DESPITE all the international talent on show at the recent XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship race at Callala Beach in Jervis Bay, some local athletes stole the show.
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In their respective events, several members of the Jervis Bay Triathlon Club won their events during the second annual running of the event.
Darren Atkinson and Wayne Elder won the in the men’s relay team event, which involved a 1.5km swim, 34km mountain bike ride and 10km run.
Their team name, As Fast as Lightning, was fitting as they finished the course in a time of 3 hours 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
Earlier on, Julie Dart joined forces with Janelle Prout and Jemma Dart in the women’s sprint relay team event.
The team, named Double J, won the event in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 49 seconds.
This is an impressive achievement considering the competitive field on hand, and two of the team members were older than 50-years-of-age.
In the main events of the weekend, Braden Currie and Flora Duffy won the men’s and women’s elite titles.
In the men’s race, the adverse conditions played right into the strengths of Braden Currie, one of the best adventure racers in the world.
“It was awesome, it was wet, it was muddy, it was actually quite technical because it was so loose but it’s stuff that you don’t get hurt on so you can hit it as hard as you can and if you crash you jump back up and go again,” said Currie.
Flora Duffy took most of the drama right out of the women’s race right from the start with another dominating performance on her way to her 10th XTERRA Championship win in 11 tries since the start of the 2014 season.
The 27-year-old two-time Olympian from Devonshire, Bermuda had the fastest swim (almost two minutes over Barbara Riveros), the quickest bike (more than two minutes over Riveros) and the second-best run split (less than one-minute behind Riveros) to take the tape in 2:36:40, a full three-minutes in front of Riveros.
“It was a tough day out there,” said Duffy.
“I really wanted to defend this title, and it’s a lot harder defending.
“I seem to be the favourite no matter what and I wanted to attack the swim and nail the bike, ride the technical bits as best I could.
“I had a few issues out there, though, with a couple mechanicals and a little crash.
“It was super muddy, and I just tried to run steady, and not push too hard.
“I’m really happy with how it went.”
Other locals that achieved success in the sprint distance event at the weekend include Sharon Patrick (fifth in 45-49 years), Kim Von Prott (second in 55-59), Mick Boyne (13th in 40-44), Matt Bryant (fourth in 30-34) and Jon Schol (first in 50-54).
Jervis Bay Triathlon Club’s Tim Connell (15th in 40-44 years) and Bill Stalhhut (2nd in 50-54) rounded out a strong weekend for the club.
