Mike Phillips Returns To Racing At Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast

Mike Phillips has been plagued by injury for the past 12 months and was unable to finish his last professional race in January, but says he finally feels he’s in a good place to race.

“I have been battling with plantar fasciitis for the last 12 months but have finally got on top of it. My training is going well but having not raced in such a long time I am sure it will be a shock to the system,” said Phillips. “It will be great to be able to get in some consistent racing over the next six months. There are plenty of opportunities coming up in the Oceania region over summer.”

For the 2019 Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand champion, the Sunshine Coast destination was a major drawcard and factor behind his decision to race this weekend.

“After a lot of rain and cold during the Christchurch winter, the ‘Sunshine’ Coast sounded very appealing. I have raced here back in my ITU days, as well as for IRONMAN 70.3 World Champs. It’s an awesome course to race on,” he said.

A formidable competitor himself, Phillips will come against a strong Australian contingent of male pros at IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast, with last year’s winner Nicholas Free, multiple IRONMAN 70.3 champion Tim Reed, and reigning IRONMAN Cairns champion Max Neumann among the favourites to take out the title.

“All the pro fields these days seem to be stacked. I hope to be in the mix, but I think either way it will be a good test to see where I am at and help me prepare for all the further events across the summer,” said Phillips. “I’m looking forward to racing again in a competitive field of athletes in a world class location.”

Phillips says a place on the podium would be a dream outcome for his first race back after injury and would set him up nicely for a big summer of racing in Oceania.

“A podium would be a big tick for me coming back from injury and first race back,” he said. “I hope to race in IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne, IRONMAN Western Australia in Busselton and IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand in Taupō before the end of the year. Of course, the big one for me is IRONMAN New Zealand in March next year.”

Phillips will be joined in Mooloolaba by fellow Kiwi pro Hannah Wells. The Tauranga triathlete finished third at last year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast, and previously claimed the title at the 2019 event.

Having recently returned from a block of training and racing in the United States which culminated in a podium finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder last month, Wells will be hoping she can elevate herself back to the top of the podium this time around.

“I’m feeling more confident about Sunshine Coast than any other race so far this year. My fitness has been moving in the right direction all year and I’m finally at a stage where I am hitting some harder run sessions now, so I’m hoping that will set me up for my best run so far this year. I still think I have some way to go to get to peak fitness, but at least I can look for progress in this race,” said Wells.

“It would mean so much to win again. I love this race, it was my first pro race and first ever IRONMAN 70.3, so it always means a lot to race well at this one. It has been a while since I have taken the tape in an IRONMAN 70.3 and it has been a long build back to fitness for me after an injury at the end of last year, so to win would mean so much at the moment.”