Michael Fox wins Batemans Bay triseries Olympic Distance Triathlon

Michael Fox has won his second triseries triathlon in the 2010/2011 series with a superior all round performance on the day. Whilst the results show an almost four minute lead over second place Lindsey Wall Fox was pushed all the way by Sam Douglas who ended up collapsing dramatically on the run within 2kms of the finish and had to get attended to by the medical staff. He was later up and around and seemed to have recovered well. He had been suffering from
a virus during the week and this obviously took its toll in the race.In perfect race conditions and on possibly the toughest bike course that most competitors had faced in a race of this distance Fox and Sam Douglas raced away from the field on the bike after coming out of the water 1-2. Lindsey Wall and Shaun Vidler battled it out for second and third with wall eventually pulling away on the run to take second.

The swim was perfect with almost pool like conditions. The water got a little more wind affected for the sprint race held after the Olympic triathlon.

The bike course was tough with a long tough hill that required a small chain ring for almost all competitors. In the earlier enticer triathlon a large portion of the field resorted to walking their bikes up the hill.

The run course was perfectly flat with a lot of turns. We ran through a holiday park which was a little confusing with many competitors taking the wrong turn. Looking at the run times it seems that the tough bike course had a ne
gative impact on them. Most with GPS watches had the run at 10.25kms which would have also added around a minute to the quicker runners times and slightly more to the 2nd half of the field.

50-54 competitor Kevin Goodwin swam the 8th fastest swim of the day at 22:01. He then rode the 14th fastest bike of the day to finish 19th overall. It was good to see Alex Price back racing after a few months off with a foot injury. This was the longest run by 4kms that Alex has run since late 2010.

6th place Luke Gillmer came to Batemans Bay for a hit out on the road to his pro debut at Port Maquarie 70.3. Luke spent last year in Canada where he placed 5th overall as an age grouper in the Vancouver half ironman and also won the Canadian Amateur Championship.

Lauren Fitzgerald was the first women home in a time of 2:22. The race times were slower than we would normally see mainly due to the tough bike course. Sally Parker was 2nd overall with Jessica Simpson the 3rd woman home.

Presentation was held at the Catalina Club in Batemans Bay. This was attended by a few hundred people which provided a great atmosphere and a fitting end to a great day.

Overall series points should be updated in the next day or two on Elite Energy’s website. Presentation of the overall triseries age group winners will take place at the NSW Triathlon Club Champs presentation after the end of season triathlon in Forster on May 14.

The Elite Energy team put on yet another great race. Emo announced at presentation that he will be staging a long course triathlon in Batemans Bay in 2012. This race will be a 2km/120km/20km triathlon. This will be the same format as the 2011 Forster triathlon to be held later this year.