Super League Triathlon

​It was a super busy week, with both plenty of racing and also other commitments working with the staff to make the launch go as well as possible. All of the athletes were happy to give up some time for the media, as with an even playing field it can benefit all parties to increase the reach of this event and it's athletes out to as many viewers as possible and get the public more interested in triathlon again.
For those that aren’t aware information on the event can be found on the Super League website but the event consisted of three days of racing, with three different formats over the same 300m, 6km, 2km course.

Day one was the Triple Mix, three races ten minutes apart totalled together to determine the days winner. Swim-bike-run-10min-run-bike-swim-10min-bike-swim-run. I had a vague idea of how the body would feel switching up the orders like that but Wow! This was the hardest day of racing I think I have ever done. I won the first stage, chased a time bonus in the second (which I got despite commentary) and then hit the wall on the third to finish up the day in a pretty disappointing 9th place. I knew I had the speed to be great over these distances so sitting down the field after day one was tough to swallow, so I was out to prove myself on day two. 

​A bike TT in the morning followed by a swim-run-swim-bike-run in the arvo giving any time deficit from the morning as a head start. I have read quite often over the years that people assume just because I am a runner, I can’t ride a bike and I’m not willing to push the pace during the bike leg so today seemed like a perfect opportunity to show that I am much more of an all rounder than many people would know. I set myself up perfectly for the day by finishing 2nd in the morning, 2 seconds behind TT winner Cameron Dye to give me a nice head start for the afternoon session. I was able to stay towards the front of the field and even conserve a bit of energy thanks to starting around 10 seconds ahead of the major contenders. I jumped on an opportunistic breakaway with Ryan Bailie with 2 laps to go on the bike which gave us a nice buffer on the last run leg. Just like on day one Richard Murray had the legs to run and he put on a show taking the lead and surging away with no one able to respond in time. He took the stage and I finished the day in second. A much more pleasing result than the day before which moved me up to 5th overall. Making my way right back into the race with one day to go. 

With the Eliminator remaining Murray was in the lead with a perfect score of 40, but 2nd-5th was separated by just a few points. Super league was far from over and with a wild rain storm hitting the island things were getting a bit tense. After making it safely through the first and second stages it was down to the final race with just 10 athletes to start. I had another great swim and exited the water 2nd in the wake of Richard Varga, a position I would certainly like to get used to! After making our way around the bike course for the last time somewhat uneventfully it was down to the final run. With plenty on the line including a share of $200000 there was no holding back and watching the footage there was no time to think about a poker face! Murray dropped off the pace just over 500m out to leave Mola and myself. In my head, at no point was I getting beaten today and that’s exactly how it played out. 

​I loved the short fast racing and from what I have seen it was a crowd pleaser as well. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done and I am looking forward to seeing how Super League takes off and being a part of what’s to come.