Australian Long Course Triathlon

After spending some awesome time training up at Falls Creek over New Year I was hanging to get up there again for some fun in the mountains, this time for the 2XU Falls Creek Long Course Triathlon. Considering how unreal the course is, and the fact that is was an Australian Championship, it was somewhat surprising to see just two of us on the pro female start line...myself and World 70.3 Champ Mel Rollison. The much talked about scheduling clash of 2 long course tri's in Victoria on the same weekend and the brutality of the course may have been the reasoning for this, however you can only race who turns up.

The fact that there were only two of us totally changed the dynamics of the race. With great respect for Mel and the amazing athlete she is, my focus changed from racing for a place, to racing myself and trying to improve on last years time, all while having the privilege of a one-on-one lesson in racing by the worlds number 1 triathlete.

The race day conditions were perfect, credit must go to SuperSprint for bringing the start time forward an hour to avoid the afternoon storm front that would roll in.

Once we were set on our way for the 2km swim, and the blood started to flow, the chilly 15 degree water temperature soon began to feel like a bath...and thankfully that was the last of the chill that I would feel all day.



Altitude plays with the body, and as such the swim felt a lot harder than usual, however I managed to keep it controlled and exited the water with Mel closely on my heels. It was then onto the bike for the 3 lap, 80km cycle. With 6 kickers each lap, it made it tough to get into a rhythm. However my new Malvern Star TT felt the goods, and rocketed me to a bike time that was 4min quicker than last year and within 2min of Rollison.

Mel quickly stamped her authority on the run as she put 8min into me over the 20km course and streaked ahead for the win. Meanwhile, the amazing views out to the mountains helped take my mind off burning legs, as I recorded a run time 2min quicker than last year and crossed the line with a 6min pb.



Falls Creek is an amazing location for a triathlon. It is tough, it is hard and there is a lot of apprehension prior to race day day. However it is truly worth making the trip for and it would be great to see this event grow in the future and see more girls on the start line. SuperSprint did an awesome effort staging such a great event in testing and unpredictable conditions.

Huge thank you to all the support on the race course and to Mum and Dad for making the trip across the Strait to watch. Big congrats to all who raced and a shout out to SammyJ for ripping up the course to become Australian 25-29years Champ...all while doning some unsightful footy socks!



Malvern Star | Peak Bike Hub | Brooks | Giro | Team Barefoot | Selle SMP