Posted: April 1, 2007

Triathlon: Australian Rebekah Keat Breaks 14 Year Drought At Ironman Triathlon

Australia’s Rebekah Keat today broke a 14 year drought at the 2007 Panthers Ironman Australia Triathlon at Port Macquarie. Internationals have dominated the event since 1993. Gold Coast based Keat also ended a five year winning streak by Canadian Lisa Bentley who put in a brave performance but was reduced to walking the final kilometers of the race. Keat who has been sidelined from the sport for the past two years came from behind to claim victory ahead of fellow Australian’s Belinda Granger and Melissa Ashton in an Aussie clean sweep. New Caledonian Patrick Vernay claimed victory in the men’s event ahead of crowd favourite Jason Shortis. gunning for his first win here after twelve attempts. 33-year-old Vernay was out in front the entire race and while Shortis chased valiantly all day to reign in Vernay, he ran out of asphalt. Shortis broke down at the finish line, embracing his wife and three kids, and expressing disappointment at missing the one title that has eluded him after thirteen attempts. A stunning performance on debut by Australian Craig Alexander saw him take out third. Perfect conditions greeted the 1615 competitors in the 22nd edition of this iconic Australian event which involved a 3.8km swim, 180km cycling, 42.2km swim. As they exited the swim leg, it was Matthew Clark (Qld) leading them out onto the bike closely followed by Shane Gibbs (NSW), Paul O’Brien (NSW) and Cameron Watt (Qld). Patrick Vernay was next through with Craig Alexander a further 50 sec back. Shortis trailed this group by minutes but remained within striking distance of the frontrunners. The first race casualty was Mathias Hecht whose seat post snapped and forced him onto the sidelines. The first woman out of the swim was age group competitor Sarah Pollett (Qld) in a sizzling time (49:05) with Keat a further 1:20 down and Granger hot on her heels. Lisa Marangon (NSW) was a further minute back with Lisa Bentley rounding out the top ten, but 3 minutes 30 seconds behind the early leader. “How good was my swim, I’m stoked coming out where I did,” said Granger. After the first lap of the bike Vernay and Watt had establish a four minute lead from a group of 14 headed up by Shortis and including Craig McKenzie, Craig Alexander and Gibbs. Shortis tired of his group and took off at the 80km mark, putting in gap but still trailing Vernay and Watt by 4 minutes 20 seconds. Coming through on the second of the three cycle laps Shortis had consolidated his break from the main bunch but now had company with Raimo Raudsepp from Estonia and McKenzie joining him at the 130km mark but still four minutes 50 seconds down. The Estonian couldn’t maintain the pace, dropping off and leaving Shortis and McKenzie on their own. In the meantime Vernay had finally dropped Watt who was now trailing by a minute. The big mover in the field was Australian Mitch Anderson who moved into fifth place, courtesy of a phenomenal bike leg. At the 170km mark he had caught Shortis. The women’s event was becoming a real tussle, Granger, Ashton and Keat spearheaded the charge with Lisa Marangon holding down fourth spot. Lisa Bentley continued to loose time at every checkpoint. At the 150km mark the gap had blown out to 16 minutes and at the end of the cycle a staggering 19 minutes 50 seconds. The question remained – would it be enough. Keat had also dropped behind on the final lap losing 5 minutes. “I had to stand up on the entire third lap of the bike as my seat post came loose,” said Keat. “It was probably a blessing in disguise as it saved my legs for the run,” she added At the finish of the men’s cycle leg Vernay had amassed a 4 minute 30 second lead. Watt led out Anderson and Shortis with McKenzie rounding out the top five men. Alexander was nearly 12 minutes behind and it seemed an insurmountable lead to make up. Vernay, who had his father racing here today and his mother watching, knew he would have to run fast to keep ahead of Shortis but despite recording the fastest run split Shortis couldn’t catch Vernay in the end. “I had some problems on the run, I think because I swallowed some water in the swim and upset my stomach,” said Vernay post race. “This is a really special win for me in Australia because there are so many good athletes here,” said Vernay after the race. Shortis crossed the line and fell into his wife’s arms, embracing his three kids, visibly upset. “It broke my heart to come second here today I couldn’t hold back the tears as people told me I could catch him (Vernay) and I knew I couldn’t,” said Shortis. Shortis will now go back and work on his swim preparing for the Hawaii Ironman triathlon in October. He admitted that tackling five Ironman races in twelve months was a mistake but stated he had a wife and three kids to look after. In a stunning Ironman debut Cronulla’s Craig Alexander put in a brave performance and was happy with his third place today. Granger valiantly held onto her lead till the 25km mark as Keat methodically picked off first Ashton then Granger reducing her 8 minute deficit at the start of the run and winning by 15 minutes. My goal today was to qualify for Hawaii but this is a dream. Results Male 1. Patrick Vernay Noumea 46:57 4:45:13 2:49:38 8:21:50 2. Jason Shortis Gold Coast 49:38 4:46:38 2:49:17 8:25:35 3. Craig Alexander Cronulla 47:38 4:56:15 2:54:55 8:38:50 4. Mitch Anderson Melbourne 51:36 4:44:41 3:10:34 8:46:53 5. Cameron Watt Bray Park 46:52 4:49:02 3:12:57 8:48:53 Female 1. Rebekah Keat Gold Coast 50:26 5:18:26 3:04:06 9:13:00 2. Belinda Granger Peregian Bch 50:32 5:10:03 3:19:50 9:20:26 3. Melissa Ashton Sydney 51:25 5:09:24 3:22:32 9:23:23 4. Kate Bevilaqua Perth 55:19 5:22:02 3:19:39 9:37:03 5. Alison Fitch Darwin 51:19 5:21:48 3:32:00 9:45:08 Additional Quotes: Rebekah Keat to Belinda Granger race morning. "I don’t care which one of us wins this but it has to be an Australian." Belinda Granger – “Keat is a phenomenal athlete and I knew she would be the one to beat.” Rebekah Keat – “I was in a world of pain today. If I can win feeling this bad then I’d like to see how I go when I feel good.” Patrick Vernay – “My wife and child could not come with me to the race."