EXCEED END OF SEASON NEWSLETTER
Presentation and Meltdown
On Saturday 21st May we held the most prestigious triathlon awards in WA – the Exceed Triathlon Club Awards.
The award night was held at the Oxford Hotel. Although there was a mix up with the room it was still a great night. No small portion of cheap food for Exceed athletes, as we all enjoyed one of the biggest and best dinners any award night has ever had. Brad Hoskings was seen having 3rds and the very lean Katey Gibb was noted having 3 desserts – that is what the off season is about.
After the awards Kenty led the charge to the night clubs in Leederville. Lajos was last seen at 3.30 ish in the morning on the dance floor asking for money for a kebab for his long walk home (unconfirmed). A few people were known to be licking their wounds from the night on the tiles.
Awards
Rod Marton won the Clubman Award. This was presented to Rod for his work around the races, especially his ice bath at the City of Perth race. James and I gave the idea no credit at all but, come the end of the race in near 40 degree temperatures, it was the only thing that anyone wanted.
Lajos Varga won the Fastest Male and Michelle Duffield won the Fastest Female.
Katey Gibb won the First Annual Exceed Triathlete of the Year, achieving the highest number of points in the following: the top seven races; extra points for high end and international races; and races in the open and age group divisions. Only two (2) points separated the top four (4) athletes.
Ironman Houston and Lanzarote
Rod Marton went to Houston Ironman and had a race to remember and forget. After a rough (read lots of people in a small space) swim he exited transition to find that his wheel was rubbing on his brake. After stopping twice he then got down to business on the bike and set the fastest bike time in his age group of 4hrs 51 mins. He exited T2 with a 10 minute lead!! However 10 km down the road on the run the wheels fell off – he was a walking, shuffling mess. He managed a 4.04 run and ended with a 10 hrs 10 min finish. For 12 hours he thought he had blown it, with all those people in his age group passing him by. But in reality only 6 did and so he finished 7th and picked up a spot to Kona. He sent a picture of himself picking up his slot wearing his Exceed t shirt. We are the international club !!
John Cooke went to Lanzarote Ironman and found out what hills were. After exiting with his best swim time by 6 mins he got on the bike where he spent the next 7.30 hours battling winds, hills, heat and cold. He then struggled though the run and finished with a 13 hour Ironman. In his words 2 years ago he would not have finished the race. It was the hardest race he has done.
Raf Baugh – Not the forgotten Duathlete
Just a mention of one of our athletes or should I say duathlete Raf Baugh. Raf has been travelling the world racing duathlons in Europe. He does get slightly forgotten even by the Australian Triathlon Management and should be treated better. But although duathlon does not have the highest profile, the racing is no less intense. He has recently returned home after a win in the Basque region of Spain and 3rd place in the European Championships. He will be heading back overseas to compete in more duathlons, finishing with racing the World Championship in Spain for Australia in the Elite Division, later in the year. He is a great bloke and a world class duathlete, and all of us at Exceed TC wish him the best.
Hawaii Ironman World Championships Bound
Michelle Duffield, Alistair Press, Jason Nuttman and Rod Marton have qualified for Hawaii Ironman. They will be competing on the big island come October. They will have to endure long rides, cold mornings, the darkness and loneliness all to go to Kona and race with the legends. Well done and I hope after Ironman Korea we will have more going with these four (4).
Beijing Olympic and Sprint World Championships Bound
Elizabeth Sinclair, James Brodie and Ross Pedlow are heading to the ITU World Championships in China. Liz is racing the Sprint while James and Ross are racing the Olympic Distance – to be held over the Beijing Olympic Triathlon course. These three (3) will also have to combat the same elements of weather in training, but while the Kona crew will battle heat for their race we may be battling smog.
Soap Box
After what seemed like an impossible task Exceed Triathlon Club is off the ground, and we will be back again next year, which was goal number one. Goal number two was to win the Fastest Club at Club Championships Mandurah and we were only 4 people away from wining both titles. Goal number three was to help Exceed athletes on targeted races with pre and post race refreshments and encouragement. The fourth goal was to create a club were athletes could come and race and feel free to race to the best of their abilities in a culture that encouraged this. I feel we achieved all these goals well.
I would personally like to thank the Exceed Board of James Brodie, Paul Mckeirnan and Ben Talbot for being great board members and coming up with and knocking down some of the most hair brained ideas a triathlon club has ever heard of. Without these three people Exceed would not be here.
I would like to thank all the Exceed Members and families for putting up with the crazy sport of Triathlon. We do it because we love it, because we get it and because it is fun. I look forward to seeing you all again next year when we raise the bar even higher.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Cherie and son Joshua for allowing me to indulge my passion for Triathlon.
Enjoy the break and see you next season.
Ross Pedlow
President
Exceed Triathlon Club