One of our junior athletes, Trigg Faulkner, headed ‘over East’ to race one of Australia’s most well known races…
I started looking for a Triathlon in Brisbane or the Gold Coast that I could attend. The reason I wanted to do one over there was that my Aunty Nick (who is blind) lives there and I really wanted to let her experience a Triathlon up close. She rings me or I ring her immediately after any race that I do and we discuss my results and how I went.
We found the Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon with dates that suited. As part of the weekend there was the ITU Gold Coast race on Saturday and the Luke Harrop race was on Sunday, and saw that I could apply for a 3 day Rising Star Clinic as part of the event. I had to enter my best results, a summary of why I would be suited to the clinic and a recommendation from my coach.
I was selected to be part of the Clinic with 48 other athletes from around the country.
We arrived on the Gold Coast on Thursday and put the bike back together. Once I got it back together, there was a small adjustment needed on the front derailleur and the tyres pumped up. We headed to the nearest bike shop and I was soon ready for action.
On Friday, the Rising Stars met at the venue to collect our race pack, meet some of the Pro’s (I got Aaron Royle and Ashleigh Gentle autographs) and have photos.
I went and had a look at the course and the transition areas so that I was ready for my race.
On Saturday Morning, we arrived at the venue to watch the woman’s and men’s ITU races from the VIP section of the grandstand. It was fantastic to see these athletes at their best. I was really surprised that athletes at elite level still suffer from the hot and humid conditions. (Jonathan Brownlee was really suffering from the conditions at the end of his race). This made me concentrate on my water intake during the day and overnight before the race.
After the ITU event, we had a swimming and running training session with the Triathlon Australia coaching staff. This was OK but after a long day in the sun and humidity, I was ready to go home. I think these sessions would have been better on the Friday instead of Saturday.
We also had to rack our bikes on Saturday, I guess this was because of the large amount of competitors (I think 2100 entries).
When I got back to the apartment, we had a pasta meal and my intention was to get to bed early. As I was getting ready for bed the sky erupted with a 45 minute fireworks show. We were on the 19th floor and they were exploding right in front of us. I stayed up and watched them and eventually got to bed at 9 PM, much later than I planned.
Race day (300m/10km/2.5km)– We arrived at the venue at 5:30 am for a 7 am race start. I set up transition and went for a run and swim warmup and headed to the start line.
At the start line, I positioned myself at the front and was ready for the start. With about 30 seconds to go extra people forced their way into the front of the start line and I found myself being shouldered and pushed back by the bigger competitors. (I will never allow this to happen again). I was in the 12 – 15 yo age group and was one of the smallest there.
When the race started, 2 of the people that had forced me out, fell over and I smiled as I ran past them. Once we hit the water, I ran until it was faster to swim and then started to swim. It was shallow for another 20m after I started to swim and the majority of others were porpoising (this is a skill that I must develop) and were much faster than me in the beginning. I then swam really hard to catch up and came out of the water in 21st position.
It was a long run to the bike and a long run to the mount line. I had the 9th fastest T1 and was really happy with it.
The bike course was a 10km loop on good roads with a reasonably long mound just after the start and just before the finish. I was happy with my ride and made up 4 spots and came off the bike in 17th spot. The bike felt good, but I think this is an area where I could make large improvements and plan to really concentrate on the bike leg over the next few months.
My T2 was really good and I had the 2nd fasted transition for the 12- 15 age group. (3rd fastest out of all 345 Enticer competitors).
The run course 2.5km loop course with the same hill as on the bike. I ran at 4.33/km pace and this is pretty good for me. Even though I was happy with my run pace, it felt really hard to run and I struggled to find a rhythm. I ran as hard as I could and was really happy to see the finishing arch.
I finished in 19th position. I really enjoyed the race and it was great to be part of such a large, well planned event. – Trigg Faulkner
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