Race 6 Gatorade/Active Feet Race Report Portarlington

65 athletes, 12 Podiums, numerous PB’s, loads of first timers, impressive dismounts and some inspirational efforts…..
This year Race 6 of the Gatorade / Active Feet Series was gearing up to be a big one. Portarlington is the most scenic courses in the series and to head away for a couple of days to race always adds some excitment and enthusiasm amongst athletes. A lot of athletes starting arriving in the idyllic country town on Friday afternoon and it wasn’t long before a gathering at the local pub The Grand for a feed and a bit of banter pre race. We even had our first win for the weekend with Dave Nealon taking home a pub raffle winning himself a bottle of wine – we were all secretly gunning for a meat tray though to throw on the barbie on Sunday!

There was a huge turn out for our pre race session on Saturday morning at the race venue. 40+ athletes were eager to have a ride and run over the course to familiarise themselves and get a feeling for how their body was feeling for the race. There were extra nerves for those who were racing at this venue for the first time and for those tackling the new long course event. But with the sun shining and the water clear everyone was pumped to race.

Our athletes did a superb job again in lending a hand to SuperSprint Events to go on record for the fastest transition set up. Although there were some questionable ‘straight lines’! 🙂 Well done team – much appreciated by everyone and there were no reports of any racks falling down. (phew!)

A swim in the ocean, a quick TA Taj set up (another record we think!) and athletes were free to chill out for the rest of the afternoon and go through their own pre race rituals. Some can be more interesting that others……including:

• Devouring a packed a squirms, m&m’s and chips
• Catching a wave in Torquay
• Coaching a basketball team
• Having a burger and chips for dinner
• But as we say – whatever works for you! 🙂

For those who hadn’t been to Portarlington before they were in awe of how beautiful the place was and couldn’t wait to get out in the morning for a training run before racing on Sunday.

Sunday morning athletes were up bright an early as usual, with the Active Feet kick starting the day at 7.15am. This means a nice early start and getting to the venue before most others are have even stirred. We had some great numbers in the Active Feet including our latest Try-the-Tri group who had been training the house down and we secretly new they were going to do exceptionally well.

Active Feet Results/Acievements: 17 Athletes, 4 podiums

• Steve Hollingsworth had an amazing FIRST triathlon and came away with 2nd in his age group! Awesome job Steve!
• Chris Dixon (other half of Eleesha Nesci) came down for a run around (or was that Eleesha convincing him??) and proved that he could be one to watch in the coming years as he blitzed the field finishing 1st M30-39 and 4th overall.
• Juliet Cooper showing she can mix it with another podium finishing 3rd in her prep for her marathon run in the Ironman this weekend.
• John Giordano had another great one, gaining confidence each race (and placings!) now just outside the top 10 in M40-49
• Team Warriors teamed up again and landed themselves on the podium in 3rd.
• Viola Nadj had a top race after some interuppted raining and placed 10th F30-39
• Lisa Leong completed her first open water triathlon and did super well for someone who struggled to swim in the open water only a couple of months ago – well done Lisa!
• Wendy Wates had a great race showing sheer determination throughout and continues to improve
• Issy Biddle had her break through race for the season as she recently turned ‘legal race age’ and finished 4th in her first race. Top work Issy!
• Claire Manley puyt on a brave face as she comes back from a foot injury so was great to see her out there.
• Rhea Sheltus one of our Try-the-Tri’s had a race to remember for the wrong reasons as she was faced with a dilemma of a broken chain half way through the bike leg and had to run her way back to transition. Well done for finishing thoug Rhea!

CLICK HERE to check out full Tri Alliance athlete race results

Gatorade Results/Acievements: 48 athletes, 8 podiums
The Gatorade Distance Race has going to be hotly contested by many of our top athletes and everyone was looking forward to the challenge of the longer distance race 800m/26mk/8km, a big step up for some but everyone handled the race well.

• Ryan Bourke had his best race of the season, finishing 2nd 25-29M and 7th fastest overall in a super fast field of elite and age groupers.
• Peter Rainey continues his form and backing up from Victor Habour last week with another 3rd podium finish
• Geoff Taylor has another consistant race finishing 2nd M 55-59
• Lisa Dominquez also lands on the podium again finishing 2nd F30-34
• Xavier Flynn an outstanding result for someone new to the sport finishing 3rd fastest Tri Alliance athlete
• Natalie Methvan will be one to watch as she just misses out on her first podium (on her new P3!), finshing 4th F25-29
• Brad Campbell secures more points for his series contention with 3rd Clydesdales
• Peter Tucker a new Try-the-Tri had a smashing first race and finished 4th in the first timers. More to come from this guy!
• Andrew Chappo Chapman had a solid race to come in 4th Clydesdales
• Emily Hosken didn’t have her best race but still came away with 4th F 15-19 and most importantly didn’t give up no matter what the race threw at her!
• Greg Sullivan another first timer had a great one finishing 9th
• Dale Robinson’s recent altitude training has done her wonders finishing first in  Athenas
• Nikki Chambers a Try-the-Tri in first timers smashed the field coming in 1st, giving her a great confidence boost!
• Lidia Ursini couldn’t wipe the smile off her face when she learnt she had her first podium finish 3rd Athenas, perfect timing as she leads into Mooloolaba this weekend.

CLICK HERE to check out full Tri Alliance athlete race results

Other special/noteable mentions

• Nola MacGregor is a true inspiration and the effort showed as she crossed the finishing line with nothing left in the tank. Watch out Geelong 2013!
• Sonia Gregoul for not only sorting out herself, her wardrope mishap and her kids. Top effort!
• John-Paul Collins had a smashing bike time and great race overall
• Xavier Flynn smoking the run course – the boy can fly!
• Sheridan Browns consistant training is paying off with a solid race
• The boys in the 35-39 age group fitting it out for bragging rights, with them all having great races including JP, Mark Casey, Hendo, Des Minton, Tim Grant
• Sean Helmot for having to be told by Coach Sarah to do up his bike shoes half way into the ride 😉
• Impressive mounting from the girls including Sarah Lausberg and Dale Robinson – nice work team!
• John Louis showing the rest of us how to dismount overtaking 4 people heading into T2. Simon Gronow and Lance Willie also impressed the crowd.
• Belinda Griffiths and Andy Wood-rich having graceful recoveries after a less than graceful dismount (shame we didn’t have the video on!!)

Reports from the race from athletes included a slightly challenging swim with the majority of the swim straight into the sun glare, and with a slight current so times for some may have been a little slower than you were hoping if you struggled with navigation. The ride was decieving as the majority of the first half is a ‘false flat’ so you are heading ever so slightly uphill, and the dead road saps the speed and energy from the legs. The run is challenging with the rolling hills – but makes for a fast run back to the finish line so no one needed to know how much you were hurting! 😉

Well done again to everyone who raced – 65 athletes at an ‘away’ race is fantastic (plus our 15 long course athletes) and we can’t wait for the last race of the Gatorade/Active Feet Series in StKilda on Sunday 1 April.
Don’t forget we will be having post race drinks at the Nest in Port Melbourne from 3.30pm. Click here to RSVP.

Click here to read our Long Course Race Report from Portarlington