Cfn Ryan Mayne finished third in his age group in the Xterra World Championships.

Among the best
ADF triathletes competitive in world-class events

By WO2 Greg Young
AWESOME is probably the best way to describe the Noosa Triathlon experience.

From its humble beginnings in 1983 the event has grown to become the second largest triathlon in the world attracting more than 3600 competitors.

It is an opportunity for ADF triathletes of all ability to compete along side the world’s best triathletes.

The Noosa Multi Sports Festival spans 10 days and includes numerous sporting events including a 5km run and the 1km ocean swim. But the showcase of the festival is the triathlon, with more than 30,000 spectators lining the course along Noosa Sound.

The fastest ADF female competitor was WO2 Shelley Foster in a time of 2hr 22min 19sec and finished second in her age group to pick up some valuable points for the 2003 World Championships.

Second place went to Sig Esther Smith and third was Cpl Adriana Krommenhoek.

The fastest ADF male competitor in this year’s event was Capt Stirling Keen in 2hr 5min 49sec and finished 86th overall and placed 10th in his age group.

Second place went to Cfn Ryan Mayne and third went to Maj Jeff Rudd who was third in his age group.

All the other individual and team competitors performed to their best ability and gave it all they had to show the civilian community that the ADF is able to hold its own in the sporting field.

The Australian Services Triathlon Association (ASTA) and Uncle Toby’s supported the 34 ADF triathletes who competed in the event from all parts of Australia.

All members of the ADF team were presented with an ADF race singlet for the event to make the team easily identifiable out on the course and a participation certificate.

A pleasant morning greeted the 1800 competitors as they prepared to set out on their 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

The elite males hit the water to signify the start with the age groupers who headed off every four minutes in wave after wave with up to 150 competitors in each wave.

The action was frantic, at one stage there were swimmers in the water, cyclists covering the entire 40km of the cycle course and the elite males had started the run leg.

The elite male race was won by Craig Walton in 1hr 46mins 38sec, while the females was taken out by Tracey Ellingham in 2hr 2min 8sec.

Xterra World Championships
Cfn Ryan Mayne finished third in the 20-24 age group Xterra World Championships consisting of a 1.5km swim, 30km mountain bike and 11km cross-country run.

He finished in 3:00:12 in testing 28 degrees with 85 per cent humidity.

“It was by far the toughest race of my life,” he said.

Two other ADF triathletes also made the long haul to Hawaii.

The swim was a two-lap course with a 50m run in between. It was a chaotic mass start of 450 people.

Although only 50m, the run between laps made the heart rate go through the roof, though once back in the water for the second lap it was not difficult to get going again.

The water was crystal clear with the bottom of the ocean in view around the whole course.

Cfn Mayne exited the water two minutes ahead of his closest age group rivals before heading out of T1 on the long ride up the side of Mt Haeleakla.

The ride consisted of three major climbs, a total of 3000ft – the first, appropriately named Heartbreak Hill – was about 1km long and extremely steep in sections. From there it was a short ride across the mountain before hitting the second climbing section, once again, steep and hard.

After that climb the track consisted of short downhill and uphill sections which were rough and dangerous with large rocks hidden in the short grass.

It was this section where the US age group champ caught Cfn Mayne and they rode together until hitting the bottom of last climb – 2.5km of sand and gravel with an average gradient of 16 per cent.

Cfn Mayne lost three minutes on the climb and once at the top had easy 8km downhill to T2 or so he thought.

The downhill was so rough that he found it extremely hard just holding on, fatigue playing a big part also.

After a change of shoes in T2, Cfn Mayne set off on the 11km run. A short stint through a windy single track took him to the first beach run.

As swimmers and bystanders cheered, he started to cramp severely in the legs.

“I thought my race was over, I cramped simultaneously in my hamstrings and the quads making it difficult to stretch.”

He lost about two minutes before a timely magnesium tablet eased the pain and allowed him to continue.

The run then continued through a single track over and under trees, a short bitumen stretch, another single track and bitumen stretch where the English age group champion overtook him.

From there the run went across three more beaches, one rocky and two sandy, and a last short rocky stint which entered the finishing shoot and finally, the finish line which was nothing but a godsend.

• For further information on Triathlon, contact WO2 Greg Young on (02) 9600 4366.

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