Posted: November 13, 2004

Triathlon: Luke Bell and Susan Peter win Shepparton Half Ironman

Round Eight - Ironman Australia Qualifying Series,Campbells Soup Shepparton Half Ironman
Shepparton, Victoria - Sunday November 14, 2004

A total of 426 athletes from around Australia converged on the Victorian rural town of Shepparton for the inaugural Campbells Soup Shepparton Half Ironman. 100 qualifying slots for the 2005 Snap Ironman Australia triathlon were on offer as age-group athletes swam 1.9km, rode 90km and ran 21.1km in an attempt to gain a starting spot at Australia’s premier endurance event.

Slight misty rain mixed with a cool breeze provided comfortable race conditions for the athletes as John Van Wisse and Ironman champion Luke Bell broke away from the field, with Bell exiting the water in the lead. Racing for the first time since his disappointing DNF at the Hawaii Ironman a month earlier, Bell didn’t take long to stamp his authority on the bike.

“I’m still in pretty good shape even though I have backed training off a bit since Kona. In Hawaii it was just circumstance and bad luck that effected my race but I have learnt a lot from it,” said Bell.

Five-time winner and defending champion, David Meade exited the water four minutes behind the leaders and would soon join forces on the bike with Wangaratta’s Tully Lyster and Melbourne’s Craig McKenzie. However, the trio would try in vain to catch the fast moving Bell whose lead was now out to 13:20 as he entered the bike-to-run transition. McKenzie and Meade’s running ability are well renowned within the sport and they would need to produce their best to make any inroads into Bell’s impressive lead.

The 21.1km run held over three laps around Kialla Lake is flat and conducive to fast run times, but no one was going to catch Bell today. McKenzie ran an amazing 1:10:06 half marathon, six minutes faster than Bell, but still fell short by 6:17 to claim second place. Meade would relinquish third spot to age-group athlete Damian Angus who raced in the 30-34 age-group category, which started three minutes behind the pro men. Angus’ total time was just one second faster than Meade in a time of 3:57:43.

Bell’s race-winning time of 3:45:45 is the fastest time recorded over the half Ironman distance in Australia since the qualifying series began in 1999.

“I was happy with today’s race,” said Bell. “It’s nice to get going again and I am looking forward to doing the training for the Snap Ironman Australia in April. It will be great racing back in Forster after having a year off. I am really excited about it.”

In the women’s event Kim Wilson returned to Shepparton to defend her title against Susan Peter, Jodie Scott, Sarah Pollett and Carol McGregor. Exiting the water behind Pollett, Wilson gained the lead early on the bike but was overtaken by Peter who rode 12 minutes faster than her rival to enter the bike-to-run transition with a six-minute lead.

Peter and Wilson ran almost identical run times for the half marathon, allowing Peter to savour the win, entering the home straight with the same six minute buffer she had off the bike. Pollett, after leading the swim, held onto third place.

Results:

MEN SWIM BIKE RUN TOTAL
1 Luke Bell 20:03 2:06:16 1:16:45 3:45:45
2 Craig McKenzie 24:45 2:18:10 1:10:06 3:52:02
3 Damian Angus 25:29 2:16:11 1:16:03 3:57:43
4 David Meade 27:06 2:14:47 1:14:57 3:57:44
5 Tully Lister 25:52 2:17:07 1:21:57 4:04:57

WOMEN SWIM BIKE RUN TOTAL
1 Susan Peter 33:24 2:26:21 1:33:12 4:32:57
2 Kim Wilson 25:57 2:38:44 1:33:26 4:38:08
3 Sarah Pollett 24:38 2:46:00 1:38:30 4:49:17