galea and Steph Zieser

On Sunday 8th November 30 individual competitors and 4 teams completed the Sarina Beach Triathlon. Race Director Narelle Bamford wanted to thank Hayley and her team at Lorna Jane Canelands for being our race sponsor, along with Sarina Beach Motel and Athletics Foot for kind donations. Special thank you also to the water safety at Sarina Beach Surf Club and to the volunteers Gavin Bamford, Di & Dave O'Connell, Geoff Ansell, Kim Hill, Mark Grundy and Frankie without whom the race would not happen!

Article to follow from David 'SCOOP' O'Connell soon ....