Australian Kate Bevilaqua on her win at Ironman Korea 2011
Australian Kate Bevilaqua is one very excited professional triathlete after taking out Ironman Korea. It was a last minute decision to race in Korea and it turned out to be a great weekend for the Bevilaqua/Crawford household after partner Guy was 2nd overall in the Korea 70.3 triathlon on the same day.
The main comment from everyone who raced there was that it was a tough, hot and humid day with the run causing a lot of grief for everyone. Kate and Guy will be glad to be back in Boise, USA in the next couple of days.
Kate’s race went exactly to plan. She knew it was going to be tough with the heat and humidity and the run course being so brutal with a never ending ‘up and down’ the entire 42km. “I knew Maki Nishiuchi and Hillary Biscay were the strongest swimmers and my goal was to minimise the time difference to within 5 mins. I was able to do this and the goal was to use my bike strength to get me to the front of the race. I felt good throughout the bike and onto the beginning of the run.” For Kate it was then just a matter of ‘aid station to aid station’ and getting as much nutrition and electrolytes in as possible. “I even stopped 1500m before the finish line at the last aid station because I wanted to enjoy the moment and not crawl like in Ironman Western Australia!!”
There are always issues in any Ironman. It is such a long day that there are always highs and lows and Kate went through them like everyone else does. “I had my usual flat sections on the bike but I was able to push through and the nature of the course made it easy to break down. But definitely on the run there were a few issues. Because I was so conscious about getting extra fluids in on the bike, 5-6kms into the run I had a bad stitch that forced me to walk. I was trying everything and wish I knew what the secret is to get rid of it, I thought it was going to be a long walk, but lucky after a few walk-run sections it did eventually go away and I was able to keep running. The last 6km’s has some long steep climbs in them and after already running 35km they seem to take forever to get up but knowing that I was so close to winning my second Ironman title was motivation enough!”
Kate’s year is now progressing very well. She still does not know whether she has enough points for Kona but with a win at WA and Korea surely there are enough points. “I always begin the year a bit slow because I take a break over Christmas and New Year. I always race Ironman New Zealand because I love it. Even though I am underdone it is a great kick start to the year. The focus was then Ironman Lanzarote but unfortunately half way through the bike I was stung multiple times by a wasp and had to withdrawal. I was disappointed with the outcome of the Lanzarote triathlon but it has been more than made up bu my partner Guy Crawford and I deciding at the last minute to go to Korea to race. We are both glad we did now!”
On the way to Kona for Kate there are still some big races coming up but she will know by the end of the month whether she has a slot. “First up is some R & R, then probably some shorter races to work on some speed, mixed in with long miles. Racing…I am still not sure yet, but plan on travelling to Eugene Oregon for the Rolf Prima Tri at the Grove at the end of the month, and Emmett Olympic Distance race in Boise in August.”
