Sam Betten and Brittany Dutton win Gatorade Queensland Triathlon Series Race 2

Race 2 of the Gatorade Queensland Triathlon Series (Robina event) was conducted under some rather heavy looking weather yesterday, however the event went ahead without too much rain.   The event, just like event 1, sold out, with a record 1,700 entries. This is the first time Robina has sold out since its inception in 1993. A few key changes to the race course from the last few years, lead to a much friendly view course for spectators and a great atmosphere.

Another solid elite field showed up with Sam Betten producing a blistering bike leg to storm home in front of his training partners, Drew Box and Matt Brown. In the Female event, Brittany Dutton, in her first senior open race, caught Annelise Jefferies in the run leg to take home the win, with Jodie Duff finishing a strong third.

After spending his time since the Noosa Triathlon a couple of weeks ago doing some light training Betten set his sights on race 2 of the Queensland Gatorade Triathlon Series. The race distance was a 400m swim, 15km ride and a 4km run, a bit shorter than he has been racing over recent times, over what was a very flat course. In addition to racing last weekend Betten was asked to present medals to the kids triathlon participants at the finish line.

Betten lead the swim early on but then found himself on the feet of Box and McMaster. “Drew Box and Bryce McMaster took the lead and kept up a solid tempo for the rest of the swim. On the run into transition I lost a little time and really pushed hard to make up the seconds lost on the first straight towards the bike turn around. After passing the guys ahead I pushed my Shiv hard and established a solo lead of 1min 20 seconds by the time I hit T2.”

Betten obviously pushed hard on the bike and with the two ITU runners right behind him the run would be a real battle. “After the first of two laps on the run I could see the eventual 2nd & 3rd place finishers Drew Box and Matt Brown pushing the pace but hoped that the gap I had established on the bike would be too much for them to overcome over the 4km run.”

Betten took his time to enjoy the finish shoot jogging the last hundred meters to claim the win. “These events have become quite competitive in recent years and winning one of these races is by no means easy so I was really happy to take the win. Congratulations must go to my training partners Drew Box & Matt Brown for their 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Its great to share the podium with these guys as I know just how hard we all work in training pushing each other each and every day”