Posted: May 2, 2004

Triathlon: Ogden and Keat dominate in Busselton

The Ironman Australia Qualifying Series began its 10-race journey for the 2004/05 season in Busselton, WA with a record field of just over 500 athletes entering the crystal clear waters next to the famous Busselton Jetty for the19th Annual WA State Long Course Championships, The Broadwater Resorts Half Ironman.

The half Ironman, held in the seaside resort of Busselton, the home of Australia's newest Ironman event to be held on November 28, 2004 was offering 50 qualifying spots for the 2005 Snap Ironman Australia event, which will be raced for the 20th time in Forster-Tuncurry on April 3, 2005. Over 5000 athletes are expected to try and qualify via the series for an elusive spot to Australia's biggest triathlon event in Forster.

The Busselton event was raced over the distance of a 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run which is exactly half that of the Ironman. Sydney's Blythe Hartnett led the field in the swim leg from Western Australian Steve Bishop who was five seconds ahead of another local Courtney Ogden, who was expected to be the biggest challenge to race favourite Jason Shortis. One minute behind Ogden was a group of athletes that included last year's race winner Stefan Kolm, Leigh Birch, Sean O'Neill, Shortis, Dean King and Justin Granger. Less than one minute behind the main men's group was women's leader WA's Ebony Malone and Rebekah Keat who had opened up a 40-second gap on race favourite Belinda Granger.

Out on the 90km bike leg, that incorporates portions of the new Ironman Western Australia course that winds its way through the Tuart Forrest, it wasn't long before Ogden and Shortis took control of the race. The two had opened up a significant gap on the rest of the field with Shortis entering the bike-to-run transition with a 35-second lead over Ogden. Coming in third at T2 was age-group athlete Adam Conquest of Victoria who had an excellent bike ride. Dean King, Bishop and Leigh Birch had all ridden well, filling out the top five positions as they changed into their running shoes.

The female race was a mirror image of the men's on the bike with the two race favourites Keat and Granger clearing out from the rest of the field. Keat, a half-Ironman specialist who won two races within the series last season, and Granger, who recently finished a career-best second at the Snap Ironman Australia, entered transition together some eight minutes ahead of Marrisa Robbins of Sydney, Jo-anne Davies and Malone, both of Western Australia.

This was Courtney Ogden's day. The lad from WA who has enormous potential - proven by his third placing at Ironman NZ two years ago - bolted on the run, opening up a gap that Shortis, who is renowned for his running strength, couldn't bridge. Ogden ran a 1:17:40 half marathon to take victory by 3:03 from Shortis. King finished in third place followed by Bishop and Birch.

Keat was just as dominant on the run in the women's race, opening up a gap early on the run leg and extending it to 4:24 by the day's end over Granger. The half-Ironman specialist can now add the Broadwater Resorts Half Ironman to her resume of impressive wins that include the Gold Coast and Cairns Half-Ironman events. Robbins held on for third while locals Malone and Davies took fourth and fifth place respectively.

The Road to Ironman Australia Series is now off to the Northern Territory on July 25. A points system is in place for each event, which culminates with a series winner from each age category being announced at the carbo party of the Snap Ironman Australia held on April 1, two days before the race.

WOMENS RESULTS:

Place Name Swim Bike Run Total 
1 KEAT, Rebekah 0:26:00 2:32:59 1:27:00 4:25:59 
2 GRANGER, Belinda 0:26:39 2:32:31 1:31:14 4:30:24 
3 ROBBINS, Marissa 0:29:01 2:37:51 1:32:46 4:39:38 
4 MALONE, Ebony 0:25:58 2:41:31 1:39:00 4:46:29 
5 DAVIES, Jo-Anne 0:27:39 2:39:40 1:41:35 4:48:54 
6 WESLEY, Loretta 0:31:22 2:45:11 1:34:56 4:51:29 
7 BAILIE, Kerry 0:27:37 2:48:59 1:39:52 4:56:28 
8 MOUTTET, Kelly 0:30:12 2:46:08 1:40:31 4:56:51 
9 NARBEY, Suzanne 0:27:42 2:45:09 1:45:01 4:57:52 
10 GOLDSMITH, Claire 0:27:23 2:48:27 1:44:38 5:00:28 

MENS RESULTS:

Place Name Swim Bike Run Total 
1 OGDEN, Courtney 0:23:55 2:17:06 1:17:40 3:58:41 
2 SHORTIS, Jason 0:24:56 2:15:31 1:21:17 4:01:44 
3 KING, Dean 0:24:58 2:21:05 1:22:13 4:08:16 
4 BISHOP, Steven 0:23:50 2:21:54 1:25:07 4:10:51 
5 BIRCH, Leigh 0:24:54 2:22:14 1:24:43 4:11:51 
6 MACFADYEN, Garrett 0:32:04 2:17:38 1:22:43 4:12:25 
7 KOLM, Stefan 0:24:50 2:22:13 1:25:58 4:13:01 
8 GRANGER, Justin 0:25:02 2:27:51 1:22:01 4:14:54 
9 O'NEILL, Sean 0:24:54 2:23:22 1:28:24 4:16:40 
10 HARTNETT, Blythe 0:23:41 2:27:36 1:25:34 4:16:51