Kingscliff Triathlon 2017

Affectionately known as Kingy Tri, a triathlon festival with a wide range of event ranging from the kids race to the Olympic distance. All held on one day, twice a year with the second event usually around late November. It was a last minute decision for me to do this race, signing up only a week before the event. My last Olympic distance was in Guelph, Canada nearly 3 years ago where I had my PB of 2:18:31. Not that I'm an endurance snob or anything but having to prepare for two Ironman races each year for the previous two years, quite often I can't justify the costs and logistics of doing any event shorter than a half Iron distance or it simply just doesn't fit within the plan.

With only one Ironman signed up for the end of the year, I thought why not do a race, just for fun. After all, isn't it why we do this sport anyway? Kingscliff is about 75 minutes drive from home so I didn't even need to stay the night. I left home at 4am so that I could get my bike racked before the start of the kids triathlon at 7am, taking into account daylight savings for crossing the border. Getting a parking spot was quite a challenge as most spots were full but I managed to find a quiet residential street, which a few cars later followed. And made it just in time with 10 minutes to spare in transition!

The officials kept on yelling, only 10 minutes left!

I had about 2 hours before the start of my race but as it was a point to point swim, we had to walk about 15 minutes to the swim start. After 45 minutes of scrolling through social media on a park bench, it was time to get ready. Surprisingly there wasn't a queue for the toilets but I guess it was partly because I was in the 2nd last wave and most have made their way to the swim start. Handed in my bags to the bag drop off area, conveniently located near the toilets and took the easy stroll to the swim start.

Although the 1500m swim was in a single direction, it wasn't a straight course. It snaked in a somewhat S shape along Cudgen Creek, going underneath bridge just after the first few hundred meters. There usually is a tide pushing us forward, giving fast swim times. This time it was no different although a bit weaker compared to previous events. I definitely felt the push the moment I passed the bridge. Visibility was good too and I could see schools of fish every now and then. I overtook quite a few of green capped swimmers in the earlier wave, which gave me a bit of a boost. The swim went by quite quickly and soon we were reaching the boat ramp for the exit. I got out in 21:15 in 15th position in my age group.

Into transition and consciously reminded myself to strip my swimskin off, to avoid a repeat of Tweed Enduro. My bike was located near the bike exit so I didn't have to push it too far. Mounting got a bit hairy as there were plenty of other cyclists at the mount line, but fortunately no dramas. Transition time was about 2 minutes according to the Garmin.

The 40km bike course is 4 laps with short right hand detour at the end of each lap as we get back into town and then rejoining the main lap. Mostly flat with one small climb about a couple of kms before the end of each lap. Road surface is fair with the occasional port holes. It was relatively calm with some light gusts of wind when we were near the coast. It seemed to be more of a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back. I started off a bit nervous on the aerobars with the deep carbon wheels catching the wind, I really should ride in them more often. But it didn't take me long before I got the hang of it. The course was pretty crowded as you would expect with a short distance lap and plenty of waves, so you would have to pay attention to those around you. It wasn't until my last lap that it got a bit more quiet as I was in the second last wave. I was pretty comfortable with my cycling efforts and was able to push the pace a bit, though it got undone almost at the end of each laps with my timid cornering and U-turns. I averaged 34.3kph with a split time of 1:09:28 with the official result showing 1:12:05 including transition time.

I took the legs off the pedal probably a bit too early, at the 100m to dismount sign, and had to freewheel a bit before I got to the dismount line. Lost a few seconds there but no dramas. Just slipped into my shoes and put on the sunnies and cap on the go to make up for it. I was in 20th position in my age group into transition.

Run course was two laps of 5km with a steep hill within the first km, long enough to break your spirit if you are not strong, but you get a nice downhill roll after. Towards the 2.5km turnaround it is pretty shaded and there's a small section where we run on some sand towards the coast breakout point, also known as the wall. There were plenty of aid stations but I remembered only getting water and not any electrolytes. I started off with a pretty fast pace of 4:15 per km but hovered around the 4:30 pace for the next few kms. I started to struggle a bit towards the end of the first lap and started seeing 4:40-4:50 on my watch. But the great thing about short course racing is at the halfway of the run, you only have 5kms more to go. After the second turnaround at the wall, I felt my second wind as it was the home stretch. Looking at my watch, beating my PB seemed virtually impossible. But it was never the target given my current level of fitness.

Nearing the finisher chute, with a bit of hurt I picked up the pace to get to the arch. My run split was 45:34 and surprisingly, I finished in 2:18:54, with the fast swim, I was only 23 seconds slower from my PB. I finished 15th in my age group, so I'm glad I was still able to overtake a few after the bike.

Kudos to the organizers for providing instant finisher photos

The organizers QSM Sports put up a great event as they did with Tweed Enduro. This is my first time racing Kingy Tri and I'll definitely be back as Kingscliff is a pretty place.  On the way back, I picked up a French work and holiday traveler who was hitchhiking back to Brisbane. She also volunteered at the event so it's only fair to repay the favour. Maybe this counts towards brownie points for future races!