It was all about getting out in nature and giving it a try at Free Radicals Tri-Be’s first ever adventure triathlon today.
The family-friendly club offers weekly training sessions and regular standard triathlon races, but president Brendan Cochrane said taking it off-road at Pallarenda gave members and newbies the chance to try something different and challenge themselves.
“The conditions were great and we’re really happy with how this event went for its first time in North Queensland,” Brendan said, with the X-Tri having two distinct adult courses: a 750m/17km/5km Sprint and 350m/10km/4km Enticer (ocean swim, mountain bike and trail run). “Mountain biking is possibly becoming even larger than road biking in Townsville, so this X-Tri offered club members the chance to try riding off-road while giving multi-sport people a good opportunity to get involved; plus we had events for juniors so we still had that family-friendly aspect.”
For those doing the shorter Enticer race, the club has an “anything goes” policy — wear fins, a snorkel, armbands — whatever it takes to get people in the water and feel comfortable. Plus those who really didn’t want to swim could paddle, but cover a larger distance to make it fair.
Adventhurethon’s Joel Savage was the first solo competitor over the line (1:25:57), taking advantage of the paddling allowance and covering more than double the swimming course. “It was great fun and a fantastic experience — you get a sense of achievement just getting through the course,” he said. “It’s a good mix of people, including those who don’t take it too seriously. It would be good to see more triathletes giving it a try, which I think they will in future events.”
The X-Tri also hosted a 1km and 2km Time Trial swim in partnership with Peak Performance Swimming, which provided an great opportunity for serious ocean swimmers to get in the water and show what they were made of.
Results
1km Swim
Judah Morris 14:30
Scott Nielson 17:53
Brad Dowling 19:42
2km Swim
Eloise Houghton 25:55
Jodie Barr 28:27
Bruce Muller 30:15
Sprint Solo
Joel Savage 1:25:57
Jevyn Hyde 1:36:20
Carl Smidt 1:44:36
Sprint Teams
BodyShop7 (Lee Price + Sean Brennan) 1:20:57
Peptides (Matt Pegg + Jason Kerrisk + Michael DeRoy) 1:22:39
Alfie (Alan Jefferson + Monique Flores) 1:25:30
Enticer Solo Men’s
Ethan Viviers 51:20
Jaret Howe 51:30
Troy Lubicz 1:05:44
Enticer Solo Women’s
Carly Lubicz 1:03:28
Tania Millard 1:05:10
Jenny Toon 1:06:53
Well done to all the Juniors and Munchkins who took part. The youngest was just five!
Juniors – Events not timed
Reilly Latouf
Connor Latouf
Robbie Finmore
Munchkins – Events not timed
Drew Marano
Kacee Kiinbacher
Emma Hayes
Note from the editor
On a personal note, this was my first ever triathlon, albeit the Enticer, and I had a ball. If anyone is thinking they want to try it, but “I’m not fit enough,” or “I don’t have the right gear”, etc, etc; just get out there and bite the bullet. This is a great club to get involved with as they are very supportive and there’s a fantastic atmosphere with no judgement (I did breaststroke for most of the way and the lovely lady next to me had fins). Now, pass me the chocolate — I’ve earned it 😉
