Cold and blustery conditions greeted racegoers for race four of the 2XU Triathlon Series in Brighton today with autumn rains forcing the event into a Duathlon.
Overnight rainfall of 10mm saw water quality in the bay decline, and event organisers forced to move to a contingency plan of run, bike, run following EPA advice. Although the beach was clear of debris, E. coli was a safety concern.
The course started with a beach run southbound, then returned back along the water’s edge and into transition with the bike leg running south towards Blackrock and retuning to the north. The morning kicked off with the Kids Triathlon, followed by the Fun Tri and Sprint distance 750m (swim) 20km, (bike), and 5km (run).
The in male elite category (Draft Legal Racing), i4 Coaching’s Cassidy Shaw was the first down the shute in a time of 0:50:02.6, followed by Beckworth Racing’s Craig Davis with a time of 0:50:39.8 and 2019-20 Challenge Anhui winner Levi Maxwell taking out third place in a time of 0:50:45.1.
In the female elite, series leader and rising star Emma Hogan took line honours in a time of 0:58:51.0, following hogan in was New Zealander Angharad Llewellyn in a time of 0:59:17.9 and Sophie Perry in third place with a time of 0:59:32.0.
The female open category saw Melbourne Triathlon Club’s Laura Armstrong (0:56:59.9), Kelly Egan (1:07:47.9), and Angelica Armellini (1:09:39.7) go one, two, three. While in the male open, Levi Hauwert (0:51:34.7), Shannon O’Brien from Western Suburbs Triathlon Club (0:52:32.6) and Beckworth Racing’s Dylan Watt (0:52:42.5) finished top-3.
The fifth and final series race for the 2020-21 season will return to St Kilda on Sunday, March 28th offering five events, Sprint (750m/26.7km/5km), Olympic (1.5km/40km/10km), Aqua Bike (1.5km/40km), Fun Tri (300m/13km/3km) and Tri Kids (100m/3km/500m). The race is also a Triathlon Australia Age Group ITU World Championship Qualifier.
Race five will also see the 2021 Victorian School Triathlon Championship run as part of the fun tri distance. The event is open to schools, teams and individuals. Learn more and register via the VSTC website.
